Hey, Look What I Found!

Family Portrait Gallery #5

2011-10-06T08:56:00.003-04:00

Here's a portrait which has had a rough time, at least lately. I bought this one in a sandwich bag, which is why I still have the cracked corners and a few other tiny chips from the card. I'm not an artistically knowledgeable guy, really. But I think the cracked stucco wall behind the soft face of this young lady makes for a nice contrast.

The break makes it hard to parse the name of the photographer, but it is apparently "Saettele." According to this list here, there were quite a few different members of the Saettele family who worked as photographers, several of them on either 6th or Franklin Ave in Saint Louis, Missouri. In 1972, this portion of Franklin Avenue was renamed after Martin Luther King, but that didn't stop the decay of that part of town. Since 1995, the former location of this portrait studio is home to Edward Jones Dome, which is home to not only the St. Louis Rams, but also the 2011-2013 FIRST World Championship Competitions.

When I was working on my previous blog, a now-defunct MP3 blog, I spent a lot of time reading and thinking about the legend of Stagger Lee, based on a real 1895 murder in St. Louis. Because I am nothing if not curious, I plugged in the address of the murder into Google, and it's just four blocks from this portrait studio, and probably less than a decade away in time. (Billy Lyons, the murder victim, would have walked within spitting distance of the studio from his home to the bar where he met his end.)

Postcards from the Past #2: The Space Needle

2011-10-01T07:00:00.002-04:00

Here's a dramatic view of Seattle's Space Needle.

The Space Needle was being constructed 50 years ago, and was opened to the public in April 1962, to celebrate the 1962 World's Fair. The space-age design of the Needle helped set the tone for the Exposition, and the building is, of course, still standing today. (I visited with my family about six years ago, though my memories of the ride and view are vague, mostly conflated with The CN Tower, which we visited the very next year.)

It's a pretty nighttime view, but since I'm no expert on Seattle history there's nothing here that will help me pinpoint the year. That TraveLodge is still there, amazingly enough. That gas torch on the top wasn't taken out until, probably, 1999, when a new enormous spotlight was installed.

I can't find much online about The Ellis Post Card Co., but here's an extensive biography/obituary of Ira Spring, one-half of the pair of twins credited with the photo.

Family Portrait Gallery #4

2011-09-30T07:00:00.001-04:00

Here's a whole family!

Father's glasses and slight squint make him seem not only unhappy, but perturbed. Mother at least looks like she's trying to smile. The three daughters, whose names are written above their heads, all look straight on at the camera. It's pretty obvious that, unlike all the previous portraits I've posted, this one didn't happen in a studio -- this was probably outside the kitchen door of Mother and Father's house, where the three sisters grew up. The cake is also pretty clearly homemade.

But wait, what's this? There's information written on the back of the card? Glory be!

In addition to the writing, there's also some ghosting of other handwriting I can't make out. The next-to-bottom line starts with "58 J" but other than that I'm at a loss. (Fiddling with the contrast in my editing software isn't much help, either.)

I'm so used to having to extrapolate whatever I can from the actual picture that it's almost crippling to have so much to go on here. It feels like any of my guesses actually weaken the effect of the picture, so I'll just say this: Grandma and Grandad Hicks were married 95 years ago, and for the two of them to live to see a golden wedding anniversary was remarkable at the time.

Two Walt Disney World Dishes

2011-09-28T17:42:00.015-04:00

These two plates reflect the first half of Walt Disney World's 40-year history. First, we have a very elaborate glass plate from the 70's. It has a total of seven pictures, representing 2 attractions, two resort transporation vehicles, and three highlights of the themed design and architecture. Before we start, this plate has a very odd topology, which means it's pretty difficult to photograph. I couldn't get any pictures of the whole thing to come out well, so be sure to look at this post to see the plate as a whole, plus its original box and low low price.

First is the center of the tray, with a rendition of Cinderella's Castle.

Then, starting at the top and working our way clockwise, we have a picture of one of the Ferryboats which cross The Seven Seas Lagoon every day, and provide an alternative to the monorail for those who hate heights or prefer boats.

Next, we see one version of the Netherlands scene of "it's a small world." (This video is from the 1964 World's Fair version of the ride, but it's fairly accurate to the park version too.)

Now we visit Liberty Square, home (though not pictured) of The Haunted Mansion and The Hall of Presidents.

A scene from The Jungle Cruise.

An overhead view of Main Street, USA.

And finally, the monorail, coming out of The Contemporary Hotel.

There are a lot of these plates around, so they're dirt cheap if you'd like one.

Now we'll move on to the more recent, and much more simple, ashtray.

I love the simple geometric abstraction of this, and to be honest the bright 80s colors are fun too. I'm glad nobody's used this to put out their cigarettes -- it's nice to have it without burn marks or many stains. The back has a little tiny bit of information, too:

Until I took this picture today, I'd never seen the permanent marker price handwritten on, as it was covered up by the price I actually paid (same as the much larger, much nicer glass plate above, and considerably more than a dollar.)

These two dishes aren't worth much on the collector's market, but I'm happy I ran across each of them, and when the day comes that I have enough display space for all my useless junk, these will both be prominently featured.

Postcards from the Past #1: Large Grain Elevator(s)

2011-09-25T07:00:00.001-04:00

One of the things I love best about thrift stores and junk stores is the hundreds of old, unused postcards. Most of them are only a dollar or two, and they show us what places used to look like fifty years ago, or which motels feature "de-luxe" accomodations and "gourmet" food. I like to take these cards, which were bought on vacation and taken home, then stored in a shoebox and eventually thrown out, and write on them and mail them to my friends.

I know, it's not the best way to preserve this valuable reminder of our society's past. On the other hand, these ephemera were made to be mailed, and a postcard stamp is still insanely cheap. (What this means for you, dear reader, is that the best and most interesting postcards are long gone -- I mailed them to people years ago so I can't post them here.)

Here's one from my most recent batch of purchases. Click to embiggen -- the details are great. First, and most noticeable, is that someone had to handwrite the pluralization of "elevator" on the original proof of the card, and then add another comma after it. You can read the company names on the elevators, too. From front to back, I see Richardson, Pool, and Union.

Port Arthur and Fort William merged in 1970, into the city of Thunder Bay, Ontario. The city still has grain elevators, though the buildings on the postcard are most likely long gone.

You'll notice that one edge of the card is perforated, which means it was probably taken from a book of postcards. The Photogelatine Engraving Co, Ltd, of Toronto, was in existence from 1910 to 1953. Other than looking up company histories, the only way I can think of to pinpoint the date of this picture any further is by finding a copy of this book. It's held in three libraries, all in Canada. If anyone in Ontario has further information, or the time to flip through this book, feel free to comment below.

Family Portrait Gallery #3

2011-09-22T10:00:00.000-04:00

Here's a lovely couple, photographed in Brooklyn many decades ago (after 1915, which is the only year I can nail down). The cardboard frame was stained and watermarked (which, as you can see, my scanner brought out very nicely) during the picture's long life. As with the previous two entries in my family portrait gallery, there are no notes or information written on the photo or frame so I have no information about the featured couple here.

I'd like to speculate if I may, and then we'll get to facts later on. The woman in this picture is wearing two rings, one on each ring finger. The man appears to not be wearing a ring, but we can't see his right hand -- perhaps they're Orthodox? Perhaps someone more knowledgeable about clothing styles could speculate a year for us, based on the cut of his suit, or even the style of her veil?

So here's what we do know. Roubian Palmisano (if that is indeed a first name) ran a portrait studio in Brooklyn. The front of it looked like this. Previous to the Palmisano studio, another portrait photographer worked in the same place, but J. Palmisano (Roubian's father?) opened his place in 1915. Some time after this portrait was taken, Palmisano expanded his business into the adjoining storefront, and then took this picture. And then later, that building came down. Here's what 262 Columbia Street looks like today.

Winchester Mystery House Stein

2011-09-21T10:29:00.001-04:00

In 2008, I went off on one of my best and most memorable adventures. (I know this won't sound exciting or adventurous to most of you, but it was perfect and just what I needed at the time.) My friend Todd was getting married in Pasadena, so I flew out to San Francisco with one friend, where we met the other two members of our party and drove down to LA. Besides the wedding (and amazing reception), we also visited Disneyland and Muir Woods and Fisherman's Wharf with The Musee Mecanique and The Huntington and The World's Largest Monopoly Board.

Oh, and The Winchester Mystery House, a silly, bizarre, amazing attraction in San Jose. You can click on those two links to learn more, but here are the basics: Sarah Winchester was the widow of William Winchester, heir and treasurer of The Winchester Repeating Arms Company. The story goes that Sarah, overwhelmed with grief at the loss of her husband and infant child, was told by a medium that all the people killed by the Winchester Rifles would haunt her. Unless, that is, she built a new house, and continued building every day. So her mansion was always under construction until the day she died, even though the constant renovation for renovation's sake made little sense. There are doors that open onto brick walls, a closet with no floor, and a staircase that ends at the ceiling. And they say there are ghosts. I'm a skeptical guy, and I don't truck with psychics or mediums or ghost stories, but I think the image of Sarah Winchester moving slowly through her house, alone like Miss Havisham, dreaming up crazier and crazier renovations, is plenty haunting enough.

I didn't get this stein until about 18 months later, and it's a glorious 70's-era thing. I'm not particularly knowledgeable about antiques, and this mug doesn't have a manufacturer's mark of any kind, so I can't nail down the year conclusively. There are similar souvenir steins with different molds, but this mug right here has an identical mold and is for the Expo '74, in Spokane, Washington. So I'd imagine this is contemporary to that one.

The mold on this is fairly elaborate, though my copy of this stein is well-worn on the front and back sides, probably due to decades of storage against another souvenir stein. (I bought another mug at this same store, which I'll post sometime.)

My Tiki Collection

2011-09-17T21:44:00.000-04:00

Here are five tikis (and Rowlf, who is not a tiki but is 3 1/2 inches tall, so you can get an idea of scale) I bought in four different places. (As always, click on any picture to embiggen.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The collection started out small, when I found the two leftmost tikis in the above picture at Goodwill for $1.21 each. (Not the bargain it seems, as I'm about to explain.) The middle figure, not in the top picture, is Jose, the star of The Enchanted Tiki Room, in front of a tiki totem as seen in the attraction. (I bought Jose for full price, new, so he is included here only for the sake of completeness.) This is what Jose really looks like when photographed properly:

The rightmost tiki in that picture I found several years later, at a different store. All three of the "carved" tikis have the same tag on them:

These lovely statuettes were made by Greenbrier International, the company behind Dollar Tree. Which means I paid 42 extra cents for the first two tikis. After I found all three of these, my tiki collection stagnated a little, except for the notable addition of my lovely wife who occasionally goes by the nickname of "Tiki."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Finally, I found another, and it's a doozy.

This lovely beast is a souvenir from The Polynesian Cultural Center in Hawaii. I'd tell you about the history of this location, but the souvenir tag says it all:

Well, not ALL actually. The Center is (and I know exactly how ridiculous it is to bring this up in a celebration of tikis largely created by nonPolynesians) apparently remarkably inaccurate about culture and history. I don't wanna get into a whole debate here about how Mormons profit off a falsified native culture, but I'm pretty sure that's not right. With that said, I'd probably go, if only to make a Mormon serve me coffee (which is on the menu).

The best part about this souvenir is that it sings. When you squeeze its belly, as requested, you hear this:
http://www.mediafire.com/?gwibcgbwjmc6wxb

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And I just found this one last week, and he's the biggest and prettiest of the bunch. Not to mention the only one made of wood.

Just in case you can't tell, the base reads "Hawaii." (Though there's a tiny sticker on the bottom which reads "Made in The Philippines." Which is only slightly further from Hawaii than China, home of my Dollar Tree tikis.) This one also has a lovely hangtag:

Ku Tiki is indeed the God of strength, and the Monkey Pod tree he was carved out of might have better been used to clean the air, as mature trees remove a tremendous amount of CO2 each year.

The hangtag also has a page of some Asian characters I can't name. They don't appear to be Japanese kanji, or either traditional or simplified Chinese. Can anyone identify them, and verify that page is, as I've assumed, a direct translation?

So, there it is. My complete (to date) tiki collection. When I find more, I promise to update here.

Another family portrait

2011-09-09T10:40:00.001-04:00

Here's another family portrait.

Like the first portrait I shared, I have no information on the subject of this lovely photo (click to embiggen). And there's nothing to help on the back of the card. I can learn a few things about the studio where this was taken -- Julius Hebbel's studio was located at this address during the last years of the 19th century. Which means it's been over a hundred years since this young girl put on her best dress to have pictures taken.

The approximate site of the photo studio is now home (in what is presumably a new building) to a doggie day care. (I'd link you to the official site, but apparently they've been hacked this week.) The question is, has sometime Baltimore resident Richard Belzer boarded his own babies there?

Zoey's Journal

2011-09-06T10:00:00.000-04:00

Whenever I go to junk stores or smaller thrift stores, I always flip through the journals and blank books. I can't help it -- I'm nosy, and it's a chance to maybe see part of someone else's life. This is the only diary I've ever found which gave me such an emotional vicarious thrill.

First, the cover features a cut-out square so you can see the design on page one:

Nice enough, I guess, for a blank book which hopefully cost the owner, Zoey M., less than a dollar. (The manufacturer's website is here but they aren't open to the public and I can't find a retail source for blank copies of this.)

The first page contains Zoey's To Do List (transcript follows, click to embiggen):

Zoey's To-Do List
Change.
Read 2 chapters of Crispin.
Wash Checker's cage with Cinch.
Wash Checkers.
Wash Jessie.
Lunch.
Read.

Zoey's completed her tasks (presumably "Crispin" is this book right here, or one of the two sequels), and underneath she appears to be considering screen names for, I dunno, instant messaging or something:

Screen names:
GoalieGirl02
(illegible)MuffinZM
SOM 02
Goal2Girl
GoalieGial02
GoalieChic02

and then settled definitively on
GoalieChic02

Did Zoey know "chick" is misspelled? Or is she more of a trendsetter than a tomboy? Can't tell. I know, not fascinating, but it gets better. After a few doodles, we have an exhortation to:

Is it Steve Holt? I'd vote 4 Steve Holt!

There are a few miscellaneous pages, where Zoey practices spelling plurals ("studios/radios/rodeos...cargoes/buffaloes") and lists a lot of other screen names, likely her friends'.

Now we come to the meat of the sandwich, where Zoey actually uses the book as a diary. Transcript follows, again:

Once a pon a time is so overrated and so is a happily over after. I mean I know some people find their true love but most people marry someone they think they love but regret it later. Movies now are all about true love and finding some one special, but how many people find their true love at seventeen. Not me though. I'm sixteen and I've never gotten a boyfriend and probably never will.
There's this boys band right, and it is called the ~~bonus~~ triple fury. Well, they are considered so cool and all of the girls love them. I used to love them too until I found out they say the care for their fans but they don't. I signed up for a mytubedface which has meeting friends, videos, and well I'm no sure what else. Anyway, I joined just so I could meet triple fury. I wanted to do an article about them for the school paper.
Turns out that the band does not even check the site any more. They have some computer geek doing it for them. It stunk. I was so mad that I never wanted to see a picture of them again.

My best friend's name is Nick ~~but~~ + I've ~~never told~~ always had a crush on him since we became best friends

...and that's it. That ends a third of the way down the page, and the next page is ripped out. So, the question is, is this Zoey's real diary, or a story she's writing? I can't find a boyband called The Triple Fury (and the strikethrough of "bonus" makes me think it could be a Jonas Brothers stand-in), and of course "mytubedface" isn't a real thing.

In the larger arena of what we call "real life," it doesn't matter what's true -- the emotions and writing patterns in this book actually affect me, to the point I felt the need to read this whole thing out loud to my wife. Whether Zoey really knows and has a crush on Nick, or she doesn't, I've still never met her. The Jonases of last week are really the same as the Hansons of 15 years ago, or the New Kids beloved by the little girls I grew up with (that is, busy and inaccessible). Zoey learned a hard lesson about celebrity and real life, and new people are learning it every day. Similarly, new people are always learning about how friendship and love work (that is, not always at the same time).

However, I can still hope and expect that Zoey is happily surprised with a boyfriend, or at least contentment and a consolation hug from Nick. Not believing in "happily over after" is an important part of becoming a truly happy adult, and if Zoey's hitting that nail right on the head, maybe she needs to, in order to truly drive it home for herself.

Grand Canyon Photo Puzzle

2011-09-03T10:00:00.000-04:00

Here's an old picture of an older building.

I found this puzzle of the Lookout Studio at the Grand Canyon recently. The box and puzzle had seen better days. There's no copyright date, but the other puzzles in this series lacked dates also.

This picture was a popular one for puzzles, but I haven't been able to find a postcard which used it.

My family visited the Canyon back in 2009, and this building is now largely a souvenir shop. It was built 97 years ago, mostly out of native rock and wood to blend into the environment. When my family was there (and apparently for a large part of the tourist season) condors were all over the place here.

I don't have any other pictures of this particular puzzle, just a scan of the box. Now it resides in my mother's house. The best thing about this is that, at some point, someone obviously decided that this puzzle, used, was worth $5.00 and possibly some change. And they decided the best way to set that value was writing in permanent marker directly on the box.

My favorite thing I've ever found.

2011-09-02T19:27:00.000-04:00

Look at this lady:

She used to be someone's mother, or wife, or favorite aunt. She used to hang proudly over a fireplace, or in someone's hall. You can't tell it from my picture (sorry about that -- I'm an amateur), but the colors appear hand-tinted, which means someone took a lot of time and effort to get this picture to look so beautiful.

I found her in Goodwill, among all the framed posters of Michael Jordan and inspirational quotes and paintings of Noah's Ark. There she was, in her unassuming frame, abandoned. Her husband/child/niece had died, and the family members cleaned out the house, threw everything away or donated it. This picture was deemed not worth keeping.

Sadly, the photo paper is fused to the cardboard backing, so if there's anything on the back I can't see it. I've tried a few times over the years to give this lovely lady a name, but nothing sticks. It should, obviously, be a name fitting to her golden time period, an old-lady name, but a pretty one. (Edna just won't do.) I like Grace, or Eleanor.

This wonderful portrait has inspired my collection of old family photos, of people I've never met and am not related to, which I'll be posting here from time to time.