Owl inspects an “antique locomotive steering wheel”
Author Archives: Bob Lawrence
S. S. United States Needle Card
This needle card was issued by the Pioneer Merchandise Company of New York in 1952 (the small print reads “copyright 52 Pioneer Mose. Co. New York”. It should be “Mdse”. The card was printed in Germany. The reverse is the same as the front. Some of the needles remain, but the threader is long gone.
The S.S. (Steam Ship) United States launched in 1951 and, apparently, was a real hot item for a couple of years thereafter. It was fast, maybe 40 mph on a good day. It held the record for speedy Atlantic crossings for many years. It’s now berthed in Philadelphia.
A Typical Moonshine Still
I thought the guy on the right looked a little like Horace Kephart, but he died four years before this post card was published in 1935.
Owl Records Earl Eltanin
My buddy said he was having trouble seeing the caption on this. Here it is:
“Owl records Earl Eltanin, the ‘Lung of Love’, for his new release ‘Lung on Fire’.”
The words on the console are “Izzr Mxr”.
“Lung” is a word in Chinese that has to do with “dragon”, same as the Arabic word “Eltanin”.
Owl Directs
The caption reads, “Chat plays dead in a tense scene from ‘Chat on a Hot Tin’.” And Sherman Geppard says “Woof”.
Chat, the cat, is French.
Cobb Shinn
This post card, dating from around 1915, was drawn by Cobb Shinn (Conrad X. Shinn). References indicate that he produced around 165 designs for cards. He moved to illustrating children’s books in the 1920s.
Natural Tunnel
This is an old card, pre-WWI, a collotype lithographed in Germany. Pretty card, though, understandably, showing its age.
Another Cinderella
Cinderella stamp, that is. It’s 1.81 x 2.5″. Two colors on ivory paper. No adhesive.
The Grand Central Palace was demolished in 1964.
New Johnson City Country Club
Not only did someone trim this pre-WWI lithographed postcard down with scissors, but they also glued it (clutching of pearls, here) into an album. It remains a nice looking card, though.
Henson Airlines
Henson, the original Piedmont. This livery was used from 1983 to 1987. As far as I can tell, Henson used these Short (Bros. of Belfast) SD3-30s from around 1979 to 1990. This one went to Alleghany then was exported in ’91 to Canada, whence it had come. This is another Mary Jayne’s Railroad Specialties postcards, airline series.
Aerostar!
This is a postcard published by Mary Jayne’s Railroad Specialties out of Covington VA. Printed by Alleghany Publishers, Covington VA. Photo by George E. Lawrence (no relation). MJRS published a series of cards on aircraft. I think there are around 200 different cards in the series.
Anyway, Aerostar was owned by Professional Travel, Inc. of Louisiana. In 1981-82 the company was expanding. In 1982, they secured permission from the Civil Aeronautics Board (in existence from 1938 – 1985) to set up the airline and eventually secured three 727s from Eastern Airlines. In 1983, it was all over. Eastern repossessed the aircraft and the company went bankrupt. The name Aerostar has been used by an airline out of Kiev, Ukraine, since 1995.
Frigidaires!
Frigidaire introduced the Cycla-matic line in 1956. Standard postcard size. Frigidaire was sold in 1979 to the White Sewing Machine company and, then, in 1986 to Electrolux, the current owner.
Wood-Metal Kitchens
This postcard was issued between 1954, when Wood-Metal Industries began a small advertising campaign for its residential cabinets, and 1956, when the line was renamed Wood-Mode Kitchens. The company is still in business.
the overprint covers the phrase “no extra charge”.
Cinerama!
The Mark Strand Theatre, Broadway and 47th Street in New York, was built in 1914 and tottled along presenting shows and exhibiting moving pictures until 1951. That year, it became the Warner Theatre. In 1952, it became the Warner Cinerama Theatre. This card was issued sometime in 1953 to promote the brand-new Cinerama movie experience.
The building was demolished in 1987 to make room, eventually, for the Morgan Stanley building.
Kunzli/Mainzer Cats
The artist is Eugen Hartung (1897 – 1973). He painted many dressed cat pictures, which were published by Max Kűnzli in Zűrich, Switzerland. After WWII, these were published in the United States by Alfred Mainzer, Inc. of New York. This is an original Swiss offering, a lithograph (not a screened print), with the unusual deckle edges. This was a fun research project for me. I’d never heard of these cards before. Any comments or corrections will be appreciated.
Note the boy cats in the windows laughing at the girl cats. And the artist’s signature, which should have been in the lower left, has been cropped out.
