Art Deco

Booklet published by the National Live Stock and Meat Board, Chicago, Ill., 1936-37, and distributed by the National Wool Growers Association.

"Sun-Ray Cigar. Pleasing to all. Mild and fragrant."

Only $20 for This Brand New 1935 Automatic Washer If you hold the lucky key you save $35. --- The first 200 women calling at our store will each receive a key. Yours may be the lucky one. If your key is the first one to unlock the padlock, then you secure this splendid automatic electric washer, a $55.00 value, for only $20.00. --- Remember: Be at our store with your key at 2:30 p.m., Saturday, September 14, 1935. Keys will be tried in padlock at that hour. --- It's the opportunity of a lifetime! You may never have such an offer again. Costs you nothing to try. Simply come to the store now and get your key, then try it in the padlock on the day and hour specified. You may be the happy owner of an "Automatic," a favorite washer with women for over a quarter century. Read the specifications at left of this modern, beautiful washer that any woman would be proud to own. --- Lowest cost per washing with its patented "Stokes" ball-bearing drive. Its quiet, smooth operation is a revelation. Automotive type control for greater convenience. Fast, clean washings with its modern, high-wing aluminum agitator that makes a full 5/8ths turn. Massive rust proof "Chamberlain" wringer with highest grade rubber balloon rolls Adjustable pressure. Newest type quick tension release. Large capacity Armco iron tub finished in beautiful white porcelain. Base and legs a rich black Efficient 1/4 H.P. motor specially mounted in rubber cradle. Newest and best construction known. --- Get you key now! --- A $55.00 value, for only $20.00 to holder of lucky key. You save $35.00. --- Levi W. Mumma, Flora, Penna.

A Century of Progress, International Exposition, Chicago. Good for one admission to Fort Dearborn. Price 25¢ tax free. 1833-1933. L. R. Lohr, general manager. Rufus C. Dawes, president. A-216172.

"Texas Centennial Exposition, Dallas, extends to Mildred Zahn, Resettlement Administration, the courtesy of free admission to the gates of the exposition from June 6th to Nov. 29th, 1936. W. A. Webb, general manager. 1543." As Wikipedia explains, "The Texas Centennial Exposition was a World's Fair held at Fair Park in Dallas, Texas (USA) to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Texas's independence from Mexico in 1836. . . . The exposition was credited for buffering Dallas from the Great Depression, creating over 10,000 jobs and giving a $50 million boost to the local economy." Sadly, William Alfred Webb , the general manager whose signature appears on the pass, died two months after the exposition opened. Mildred Zahn, the recipient of the pass, worked for the Resettlement Administration , which was "a New Deal U.S. federal agency that, between April 1935 and December 1936, relocated struggling urban and rural families to communities planned by the federal government."

A postcard used to promote the Crosley automobile during the 1939 New York World's Fair . Also on display at the fair were various other products, including refrigerators, washing machines, stoves, and radios, that were designed and manufactured by Powel Crosley, Jr. , and the Crosley Corporation. -------- Front: The Car of Tomorrow at the World of Tomorrow. As shown at the Crosley Building at the N.Y. World's Fair. Also the amazing Freezorcold Shelvador Refrigerator, Feather Touch Electric Magnetune Radios. See the newest of the new in home appliances at popular prices. Crosley Reado, facsimile radio printing. Crosley Camera, Press Jr. model, Gas and electric ranges. Electric and gas engine washers. Electric ironers. At Crosley Dealers everywhere. Back (printed not handwritten): My feet are no longer tired after what I've seen at the Crosley Building.

"The 14-Ton Giant Underwood Master, operating daily at the New York World's Fair, 1939. Underwood Elliott Fisher Company. Underwood, Elliott-Fisher, Sundstrand, Speed the World's Business, One Park Avenue, New York." As this linen postcard suggests, a huge Underwood typewriter attracted visitors at the New York World's Fair in 1939. For some amazing photographs of the oversized machine, see The Giant Underwood Master Typewriter , a posting on the History By Zim blog. Underwood Elliott-Fisher (originally the Underwood Typewriter Company ) also displayed a giant typewriter at the Panama-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco in 1915 (see postcard image below). Printed on the back of this postcard: The Giant Underwood Master Typewriter The Largest in the World Operates daily at the Underwood Elliott Fisher Exhibit in the Business Systems and Insurance Building at the New York World's Fair. This huge machine, weighing 14 tons, is 1,728 times larger than the regular Underwood Master. It required 3 years to build. Each typebar weighs 45 pounds and the carriage alone weighs 3,500 pounds. Letters are typed on "stationery" measuring 9 by 12 feet, and the ribbon in the machine is 100 feet long and five inches wide. Two box cars were required to transport the Giant to the World's Fair.

"P[olice] D[epartment]. Calling you my valentine." For another valentine from the same series, see Valentine Express :

This Valentine Express looks the Union Pacific Railroad's M-10000 , which Wikipedia describes as "the first internal combustion engine, lightweight streamlined express passenger train in the United States." The M-10000 streamliner debuted in 1934. For another valentine from the same series, see Calling You My Valentine :

"Greetings from the St. Clair Cocktail Circle, the biggest little bar in all Chicago... and the most novel! " Printed on the back of this linen postcard: "The St. Clair. Rooms, studios. Chicago's distinguished hotel-home. Ideally located on near north side overlooking Lake Michigan, Outer Drive Bridge, Michigan Ave., etc. Air-conditioned restaurant and cocktail rooms. Ideal home for a day, a month, a year. Hotel St. Clair. 2B-H1202." Hotel St. Clair was built in 1927, and today it continues in business as the Inn of Chicago Magnificent Mile Hotel . I doubt that the St. Clair Cocktail Circle is still around, however.

"Hotel Lincoln, Chambersburg, Pa. On the Lincoln Highway, U.S. 30." Printed on back: "MWM Color-Litho 'Bursheen' Finished, made only by MWM, Aurora, Mo."

Printed on the back of this linen postcard: "Ponce de Leon Hotel, Roanoke, Va. Located at the intersection of Campbell Avenue and Commerce Street, within easy walking distance of business and shopping district and of theatres. Every street car and every highway route passing through the city run within two squares of the Ponce de Leon. 200 beautiful outside rooms, each with individual bath, circulating ice water, and electric fan." The Ponce de Leon building in Roanoke is still standing, was recently refurbished, and now contains apartments and condos. Not to be confused with the Ponce de Leon Hotel in St. Augustine, Florida. See Lunch Menu, Hotel Ponce de Leon, St. Augustine, Florida, Feb. 26, 1888 :

A photo in colour for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. A boy and his toys--a pedal car and teddy bear--in a hand-colored Christmas photo, circa 1930s, from the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, area. Also worth noting: the small wicker chair that teddy's sitting on, the decorations on the Christmas tree, and the nativity scene below the tree. This is the same little fellow driving this same car out in the yard in the Sonny, Bunny, and Dummy photo:

A boy and his toys--a pedal car, tricycle, wheelbarrow, stuffed bunny, and ventriloquist's dummy. Circa 1930s, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, area.

Handwritten note on the back of the photo: "Summer 1938. My first straw hat, [which] Barley bought for me to go to ball games."

Handwritten on the back of the photo: "Tege [or Lege?], taken Jan. 1938."

Photographer's name embossed on photo: "S. W. Kuhnert, Harrisburg Pa."

"Radio Pineapple Delights. Contents 14 oz. avoir. Distributors, M. J. Caplan Co., Incoporated, Lawrence, Mass. MJCCo. Accepted, American Medical Assn., Council on Foods." You know about " TV dinners " and how they became popular in the 1950s, right? Well, I'm guessing that "radio pineapple" in the 1930s probably wasn't quite as successful. 8-)