If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 228

 Crystal Palace, London, England, ca 1915

Shown on this postcard is the Crystal Palace in London, England.  W. Straker, Ltd. of London, an Office Supplies and Stationery Company founded in 1863 produced the card.  Like many companies that sold stationery W. Straker also printed cards.  This black & white postcard is dated ca 1915. 

The Crystal Palace was commissioned for the Great Exhibition of 1851.  Joseph Paxton, who was primarily a gardener, designed the cast-iron and plate-glass structure.   Paxton planned a layout of gardens, fountains, terraces and cascades but these all required thousands of gallons of water that proved too heavy for the original water tanks and they collapsed.  Isambard Kingdo Brunel, an engineer, was consulted to solve the problem and he came up with the two giant water towers shown on either side of the building.  Each tower supported water that was gathered from three reservoirs.  The Queen who was present when the fountains and cascades were opened got wet when a gust of wind blew spray over the royal carriage. 

The name came about as a result of an article written by playwright Douglas Jerrold who referred to the 1851 Exhibition a “palace of very crystal.”  The name was repeated so often that it was called that even before the project had been approved.  The Palace was erected in Hyde Park for the exhibition and stayed there until 1854 when it was rebuilt in an enlarged form on Penge Common.  It was there until it was destroyed by fire in 1936.  In 2013 there was a proposal to re-build the Crystal Palace but it was cancelled in 2015.  The park, however, still contains the Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins’s Crystal Palace Dinosaurs from 1854.   Hawkins was an English sculptor and natural history artist.  The 33 life-sized dinosaur models at the Crystal Palace Park were made using the most modern scientific knowledge of that time and created a sensation at the exhibition.

For more information, see:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Crystal_Palace
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Waterhouse_Hawkins
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isambard_Kingdom_Brunel

If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 51

The Guildhall, London, England

St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, England

Like some of the rest of you I have been staying up at night to watch the London Summer Olympic Games.  Since I did have these two postcards sent from London in 1907 I thought it might be a good time to share them. 

As mentioned previously, early 1900s postcards were often used for more than just notes such as as calling cards, invitations and as advertisements.  Edward Cheasty was a friend of I.C. Lee but he was also the owner of a haberdashery (men’s clothing store) located on 2nd Avenue and James Street in downtown Seattle.  Mr. Cheasty made regular trips abroad to purchase and order items to be sold in his store.  On at least one such trip he sent a series of postcards to I.C. Lee with a little note at the top stating where he was, that he was buying novelties for his shop and inviting Lee to come into the store and see these new items. 

The top card of The Guildhall was sent in January 1907, the lower card was sent in September 1907 and they could very well represent more than one trip to England.  The cards are divided with a space for a message and address on the backside but the United States did not start doing that until December 1907 so Mr. Cheasty has continued to write his message across the picture on the front side as was the custom and the law in the States. 

Here is just a little historical trivia about The Guildhall—During Roman times there was a large amphitheater on the site the partial remains of which are on public display in the basement of the Guildhall Art Gallery.  When I first thought of “guild” I thought of the various trades that had their own professional guilds or organizations not “gild” meaning money or gold.  Although I guess “trade” does suggest money or gold as well.  However, it is thought that the term Guildhall refers to the Anglo-Saxon word gild-hall or a place where taxes were collected. The first mention of the London Guildhall is dated 1128.  The current building was begun about 1411 and is the only stone building not belonging to the Church that survived the 1666 Great Fire of London.  It is part of a large complex that contained medieval crypts, a library, and a print room. 

Several historic trials have been held there such as that of Lady Jane Grey.  It also contains memorials to many famous persons including Admiral Lord Nelson and Winston Churchill.  Today administration offices for the City of London are no longer housed in the older building but are located in a modern building immediately north of the Guildhall.  The historic interiors of the Guildhall itself are open to the public once a year.  In addition to the Guildhall Art Gallery there are also the Clockmakers’ Museum and the Guildhall Library.  One of the events still held there is the Lord Mayor’s Banquet.

For more information see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guildhall,_London

Very well known, St. Paul’s Cathedral is one of the most famous sights of London and has been a part of the London skyline for 300 years.  It is located on the highest point in London, Ludgate Hill.  There was another church on this site dating from 604 AD that was remodeled and rebuilt several times the most recent replacement in 1677 as part of a major rebuilding program following the Great Fire of 1666.  The architect at that time was Sir Christopher Wren.  St. Paul’s is still a busy, working church with daily services and where Queen Elizabeth II’s Golden Jubilee, 80th birthday and the Diamond Jubilee services were held.  There are supposed to be postcard images of the dome standing amid the smoke and fire of the Blitz of World War II that were used as morale boosters during the war. 

For more information about St. Paul’s: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Paul%27s_Cathedral