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Monthly Archives: May 2016

Canon Snappy

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This is a counter card for camera shops to advertise the then (1982-83) new Canon Snappy 20 and 50.
canonsnappyfront canonsnappyback

It shows damage from sunlight, otherwise this sturdy plastic card is in pretty good shape.  The item measures 10.5 x 7″.
This first outing for the Canon Snappy series in the United States came in September, 1982.  It cost $72 ($186 or so in today’s dollars).  The Snappy 50 had autofocus.  Which means that, just before you hit the shutter button, a measuring tape would spit out of the front of the camera, so you could measure the distance to the subject.  It was unusual for its day in that the measuring tape would extend to 5,280′, at sea level.  Just kidding, of course.  It was an infra-red system, common in compact cameras then.  Thank you, Google.

Trailways Token

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token
I found this locally.  In 1963, according to an ad in the Kingsport Times-News, Tays Farmer was the parts department manager at Daugherty Bros. Chevrolet in Gate City.  The worn notch at the top indicates it was hanging off something for quite a while.  There’s a blackening around the notch.  In the center front is what remains of a Trailways logo.  On the back it states “Travel Bus Trailways”.  (Only so much you can do within a circle, word-wise)
If that is, indeed, a worn Trailways  logo on the front, it’s the National Trailways Bus System logo and dates this to the ’50s.

Later:  on the ‘net, I managed to find another Trailways token very similar to this one, but from Bybee VA.  On that token, the side with the name on it is the reverse of this one; i.e., the “Travel Bus Trailways” side has the name on it.

This token is considered rare.

Deltaliner

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I sloped down to a local antique store this afternoon and, by digging a little bit, came across this tidy gem:

deltadc6
deltadc6reverse
No publisher is noted, but it has to be a puff piece for Delta, comfortably dated to between 1949 and 1951.  Delta took delivery of their first DC-6 in 1948.  They were retired in the early sixties as jets took over.  Why 1951?  Because, as pointed out on other posts on the web,  postage rates for postcards went up to 2 cents in ’51.  This was printed prior to that.

 

La Republique

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larepublicfull
A pre-WWI Tuck & Sons postcard, printed in Saxony.
The image is a hand lithograph.

On the back, along the left side:

Raphael Tuck & Sons Educational Series of Post Cards No. 406. “AVIATION”

ART PUBLISHERS TO THEIR MAJESTIES THE KING AND QUEEN

Description:

LA REPUBLIQUE
La Republique, an airship of the semi-rigid type, was built for the French Government by Lebaudy Bros., and made its first flight in September, 1908, covering a distance of 200 kilometres in 6 1/2 hours, returning to its starting point without descent.  In length it was about 210 ft., while it was fitted with twin screws driven by a motor of 80 h.p.  A sister ship to La Republique was La Patrie, which broke away from its moorings and was never found.  La Republique in 1909 also met with disaster.

Blue Q Robot

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This little (1-3/4″) chrome-finished robot was made by the Blue Q company a year after the company was founded in Boston.  they’ve now moved away from Boston and, although they’re still in business, I don’t think they still sell robot pins.

Doe River Gorge

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doerivergorge
This is Pardee Point on the old ET&WNC narrow gauge line in Doe River Gorge.
Looking east…there’s almost a face in the rocks up ahead.