Washington DC vintage postcards offer a different view of our nation’s capital than what we are bombarded with on the news and I want to show a couple of examples of the beauty that existsin that city. The first example is a circa 1908 view of Franzoni’s Clock which is located in the National Statuary Hall in the U. S. Capitol. The design represents History with a recording tablet, borne on the winged car of Time supported on the Zodiac Circled Globe.
A second example of quality craftsmanship is the North corridor of the Congressional Library with beautiful vaulted ceilings and punctuated with great paintings.
Many of the paintings are found on the early vintage postcards.
The last old postcard shows the employees of the Bureau of Printing and Engraving at the U. S. Treasury hard at work creating the nations currency with good old elbow grease and nary a computer in sight. I don’t think they could keep up with the demand in this day and time. All of these postcards can be found in my Washington DC listings along with thousands of other postcards on my website Moody’s Postcards.
CATCH POSTCARD FEVER!!! Don’t let the sound and fury in Washington drown out the beauty that also exists there.
Posted 1 week, 2 days ago.
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The first image today is a vintage advertising postcard for Naaman’s-On-Delaware in Claymont Delaware. The reverse tells us that it was built in 1654, is on U.S. Route 13, Philadelphia Pike and Naaman’s Road and is open all year serving luncheons, dinners and private parties. This is a circa 1920s Albertype hand colored postcard.
Our second stop is a night view of the State House in Dover Delaware with the state seal included. This is an gold embossed vintage postcard and a night view which is very unusual in the state capitol series.
The last old postcard is a 1941 Curteich linen postcard with a great view of the Zwaanendael House in Lewes Delaware which was erected by the State of Delaware to commemorate the landing of the Dutch settlers at Lewes in 1631. The building is an adaptation of the Town Hall in Hoorn, Holland and is a museum and public library named after the original settlement in Delaware.
Delaware postcards are somewhat difficult to find except for a couple of large cities like Dover, New Castle and Wilmington so keep an eye out for the smaller towns in Delaware. All of these postcards are available in my Delaware listings along with thousands of other vintage postcards on my website Moody’s Postcards.
CATCH POSTCARD FEVER!!! It is a great way to learn all of the State Capitols.
Posted 3 weeks, 5 days ago.
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The first stop today is the city of Danbury Connecticut circa 1912 at the Hotel Green with a pool hall next door and a theater several doors down. A nice extra on this Leighton & Valentine Company vintage postcard is a very fancy automobile in the right foreground.
Next is “The Almshouse”, which is a seldom used description on antique postcards, which is located in Hartford Connecticut with a population of almost 100,000. This is an unusually large facility and the circa 1908 was produced by the American News Company, one of the larger postcard companies that used printers in Europe until the World War I broke out.
We now leave the poor house and visit the wealthy with a circa 1905 view of the residence of Mrs. Samuel Colt in Hartford Connecticut. This mansion is both beautiful and stunning as shown on this vintage postcard which is also an American New Company product that was printed in Germany.
All of these postcards are available in my Connecticut listings along with thousands of additional postcards on my website Moody’s Postcards.
CATCH POSTCARD FEVER!!! An exciting and interesting hobby for people from all walks of life.
Posted 1 month ago.
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I want to introduce you to an interesting set or series of postcards which celebrates the Governors, State Capitols, State Seals and an important moment in state history. These are undivided back vintage postcards which makes them a circa 1905 vintage and one of them is postmarked 1906. I do not know how many states are covered in the set but assume it could be as many as 45 which was the number of states prior to 1907. The cards below include two states which were not include in the original 13 states, Maine and Vermont. The set was produced by the Hugh C. Leighton Company which was located in Portland Maine and the postcards were printed in Germany with numbers on the back that range from 3621 to 3626. The postcards are shown below in the order that they became a state.
Connecticut was ratified as a state 9 January 1788 and shown are the State Capitol in Hartford, Governor Henry Roberts, the state seal and Charter Oak in Hartford CT.
Masachusetts was ratified as a state 6 February 1788 and shown are the State House in Boston, Governor Curtis Guild Jr., the state seal and the Bunker Hill Monument in Charlestown MA.
Rhode Island was ratified as a state 29 May 1790 and shown are the State House in Providence, Governor George H. Utter, the state seal and the H.M.S. Gaspee which burned June 9 1771 off Namquit Point.
Vermont was admitted 4 March 1791 and shown are the State House in Montpelier, Governor Charles J. Bell, the state seal and the monument commemorating the Battle of Bennington August 16 1777.
Maine was admitted 15 March 1820, after it was split off from Massachusetts with the state’s consent, and shown are the State House in Augusta, Governor William T. Cobb, the state seal and the engagement between the ships Enterprise and Boxer near Portland Main September 4 1813.
All of these postcards are available from the state listings along with thousands of other postcards on my website Moody’s Postcards.
CATCH POSTCARD FEVER!!! Get your history lessons from your postcard collection.
Posted 1 month ago.
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The first vintage postcard is a 1920s downtown view of Main Street in Delta Colorado which is the county seat of Delta County CO. At this time the town had a population around 2,500 and had 6,400 in the 2000 census. No business names are visible but the first building on the left has an IOOF sign on it.
The second old antique postcard is a 1920s downtown view of Main Avenue in Durango Colorado which is the county seat of La Plata County CO. At this time the town had a population around 4,200 and had an estimate population of 15,501 in 2005. This view of Main Avenue is looking North from Seventh Street, shows a trolley track in the center of the street, the Graden Mercantile Company on the left and the Jackson House on the right.
The last vintage postcard is a circa 1908 downtown view of Fort Morgan Colorado which is the county seat of Morgan County CO. The town had a population of 8,210 according to the 1910 census and an estimated population of 10,844 in 2005. The view shown is downtown on Main Street looking north with the Manhatten Restaurant in the left foreground with a huge Coca-Cola sign painted on the side of the building.
All three of these vintage postcards were printed by the Albertype Company which was a major publisher of high quality U.S. views in the early 1900sand are actively sought after today by collectors because of the quality, the small towns featured and images by photographers ignored by the larger publishers. Albertype postcards are not common but there is a wide variety out there. A prominent Georgia postcard dealer purchased the Albertype cabinet cards many years ago and these cards have been dispersed. The good news is that most of the cabinet cards were in excellent or better condition and the bad news is most were one of a kind. This is a powerful combination of reasons why you should watch for Albertype postcards. The company was founded in 1867 and was sold to Art Vue Post Card Company of New York in 1952. All of these vintage postcards are available in my Colorado listings along with thousands of others on my website Moody’s Postcards.
CATCH POSTCARD FEVER!!! Postcards have a great story to tell.
Posted 1 month, 1 week ago.
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California is our destination today and the first stop is Beaumont California which had a population of 700 according to the 1910 census, about the time this vintage postcard was printed. It shows the town on Egan Avenue looking South with the General Merchandise store in the left foreground. Keep your eye out for these small towns you have never heard of because it often means very few cards exist for the town because there just were not enough people to create a demand.
From small town to big city San Francisco California, the next old postcard is postmarked 1903 and brings Greetings from Cafe’ Zinkand with four vignettes showing the exterior, banquet room, ladies grill room and the bar. This is a great pre 1906 earthquake advertising postcard from a very upscale dining establishment owned by Charles A. Zinkand and located at 923 to 929 Market Street in the heart of San Francisco. The sender’s message is on the front as required by law until March 1st of 1907.
Our last stop is Redding California, population 3,572 in 1910, with a great view of the town on Market Street with a Harness shop in the right foreground and a boot, shoe & dry goods store in the left foreground. This is a circa 1905 postcard by Edward H. Mitchell of San Francisco who was one of the premier postcard publishers in the early 1900s.
All of these postcards are available in my California listings along with thousands more postcards on my website Moody’s Postcards.
CATCH POSTCARD FEVER!!! See the early 1900s in a new light.
Posted 1 month, 3 weeks ago.
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Our destination today is Arkansas and we start with Argenta Arkansas and the Iron Mountain Railroad Shops and yard. This vintage postcard shows the Iron Mountain Railroad yard with a group of five supervisors and three workers trying to figure yout the “puzzle switch” in the yard. You can see the railroad roundhouse on the far left and the shops in the background. If you don’t know what you are doing here you can make a real big mess!
Our next stop is Bentonville Arkansas with a circa 1908 vintage postcard showing the Massey Hotel which appears to be a new and is very impressive building considering Bentonville has a population of 1,956 in 1910 according to the census. Hotels are a very popular subject for vintage postcard collectors so don’t pass them up without careful consideration.
The last vintage postcard today is a two-fer with a dual view of two important industries for the local economy. This is a 1951 Curteich vintage postcard showing the International Shoe Company and Ward Body Works in Conway Arkansas. Industries such as these on old postcards are very collectible since they employed large numbers of people who, along with their families, would be interested in the postcards.
All of these postcards are available in my Arkansas listings along with thousands more postcards on my website Moody’s Postcards.
CATCH POSTCARD FEVER!!! They will keep you on the right track to a rewarding hobby.
Posted 1 month, 4 weeks ago.
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Arizona is today’s destination with a look at nice variety of vintage postcards. The first stop is in Ajo Arizona in Pima County which lies along the Mexican border and Ajo is just 43 miles from the border. Tom Childs and his son came to Ajo in 1847 to mine the abandoned Indian and Spanish high grade copper mines there which Tom had discovered 35 years earlier. Problems with the Indians had forced the miners to abandon the area. As recovery methods improved, Ajo grew and in 1911, Col John Campbell Greenway bought the New Cornelia mine, became general manager of the Calumet and the Arizona mining company and was quite successful. In 1921, Phelps Dodge bought New Cornelia which operated until it was closed in 1985. The vintage 1920s Albertype postcard below shows the business block ot the New Cornelia Copper Company.
The second stop on our Arizona trip shows The Escalante Hotel in Ash Fork Arizona, elevation 5,129 feet, which was built in the Old California mission style by Fred Harvey as one of his many hotels along the railroad lines in the Southwest. Fred Harvey also commissioned many advertising postcards for his elaborate tourist attractions and hotels and there are a lot of collectors today of Fred Harvey vintage postcards. This is a 1924 vintage Curteich printed postcard with Fred Harvey’s name and copyright on the back.
Our last stop is Benson Arizona with a great 1940s real photo postcard showing the interior of the Horseshoe Cafe. If you look carefully you will see local cattle brands burned in the three wood support posts, the boxes along the counters which patrons used to play the jukebox and on the ceiling is a very large neon light horseshoe.
All of these postcards can be found in my Arizona listings along with thousands of other vintage postcards on my website Moody’s Postcards.
CATCH POSTCARD FEVER!!! See the “old west” of 70 to 90 years ago.
Posted 2 months ago.
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It is time to get out of this Georgia heat and humidity and head north to Alaska. Our first stop is Anvik Alaska, population of 151 in 1910 and just 104 in 2000, on the Yukon River in the southwestern part of the state. This circa 1908 Portland Post Card Co. vintage postcard describes it as an “Indian Town” and shows the small houses on the banks of the Yukon River with large quantities of fish drying on racks.
Our next town is the Haines Mission, “Government Port” in Alaska which had a population of 445 in 1910 and 1,811 in 2000. Located on the lower leg of Alaska along the coast, gold was discovered just 36 miles from Haines in 1899 which made the boundary dispute between Canada and the United States take on additional importance. By 1900, there were four canneries constructed around the mission that was established there in 1881 however the completion of the White Pass and Yukon Route Railway in neighboring Skagway that year led to the Dalton Trail’s eventual abandonment and Haines’ economic decline. The border dispute was resolved in 1903 and Haines was determined to be part of Alaska. This vintage postcard by the Portland Post Card Co. shows a view of the town from the harbor.
Our last stop is the big city of Douglas Alaska which had a population of 1,722 in 1910 and today is a residential community on Douglas Island and part of Juneau. The town originated in 1881 as a place providing services to miners of the nearby Treadwell gold mine, was incorporated in 1902 and was larger than Juneau at one time. Mining moved to other locations and Douglas declined in the early 1900s. This circa 1908 Edward H. Mitchell vintage postcard shows a downtown view with the Douglas Opera House in the left foreground.
All of these vintage postcards can be found in the Alaska listings along with thousands of other postcards on my website Moody’s Postcards.
CATCH POSTCARD FEVER!!! It will keep you warm on those long Alaska nights.
Posted 2 months ago.
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Today I want to introduce you to some great Alabama vintage postcards that range from 105 years old to 60 years old. I will start with a circa 1905 postcard of the old covered bridge built in 1861 at Livingston Alabama. This old postcard was printed by The Albertype Company, in Brooklyn New York, which was one of the premier United States postcard printers when most postcards were being produced in Europe. Covered bridges are very popular postcard subject and you should always give them a second luck if you want to find a gem like this one.
The second antique postcard shows the Cahaba Station Water Works in Birmingham Alabama. This is a circa 1908 International Post Card Co. of New York vintage postcard that was printed in Germany. City water works were the pride and joy of towns as indoor plumbing became a necessity rather than a luxury and were often shown on early postcards to project a progressive image for the towns.
The third vintage Alabama postcard is from Enterprise Alabama and features an unusual monument in the middle of town. Unveiled in December 1919, the Boll Weevil Monument is the only monument in the world glorifying a pest. As the Boll Weevil devestated the cotton crops of the south, this city and county became one of the richest in the state by switching from cotton to peanuts and livestock and became the “Peanut Capitol of the World”. Not only does this 1951 Curteich vintage linen postcard give you a great monument for your collection, you get a small rural Alabama town view from 1951 thrown in which makes this one great postcard. By the way, that is a Boll Weevil at the very top of the monument so always read the back of the postcard which often provides additional information about the image on the front.
All of these postcards can be found in the Alabama postcards along with thousands more vintage postcards on my website Moody’s Postcards.
CATCH POSTCARD FEVER!! You might just get the postcard collecting bug.
Posted 2 months, 1 week ago.
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