1960s Holiday Inn Advertising Postcard

This is a standard/chrome postcard advertising the Holiday Inn motel chain.  From the looks of the cars and so on I'd say it's from the 1960s.

Postcards advertising hotels, motels, restaurants and other places of business are very common, and postcards advertising Holiday Inns are as common as dirt.  But I like this one - it is very subliminal, which I suppose is a goal of a lot of advertising.

In this card there is an airplane, cars (one looks like a mid-60s Ford Fairlane, but I could be wrong), a Gulf gasoline station, a bunch of happy, good looking, decent, hard working white people kicking up their heels around a swimming pool, and even a trashcan to get rid of anything used, unhealthy or unpleasant.  The marketing people thought of everything.  The trashcan was a stroke of genius, no question about it.

The whole thing exudes safety, convenience, happiness and a natural destination for those traveling by plane or auto, a good place for families.   I suppose if you're traveling by Greyhound bus, you were out of luck.

If you'd like to check out my eBay listing for this card click here - the link is only good for a month tho.


Update:  Sold!

Snapshot of a Mom and Little Boy, with Rifle.

This is the reason I like snapshots - you just never know when you're going to run across something like this.   Just a typical suburban scene in America, a mom with her rifle toting diaper clad little boy.  Though I'm not positive, I believe this photo is 1960s or so.

I'm sure it's a toy rifle, and I'm sure everything about the photo is innocent.   But still, it's an interesting change of scene from most snapshots, which consist of people standing somewhere looking like they wished they were somewhere else.

Its a small photo, about 3 x 4 inches.  The resolution on it is not great either, in fact it's within an inch of being out of focus. This was far from being a professional photograph.

If you wish to look a the eBay listing, go here. 

Hello Ora, Where Are You - 1909 postcard

This is a strange postcard from the first decade of the 20th century.  It is a picture of clothing - looks to me like a skirt or dress draped over a chair and men's clothing of some sort hanging on a really neat coat hanger.  I originally thought it was a pair of pants, but heck I don't know.  Behind all that is a door with rather ornate handles.  Its a very simple drawing, as drawings go, but on the other hand it tells a story.

This card was postmarked Berne, Indiana, February 8, 1909.   It is addressed to Miss Ora Click of Berne (RR3 to be exact).  The message is printed and simply says "Hello Ora, where are you?"

That is possibly a very deep question, or maybe not.  I thought about it awhile, and decided to stop.  The physics of it is a bit more than I want to deal with.

At any rate, this little postcard is very interesting on a very subtle level.  The image, combined with the message leads me to believe that something was going on here, between Miss Ora Click of Berne, Indiana and whoever authored that question. 

Update: Sold!

Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF) Patriarchs Militant Parade Uniform

This is a circa 1880s-1890s cabinet photo of a man all duded up in his IOOF Patriarch's Militant Parade Uniform. 

When we first saw this photo we thought it was Knights Templar - a year earlier we had come across several parts of an actual Knights Templar uniform from the 1930s, and this looked very similar.  Another eBay user corrected us though, and was very specific on how this uniform was different than the Knight's Templar.  We did some further research and learned what a Patriarch Militant was, and some of the ranks and such. 

This brings up something I learned very early on in my "selling" career.  People who buy collectibles frequently know a lot more about the item than the seller does. 

Over the years we've learned a little about a lot of stuff.  We've concentrated on postcards & photos, and over time have educated ourselves in the different types, printing technologies & eras.  We've learned a lot about the physical properties and types of photographs.  We've gotten so we can distinguish 1860s fashion and hair styles from 1880s fashion and hair styles, but there are many people around who are much more knowledgeable about this than we are.  Sometimes they let us know. 

This is a neat, neat photo from the late 19th century. 

Update:  Sold! (finally)

Antique Photo Factory Workshop Man & Woman Workers Barrels Boxes Early 1900s

This is an antique photo of two people, a man & woman, in some kind of workshop.   No one wrote anything on this picture to identify the people or its age - we believe it is very early 20th century.  It is mounted on a larger cardboard backing & is a little faded.

There is some sort of light above the table, but I'm not convinced that it is electric.  The items on the floor near a table and a barrel look like nuts & bolts to me, but it could be anything.  It has an ornate, probably tin, ceiling.

I've gone over this picture with a magnifying glass looking for anything like tools or advertising I could identify.  Some of the items on the shelves have writing, but I could not read it.

I like pictures like this because of all the details in it - details no one gave a thought about.  This one is full of wooden barrels, boxes, shelves with cans on them, stuff piled on the floor, and on and on.  I have no idea what kind of work went on there, but it captures a fraction of a second of two people's lives.  Two people who are long gone, but who look quite healthy here.

Update:  Sold!