I really like “postcards about postcards.” I’m not familiar with the Cross Printing Co. of Chicago, but they appear to have produced a lot of cards around 1905-1910 with baseball as the subject. This seems to be a pretty rare card….too bad the condition isn’t better.
Postcard Archives: Advertising Postcards
The New Cessna
Manufactured between 1947 and 1954, the Cessna 190 and 195 were light general aviation aircraft and the last radial engined designs produced by the company after World War II. On the back:
The Cessnas 190 and 195 have been built to provide the finest personal transportation. These planes stand alone in the postwar field of luxury transportation. With airliner type engines to give the best in reliable, dependable performance, they are built for those whose choice is unrestricted.
Estes Model Rocketry
What did young nerds do before home computers came along? Why, they built model rockets! I remember waiting waiting weeks for an Estes catalog order to arrive, a common phenomenon in those pre-internet days when orders were mailed off (actual Postal Service mail!) and products weren’t shipped until the check cleared. Once the kit arrived, construction of a rocket involved cutting the fins from sheets of balsa wood, sanding, gluing, and painting the craft your color of choice. (I was partial to the florescent “day-glo” colors that were all the rage then) Once completed, the rocket would be fitted with the appropriate solid-propellent engine and launched on some sort of launch pad. (mine was home-made) They were capable of amazing heights, and often a lengthy search was required to find the rockets after “reentry”. (and some vanished forever, as if swallowed up by the cosmos) If you need a chuckle check out this snapshot of yours truly from back in the day, probably around 1971-72. There I am prepping a rocket for lift-off, ignition courtesy of Mom & Dad’s ’69 Buick LeSabre. Here’s what’s on the back of the postcard:
Rocketeers preparing the rockets they’ve built for countdown and lift-off. It could very well be a scene in your own neighborhood. You can join science minded young people all over America in the space-age hobby of model rocketry. Write for a FREE illustrated color catalog with an exciting variety of safety proved rocket kits, engines and accessories. ESTES INDUSTRIES, Dept. 681-D, Penrose, Colorado 81240.
Lover’s Lane, Saint Jo. by Eugene Field
This postcard is an interesting one, as it appears to be part of a twelve-card series highlighting poetry. This one includes a snippet from Eugene Field’s “Lover’s Lane, Saint Jo” and also features, on the back, is an advertisement for “Woman’s World” magazine. A whole 25¢ for a year’s subscription!
Wegele, The Dream Mower
Look what I found….another lawn mower postcard! This one advertises the Wegele riding mower, a make that I’m not familiar with. In fact, I couldn’t even begin to pronounce Wegele! Regardless, it looks like a fun way to mow. (even though your feet are right next to a spinning pulley and v-belt!) On the back:
WEGELE RIDING MOWER. Ride as you mow.
Cuts the finest of grasses and the tallest of weeds
EASY TO OPERATE – SERVICEABLE – ECONOMICAL
6 h.p. Wisconsin motor, cuts 22″, 3 speeds forward, one reverse
Mfg. by W. S. Fred & Son, Macksville, Kans.
Write Distributor Fred A. Hopley Sales, Macksville, Kans.
(Dealers inquiries welcomed)
Toro Mowers
Here it is, my new favorite postcard. Those were the days, when no self-respecting company would even consider advertising their product without lovely ladies posing alongside. Here the girls show Toro’s line of “Starlawn” reel-type power mowers. On the back:
Heads Up!
These new Toro Starlawn Mowers are really something to talk about, and we’d like to have you see them.
Built almost entirely of steel, they are much stronger than old-fashioned cast iron mowers, and are lighter and easier to handle. They will do a beautiful job of cutting.
And the price will make you stand up and cheer.
May we hear from you?
Toro Manufacturing Corporation
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Olson Park
This brightly colored postcard is fun in that it’s an advertising card masquerading as a scenic view. It shows Olson Park in Chicago, Illinois, a park that just happens to be adjacent to the Olson Rug Factory! On the back:
Olson Rug and Carpet Co.
2800 N. Pulaski at Diversey, Chicago 41, Ill.
Olson Park, with its tumbling 35-foot Waterfalls, hundreds of rare flowers, plants, shrubs and trees, clear pools, deep ravines and cool caves, is considered one of Chicago’s Beauty Spots. Open free, day and night, it attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors annually. Here, too, are sparkling lagoons set in spacious lawns – the home of hundreds of wild fowl. The Olson Rug Company, largest manufacturer of Rugs, Carpets and Broadlooms selling direct to the Home, is famous for Factory-to-You Savings.
The Miracle of Tupperware
This is an invitation to a Tupperware party, postmarked in 1955. As with another Tupperware postcard that I posted a few days ago, the back includes a rhyming verse:
We’re going to have a party
With games and prizes, too;
And the miracle of Tupperware
Demonstrated just for you!
With games and prizes, too;
And the miracle of Tupperware
Demonstrated just for you!
With hints on how to store your food,
And tips on food preserving,
This special kind of party
Of your time is well deserving.
So come, enjoy the party
(Of course you are invited)
Let me know that you’ll be there,
I know you’ll be excited!
Tupperware
This postcard, and many variations thereof, were a popular way to announce Tupperware parties. Mailed in 1954, it has this inspired verse on the back:
A TUPPERWARE party will be held
With games and prizes too:
And just for fun
we’ll serve a bite
Before the party’s through
With games and prizes too:
And just for fun
we’ll serve a bite
Before the party’s through
On whom to count I have to know
(Of course you are invited)
So telephone that
you’ll be here
I know you’ll be excited!
Allis-Chalmers
With a history going back to the 1840s, Allis-Chalmers was an important manufacturer of tractors and other farm implements. In 1955 Allis-Chalmers purchased the Gleaner Manufacturing Company, a combine manufacturer that was established in 1923 when the Baldwin Brothers of Kansas designed an improved type of self-propelled harvester. This postcard probably dates from the ’60s, and includes this product description on the back:
GLEANER-BALDWIN Big Capacity Combining
Machines for Big Acreages . . . custom operation . . . with exclusive GLEANER-BALDWIN features and advantages for a Big Capacity harvest. Four Models – “A”, “R”, “T”, and “B” Rice Special are recognized in harvest fields the world over as a symbol of quality, big capacity, and dependable performance. GLEANER BALDWIN combines are built by Allis-Chalmers. See your Allis-Chalmers dealer or write Allis-Chalmers, Milwaukee, U. S. A.