Among twentieth century artifacts which occasionally confuse those who inhabit the century of the Interwebs is the slate. These can still sometimes be turned up at garage sales, but besides being breakable (especially when real slate was used and not just heavy cardboard painted black) they were also often given to children to playContinue reading “Chalk It Up”
Tag Archives: Postcards
Two-Faced
Once upon a time, I decided to make my next million (the first four or five hadn’t worked out) in the greeting card business. No, I did not warm up my toy printing press and start selling door to door. I planned to be a greeting card writer. Just like postcards, behind those brightlyContinue reading “Two-Faced”
The Great Divide
The Second World War was a period of frenetic scientific research in fields from medicine to meteorology. Among other things, it produced a study examining a way a man’s maturity could be estimated by what part of a woman their minds and eyes fixated on. Leg men, the study suggested, were the most mature,Continue reading “The Great Divide”
Snowbird Cards
So now it is October, that month when we see the days grow shorter. (Interesting phrase: do they shrink longer come spring?) In my part of the country, you can swear you smell leaves burning even in the middle of the big city, and cool breezes begin to dominate the air. Pumpkin spice isContinue reading “Snowbird Cards”
Playing It Safe
It is one thing to shout a warning to someone you see walking into danger. That is an understandable, almost automatic response, whether the person is about to step into a manhole or mail a few thousand dollars to someone who has a real deal to offer on oil-rich property at an undisclosed location. Continue reading “Playing It Safe”
Puzzlements
The thing about the fine old jokes found on aged postcards is that some of them have become obscure with the passage of time. Sometimes even a dedicated comedy archaeologist has trouble getting to the bottom of things. One of my readers made a comment about piling something or other higher every time IContinue reading “Puzzlements”
Marking the Cards
As you will recall from our last thrilling episode, we were discussing why postcards go about with their identity emblazoned on them. My theory is that this derives from the late nineteenth century weirdness that had the U.S. Post Office selling Postal Cards while private publishers sold Private Mailing Cards or, as they cameContinue reading “Marking the Cards”
Calling the Cards
When we mail a letter, we do not have to write LETTER on the envelope. Our packages may have notes on them about Media Mail or International Ground, but we don’t need to label them PACKAGE. Still, postcards go right on explaining to people what they are, with the word POSTCARD (or sometimes theContinue reading “Calling the Cards”
Bearable Jokes
In the folktales of just about every group of people around the world, the Apex Predator holds a serious place. Whatever animal this is—the lion, the tiger, the wolf, the shark—is the supervillain, the great threat, the ever-present menace, the shadow in the wilderness (In fact, the traditional folk villain role was sometimes deniedContinue reading “Bearable Jokes”
Whoooo’s On Second?
We have been going through my inventory looking at birds which are not storks or chickens, which seem to be out most popular postcard avians. We have covered such obvious choices as vultures and ostriches, and looked briefly into the postcard lives of pelicans, ducks, and geese. For reasons not known to me, IContinue reading “Whoooo’s On Second?”
Blogsy Babbles 