If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 440

The Conway Mastodon, The Ohio Historical Center, Columbus, Ohio, ca 1970s

This postcard has a photograph by Paul M. Rowe of the Conway Mastodon found in Clark County, Ohio in 1875.  The skeleton was on display in the Orton Museum at the Ohio State University until the early 1970s when it was moved to the Ohio Historical Center in Columbus.  The unused postcard was published by Aladdin Studio, Columbus, Ohio and made by Dexter Press, Inc. of West Nyack, New York.  The number 77889-C appears under the space allotted for a stamp on the reverse.  The Conway Mastodon skeleton is regarded as one of the largest and finest examples in the United States.

Weighing about 4 or 5 tons the American Mastodon, found in the eastern states, was built like a tank with heavy, stout limbs, broad shoulders, a low cranium, two or three teeth in each jaw for masticating twigs, branches, and aquatic vegetation.  Its distant cousins, the woolly mammoth and the Columbian mammoth, found in the western states, had more slender limbs, slopping backs, humped craniums and only one tooth in each jaw better for grinding abrasive grasses. All three stood about 10 feet high at the shoulder.  Mammoths are more closely related to Asian elephants while mastodons do not have any surviving relatives.

Mastodons lived in herds and were mostly forest dwelling with a mixed browsing and grazing diet similar to living elephants.   They probably disappeared from North America about 10,500 years ago as part of a mass extinction believed to been caused by the pressures of human hunting. 

For more information, see:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mastodon
https://geosurvey.ohiodnr.gov/portals/geosurvey/PDFs/Newsletter/Winter90.pdf
https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/the-conway-mastodon/BwGDwrm_nFRCHg

If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 439

Hardenberg Castle, near Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany, ca 1911

This used postcard has a photograph of the ruins of Hardenberg Castle, seen at the top of the hill, located on the river Leine, about 10 km or approximately 6 miles north of Göttingen, Germany.  The card has a postmark date of 2? 8 11 [2? August 1911].  The handwritten date in the message is 24 August with no year.   The card has the number 22407 and the name of the publisher:  Kunstverlagsantalt A. J. Bellson, Cassel, Wolfsschlucht 13, printed along the left margin on the reverse.  The picture is a “Real Photo” and A.J.Bellson was an art publishing company. 

Both the castle and the town of Göttingen have beginnings around 1100, with what became eventually a city, first part of a village called Gutingi in 953 AD.   The city was formally founded between 1150 and 1200 AD and the Electors of Mainz built the castle about 1101.  In medieval times the city was a member of the Hanseatic League and a wealthy town.  In 1409 the ownership of the castle was split between two family branches.  A thunderstorm in 1698 partially destroyed the castle and it was abandoned in 1720 eventually becoming a ruin.  Descendants of the Hardenberg family still own the castle but live in a nearby manor house.  The Hardenberg-Wilthen distillery was founded in 1700 and today is the second largest liquor producer in Germany. 

Visitors can take tours of the castle ruins and grounds.

For additional information, see:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nörten-Hardenberg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Göttingen
http://www.pizzatravel.com.ua/eng/germany/9/castle_and_palace_hardenberg

If this Thursday it must be postcards, 438

Vintage Valentine, ca 1910

Recently I stumbled upon some reproduced vintage illustrations that had been made into oversized postcards, Valentines and books of postcards.  LAUGHINGELEPHANT.com specializes in Victorian and Vintage postcards, books, greeting cards, stickers, notebooks and other gift items.  Since it is the day before Valentine's I chose three to share this week.  Although they are not dated, the name of the illustrator was given on two of the cards and the style appears to be from the early 1900s. 

The card above has the artist's signature, Rose O'Neill, at the lower left.  Rose Cecil O'Neill 1874-1944) had a successful career as a magazine and book illustrator.  She is the creator of the Kewpie, (from Cupid) seen on card.  Her Kewpie cartoons debuted in a 1909 Ladies Home Journal and by 1912 Kewpie dolls were being manufactured by the German porcelain company,  J.D. Kestner.  Later Kewpie dolls made of composition and celluloid were one of the first mass produced and marketed toys in the United States.  The Kewpie cartoon figure was the most widely known cartoon character until Mickey Mouse arrived on the scene.  The character and the dolls made O'Neill's fortune and fame. For a time she was the highest paid female illustrator in the world.  Besides the Kewpie characters O'Neill was active in the women's suffrage movement. She also wrote several novels and books of poetry.

Vintage Valentine, ca 1910

This second postcard, above, has an illustration by Ellen Hattie Clapsaddle (1865-1934) who was one of the most prolific postcard and greeting card artists of her era.  She specialized in one sided cards that could be used as postcards or kept as souvenirs.  She was a freelance artist and her works were often used in advertising, calendars, paper fans, porcelain goods, and on trading and greeting cards.  Clapsaddle is credited with over 3,000 souvenir/postcard designs.

Valentine, ca 1900-1910

The third card does not have the full name of the artist only what looks like the initials "LL" at the lower right by the hem of the dress.  Judging from the style of the women's dress and hat it appears to date slightly earlier than the other two cards, perhaps between 1900 and 1910.  The box I purchased has several more cards so if I can find out anything else about the other cards they might pop up for Valentine's Day 2021.

Pope Gelasius I established and designated the 14th of February as the Feast of Saint Valentine in 496 AD in honor of the Christian martyr, Saint Valentine of Rome, who died on that date in 269 AD.  February 14th first became associated with romantic love in the 1300s during a period of courtly love.  By the 18th century it had grown into an occasion for couples to express their love for each other by presenting flowers, confections, and greeting cards called “valentines.”  Candy companies, like Cadbury, were creating fancy heart shaped, decorated boxes filled with chocolates.  Besides the heart other common Valentine’s Day images included a winged Cupid, doves or lovebirds, and flowers. 

While not an official holiday, people in many countries observe Valentine’s Day.  Typical gifts in the 19th century included flowers, candies and handwritten notes and handmade lacy cards with expressions of love and romance.  Mass produced greetings cards later replaced the handmade valentines.  By the second half of the 20th century the sending of cards had grown to the giving of all manner of gifts including jewelry. Millions of valentines are exchanged each year.  Today it is also possible to send e-cards, love coupons, and printable greeting cards on the Internet.

In the United States about 190 million Valentine’s Day cards are sent each year, mostly to children.  Additionally school children exchange millions of valentines with classmates, teachers and friends.  In addition to chocolates, small conversation hearts with messages on them have been associated with Valentine’s Day.  Individually wrapped Dove chocolates also contain messages and come wrapped in pink foil around Valentine’s Day.  Small chocolates, such as, Hershey’s Kisses and Hugs & Kisses are also wrapped in red or pink foil at this time of year. 

Interested in vintage artwork, cards, books etc?  Check out LAUGHINGELEPHANT.com.

For additional information, see:

https://laughingelephant.com/39503/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentine’s_Day
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose_O'Neill
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellen_Clapsaddle

If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 437

Ernest Ansermet
[photo from the collection of Laurent Kasper-Ansermet]

This week’s postcard is a first day cover, a postage stamp on a cover, postcard or stamped envelope.  First day covers frequently have a pictorial cancellation, such as this one with the music treble clef, name of the city, and the date.  The card is unused; therefore, it was not sent through the mail and not cancelled as most stamps are on used cards.  This type of card is a collector item but not as coveted as a used and officially cancelled card on the exact day or first day of issue.  A card like this one might have had the first day postmark applied weeks or even months after the date indicated so there is no way to tell if the card was purchased on the exact date printed in the cancellation.  First day covers often have an illustration that relates to the theme of the stamp.  This type of illustration is called a cachet.  The photograph of Ernest Ansermet on the right side is the cachet on this postcard.

Ernest Ansermet (1883-1969) was a Swiss orchestra conductor who rose to international prominence after World War II through a long-term association with Decca Records.  Originally he was a mathematics professor at the University of Lausanne.  He began conducting in 1912 at the Casino in Montreux, then between 1915 and 1923 he was the conductor for Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes.   During those years he met and consulted with Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel about how their works should be performed.  He also met Igor Stravinsky and began a lifelong interest and association with Russian music.  In 1918 he founded his own orchestra, the Orchestre de la Suisse romande (OSR).  He became famous for accurate performances of difficult modern music on his travels in Europe and America.   He was also one of the first in the field of classical music to take jazz seriously.

For more information, see:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_day_of_issue
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Ansermet