Postcards

A Memorial Day postcard.

"Your story has touched my heart. Never before have I met anyone with more trouble than you. Please accept this token on my sincerest sympathy."

"Lincoln-Lee Legion. Love, sacrifice, service. Abstinence Department of the the Anti-Saloon League. I hereby enroll with the Lincoln-Lee Legion and promise with God's help to keep the following pledge." "Whereas the use of intoxicating liquors as a beverage is productive of pauperism. degradation, and crime, and believing it is our duty to discourage that which produces more evil than good, we therefore pledge ourselves to abstain from the use of intoxicating liquors as a beverage." "A sober nation and a safe highway."

An advertising postcard from the Lutheran Church Supply Stores, Philadelphia, Pa. Printed on the back: "Clergy Shirts in Color....Soft, comfortable, and elegantly styled, these short sleeve shirts hold their shape and color through many machine or hand washings. The new look in clerical shirts."

"Hurrah! Hurrah! The Fourth of July. Liberty. Copyright 1908, P. Sander, N.Y." The disembodied head of Uncle Sam appears to be exploding out of an oversized firecracker to commemorate Independence Day!

"Ach! ________ ve hurd yer talkin' schpielen vay ofer he-yah in Dutch country, yet! Signal received ________, 19____ at ________. Genuine hex sign." Translation of the fake Pennsylvania German : "Oh! ________ we heard your talking [while it was] playing [on the radio] way over here in the [Pennsylvania] Dutch country , yet!" This QSL card is a postcard that was intended for use in acknowledging communications between amateur Citizens Band (CB) or shortwave radio operators. The cartoonish Amishman is pointing to the location of Lancaster County within the outline of the state of Pennsylvania . Ironically, Amish do not add hex signs or any other decorations to their barns. I'm not certain of the origin of this QSL card. Perhaps it was sold at tourist attractions in Lancaster County when CB radio was popular in the 1970s, or maybe it was printed for a meeting of radio enthusiasts that took place in the county.

A postcard parody of a membership card for the "Down and Out Club" and an advertisement for the Powers Photo Engraving Company, "fastest engravers on earth." Down and Out Club of the United States of America No.: Back number. Date: Not yet but soon. This is to certify that after a thorough examination Mr. R. G. Brubaker has been elected a member of the Down and Out Club of America. His usefulness being gone is subject to the Skidoo Treatment. A. Hasbeen, president. To the woods. Not yet but soon. Walla-walla. 23 skidoo. Copyright 1906 by the Powers Photo Eng. Co., Fastest Engravers on Earth, 154 Nassau St., N.Y.

Printed on the back of this linen postcard: "Lesher's Diner, Routes 11 & 15, 28 miles north of Harrisburg, 28 miles south of Sunbury, Liverpool, Penna. Breakfast, luncheon, dinner. Specializing in steaks, chops, sea-food. Home-made pastries baked in our kitchen, Have your car serviced at adjoining AMOCO Station while dining in our delightful diner. 24 hour service. Photography by James E. Hess. Pub. by Mellinger Studios, Lancaster, Penna."

"1894 - A Carload of Walnuts from California. Copyright 1909, Edward R. Mitchell, San Francisco."

A QSL postcard that was used to acknowledge radio contact between Citizens Band (CB) radio operators.

A postcard showing New York City firemen with their new motorized aerial ladder truck, probably sometime in the1910s. "Battalion 2" is inscribed in the stone above the arch of the building in the background, which turns out to be a firehouse located at 92 Lafayette Street in New York City. Amazingly enough, the building is still standing one hundred years after the firemen posed with their new equipment, and you can take a look at it using Google Maps view . No longer a firehouse, the building is now home to the Downtown Community Television Center , "a community media center located in Manhattan's Chinatown on Lafayette Street."

A cheesy contribution to the Incredibly Boring Postcards group. Printed on the back of this postcard: "The Alpine Cheese Factory Viewing Center at 'Ohio's Showplace of Cheesemaking,' Alpine-Alpa, U.S. Route 62 S.W., Wilmot, Ohio." I had a chance to visit Alpine-Alpa some years ago (picked up this postcard there, but didn't get any photos, doggone it). This place has since closed, unfortunately, and the World's Largest Cuckoo Clock , another attraction at this cheesy place, was recently relocated to the nearby town of Sugarcreek, Ohio.

Parked over at the Incredibly Boring Postcards group. Printed on the back of this postcard: "The beautiful Monroeville Shopping Center, Monroeville, Penna." The Monroeville Shopping Center, known today as the Miracle Mile Shopping Center, was situated just a couple of miles away from the location of the later Monroeville Mall , where George Romero filmed his cult horror film Dawn of the Dead .