Visiting Vintage

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Vintage Thanksgiving Postcards

I'd love to know if it was common to send Thanksgiving postcard greetings a century ago. I have never sent Thanksgiving cards but I sure love to see what was mailed 100 years ago.

"Thanksgiving Greetings" Mailed November 1909

"Best Thanksgiving Greetings"

"Best wishes for a happy Thanksgiving"

Thanksgiving Greetings - Mailed November 1916

Be sure to enjoy the vintage Thanksgiving postcards I posted last year!

Monday, November 25, 2013

We Gather Together

Happy Thanksgiving!
Thanksgiving 1967. My Dad's Mom, Stella Frederickson Hawes, on the left is holding the hand of my Mom's Dad, Howard Johnson. On the right, My Dad's Dad, Bill Hawes is holding the hand of my Mom's Mom, Lucy Andrew Johnson. My Mom, my (middle) sister and I are in the photo as well - my Dad took the photo.

Looking back I realize how special it was to have us all gathered around the same table. My youngest sister was born more than 10 years after this photo and after Howard had died. But this was my entire family at the time.

A favorite traditional hymn at Thanksgiving "We Gather Together"

We gather together to ask the Lord’s blessing;
He chastens and hastens His will to make known.
The wicked oppressing now cease from distressing.
Sing praises to His Name; He forgets not His own.

Beside us to guide us, our God with us joining,
Ordaining, maintaining His kingdom divine;
So from the beginning the fight we were winning;
Thou, Lord, were at our side, all glory be Thine!

We all do extol Thee, Thou Leader triumphant,
And pray that Thou still our Defender will be.
Let Thy congregation escape tribulation;
Thy Name be ever praised! O Lord, make us free!

I hope you will be able to gather together and spend Thanksgiving with your loved ones.

Sunday, November 3, 2013

1930s Seattle Business District

I've been in thrift stores and have been told they actually throw away used postcards!!! Can you believe it?! Those are my favorites! I've mentioned before I love peeking at the messages. This one from e-Bay is a bonus as it labels some buildings (although not 100% correct) and has a bit of a curious message on the back.
"New Washington Hotel, Seattle P. O., M. D. Bldg, Northern Life Bldg, Telephone Bldg, Olympic Hotel, Elks Club"

P - 100 Section of Seattle Business District - Asahel Curtis
back

Postmarked June 10 1940.

"Dear Tom, This is the best I can do in Seattle. There hasn't been a new P. O. built here in 55 years therefore Seattle is ashamed to photo the old one Hear's(Here's?) where it is located. Greetings G. Switzer"

I'm imagining that these two fellas, G. Switzer and Thomas J. Ashe, travelled frequently for business. For whatever reason, they promised to mail each other postcards of the towns' post offices. But Mr. Switzer was unsuccessful finding one during his visit to Seattle. He did pretty well labeling Seattle buildings in this one but it's quite a bit harder when you don't have the benefit of Google Maps. The building labeled "M. (D?) bldg" between "Seattle P. O." and "Northern Life bldg" is actually 1411 Fourth Avenue Building. Perhaps he thought it was the Medical Dental building which is three blocks further north. The Post Office was completed in 1908 according to King County Snapshots so was 32 years old in 1940 - I'd love to know where he got "55 years" but he was probably just being snarky ;-).

I do have some images of some of the buildings he's labeled - from left to right
"New Washington Hotel"

"The New Washington Hotel, Seattle, Washington"

"The New Washington Hotel, Seattle, Wash."

The "New Washington Hotel" is now known as
The Josephinum
1902 Second Avenue (Stewart)
It was completed in 1908 and still stands.

This was fun . . . I was looking on-line for Seattle post office images the same day my "new" postcard arrived in the mail and not very successful finding good ones but lo-and-behold, I open my flickr contacts' Photostream and there is a beauty right at the top. Thanks TrackWalker!
"Seattle P. O." AKA U.S. Court House, Custom House, and Post Office AKA The Federal Building
Acccording to King County Snapshots, it was completed in 1908 and torn down in 1958.
Check out the Google street view for the current Post Office in the same location. Really? (shaking my head) I'm sure there was a really good reason to build it that way without much character.

Less than a week later, I acquired my own postcard of the old Post Office

"U. S. Court House and Post office, Seattle." The Lowman & Hanford Co., Seattle. If you return to the postcard at the top of this, you'll see "Lowman & Hanford" painted on the side of the Empire building on the lower right - the publisher of this and many other old Seattle postcards.

Further to the right in that current Google Street View you can see The Northern Life Building now known as the Seattle Tower with the three spires on top.
Here is another view of the Northern Life and Telephone Buildings - 1968 from Seattle Municipal Archives. The Josephinium is appears left of the Space Needle.

They both still stand - this photo gives you an idea of how dwarfed they are now. (photo linked to Wikimedia Commons where it was found - Joe Mabel)

1411 Fourth Ave. Building (the one labeled "M. D. Bldg")
Completed in 1929 and still standing. (Photo linked to Wikimedia Commons where it was found - Joe Mabel)

The Olympic Hotel
411 University Street. Completed in 1924 and still standing.

The Elks Club (B. P. O. E. Building "Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks") was built in 1913 at the corner of 4th & Spring. It was demolished about 1966 to make way for the Sea-First Building AKA The Box the Space Needle came in AKA Safeco Plaza.
From Jasperdo's photostream

The building in the lower right of my new old postcard: "The Empire Building" was also known as "The American Saving's Bank" was at 920 Second Avenue - it was built in 1906 and demolished in the 1970s.

The Wells Fargo Center (999 3rd AVE) was completed in that block in 1983.

I just thought it was fun to examine this postcard and learn more about the buildings in it.

Monday, September 2, 2013

First Day of School

Three generations of first day of school photos - expressions of excitement and maybe a tiny bit of apprehension.

My Dad 1940s - Bremerton, WA (I reeeeally wanted that to be a Pee-Chee that he was holding but I don't think it is)

My Mom's school uniform - St. Joseph's 1940s - Vancouver, WA

My husband and his twin sister - first day of school 1967 - Bellevue, WA (neat-o Monkees and Charlie Brown "Peanuts" lunch boxes!)

My daughter's first day of Kindergarten

Saturday, August 24, 2013

Vintage Camping

Camping for leisure - Even in days we consider daily life with all the "then" modern conveniences a bit primitive, families ventured out to enjoy the Great Outdoors.

These photos are of my husband's father's family during the early 1920s. They are labeled Yellowstone Park, Glacier Park, and Fish Fry. I'm pretty sure the family lived in Conrad, Montana at the time.

My favorite ones are my Grandmother-in-law, Mabel (Fey) Robertson with her sons, Walter (the youngest) my father-in-law, Charles Robertson Jr.

I love that she joined in the fun and got wet up to her hips!

These are labeled Yellowstone. Mabel smiling (I'm pretty sure that's her) and her mother-in-law Etta Faulconer Robertson Everingham is next to her.

(more Mabel and Etta in Yellowstone)
Chains on the rear tires - must have been for offroading.

Charles Robertson and his mother

Glacier Park family photo: Charles Robertson, Charles Robertson (Jr.), Walter (mostly hidden), Etta Faulconer Robertson Everingham, Mabel Fey Robertson.

Glacier Park Campsite

"Fish Fry" This might not be a camping trip but a town-wide picnic or something

Sunday, July 28, 2013

Ye Olde Curiosity Shop

Joseph E. Standley established Ye Olde Curiosity shop in Seattle in 1899. What began as a hobby as a child turned into a business that has lasted well over 100 years. The Shop has moved several times but has always been on the central waterfront. It is still run by J. E. Standley's family. And while I would highly recommend visiting the actual store to appreciate the experience, you can also make on-line purchases. See more about their history on the Shop's website.

I have a few postcards (of course!) and hope to continue to grow my collection.

"Interior of Ye Olde Curiosity Shop, Seattle, U. S. A. Located in the Colman dock. Most Unique Shop in the World. J. E. Standly, PROP'R. Established 1899"

"VISIT YE OLDE CURIOSITY SHOP EST'D 1899. 1-Whale Jaw Bones 1 ton each, 21 1/2 feet, largest in U. S. 2-Skull of Alaska Buffalo, largest in the world. 3-Giant Clam Shell. weighs 161 pounds. From Equator. 4-Ivory Tusk of Alaska Elephant (mammoth). 5-Head of Arctic Walrus with ivory tusks 6-Shell, 855 pounds, fired from U. S. Fort Worden. 7-Navajo Rugs, from Navajo Indians. 8-Indian Totem Poles. 9-Saw of Saw Fish. 10-Indian Cooking Basket. 11-Old Ship Lanterns, brass. 12-Hat worn by Chief Seattle. 13 - Alaska Snail, petrified, 67 pounds. 14-Chilcat Blanket from Alaska. GROUND FLOOR AT COLMAN DOCK ENTRANCE, SEATTLE"

I posted this one on the Facebook pages of Vintage King County and Ye Olde Curiosity Shop. The Shop posted this about the items on this 1920s postcard:

This picture is likely from the 1920's. Yes, we do still have most of the things shown in the photograph. I will list them in order. We have about 3/4 of one of the whale jaw bones. One was lost from being out in the weather too long and about a fourth of the other was cut off by someone in the middle of the night (!) when it was chained to the outside of the building that housed the shop when we were on pier 51. The ivory tusk of an Alaskan elephant (mastodon) is on display near the front of the shop (inside). We actually have two. We have several giant clam shells on display. There are many Native American totem poles in our collection (some older and some newer) and we have many for sale also. We have always bought directly from the local artists and some from Alaska and British Columbia as well. We have more than one saw fish saws. We have many Native American baskets in our collection but not sure if this exact one is on display. We purchased many weavings from Chief Sealth's daughter, Princess Angeline, which were for sale at the time and we have kept some examples. We do have a hat that Chief Sealth (Seattle) wore. In case you didn't know Seattle was named after Chief Sealth. The Alaska 67 pound fossil snail is on display in the outside window on the north side of the shop along with many other things from our museum collection. Lastly we do still have a Chilkat blanket on display.

The back of this postcard did not have space for writing, just space for an address and a stamp on the right, on the left side reads:
"VISITORS IN SEATTLE SHOULD SEE: The Pike Place Market; Zoological Gardens; The Smith Tower, 42 stories, Day and Night View; Anderson's Bout Tour of Harbor through U. S. Ship Canal to Lake Union into Lake Washington; Mt. Rainier; Snoqualmie Falls, 100 feet higher than Niagara; Big Trees in Schmitz Park; Sea Bathing at Alki Beach; View of Harbor from Colman Dock Rotunds; Battleships and great docks; U. S. Navy Yard at Bremerton, 1 hour boat ride; Municipal Frozen Fish Aquarium in Spokane St. Wharf; Tropical Conservatories and Art Museum in Volunteer Park; State Museum and Art Gallery on University Campus. The Seattle Chamber of Commerce and Alaska Bureau will give you free literature, maps and information about sight seeing.
VISIT THE WORLD FAMOUS YE OLDE CURIOSITY SHOP and see the Russia Brass Ikons, Samovars; Carvings on 4 grains of rice; Shrunken Human Head size of a lemon from Ecuador; the Lord's Prayer on a pin head; Fleas in dresses; a duckbill Plattypus; a devil fish, wolf fish, musk ox skull, camel bells, old ship lanterns; Narwhal tusk, Aztec pottery; ships in bottles, old guns; India mask and real hand-carved Indian Totem Poles, one to forty feet tall. Big variety of antique brass and bronze, Fossil Ivory jewelry from Alaska Eskimos. Odd rings and beads; rare novelties, Indian Baskets, Bracelets and rings, daggers and thousands of other curiosities from every land and see.
Everybody welcome to Ye Olde Curiosity Shop
Est'd 1899 by J. E. Standley
BEATS THE DICKENS
At Foot of Marion Stret
The Ground Floor Entrance to Colman Dock
Look for the Whale Jaw Bones 21 1/2 Ft. Tall"

"Interior of the world famous Ye Olde Curiosity Shop, Ferry Dock Pier 52, Seattle 4, Washington U. S. A., on Seattle's historic Waterfront. In the foreground is 'Sylvester' the mummy and Cigar Store Indian. Most unique shop in the world, 'Beats the Dickens'. Established 1899" Ektachrome by J. Boyd Ellis.
According to HistoryLink essay about Ye Olde Curiosity Shop, Sylvester was acquired in 1955 - I think this postcard photo might have been taken about this time

"World Famous Ye Olde Curiosity Shop - 601 Alaskan Way - Pier 51, Seattle 4, Washington (Established 1899 on the waterfront.) Interior view showing Thunderbird House Front, Easter Island Carving, Korean Grave Figure, Cobalt Blue Foo Dog, Sylvester the Mummy (background), and Cigar Store Indian foreground."
This store is on Pier 51 (the above was on Pier 52) and I don't know which location was earlier but since Sylvester is further back in the store, I'm supposing it's a little later. The Zone number between the City and State indicates it pre-dates the zip code which came in to effect in 1963.

"Seattle Ferry Terminal and Ye Olde Curiosity Shop on the Seattle Waterfront" "Seattle Waterfront, Seattle, Washington, U. S. A. Modern touch to colorful Seattle waterfront is provided by the new $3,000,000 SEATTLE FERRY TERMINAL. The world-famous YE OLDE CURIOSITY SHOP is at left. Waterfront visitors are afforded unlimited sightseeing opportunities from piers which extend far out into Elliot Bay. Fireboats and ferries provide interesting maritime activity in Seattle harbor."

Guessing the date mid to late 1960s (it's after the Seattle World's Fair ended - the barrel poles in front were originally at the Ford Pavilion at the Fair).

Fun place to see; fun place to shop!

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Summer and Pepsi Cola

Summertime Pepsi-Cola ads in all their 50s glory. Weddings, poolside, beach-side, and patio fun. "Refreshes without filling", "The Light Refreshment", "The Sociables".

Much of the art isn't signed by the artist - if you have any information on who designed the unmarked ones, please comment.

Artist: Roy Besser