An Ellen Clapsaddle Thanksgiving Turkey Postcard

OK, I'm a couple of months and at least 3 holidays late on this one.  I'll try to be more timely.  Or maybe not.

This an "artist signed" postcard by Ellen Capsaddle.  Her signature is near the bottom, next to the "A" in A Happy Thanksgiving.  Obviously her signature was reproduced with the postcard, it is not an original autograph.

Ellen Clapsaddle was born in Herkimer County, New York, and lived from 1865 to 1934.  She became very well known for her illustrations on greeting cards and postcards in the late 19th & early 20th centuries.

This particular card is from the early 20th century.  It commemorates Thanksgiving with a very nicely detailed (and embossed) drawing of a turkey. 

On the front of the card is the following information: printing only copyright by S. Garre, 1909.  On the back is the information that is was printed in Germany.  Many early 20th century postcards were printed in Europe, most in Germany.

The card has been mailed - it was postmarked in Little Rock, Arkansas, Nov 23 - unfortunately because of the embossing, I cannot read the date. 

Ellen Clapsaddle cards are generally pretty nice - even the very common ones.  She is very collectible, and prices for her cards range from a little to a lot more than I'd like to pay.

Comic - Cute Two Cylindered Run-about

This is an early 20th century artist/signed comic postcard that I've always kind of liked.  The gal is dressed in what was probably very fashionable garb for the time - I'm sure the artist was satirizing it a bit.  The smitten boy is using some slang of the time, comparing her two what was probably considered a nice little car.  In fact there is a car in back ground, though I have no idea if it is a two cylindered run-about. 

This is artist signed by "Seward", and it has been postally used, though unfortunately I could not read the postmark.  It was addressed to a Mr. Albert Burch, of Kansas City, Missouri.

 

Update:  Sold!

1950s Car Comic - 18 Miles Per Gallon

This is a standard/chrome postcard that just screams 1950s - though there is no date on it.  It touches a bit on relationships, and the abilities of automobiles at the time.  This one has run out of gas, and the caption is the wife complaining about her husband insisting the car would get 18 MPG. The husband is in the distance running off to find some gas, while the wife waits in the car reading a book.   This postcard is also artist signed - "Frye".

In the 1950s, 18 MPG for most cars in the USA would have been considered pretty good.  Maybe even better than pretty good - gas was cheap and mileage was not usually a consideration.  I got my first car in the 1970s (it was used, from 1966) and it only got 16 miles per gallon in the best of conditions, and I thought that was pretty ok.

When I was living in Germany, I tried to play a little mind game:  I'd try to figure out kilometers per liter and convert that to miles per gallon.  It's not easy. Gasoline was much more expensive in Germany, and cars, as a rule, were smaller and more fuel efficient, but I could never quite figure out my "mileage" to my satisfaction. Eventually I got to the point where I just accepted the liters and kilometers for what they were, and quit worrying about miles and gallons.

So, for those of you who may not be familiar with USA's version of the Imperial System of Measurements, 18 miles to the gallon is terrible mileage by today's standards, at least for a normal family car.  That was not the case when this postcard was created.

Charles M. Russell's Favorite Horse Red Bird - Art Postcard

This is an art postcard by Charles M. Russell (1864-1926).  The postcard is copyrighted 1952, I'm not sure when the original art was created.  The back of the postcard contains a short biography of the artist.

Charles Russell captured 19th & early 20th century cowboy & western themes in his art.  Sometimes his subjects are humorous, sometimes brutal or dangerous.   I like this card because it's a very realistic & detailed drawing of a horse - Red Bird. 

We've listed several of Russell's "Cowboy Art" cards this week in our eBay store, and still have a few more to go.  They are very nice cards.

Political Comic Postcard - Carter, Nixon, Regan, Brown, Kennedy & Jolly Beans!

This is a standard/chrome postcard gently poking fun at some major political figures of the time.  It's copyright 1982 (making it one of the more recent standard/chromes), and is signed (again signed, not autographed) by Art Strader, who apparently did a series of these.

Ronald Regan was president at the time, and he had a well known fondness for jelly beans - hence the bean theme.  Jimmy Carter & Richard Nixon are the "Has Beans", Regan is the "Jolly Beans", and Ted Kennedy and I think (but not sure) Jerry Brown are the "Would Beans". 

I haven't seen cards like this very often, and I think it's interesting. 

I wonder why Gerald Ford wasn't in the group?  And is that really Jerry Brown?

Zen Buddhist Priest Statue

This is a postcard of a 13th wooden statue of a Zen Buddhist priest, from the Japanese Kamakura period, an era which I know nothing about.  In fact my knowledge of Japanese art & culture is not great, period, but I can appreciate what is obviously a beautiful work of art.

This card was published by the Pennsylvania Museum & School of Industrial Art, and I assume it was originally sold in a gift shop.  

I don't know the age of the postcard, but I suspect it is Pre-WWII.  It is divided back, and there's no real clue from the stamp box. 

I like art cards.

Racey Helps - The Astonished Angler

This is an artist signed standard/chrome postcard by Racey Helps.  Racey Helps was a children's author & illustrator, and there are many beautiful postcards of his work, featuring animals in all sorts of situations.  This one is called "The Astonished Angler" - apparently a mouse has gone fishing and accidently caught a frog.

This piece of art was done under the auspices of the Medici Society in London, which till exists.

I'm not sure of the age, but Racey Helps died in 1970 or so, making this postcard from the 1960s at the latest.  I like it.

Update: Sold!

Sammelwerk Nr. 9 - A wedding in Augsburg

 

This is the front and back of a very small picture, and I'm really not sure how to categorize it, eBay wise.  

They are German, and are all "Sammelwerk Nr. 9".  Sammelwerk is a collective work, and if I'm reading the German correctly on back there are 300 of these in 5 groups (34 thru 38).   I believe these are miniatures from selected artists, and that they all appear in a book somewhere, but I might just be making that up.  A bit of wishful translation thinking.

Anyway. These are all 2.75 x 3.25 inches, so they're rather small.  Most are signed, (not autographed, big difference) but I cannot read the signature.  Almost all of them have paper missing on the back - they appear to have been glued into a scrapbook at some point.  The only thing that changes on the back printing wise, are the picture number, the title, it's group, and the broad time period in which the scene takes place.  Everything else on the back is the same for all of them.

They all depict scenes of daily life in Germany over a period of 5 centuries.  We have about 30 of the 300, and eventually they'll all get listed.  

Its just we're not really sure what category to put them in.  They could be considered trade cards, but they are not from the Victorian era, they're newer.  But I honestly don't know how new or how old.  And everything's in German, and though I know a smattering of German and I have access to online translators, translations can still become an issue.   On this particular one, the title is Burgertrauung in Augsburg.  Well I'm pretty sure Trauung is a wedding, and I think Burger has to do with cities, so is this a civil wedding ceremony?  Not sure.  The translator didn't help me out much.  Augsburg is a city near and dear to my heart, btw, not too far from Munich. 

So these are neat, but something new for us.  New things are always weird.

Swedish Easter Witches - Hildur Soderberg

This is a fun postcard from Sweden.  Glad Pask! = Happy Easter, and those are witches flying airplanes over a city.  Apparently Easter Witches are a part of Swedish folklore.

This card was signed by Hildur Soderberg, and I believe he did a series of these.  This is the only one I have, but I'm sure I've seen others.

I'm not exactly sure of the dating on this card, but it looks early 20th century - pre-1918 - to me.  There is a message on back (in Swedish I think), and it is addressed, but it was never mailed.

Update:  This one sold!

Catholic Cardinal by Alfred Weber

This postcard is of a drawing by Alfred Weber (1862-1922), who drew Cardinals engaged in non-religious, everyday activities.  It's from the early part of the 20th century.