We were so busy in history class in my schooldays that we hardly ever got past about 1928. The older and more cynical I get, the more I wonder if this was intentional. In my day, kids were exposed to an ongoing debate on the relative merits of Herbert Hoover and Franklin Roosevelt amongContinue reading “Shifting Shirts”
Tag Archives: Postcards
Fishing for Affirmation
It has been a while since we discussed fishing postcards. These were wildly popular in the middle of the last century, when people stopped sending postcards the way our modern generation sends texts, and instead made postcards a vacation staple: something you sent to the folks at home while you were on a fishingContinue reading “Fishing for Affirmation”
Touched-up Territory
I was old enough when I found out about it that I was more surprised than shocked. The distance between what we are shown and what really is was known to me from an early age, at least to that time in second grade when I picked up the little cup of cherry Kool-AidContinue reading “Touched-up Territory”
Oh, a Cowboy Needs a….
The Western’s popularity rises and falls, but has not gone away for at least a century and a half. The last big era for postcards coincided with an era that valued Westerns highly: they were still popular in cheap, kid-friendly movies (“oaters”), proliferated across radio (“Return with us now to the thrilling days ofContinue reading “Oh, a Cowboy Needs a….”
Name That Tune
I was leafing through the postcards in my Music and Songs category, reminiscing about the hoops some of these songs made me jump through, sometimes just to find out the line reference WAS from a song. I still have my suspicions about some others, but the research is seldom simple, as this type ofContinue reading “Name That Tune”
Coulda Oughta
It seems like just the other day that I was going through my inventory of postcards showing old cars so that I could illustrate a column filled with fine old jokes. Come to think of it, that WAS just the other day. You can go back and read the last blog any old timeContinue reading “Coulda Oughta”
Auto Incorrect
Antique postcards with cars tell us how different driving was, once upon a time. They take us back to when steering wheels were just replacing the tiller and all cars were reverse convertibles (you had to stop somewhere to put the roof ON.) Dusty ghosts of bygone rules rise from the past and weContinue reading “Auto Incorrect”
A Tired Tale
In the middle of the last century, a number of postcard publishers decided to take arms against a major injustice. They, and their staff cartoonists, did their very best to draw the attention of the American public to thus social evil, hoping to provoke action on behalf of an overworked and underappreciated stalwart ofContinue reading “A Tired Tale”
Sinking Sensation
Let’s talk household chores. I love ‘em, myself. I am constantly amazed by the number of other things I get done by simply thinking, “Well, it’s this or do the dishes.” Even as a child, though, I resented all the folktales which suggested that if men and women switched jobs, the women wouldContinue reading “Sinking Sensation”
Guilt-Edged Stationery
We have discussed this before, but one of the jobs postcards tried to handle for two or three generations was nagging people to write. It was a rule of etiquette at the time, you see. If I write you a letter, then the ball is in your court. Now you owe ME one. Continue reading “Guilt-Edged Stationery”
Blogsy Babbles 