Vintage Postcards

Several years ago, the Mister was gifted some vintage postcards by his Mother.  These postcards have been in his family for years and are mostly from places in the United States.

If you will remember from my post on my inspiration for our dining room, I am planning on redecorating several rooms in our home.  At the moment, this redecorating is slow going because we currently have one of our sons and his family living with us, so they are occupying some of the rooms that I want to decorate.  But, I'm still gathering inspiration and planning for it, in hopes that one day soon they will find their own place. Shhh, don't tell them I said that.  ;-)

My idea for one of our bedrooms is a travel theme.  While gathering inspiration, I ran across this picture.  It intrigued me because I have a collection of vintage cameras and it also showed some wonderful old photographs of landmarks from around the world, perfect for a travel theme.

Image Source

Which reminded me that the Mister had all of those vintage postcards.  So, a few days ago, I broke them out and sat down to go through them.  Among them I found a few that are from our hometown and I thought I would share them with you.

Greetings From Virginia -The Old Dominion State -Home of Thomas Jefferson - Monticello
On the back of the postcard:  Key To Views On Other Side -

V -	Natural Bridge
I -	Falling Springs, near Clifton Forge
R -	Mountain Lake
G -	Fairy Stone State Park
I -	Cape Henry Lighthouse, near Norfolk
N -	Glimpse of Shenandoah River
I -	Cascade in Shenandoah Nat’l Park
A -	Pinnacle Rocks, near Bluefield

V -

Natural Bridge

I -

Falling Springs, near Clifton Forge

R -

Mountain Lake

G -

Fairy Stone State Park

I -

Cape Henry Lighthouse, near Norfolk

N -

Glimpse of Shenandoah River

I -

Cascade in Shenandoah Nat’l Park

A -

Pinnacle Rocks, near Bluefield

W-12 Main Street Looking East, Wytheville, VA.
{There is nothing on the back of this card and no date as to when it was published but judging by the automobiles in the photograph I would guess it is the 1940s.  Our little town still looks quite similar today.  We live in the County seat with a population of around 8,200 people, according to the 2010 census, covering an area of around 14.3 square miles.  The town was named in honor of George Wythe, the "father of American Jurisprudence" and signer of the Declaration of Independence.}

W-3 U.S. Post Office, Wytheville, VA
{There is nothing on the back of this card either and no date as to when it was published.  This building is no longer used as our post office, however.  A new building was erected further up the street, and in my opinion, it is no where near as lovely as this building.  I am quite fond of the architecture of this building and am happy that it is still being used today as offices for our local Housing Authority.}

Canoeing In Hungry Mother State Park, Virginia - 72
{There is nothing on the back of this card but the photograph states that it was taken in 1972.  It is of a couple fellows canoeing on the lake in a neighboring town from ours.  This lake has a little beach area for swimmers and is a great year round retreat.  As a matter of fact, the Mister and I spent a few days in a cabin at this Park for a second honeymoon, of sorts, after we renewed our wedding vows on our 10th Anniversary.  It was a very primitive cabin with no phone and no tv, just us and nature.  We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.}

I feel sure that some of these postcards will make it into my decorating scheme.  The difficult part will be choosing which ones to use, there are so many.  What I have shared here is a very small portion of the nearly hundred postcards.  It makes one wonder which family member of the Mister's was collecting these and if they traveled to these places themselves.  Some of them were mailed and have messages on the back, but most all of them are just blank cards.  Either way, they were once treasured, so what better way to pay homage to the Mister's family, than to have them become a treasured part of our decor.

Valentine Cards

The rose is red, the violet's blue,

The honey's sweet, and so are you.

Thou art my love and I am thine;

I drew thee to my Valentine:

The lot was cast and then I drew,

And Fortune said it shou'd be you.

Gammer Gurton's Garland (1784)

Happy Valentine's Day!  I have read that the Greeting Card Association estimates that approximately one billion valentine cards are sent world-wide each year, making Valentine's Day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year behind Christmas.  Wow!  That's a lot of love!

Looking through some vintage Valentine cards, it struck me that many of them would be considered inappropriate, sexist, racist, and downright creepy by today's standards.  Here are some examples of such cards.

Remember that the worm may turn -
You'd better treat me right..Tho' you're the apple of my eye -
There's others still in sight!

You ain't so mild little girl, but you certainly satisfy!

Hey Valentine!  Have you burned out your clutch?
You don't take hold like you used to.

Some likes light girls, some likes dark girls, but all I wants is a good cook.

Your coldness gave me the flew.

The point is will you be my Valentine or I'll nail you yet, my Valentine

Now or Never Will you be my Valentine

Be my Valentine little one - or I will have to use my gun.

I ain't kidding Valentine - I'd like to kidnap you!

It's "loaded" but only with love......for you, Valentine

Why the Frigid-Aire Valentine?  I'm ready to be de-frosted

I'm out hunting for a Valentine.  Are you game?

My Valentine, Can't I bring you to your knees too?  Love me

Baby, you sure play havoc with my heart.

You built a wall so fast and strong,
But with my magic ray, it won't last long!

Snow use - I love you Valentine!

Your "frigid air" is not so nice,
don't treat me like a cake of ice!

Let's come to the point - Be My Valentine

If you wanta be mine, fork over your heart

I won't let go until you say yes, kid.

Now will you be my valentine?

I'm bound to be yours if you'll be mine

I'd snap you up if you said be my valentine

You're sweet enough to eat, my Valentine

It "strikes me" that I love you.

Valentine greetings were popular as far back as the Middle Ages, and the oldest known Valentine is one by Charles, Duke of Orleans which he wrote to his wife while imprisoned in the Tower of London after his capture at the Battle of Agincourt. The poem, written in 1415, is now part of the manuscript collection of the British Library in London, England. Several years later, it is believed King Henry V hired a writer named John Lydgate to comprise a valentine for Catherine of Valois. 

The first commercial Valentine's Day greeting cards produced in the U.S. were created in the 1840s by Esther A. Howland. Howland, known as the Mother of the Valentine, made elaborate creations with real lace, ribbons and colorful pictures known as "scrap".

The Howland Family operated the largest book and stationery store in Worcester, Massachusetts. After graduating at the age of nineteen, Esther received an intricate English Valentine from one of her fathers' business acquaintances, and she was sure that she was capable of making similar or even better ones.  Persuading her father to order lace paper and other supplies from England and New York City, she made a dozen samples, which her brother added to his catalog for his next sales trip. Hoping for as much as $200 in orders, they were shocked when her brother returned with more than $5,000 in advance sales.
Designing and creating these unforgettable cards required creativity and inspiration. The finished products suggested fantasy and romance, and set trends for more than thirty years. While other companies competed for sales to the public, none could compete with the value, taste, and style of Esther Howland. She was not the first to create Valentines in America, but she is credited with having popularized the lace Valentine, turning it into a major industry. The honor, "The Mother of the American Valentine" first appeared in a newspaper article shortly after her death. 

I'm sure the beauty and suggested romance of her cards are a far cry from those shown here!  One has to wonder what type of relationship the recipients of these cards had with the givers.  Ahh, love is a many splendored thing!

{All images were found using Google Image.  If they belong to you, let me know and I will link them back to you.}

Identification of Vintage Glass

When my Grandmother passed away, my Mom and her siblings divided Grandma's personal belongings, and of those belongings, the items that my mother obtained, she then let myself and my three siblings divide among ourselves.  We each chose items that we loved or things that reminded us most of our beloved Grandmother.

Among the things that I chose was this very fun, vintage beverage glass.  I chose it because it was always the glass that I drank out of when I was a child.  Grandma would let us choose a glass and that was the glass you were to use throughout the day.  This glass was the one that I always requested. 

It has a cute little jungle scene of a lady bathing with the help of an elephant and what looks like an elf to me.  I would love to know more about this adorable little glass.  And, how great would it be to find more of them? 

  

I know that she had several glasses that came in boxes of detergent but I don't think this was one of them.  It is a very heavy glass, about 6 inches tall and even appears to, at one time, had a gold rim.

What do you guys think, have you ever seen one like this?

Daylight Savings

Does anyone else hate daylight savings time as much as I do?  My body struggles twice a year to readjust and sometimes I feel like it takes until the time changes again.  My internal clock gets all screwy and my sleep patterns go haywire.  I don't think it's too concerned with saving daylight, more like it's concerned with catching a few more winks.

Oh well, here's a couple vintage posters on DST that will hopefully help ease my sleepiness.

Where can we find a post card to have this reversed?

Everybody break out your hoes!

(Both images are courtesy Pringle Hill)

Those Dirty Words

It's time to get serious about those two dirty words.  You know the ones that start with "D" and "F".  No!  Not those!  These two words: ....Diet and Fitness.

Those of you who truly know me, know just how much I hate to exercise.  I always say that my idea of exercise is walking back and forth to the refrigerator, or I might mix it up a little with a jaunt around the grocery store.  In my previous post I talked about my sweets addiction.  I admit it, I am a sweetsaholic.  Isn't that the first step, admitting it?

But knowing all of this, and given the fact that with age comes a slower metabolism, means that I have to seriously consider changing a lot of things about how I live.  I really need to be more selective with what goes into my body plus, like it or not, I am going to have to become more active.

First, though, lets take a look at some vintage weight loss advertisements because I heard this rumor that every 100 laughs is worth 10 minutes of exercise and I would much rather laugh my way thin.

Now here's a diet plan I could follow.  Eat some ice cream before every meal.  Love that idea!

At least they are promoting some sort of exercise in this one but lets not forget how important it is to increase the allure of ones bust.

Yay!  Soap to wash away my fat, used just like ordinary soap.

How about those laxatives, take before you go to bed and wake up purified.

Let's fill our lungs with smoke and nicotine to get that fat off.

Oh, and my favorite, swallow some tape worms and let them do the work for you.  Your fat will be banished.

All fun aside, it is time for me to get off my ever growing tushy and get healthy.  I'm going to do it, but believe me, I'm sure not going to enjoy it.

Elvgrens Creative Vision

During a career that spanned nearly forty years, Gil Elvgren never lost sight of what appealed to the American male. His heroines are often caught in humorous but distressing situations that cause their skirts to rise and our eyes to follow. 

His criteria for his models was a "fifteen year old face on a twenty year old body." Many of his models, like Myrna Hansen - who was Miss USA 1953, Myrna Loy, Donna Reed, Arlene Dahl, Barbara Hale, and Kim Novak, went on to have successful film careers after posing for him. These actresses, just beginning their careers, would travel to the offices of the nation's most successful calendar company, Brown & Bigelow, to be immortalized by the pin-up artists.

Elvgren chose models with particular features and would add embellishments by building up the bust, or lengthening the legs, making the mouth fuller, or the eyes larger. Most of all, however, his models had to be enthusiastic and interesting, and be capable of a wide range of facial expressions.

One of his favorite models was his next door neighbor, Janet Rae. She had a spirit that captivated him and she knew how to give him that perfect pose. Elvgren gave her all of the photos and negatives from her more than 75 photo shoots. They are in her son's possession today and he has plans of publishing them in a book.

To see more of Elvgren's finished works check out the book called Gil Elvgren: The Complete Pin-Ups, written by Charles G. Martignette and Louis K. Meisel. It contains 98% of his more than 500 paintings created between the mid-1930s and 1972.

Elvgren was an avid photographer and shot his own model setups. There are several sources online where you can see his photos, such as these, and compare his finished works to the original reference.  Its a great way to see what he added or what he simplified, in order to create his beauties.

If you would like to learn more, here are two great online sources for information - Elvgren Pinup, and Gil Elvgren. The latter site, which is operated by Louis K. Meisel, contains a very informative biography along with a title listing of his works. 

Elvgren's work is some of my all time favorite and I hope you have enjoyed seeing his originals become his creative vision as much as I have. Here are a few more comparisons for your enjoyment.