If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 696

 

 

 

 

Luzern [Lucerne], Bahnhof, ca early 1900s

 

This is an unused, divided back, postcard from the early 1900s.  Pictured is the Lucerne, Switzerland, railway station.  The number 1533 and Kunstverlag E. Goetz, Luzern is found on the bottom left margin on the reverse.  Aside from the title of “Luzern Bahnhof” there are no other identification marks or credits provided. 

 

This rail station is located in the Lucerne city center and is a major hub for the rail network in Switzerland.  The first station, built of wood in 1856, was on the edge of Lake Lucerne. The station pictured on the card is the “new” or rebuilt station that was designed by Hans Wilhelm Auer, and opened in 1896.  The larger new building was not just an addition to the older structure but an entirely new one with a distinctive cupola and turned 90 degrees toward the north and the bridge leading to central Lucerne.  The tracks were electrified in 1922.  World War I interrupted additional expansion plans and that work was not carried out. 

 

A fire in 1971 that destroyed the entire building with the exception of the front entrance gate meant the station had to continue operations with temporary buildings.  It wasn’t until 1991 that a new station, designed by Ammann and Baumann together with Santiago Calatrava, was built to replace the one shown on the card.  Today there is an underground shopping arcade and longer platforms, also there is a “generous public space that links various city center functions with the railway.”

 

For additional information, see:

 

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

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

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ammann_und_Baumann

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

 

If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 695

 

 

 

 

 

Lombadas Mineral Water Building, St. Miguel, Azores, ca early 1900s

 

This is an unused Vintage postcard with a divided back dating from the early 1900s.  The number 7 appears at the lower left on the reverse.  Along the left border, also on the back side of the card, is:  Café Tavares, Largo  Conselheiro João Franco.  No photographer is identified.  The place shown on the card is the mineral water building in St. Miguel (Michael), Azores.  I found the card in a shoebox jumble at the local antique mall.  

 

Although it is no longer being used, mineral water was bottled here.  Because the soil is volcanic and heavily enriched with carbon dioxide, the spring produces a natural sparkling water.  The water is also rich in minerals, especially iron.  Red iron residue can be found in the nearby stream beds.  The buildings in the photograph have been abandoned and are now covered in moss and other vegetation due to the warm humid climate.

 

São Miguel Island (Saint Michael) is called the Green Island.  It is the largest and most populous island in the Azores.  The island has six volcanic zones.  Most of the people live along the coasts due to volcanic cones and craters in the interior. 

 

For additional information, see:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A3o_Miguel_Island

https://www.discover-azores.com/en/lost-places-nature-always-wins/

 

If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 694

 

 

 

 

 Skykomish River, Washington

 

Used as an advertising postcard for Union Oil Company, this unused card features a view of the Skykomish River from a spot near Index, Washington.  The card was part of the Natural Color Scenes of the West series in “Tour the West this year with 76 gasoline”.  There is a information blurb at the upper left corner on the reverse.  See is you can find the spelling error in the blurb: “Skyhomish River, Washington, wends its way from the Cascades to Puget Sound amid such scenic beauty as this.  Take State Highway 15 from Monroe.”  The card has a color photograph, a one cent stamp required, and names the highway as 15.  This information can help place the date of publication to before 1954 because the postage rate for postcards increased from one cent to two cents in 1954.  State Highway 15 was renamed and became U.S. Highway 2 in 1964.

 

The name, Skykomish, comes from the Lushootseed name for the Skykomish people and means “upriver people.”  Nicknames for the river are Sky River and The Sky.  The North and South Forks of the Skykomish merge near the town of Index.  The snow-capped mountains seen in the background are part of the Wild Sky Wilderness.  There are several tributaries that feed into the Skykomish, that later joins the Snoqualmie River then together they join to form the Snohomish River eventually emptying into Puget Sound. 

 

The Skykomish is a large, wide, fast running river.  Many of the smaller tributaries also are known to have rapids and rushing waters.  When I was a girl, our family had friends who owned a dairy farm near Sultan.  One tributary, called The Little Sky, ran through part of their land.  All of us had been warned not to swim or play in the river because the water was cold, had a strong current, ran extremely fast and could be dangerous.  My brother told me of a time when he was staying there during one summer that the farm dog went into the water and was swept away.  One of the girls jumped in after the dog to save it and was almost also caught in the current.  The kids on the bank watched with fear as she struggled to reach her dog.  Somehow, she managed to save the dog and herself and they both ended up safe downstream.  All the kids who witnessed this event were told by the girls who lived on the farm not to breathe a word of the incident to their parents.  I don’t think anyone did.  It is not uncommon during the summer months to learn of drownings in pools formed in the river that look deceptively inviting but can be treacherous.  Watching that event probably was more a deterrent to the kids than the warnings of their parents. 

 

For more information, see:

 

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

 

 

The spelling error:  Skykomish is spelled as Skyhomish in the blurb.

If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 693

 

 

 

 

 

Jack Miner’s bird sanctuary at Kingsville, near Windsor, Ontario, Canada

 

This used Canadian Art Deeptone series, postcard was published by Windsor News Co., of Windsor, Canada and features of photograph of Jack Miner’s bird sanctuary at Kingsville, near Windsor, Ontario.  The inset at the upper left on the front of the card shows Jack Miner releasing a wild goose in flight.  The card has a divided back and was made in Canada.  There is a blurb at the top center on the reverse side:  "The Miner Migratory Bird Sanctuary near Kingsville, Ont. was established in 1904 by Jack Miner, farmer and philosopher.  It was authorized as a Provincial Sanctuary for bird life by the Ontario Government in 1916.  As many as 25,000 Canada geese and other birds may be seen there at one time.  Jack Miner was a pioneer in banding birds for the study of migration, banding the first bird in 1909.”  The stamp used on the card is a King George the VI, 2 cent stamp, first issued in 1937.  Canadian stamps do not expire and can be used any time after issue, with added postage if necessary to meet the current rate. 

 

 

King George VI, stamp issued in 1937

 

John Thomas Miner was born in Dover Township, Westlake, Ohio in 1865.  In 1878 he and his family moved to Canada.  The family had a free homestead at Gosfield South Township, part of Essex County, near Kingsville, Ontario.  The fifth of ten children, John did not receive a formal education and was illiterate until the age of 33.  He worked as a trapper and hunter in the 1880s and also in the family business manufacturing tiles and bricks from a claybed on their land. 

 

Eventually he became known as “Wild Goose Jack,” because of his growing interest in conservation and specifically in birds.  He first noticed that bobwhite quail seemed to have difficulty surviving winters.  He built brushwood shelters and provided grain to help the quail.  About the same time, he also raised ringnecked pheasants.  His interest expanded when he noticed that Canada geese were stopping at ponds on his land during their migration northward in the spring.  In 1904 he created a pond on his farm and used tame Canada geese to attract wild geese.  It took 4 years before wild geese began settling at Miner’s sanctuary.  By 1911 and onward large numbers of geese and ducks were arriving necessitating an enlargement of the pond.  By 1913 the entire homestead had become a bird sanctuary.  The provincial government provided funding so he could add evergreen trees, shrubs and more ponds surrounded by sheltering groves. 

 

Miner began banding birds with his own hand-stamped tags.  The tags had his address information and a scripture.  By this tagging method, and the return of the tags he received back, he was one of the first conservationists to determine the migratory paths of birds.  His efforts Increased interest nationwide and spurred on an expansion of tagging.  In 1916 hundreds of geese and other waterfowl.  Using the information from the returned bands, the migratory habits of Canada geese were mapped.  The tags were often returned by poachers, curious Native Americans, or the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.  They came from the eastern shore of Canada to as far south as the gulf coasts of Florida.  The tagging also helped to establish the U.S. Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 which represented an agreement between six nations making it unlawful to capture, sell, or kill certain migratory birds.  In 1923 Miner published an account of his banding and waterfowl conservation studies in Jack Miner and the Birds.  The book sold all 4000 copies of the first print-run in two months. 

 

The Jack Miner Bird Sanctuary was one of the first of its kind in North America, and remains in existence today.  Miner died at age 79 in 1944 at Gosfield South Township, now part of Kingsville, Ontario, Canada.

 

Kingsville is located in southwestern Ontario.  The town, incorporated in 1901, has a population of approximately 22,000.  In addition to the bird sanctuary Kingsville is also home to Colasanti’s Tropical Gardens which also attracts people from all over Ontario. 

 

For more information, see:

 

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

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingsville-Ontario

 

 

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