If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 583

 

 

 

 

 

Originally a children's magazine cover, illustration by Fernande Cowles, ca 1920s

Happy Thanksgiving!  The two cards shared this week are vintage reproductions printed by the local small print shop, Laughing Elephant.  The illustration on the card above is signed Fernande Cowles.  It was originally a cover from a 1920s children’s magazine.  The second card, shown below, was a postcard issued most likely in the 1930s.  The Illustrator did not sign the card.  Note the button-up leggings, warm clothing and the morning glory border.

 

 

 

Originally a holiday themed postcard, ca 1930s

 

Although not all held on the same date, today Thanksgiving is a holiday that is celebrated in some form in several countries including the United States and Canada.  It can be a cultural, secular or even a religious holiday depending on where it is celebrated.  In the United States Thanksgiving is held on the fourth Thursday of November and in Canada it is held on the second Monday.  In North America it began as a day of giving thanks for the blessing of the harvest.  The English Puritans carried a tradition of thanksgiving with them that had started during the time of Henry VIII, nearly 100 years earlier, when multiple religious holidays were condensed into special days called Days of Fasting and Days of Thanksgiving.

 

Families sometimes add meaning to this holiday by starting traditions of their own.  For example, my son Q and his family started Pie Week several years ago.  Each day during the week of Thanksgiving a variety of pies are baked and eaten.  It is an extended family event with many hands baking and enjoying the results.  In addition to the expected pumpkin, pecan, mincemeat, apple or other sweet pies there might also be savory pies such as chicken pot pies or perhaps a quiche.  Along with pie week they also suggested that each person express a gratitude before devouring the yummy pies. Since this tradition was started when all 8 cousins were very young, this may have kept some small hands out of the pies before it was time for everyone to enjoy them. 

 

The most familiar first Thanksgiving story has a feast held in 1621 by the Pilgrims after the first successful corn harvest, in the village named Plymouth, Massachusetts, by the surviving colonists who had arrived on the Mayflower.  A lesser known, earlier, Thanksgiving was held in 4 December 1619 in Virginia by 38 English settlers who arrived on the ship Margaret by way of the James River.  That landing was celebrated by a religious celebration of thanksgiving with the charter of Virginia stating “that the day of our ships arrival at the place assigned for plantation shall be yearly and perpetually kept holy as a day of thanksgiving…”  The annual commemoration has been held at the present-day Berkeley Plantation since the mid 20^th century. 

 

Thanksgiving has not been celebrated continuously since the 1600s in the United States, nor has it always been on the same day.  In 1789 President George Washington proclaimed a national day of thanksgiving but it was celebrated intermittently.  President Thomas Jefferson chose not to observe Thanksgiving.  During the Civil War, in 1863  President Abraham Lincoln declared a national day of thanksgiving and asked for prayers to heal the wounds of the nation.  In 1870 President Ulysses S. Grant signed into law the Holidays Act making Thanksgiving a federal holiday in Washington D.C. for federal workers.  Congress made Thanksgiving and other federal holidays paid holidays for all federal workers in 1885.  It was under President Franklin D. Roosevelt's administration, and amid controversy the date was moved one week earlier during the years 1939 to 1941.  In 1942 an act of Congress changed the date and since then Thanksgiving has been held on the 4th Thursday of November.   

 

Although the Pilgrims of 1621 may have had turkey and venison, together with crops that they had grown, and food shared by their indigenous neighbors, the meal would have been much simpler than the Thanksgiving meals we have today.  They did not have sugar but may have used honey as sweetener.  No fancy pies though. 

 

For additional information, see:

 

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

https://www.history.com/topics/thanksgiving/history-of-thanksgiving

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thanksgiving_(United_States)

 

 

If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 582

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aerial view of Kronborg Slot or Castle, Helsingør, Denmark

 

It is always fun to find a postcard from some place where I have visited.  This card with an aerial color photograph view of Kronborg Castle was purchased at a local antique mall.  It is unused and not dated with no credit provided for the photographer.  The card is a product of Repoduktion Hammer Luftart, Copenhagen and has the number 101 at the bottom of the center line on the reverse.  Kronborg Slot has some claim to fame as it is the Danish Prince Hamlet's Elsinore Castle found in Shakespeare’s play Hamlet.

 

Located on the extreme northeastern tip of the Danish island Zealand, this castle was important as a coastal fortification at the narrowest point of the sound between Denmark and Sweden and a stronghold for the town of Helsingør.  In the beginning it was a fortress built in the early 1400s by the Danish king, Eric of Pomerania.  The king levied Sound dues on all ships entering or leaving the Baltic Sea.  During that time the Kingdom of Denmark extended across both sides of the Øresund.  On what is now part of Sweden stood another fortress castle and with two fortresses and ships guarding the narrow entry it was possible to control all navigation through the Sound.  In 1558-1559 King Christian III added bastions to the curtain wall.  Improvements in military techniques and improved striking power of the artillery resulted in additional extensions and advanced bastions in 1577 by King Frederick II.  The castle itself was then rebuilt during the time between 1574 and 1585.  A fire in 1629 destroyed much of the castle and it was rebuilt and restored by King Christian IV.  The exterior was reconstructed without major changes; however, the interior never completely regained its former glory.  Kings and Queens lived in the castle at one time.  It was also used as a prison from 1739 to the 1900s.  The convicts were sentenced to work on the castle’s fortifications.  In 2000 Krongborg was added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List. 

 

When we visited here in 1982, we were mainly taking slides and not many snapshots.  Most of the slides remain as slides but I found the two snapshots shared below.  We took a guided tour and saw the cells in the dungeon, went up the stairs to the tower, and viewed many other rooms in the castle.  

 

 

 

Partial exterior view of Kronborg Castle, 1982

 

 

View of the Great Hall, 1982

 

For additional information, see:

 

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

 

 

 

 

If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 581

 

 

 

 

 

The Golden Ball, Williamsburg, Virginia, ca 1970

 

The card shared this week is an Official Colonial Williamsburg Card produced as a Mirro-Krome Card by H.S. Crocker Co., Inc. of San Francisco, California.  H.S. Crocker was an early lithographer and was his company was the first to use offset lithography in printing called photochromes using the name Mirro-Krome.  The card is partly an advertisement for the craft shop.

 

I have visited a few of open air museums:  Bygdøy, Oslo, Norway,  Frilandmuseet (National Museum of Denmark) near Copenhagen, Denmark,  Kirtland, Ohio, Nauvoo, Illinois, Little Norway, Blue Mounds, Wisconsin, and closer to home, the Lewis and Clark Historical Park at Clatsop, Oregon and Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, Vancouver, Washington.  The outdoor museum at Williamsburg, Virginia is one that I would also like to see.  Like the other outdoor museums, this one has docents dressed in period costumes and craftsmen demonstrating how things were made.  The Silversmith pictured on the card is working on a bowl or cup.  The blurb on the reverse of the card:  “At the sign of the Golden Ball, the visitor finds skilled silversmiths fashioning by hand gleaming items of delicate beauty.  In this operating shop one also finds a fine collection of eighteenth-century watches, clocks, and jewelry.  Open to visitors year round without charge.”

 

Silversmiths use a variety of skills to make their products such as cutting and sawing shapes from sterling or fine silver sheet metal or even bar stock and hammering to make forms using anvils and stakes.  Silver is hammered at room temperature to bend and work the metal.  To soften the metal, it is heated.  Work-hardened metal that is not annealed or heated occasionally will crack and weaken the end product.  Silversmiths also use casting to create shapes like knobs, handles or feet for holloware.  These extra pieces are then assembled by soldering and riveting.  Traditionally charcoal or coke fired forges and lung-powered blow pipes were used in the annealing process.  Laser beam welding is a newer method used today.  Silversmiths also work with copper and brass.  Paul Revere is a notable American historical silversmith.

 

For additional information, see: 

 

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

https://www.iexplore.com/destinations/virginia/top-attractions-williamsburg

https://swhplibrary.net/digitalarchive/items/show/10448

Big Four Ice Caves, 2022

 

 

 

 

Big Four Mountain with a dusting of snow

We had not been to the Big Four Ice Caves for a few years.  The trail has been closed because the bridge crossing the Stillaguamish River had washed out and not been repaired.  This is an easy, short hike, with long board walks across wetlands and swamps and a well kept trail in between with a mostly gravel surface.  

 

Boardwalks through swamps and wetlands

Reflections in the small ponds made for pretty pictures

The repaired bridge

 

 

The Stillaguamish River from the new bridge
 

Bob checked to see if the the trail was once again open.  We stopped at the Verlot Ranger Station to make sure the bridge was fixed and to ask if the restrooms at Big Four were open since it is getting late in the hiking season and some of the outhouses are locked until Spring.  We were told that the main restroom at the picnic area had been the victim of an arsonist but the outhouse at the larger lot was open.  There is a nice meadow trail from the larger lot to the picnic area which makes this short hike a little longer.  The round trip hike is a slightly more than 2 miles with a vertical gain of about 300 ft.  Children can easily do this hike and we saw several children there.  The downed trees had all been cut and the trail was in perfect condition.  The day we went it was cold, with some sun and also clouds but no rain or snow.

Fall foliage along the trail, almost to the ice caves

Fall color along the trail and on the hillsides

 

There are small ponds like this one along parts of the boardwalks

There was a lot of fall color on the hillsides and along the trail.  We did not encounter too many people on the way to the caves, maybe because we started early, but by the end of the day there were lots people and dogs.  

 

The big warning sign by the picnic area

A couple of the cracks in the surface of the snow and ice can easily been seen

 

The run off water from above comes down behind the accumulated snow and ice and flows under it melting and creating the cave openings.  This time there were only two openings but sometimes there are three or four openings. 

People wanting to get a closer look or take pictures are also taking a big risk getting this close

Signs warning of the dangers of getting too close to the caves are well posted at the picnic area and near the caves.  Hikers are supposed to stay on the trail but many do not.  Some even venture into the caves.  We stayed on the trail, used zoom lens to take some pictures and could see big cracks in the ice/snow.  That did not stop of lot of people from going off trail and some going inside the caves despite the various warnings. 

 

Total for the day:  105 hikers, 22 dogs.

  

 

 

If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 580

 

 

 

 

 

Grand Coulee Dam, Washington, ca 1940

 

Featured on this fine-grained linen card is either a drawing or a tinted photograph of what the Grand Coulee Dam was to look like when it was completed.  The card was printed and published by E.C. Kropp Co., of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  Work on the dam began in 1933 with the dam opening on 1 June 1942.  Since the dam was not completed until 1942 and there is no postal code included on the card, we can know that the card was produced prior to 1942.  There is a blurb on the reverse at the upper right: “’Called the Eighth Wonder of the World,’ this dam, when finished, will be over 4,300 feet long at the crest and will cover 30 acres.  It will be the largest in volume and the second highest in masonry dams in the world.”  The number 19191 appears at the upper right on the reverse.

 

In 1898 E.C. Kropp began producing “chromolithographic” cards as souvenir and private mailing cards using the name Kropp.  In 1907 the E.C. Kropp Company was founded in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and increased the number of postcards produced on various subjects.  The company’s linen cards were known to have a finer grain than other linen cards.  The company was bought out in 1956 by L.L. Cook and today is part of the GAF Corp. U.S.

 

Grand Coulee Dam is a concrete gravity dam on the Columbia River.  Originally the dam had two powerhouses.  A third powerhouse, to increase energy production, started in 1967 was completed in 1974.  The addition of the third powerhouse required demolishing the northeast side of the dam and building a new fore-bay section.  The 12 older turbines and generators were altered to incorporate 6 of the largest generators available.  This dam is the largest power station in the United States.  The reservoir is called Franklin Delano Roosevelt Lake after President Roosevelt who presided over the dam’s authorization and completion. 

 

Grand Coulee Dam, 1985
 

 Upper Grand Coulee with part of the lake, 1985

 

Upper Grand Coulee with FDR monument, 1985
 

 Closer profile view of the FDR monument, 1985

 

 

For additional information, see:

 

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

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

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:E._C._Kropp_Co.

http://www.sentfromthepastpostcards.com/index.php/publishers/e-c-kropp-co/