uncleblogsy

And What Became of Maa?

It is always an accident when this column is insightful. (Who invented that word, by the by? Was there really no other word that could fill that space? We could use…no, we are NO going to use this space being insightful about insightful. It seems rather insightless.) In any case, I was justContinue reading “And What Became of Maa?”

The Animal Fair

Monday again already? That day of the week when this blog turns away from postcards I have for sale and reflects on a book I couldn’t sell? Why, yes! Yes, it is! Prepare for another quiz filled with old jokes devoid of punchlines, extracted from that quizbook I could not convince any publisher toContinue reading “The Animal Fair”

Reel Women Do Fish

Well, here it is: April. I am proud that you thought of my blog on April fool’s…okay, maybe it isn’t that much of a stretch. Anyway, you may recall that some time ago, we discussed the Old World custom of sending your friends postcards with fish on them on April 1. I can’t doContinue reading “Reel Women Do Fish”

Banker as Santa?

I have been led down another rabbit hole by a mildly boring art postcard, and I am going to take you with me as I reflect on the trip. But first, let me introduce you to a Chicago banker of a previous century. Lyman Gage made his mark in Chicago, where he startedContinue reading “Banker as Santa?”

Lime + Coconut

Here it is, the first Monday of Spring, a season of newness: new leaves, new baby animals, new flowers. BUT it is universally regarded as a spirit of rebirth: those new buds are on old trees which have seemed dead over the winter, and those old lawns are born again and will need mowingContinue reading “Lime + Coconut”

Double Dutch

When last we spoke, we were discussing the Dutch kids in love, those smiling, happy wooden-shoed children who, at least in American postcards of the 1910s, spoke a fluent Pennsylvania Dutch, to nag about why you haven’t written, to espouse certain positive philosophies, or to reflect on the course of love. (As noted byContinue reading “Double Dutch”

Wooden Shoe Know It

It has been a little while since we checked in with the Dutch kids, and their postcards do keep rolling in. For those of you who missed my earlier perorations on the subject, there was, in the 1910s, a mysterious (to me, anyhow) fascination with postcards featuring children who dressed in the folk costumeContinue reading “Wooden Shoe Know It”

Cabbage Collection

The city where I live does not want to let St. Patrick’s Day go by unobserved. It has been the custom, even in the depths of the pandemic, when the holiday falls in the middle of the week, to observe two St. Patrick’s Day weekends. In addition, there are plenty of people who addContinue reading “Cabbage Collection”

Oh See De CDV!

Last time, we were discussing the cdv, or carte-de-visite, a combination portrait and calling card popular for about fifty years, roughly between the Civil War and World War I. The vast majority of these were produced for use, rather than as collectibles, and do not benefit from having a name printed on them. And,Continue reading “Oh See De CDV!”

See de CDV?

The Interwebs informs me that the business card came first, and the calling card second. At some point in the seventeenth century (in Europe; China was two hundred years ahead, as usual. But they had printing first, so they had a head start) businessmen would drop these off at the offices or homes ofContinue reading “See de CDV?”