If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 692

 

 

 

 

 

 “Declaration of Independence,” painting by John Trumbull

 

This unused postcard was found in a jumble box of cards in a local antique mart.  It has the code:  R-45533 to the left of the dividing line on the reverse.  Along the left margin the publisher is identified as:  B.S. Reynolds & Co. of Washington, D.C.  In the area designated for the stamp is the notation:  “Place stamp here.  One Cent for United States and Island Possessions, Cuba, Canada and Mexico.  Two cents for foreign.”  These postal rates were used between 1914 and 1922.  

 

There is a blurb at the upper left corner on the reverse:  “Declaration of Independence, U.S. Capitol.  Painting by John Trumbull, in the Rotunda of the Capitol, Washington.  John Hancock, President of the Congress, is seated at the table, and in front of him stand the Committee of Five—Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert L. Livingston.”  Note:  while the blurb identifies Robert Livingston as Robert L. Livingston, other sources show him as Robert R. Livingston.

 

John Trumbull, the artist of this famous painting, was born 1756 and died 1843.  As a veteran of the Revolutionary War, he was most well-known for painting historical events of that era.  Four of his paintings can be found in the United States Capitol rotunda.  The Declaration of Independence painting on the postcard can also be found on the reverse of the current $2.00 bill.  In addition to group pictures, such as the one on the card, he also painted portraits. 

 

Three of the members of the Committee of Five, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin, are very famous figures in American history.  The two others, Roger Sherman and Robert Livingston, are generally less known.  On 11 June 1776 the committee was appointed to draft a statement to outline why the Colonies were seceding from the British Empire.  They were allotted 3 weeks to work on the statement.  The final version was published as a broadside on 4 July 1776, and the committee dissolved on 5 July 1776. 

 

Roger Sherman (1721-1793), is the only member of the committee who signed all 4 the U.S. state papers, the Continental Association, The Declaration, the Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution.  He also proposed the Connecticut Compromise.  Although he did not have formal education he became an early American statesman, lawyer, and Founding Father of the United States.  Despite not having formal legal training he was encouraged to read for the bar exam and was subsequently admitted to the bar of Litchfield, Connecticut in 1754.  He became justice of the peace in 1762, a judge, elected to the Governor’s Council of Connecticut General Assembly, a judge of the Connecticut Supreme Court of Errors, and Justice of the Superior Court of Connecticut.  He was also appointed treasurer of Yale College and received an honorary Master of Arts degree.  He was married twice and had a total of 15 children, 13 of whom survived to adulthood.  He was elected mayor of New Haven in 1784 and held that office until his death at age 72 in 1793.

 

Robert Livingston, 1746-1813, was also an American lawyer, politician, a diplomat from New York, and a Founding Father of the United States.  He helped draft the Declaration of Independence, but was recalled to the state of New York before he could sign it.  Livingston was appointed the recorder of New York City for a short time.  His association with the anti-colonial Whig Party caused him to be replaced a few months later.  He held the position of New York state Chancellor for 25 years.  He was the one who administered the oath of office to George Washington when he became the first U.S. president, on 30 April 1789.  Livingston was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society in 1801.  From 1801 to 1804 he was the U.S. Minister to France and negotiated the Louisiana Purchase.  He was a Freemason. He was married to Mary Stevens (1751-1814) and they had two children. 

 

For additional information, see:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Committee_of_Five

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Trumbull

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Sherman

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_R._Livingston

 

If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 691

 

 

 

 

 

Happy New Year, illustration by Frances Brundage, 1910

 

The two postcards shared this week feature reproductions of Vintage cards printed by Laughing Elephant, a small local company.  The card above dates from 1910 and the second card, found below, is dated 1930.

 

The first card provides the illustrator’s signature as Frances Brundage at the lower left, and a printed name with the date of the card, 1910, at the lower right corner on the front of the card.  Frances Isabelle Lockwood Brundage was born in 1854 and died in 1937.  Most of her illustrations include endearing children and can be found on postcards, valentines, paper dolls, and calendars originally published by Raphael Tuck & Sons, Samuel Gabriel Company, and Saalfield Publishing.  She also illustrated children’s classics, such as, novels by Louisa May Alcott, Johanna Spyri, and Robert Louis Stevenson.  A prolific artist she was still producing as many as 20 books when she was in her late sixties.  Her work is said to be highly collectible. 

 

Frances received training in art from her father, Rembrandt Lockwood, who was an architect, a wood engraver, and artist.  She began her professional career as an illustration sometime between the ages of 17 and her early 20s.  There are conflicting reports that her father abandoned the family when she was about 17 and that forced her to go to work as an artist.  However, census records show him still living with the family up until she was in her early 20s.  She married William Tyson Brundage in 1886.  They had one child who died before age 2.  Frances and her husband worked on some projects together. 

 

 

A Very Happy New Year, illustrator unknown, 1930

 

This brightly colored card with a message poem is dated 1930.  The illustrator is unknown, but the artwork is typical of the style in the 1930s. 

 

For additional information, see:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frances_Brundage

https://laughingelephant.com/

If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 690

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christmas greeting card illustrated by Helen Marion Burnside, early 1900s

 

Merry Christmas!

 

These three Victorian Vintage postcards are reproductions by Laughing Elephant, a small printing company in Seattle that preserves and reprints vintage illustrations.  The card above has the signature of H. M. Burnside [1841-1923].  She was famous not only for her illustrations but also for the verses she included on the cards.  Over 6,000 of her verses were put on Christmas cards and 150 of her songs were put to music.  She aspired to become a musician when she was young but she became deaf as a result of scarlet fever and chose to write verse and became a talented artist at a young age.  She also wrote several children’s books.

 

 

Christmas greeting with an illustration by James Brundage

 

Not all the early 1900s postcards have the name of the illustrator or their signature but this one was signed by James Brundage. 

 

 

 

Christmas greeting with an illustration by E.A.S.

 

This third card dates from the same era as the other two but has only the initials of the illustrator. 

 

For additional information, see:

 

https://blogs.ucl.ac.uk/library-rnid/2017/10/06/helen-marion-burnside-r-a-carried-the-radiance-of-her-very-soul-in-her-face/

 

https://laughingelephant.com

 

 

 

If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 689

 

 

 

 

 

 

Coit Tower, San Francisco, California

 

Featured on this unused Selithco [Security Lithograph Co.] True Color, from Ektachrome, postcard is a photograph of Coit Memorial Tower, San Francisco, California.  The card was published by E F. Clements of San Francisco.  The number 1652 and a blurb appear at the upper left corner on the reverse.  The blurb:  “Coit Memorial Tower, Pioneer Park, San Francisco, is on the summit of Telegraph Hill.  The glass enclosed observation gallery atop the slim fluted-concrete column, is 540 feet above the water of the Bay, affording a view of the entire Bay Area.”

 

Also known as Coit Tower, it was built between 1932 and 1933 using a bequest from Lillie Hitchcock Coit to beautify the city of San Francisco.  In 2008 it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.  The tower is constructed of unpainted reinforced concrete and designed by architects Arthur Brown, Jr., and Henry Temple Howard.  It has an Art Deco style that was popular during the 1930s.  Fresco murals in the American Social Realism style were painted by 22 different onsite artists and assistants.  Other artworks were completed on canvas offsite. 

 

The views from the tower of San Francisco from Telegraph Hill are spectacular.  There were two bequests from the Coit estate.  One was to honor volunteer firemen, the other to beautify the city.  Some have confused the two and erroneously claimed that the design of Coit tower resembles a fire hose nozzle.  However, the monument to the firemen is in the form of statuary located in Washington Square and is not connected with the tower.  Above the main entrance to the tower there is a concrete relief of a phoenix by sculptor Robert Boardman Howard.  The relief was commissioned by the architect and cast as part of Coit Tower. 

 

For additional information, see:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coit_Tower

 

 

If this is Thursday this must be postcards, 688

 

 

 

 

 

Laie Hawaii Temple

[photo by Loye Guthrie]

 

This unused postcard features a color photograph of the Laie Hawaii Temple by Loye Guthrie.  It is a Mirro-Krome Card by H.S. Crocker Co., Inc. of San Bruno, California and published by Hawaiian Service, Inc. of Honolulu, Hawaii.  There is a blurb at the lower left corner on the reverse:  “The beautiful Hawaii Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is at Laie on the windward side of the island of Oahu near the Polynesian Cultural Center and the Hawaii campus of Brigham Young University.  Construction of the temple was undertaken in 1916 and completed three years later.  The temple is one of the earliest examples of architectural concrete in America.”

 

The temple is located about 35 miles or 56 km from Honolulu and sits on a small hill ½ miles from the Pacific Ocean in the town of Laie.  As the blurb mentioned it is near the Polynesian Cultural Center and the Hawaii campus of Brigham Young University.  The Visitor center attracts more than 100,000 visitors annually.  Groundbreaking for the temple occurred in 1915 with the temple completed by 1919 and dedicated by Heber J. Grant.  Since then the temple was expanded in 1978 and rededicated by Spencer W. Kimball, and then after seismic upgrades and remodeling it was rededicated again in 2010.  This temple is the oldest temple to operate outside of Utah and is the 5^th oldest temple still in operation. 

 

 

Laie Hawaiian Temple, 2008

 

 

George Q. Cannon, BoPa (aka FarFar)’s great-grandfather, was among the first 10 missionaries to arrive in Hawaii in 1850.  There is a statue with a commemorative plaque of him and Jonathan Napela on the grounds of the cultural center.  When were there in 2008 we visited the cultural center and took a picture.  

 

 

 

George Q. Cannon and Jonathan Napela

 

Commemorative plaque

 

 

 

For additional information, see:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laie_Hawaii_Temple

 

if this is Thursday it must be postcards, 687

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanksgiving, ca early 1900s

 

This card is a reproduction by the small local printing company, Laughing Elephant.  They specialize in printing vintage cards, books, and posters.  It may not be the traditional cornucopia usually seen on Thanksgiving Day cards but it contains most of the ingredients from cornstalks with ears of corn, pumpkins, apples, grapes, and fall leaves. 

 

My wishes to all of you, Happy Thanksgiving!  I hope you all can spend time with loved ones, enjoy good food and conversation, lots of laughter, love, and share thanks for times past as well as look forward to things to come.

 

If you want to see other items printed by Laughing Elephant, here is a link:

 

https://laughingelephant.com/

 

If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 686

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edgartown Light House and The Harbor View Hotel, Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts

 

This unused postcard was probably originally available at the Harbor View Hotel, seen at the right.  It is a tourist card produced by McGrew Graphics and printed in Kansas City, Missouri with has the number 531180 at the bottom of the center line on the reverse.  At the upper left is a blurb:  “The Harbor View Hotel Edgartown, Martha’s Vineyard Island, Mass. 02539.  Telephone (617) 627-4333.  Overlooking our picturesque harbor is the famous Edgartown Light House.  The Harbor View at the right, is equally famous.”

 

In the late 1700s and early 1800s there were a large number of vessels, mostly whalers, frequenting the harbor necessitating a lighthouse at the harbor entrance.  The original Edgartown Lighthouse was a Cape Cod style two-story Keeper’s house, built of wood on wooden spiles, similar to piling, on an artificial island ¼ mile from shore in 1828.  It was the first lighthouse at the entrance to Edgartown Harbor and also served as the lighthouse keeper’s home.  In 1830 a wooden causeway, known locally as the “Bridge of Sighs,” was approved and built.  People would gather on the causeway bridge to watch the whaling ships depart on voyages that could last up to 5 years, hence the nickname for the bridge.  The old lighthouse structure, which had had several rebuilds and repairs, was demolished and replaced by the current cast-iron tower in 1939.  Today it is surrounded by a beach made of accumulated sand around a stone causeway that connects to the mainland.  

 

For additional information, see:

 

https://en.wikipedia,org/wiki/Edgertown_Harbor_Light