welcome september

My summer has not been that great and I'm looking forward to a better fall - my favorite season. I will miss the summer fruits, though. Seasonal produce, swimming and longer days are my favorite part of summer. The weather here is hot and going to get hotter. In fact, it's hotter than it's been all summer these last several days and will continue.But, I'm still thinking of September as I always do -  like a new beginning - a fresh start. I guess it's a feeling left over from school days.

So, here's a postcard for the end of summer. Sent to a college boy.  I really like the message on this postcard.

This was sent from Cleveland, Ohio in June 1929 from Adele to Mr. Stanlee Bates at Case School Camp

Mercy I thought college fellows always kept things going. 

Don't talk about the weather. I am simply melted.

Am off for the day on a picnic at the beach, to bad you aren't here to go along. Was real glad to hear from you.

singular

I had a discussion with someone recently about collecting old photographs and she mentioned she likes to collect photos of women standing by themselves looking strong and solid. As soon as she mentioned it I realized that I am drawn to and collect those, too, without really realizing it.

The first image I thought of when she said that was this one of Ethel, that I absolutely adore.

I also really love this one. Just now after scanning it I could have lightened up to see more of the background, but it looks so good in the original dark state. I really like her outfit here. Such soft prettiness next to the industrial setting is great here.

This next one is more about the freedom to have fun to me. I love the old Rink sign and that she had a fun filled day of skating, presumably, in that hat and long dress. Perhaps something that was scandolous and wild to the older generation.

a handsome card in every pound

One of the reasons I am drawn to Victorian scrap, trade cards and rewards of merit is because I love the idea that just a lovely piece of paper was a prize.

Around 1876 color printing became accessible and affordable. This is when trading and collecting scrap paper became very popular. This led to the a big trend in scrapbooks beginning around the 1880's.

This is an advertising trade card made around 1880-1890. These decorated paper cards were so sought after that businesses made them just to give away. They figured you would be less likely to forget them if you had a pretty item with their name and business on the back.

This company Closset & Devers sold spices, coffee and tea in Portland. They were the first firm in the Northwest to make use of vacuum coffee can.

This image below taken about 1905 and the information about Closset & Devers was found on Old Oregon Photos. A neat site!

summer dreaming

Although it is currently raining here in the Pacific Northwest and is supposed to all weekend, and although, truthfully, I am less enchanted with summer than most people I know - these postcards make me long to be on summer holiday, lying in the sun and listening to the sound of the canoe paddles in the water.

I adore this place, seen above. The postcard is not written on the back. Torre Del Lago is a town in Lucca, Tuscany in Italy.



This other image is closer to home. Lake Odell, Oregon. This postcard also has no message on the back. It looks lovely.

I actually got this posted in time for Postcard Friendship Friday. Take a look over at The Best Hearts are Crunchy blog and you can see all the other blogs that are participating and posting postcards today.

fall colors

I finally got to see a lot of fall colors this weekend. It was beautiful. I thought this was a good time to post a couple of my favorite autumny postcard.

This postcard is from Europe and has no writing on it. It says it is a Photochromie on the back. Here is a bit of info I just found on that:

Photochromie (Vidal Process) A variation of the photochrom process invented in 1875 by Leon Vidal. It was a hybrid of chromolithography with elements of the photographic reproductive methods used to create woodburytypes. It produced very high quality reproductions but it was a difficult and expensive process and rarely used. Nenke & Ostermaier patented the process in Saxony and used this method to create high quality postcards. The process was later adapted to the offset press.



This mill reminds me of one in Washington that we go to most years. You can see pics of it here.


I wish these linen postcards scanned better. The colors in the linen postcards are so beautiful.

I have a fondness for canoes.



This postcard was sent in Sept 1948 from Saint Cloud Minnesota to Yakima Washington. Dorothy told Marie about the gloomy weather in the mountains and about shopping and having lunch with Elizabeth in town.