If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 776

 

 

 

 

 

Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch, Bushnell Park, Hartford, Connecticut

 

A color photograph of the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch in Bushnell Park, Hartford, Connecticut is featured on this unused Dexter Press Inc. postcard.  Dexter Press is located in West Nyack, New York.  The card was published by NATCO as a Natural Color Cards Co., Ridgefield Park, N.J. 07660.  The code 60-B appears at the lower left corner on the reverse.  At the upper left corner on the reverse is a blurb:  “Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Memorial Arch.  Erected in 1856, on the edge of Bushnell Park, Hartford, Conn.  Both two letter abbreviations for U.S. states and postal zip codes began in 1963.  Because the publisher’s address includes a postal Zip code, and the state is abbreviated as Conn. Instead of CT, we can estimate the date of the card to be in close to 1963. This was confirmed when I checked the Dexter Press Inventory numbers.  Series 60-B was printed in 1963.  Dexter started using a high gloss finish seen on this card with a color picture also around 1960.

 

The Memorial Arch honors the 4,000 Hartford citizens who served in the American Civil War.  That total includes 400 who gave their lives for the Union cause.  It was the first permanent memorial arch to be built in America.  Notice the difference in the date on the blurb, 1856, and the actual conception and completion dates of 1879 and 1886.  George Keller, architect desined the arch.  The Gothic arch is flanked by two Norman Towers.  Spanning the arch is a classical frieze was designed by Samuel James Kitson.  It has statues telling the story of the war.  General Ulysses S. Grant is surveying his troops and Marines leaping from a boat to rush Confederate troops.  The central female figure represents the City of Hartford and is surrounded by her citizens welcoming the soldiers home after the war ends.  The Navy is represented by an anchor, the Artillery by a crossed cannon, crossed sabers for the Cavalry, and crossed rifles for the Infantry.  Other statues on the arch include a mason, a carpenter, a blacksmith, and a farmer.

 

Built in 1868 Bushnell Park is the second oldest publicly funded park in the United States.  In 1970 the park was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

 

For additional information, see:

 

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

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

https://postcardhistory.net/2021/10/dating-dexter-press-postcards/