The National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers had just recently been built when the picture was taken (note the horse and wagon in the foreground). It’s a lithograph printed in Germany.
Author Archives: Bob Lawrence
Spurlock’s Bluing
Is that a cat or a dog? And that’s one hell of a pompadour on the kid.
Anyway, this is a 4″ x 7″ mezzotint trade card for a company I can’t positively locate; however, the printing company, Brandon Print Co. of Nashville, can be fairly well dated, since they did a lot of state government work. The earliest citing I’ve found for Brandon Print Co. is 1887 and the latest is 1913. The extant Brandon Print Company building, 228 2nd Avenue in Nashville was built in 1892.
The Austin Company
There’s a really good overview of the tobacco industry in Greeneville here.
Look around Greeneville at the smokestacks. See that “A” on the stack? That’s Austin.
This roughly 2.25 x 4″ luggage tag is probably from the mid-60s. The tag is still flexible, but the strap has turned brittle and has broken.
The tag is by Econ-O-Line. On the reverse is a plastic pocket for a provided ID card.
Pretty spiffy. Telex number and all. Also note the 615 telephone prefix. The 615 – 423 split didn’t happen until 1995.
The Queen Mary
I found these cards at a place in Asheville. 25 cents each! It’s been a while since I’ve seen a postcard in any decent shape for 25 cents.
The Queen Mary sailed the briny deeps of the Atlantic from 1936 to 1967, crossing the ocean 1,000 times. It’s now decommissioned and firmly attached to a beach in San Diego.
This is a 3 7/8 x 5 3/4″ card, printed England:
Here’s the back of it:
This is a standard size card. The message on the back is great.
Owl wonders – “How does the poor little thing eat?”USS Shenandoah
This is a modern real-photo postcard with no attribution. The picture, however, apparently depicts the USS Shenandoah (ZR-1), which was launched in 1923 and felled by a storm in Ohio in 1925.
Brassavola nodosa
Called the Lady of the Night, this orchid, originally from Mexico, emits a “white floral” scent after dark. It is pollinated by moths. It belongs to Mark Allison, who thoughtfully texted me when this came into full bloom.
Uncle Bob's Pix 