Antique postcard - a PSA for women born in August.

I decided that the first day of August was as an appropriate time as any to post this.  This is about the only time ever that I've been anything close to topical in any way, shape or form.

This is an early 20th century postcard & I suppose it qualifies as a comic.  I sure it was intended to be humorous.  And it does, in its way, illustrate one of the larger conundrums of life.  You make a life choice & chances are down the road you'll wonder what things would be like had you chosen differently.  Frequently people think a different choice may have been better, but there's just as much chance it would be worse.  You don't know.  That's life.

A deceptively heavy comic postcard.

I'm sure there's one of these for every month of the year, but this is the only one I have.

Comic Linen Postcard - Woman Needs a Pan Adjustment.

Some things just make you ask questions, and this one makes me ask "Why is this funny?".  I look at and I can find no reason for me to laugh or chuckle, but I do.  Every time.  If anyone knows why this is funny, please let me know.  I think it is, I just don't know why.

This is a comic linen postcard, probably from the 1940s, published by Tichnor Bros., Boston, Mass.

That's about all I can think to say about this postcard.

Comic Postcard - Boarding House Table Manners

 

I like postcards for lots of reasons - sometimes they provide views of things that don't exist anymore, sometimes, especially in the case of comics, they're a little odd. 

 

This is a nice colorful comic postcard, postmarked in 1913 - the state is Florida, but I can't read the city - addressed to Miss Nellie Herford, Marshall, MO., in care of Ben Hur Stock Farms.  The men in the postcard are embossed.

 

This card shows what is probably a sleazy character trying to get in good with whoever is top dog a a boarding house, with instructions on how to get a better selection of food.  Is it a comment on the human condition?  Probably not.  But for some reason I like it.

 

This looks like it may be part of a whole series of cards of this nature, but I don't know that for sure. 

 

 

 

 

Bamforth & Co Postcards - After Marriage Her Husband Will be Different

 

This is an early 20th century postcard by Bamforth, a British company with a long history in the postcard & film business.

 

This card is poking fun at several things, but in the end it displays a succinct understanding of the human condition.  (I mostly wrote the previous sentence to see if anyone was paying attention). 

 

Most people who do not live together do not really know each other.  If the only place you see someone is at work, or behind a counter,  you don't really know them.

 

If you don't live with someone, you don't experience the undesirable sights, smells, stains and/or bodily fluids that can no longer be hidden.  Humans are a biological species and as such are a messy sort, but that can be hidden or diminished UNTIL you live with someone. 

 

After marriage, a husband (and wife) with almost certainly be different than he (or she) appeared before.

 

I suppose.

 

Anyway, that's what I think.  Bamforth is a great company that produced thousands of postcards - many slightly (some more than slightly) risque.  And a lot that are just a little odd.

 

Update: Sold!

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!

Hammon, Mabel and Annie

Sometimes postcards are interesting because they show a slice of life - and this is one of those.  It is more interesting because of the message on back, and because it is one of a series of postcards we have that were addressed to either Mable Norwood of Battle Creek, Michigan, or Hammon Marshall, sometimes of Battle Creek, other times of Detroit.

This one was addressed to Hammon Marshall from someone named Annie, and Annie is a little upset and none too subtle about what her intentions toward Hammon were.  The text on back reads as follows:  "I'm very sorry I did not see you when you were in BC.  I heard today you came to see that Mabel N.  You know what you promised me. I never thought that of you.  You promised you would love me forever.  But never mind. XXX Annie."   Then in the margins she wrote "Let me hear from you some".

BC = Battle Creek, and "that Mabel N." is Mabel Norwood.

This is postmarked Battle Creek, Michigan, Feb 18, 1916. 

96 years later, I can feel Annie's pain, sense of betrayal, and a bit of denial, very common emotions for someone in her position. Annie probably thought that she and Hammon Marshall would eventually be married, she'd keep house and raise a family, and it's possible Hammon mislead her.  That's all conjecture on my part though. 

Most likely Hammon had a decent job and was considered a catch.

But as it turns out Hammon Marshall married Mabel Norwood.   Mabel was born in 1886 and died in 1974 - I believe Hammon died some years earlier.  As far as I can tell they only had one child, a daughter, who was born in 1923 and lived until 2007.   I expect there was an estate sale sometime after that point and that is how these series of postcards addressed to Mabel and Hammon (mostly from relatives) eventually ended up our possession.  

This was a little poignant slice of life, a little bit of early 20th century romantic struggles, and Annie went through a very painful but ultimately very common experience.   Most likely she found some one else, kept the house and raised a whole passel of children.

These events were very important in these people's lives - but everybody involved has lived their lives, raised their families, had their careers, did whatever they're going to do and have been dead for quite awhile now.  These postcards and old photos we list & sell on eBay make me realize just how short life is.  And they also make abundantly clear (to me at least) that these were real people with real emotions.  Nothing abstact about them.  There was real pain in the words written on the back of this postcard.

Update:  Sold!

Comic Postcard - The Whole Dam Family at the Beach

This is a comic postcard that was part of early 20th century popular culture.  It is a representation of the "Dam" family, from the patriarch (I.B. Dam) to the Dam dog, who is planting a big sloppy lick on the Dam baby.  There were posters, postcards, toys, music and two silent movies (The Whole Dam Family, The Dam Dog) based on this family with an unfortunate last name.


This particular card is hilarious - I laugh every time I look at it. I've even looked at it with a magnifying glass to make sure I caught all the nuances. 


Anyway, it's the whole Dam family at the beach.


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.

Only Enough Gas - WW II rationing - Linen Comic Postcard

This is a linen comic Curt Teich postcard.  It is circa 1942 (per the serial number in lower right), so that means it is World War II era.

It took me awhile to realize what this postcard was about.  It's a comic, but yet I didn't really see any humor in it, and comics usually make at least an attempt to be humorous.  But after some thought I realized that people in 1942 may have smiled at this - not because it was funny, but because it was so real.

The man in the car is pointing at his gas gauge, which is almost on empty, and basically complaining that he needs more gasoline, but the attendant refuses to sell him anymore, even though the gauge on the pump seems to indicate there's plenty to sell.  In WWII gasoline was rationed, and you could only buy so much in a given period of time.  I'm pretty sure that's what this card is about.

Just a little social history.

Update: Sold!

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?

Comic Linen Postcard - Love Thy Neighbor

This is a comic linen postcard, probably from the 1930s, perhaps early 1940s.  It was published by CurtTeich-Chicago, very big in postcard circles.  It depicts a couple of travelers at a campground.  It is also part of a series of 10 cards, though I have no idea what the other 9 cards are.

Linen postcards were popular from around 1932 to 1952 or so.  The cards get their name because they were made from ragstock, and you can see & feel the ridges in them.   Sometimes these cards have borders (like the previous generation white border postcards), and sometimes the ink bleeds all the way to the edges.  However the white border postcards have a smooth surface and linen cards do not.  Also, the colors on linen cards are generally brighter and more garish than earlier cards (and the later chromes for that matter). Subjects were pretty much anything you can think of, including comics.

Comics were drawn, sometimes even signed by the artist.  They frequently pushed the limits of risque-ness allowed during the era (you could buy these in any drugstore, after all).  Some barely hinted at it, and some did a lot more than hint. A few might have some strong social commentary.  Lots lampooned husbands & wives.  And some just had Scottish Terriers saying "Hoot Mon" to each other. 

Update:  Sold!

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!