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Category Archives: Ephemera

S. S. United States Needle Card

Posted on January 15, 2020 by Bob Lawrence

needlecard

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.

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Another Cinderella

Posted on November 28, 2019 by Bob Lawrence

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.

GRAPHIC

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Tobacco Sale

Posted on September 14, 2019 by Bob Lawrence

Tobacco sale.  1940.  Big whoop, huh?

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Well, as I write this in September of 2019, there are four instances of post cards on ebay that feature this exact picture, but for four different sales…and not one of those cards is this one.  Curt Teich in Chicago really got a lot of use out of this photo, which was shot in b&W and colored in at the print shop, as usual.

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eek!

Posted on August 17, 2019 by Bob Lawrence

valentine

(this is a copy…all context is lost)

 

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PT-19, Fairchild M62

Posted on August 8, 2019 by Bob Lawrence

This airplane debuted in 1940, so the date on the reverse is probably correct.  Parks Air College (1928 – 1966) was the first federally-certified school of aviation.  Located in Cahokia IL.

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The card was printed by Curt Teich in Chicago.

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Cunard White Star Lancastria

Posted on July 28, 2019 by Bob Lawrence

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The ship was sunk just six months after this card was sent.  Read about her terrible fate here.

And I hope the lady with the excellent handwriting was able to see Gone With the Wind fairly soon up in Marion.

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Soldiers’ Home, Johnson City

Posted on July 5, 2019 by Bob Lawrence

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This was probably printed in the early 1900s – 1907 – 1910 or so.  “Commercialchrome” shows it was printed by Curt Teich in Chicago using their 4-color, halftone, lithographic process.

This vendor wrote their booth number and the price in ink.  Annoys the hell out of me, but post cards are hard for vendors to control with too many people either altering the price or just slipping them into their pockets.  It’s a hard-knock life, no?

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A Couple o’ Subs

Posted on June 30, 2019 by Bob Lawrence

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This is a K-class sub.  Distinguished service between 1914 and 1923.  The spray, no doubt added in the retouch department, conveniently obscures any identifying marks.

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And this is the mighty Nautilus, decommissioned in 1980 to become a museum ship.

These “Defenders of America” cards came to you via boxes of shredded hay, er, wheat between 1958 and 1959.

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Look, Ma! No Pods!

Posted on June 28, 2019 by Bob Lawrence

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All the skinny on this aircraft is here.

After a disastrous, but highly educational, experience with its first Comet iteration, de Havilland has a 30-year success with this 4B.

Sleek aircraft, but there was some concern (from aircraft manufacturers who preferred engine pods) about the engines and the fuel tanks buried in the wings.  Flew right well, though.

The card has been folded along its vertical axis.  Still a good-looking card, I think.

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Eight Names, One Ship

Posted on June 23, 2019 by Bob Lawrence

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Before this ship was launched as a troop transport in 1944, it was briefly named General R.M. Blatchford (Spanish-American War, WWI).  Upon launch, though, it was the General W.P. Richardson (explorer and geographer for the U.S. Army in Alaska).  Then it was the LaGuardia, then the Leilani then the President Roosevelt.  After that it was the Atlantis, then this Emerald Seas (1972 – 1992), and, finally, the Ocean Explorer I before it was scrapped in India in 2004.  The full history is here.

I think the card dates to between 1963 (when Zip Codes went into effect) and maybe 1970.  It was printed by Koppel Color Card Company in Hawthorne NJ, which operated in the 1960s, and distributed by the Color-Ads Productions noted on the reverse.

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U.S.S. Ranger

Posted on June 12, 2019 by Bob Lawrence

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Behold the U.S.S. Ranger, the first U.S. Navy vessel designed to be an aircraft carrier.  Plopped in the water in 1934, the ship made it through WWII (though, due to its relative lack of speed, it stayed in the Atlantic) and was scrapped in 1947.

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Vrrrrm! 1932 Marmon

Posted on June 9, 2019 by Bob Lawrence

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This card was light damaged, so I have changed brightness/contrast parameters to make it more viewable.

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Another Cinderella Stamp

Posted on June 5, 2019 by Bob Lawrence

fifth

This a more developed Cinderella.  It apparently came as part of a perforated sheet of stamps.  It has glue on the back.

In May of this year, a second well had just opened up in the Permian Basin in Texas…on land owned by the University of Texas.  Whoopee!  Break out the bubbly!

I browsed the AGA monthly issue that had notice of this convention in 1923.  The proceedings looked…well (pun intended), interesting to them what was there, I’m sure.

Nice poster design, though.  The stamp is 2.25″ x 3.5″

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Radio Expo!

Posted on May 23, 2019 by Bob Lawrence

boston

This Cinderella stamp is from 1925.  KDKA radio in Pittsburgh went on the air in 1920 and WBZ in Boston came on soon after in 1921 – they did a remote broadcast from this expo.  Surprisingly, there were many radio stations on the air in ’25, enough to spur a lot of interest in receivers and tubes…and batteries.  As former DXer, I know the excitement of pulling in some exotic, far away station that faded in and out as the ionospheric waves bounced the signal.  The much later, much lauded Sony ICF 2010 receiver has circuitry to stabilize these signals.  One up on the old Hallicrafters…

This Cinderella is 1.875 x 2.375″ on flimsy paper.  The orange-y ink bleeds through to the reverse.

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Same Thing, Big Difference

Posted on May 21, 2019 by Bob Lawrence

expo

This little (1 x 2.375″, no glue on reverse) Cinderella stamp has one thing going for it: it promotes an Exposition that was taking place the same summer as the seminal International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts in Paris.  From its French title, we get the term Art Deco.

3, 698 miles apart, same thing, big difference in influence.  And we got Erté, which is not a bad thing (the name shows up frequently in the New York Times crossword puzzles).

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N. H. D. V. S. Barracks, Johnson City TN

Posted on April 28, 2019 by Bob Lawrence

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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.

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Spurlock’s Bluing

Posted on April 21, 2019 by Bob Lawrence

spurlock

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.

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The Queen Mary

Posted on March 31, 2019 by Bob Lawrence

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:

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Here’s the back of it:

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This is a standard size card.  The message on the back is great.

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Havana – Nassau

Posted on October 14, 2018 by Bob Lawrence

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I live for finding these old airline handouts.  This one, when folded, is 4 x 6.5″.  It was issued in January, 1938.  The mighty Pan-Am Clippers!

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