Greetings From

Today another jaunt into ephemera. You know those vintage postcards with the big tacky letters spelling out a place name, each filled with pictures? I have to admit, growing up I thought those were just made-up, simply kitschy takes on past trends. I still find it amusing that they're absolutely not. They were a big thing for a long time--every random, tiny little American town had one. Like much of the popular art summarily dismissed as kitsch, their tackiness to modern eyes and adherence to format conceals a variety of individual takes and creative flair. 

Also, they're just fun. 

Postcards from the mid-20th C, drawn from the endlessly rewarding postcard collection of the Boston Public Library.

Boston Public Library

Ashbury Park, N. J. Source

Boston Public Library

Galveston, Texas. Source

Boston Public Library

Spokane, Washington. Source

Fly Pan American

A selection of stunning early to mid-20th century airline posters, from a collection donated to the San Diego Air and Space Museum. 

San Diego Air and Space Museum

Source

San Diego Air and Space Museum

Source

San Diego Air and Space Museum

Source

1950s Banff, in Colour

About this time last year I posted photographs of Banff, in the Canadian Rockies, from the late 19th to early 20th centuries. Now, Banff is one of my favourite places in the whole world, so here's another lot-- this time from the 1950s, and in full colour!

Note: I previously identified these photographs as shot on Kodachrome (albeit Kodachrome in unusually bad condition) but it's since been pointed out to me they can't be--not just the fading and bits of colour shift, very rare in Kodachrome, but even the square format in this time period. They're in fact non-Kodachrome film in unusually good condition. Thanks to those who pointed that out!

National Film Board of Canada. Photothèque / Library and Archives Canad

A man photographs two women in a canoe on the Bow River, 1952. Source

National Film Board of Canada. Photothèque / Library and Archives Canada

Women clambering over rocks at Lake Minnewanka [mis-identified in the LAC caption as "Morraine Lake"--thanks to a commenter for pointing this out!], 1951. Source

National Film Board of Canada. Photothèque / Library and Archives Canada

Art students painting hoodoos, 1957. Source

A 1920s Party of the 1950s

1920s parties seem to be especially popular lately, which, of course, as a wannabee flapper I couldn't be happier about. The look and popular culture of the era hold a strong appeal-- distant enough to romanticize but close enough to relate to. The idea of Prohibition is easily turned into pretend naughty fun. And who doesn't love sparkly dresses, stripey jackets, boater hats, and pearls? 

In fact, the 1920s party potential was already being seen by the 1950s. In these photos from 1954, partygoers have gone all out in their costumes (which, considering the decade only ended 24 years ago, are more than likely actually from it). Drinks are being sipped from teacups (though eventually many of the people give up and turn to cans of beer), a bathtub is used as a decoration/liquor holder, the ladies roll down their stockings and the men wear spats. I find it especially interesting to see considering that most of the people there were probably born in the 1920s, or slightly earlier.... it's the equivalent of a 1980s or even 90s party today!

Wallace Kirkland, LIFE © Time Inc.

Source

Wallace Kirkland, LIFE © Time Inc.

Source

Wallace Kirkland, LIFE © Time Inc.

Source

Sweden, Tinted

Hand-tinted postcards are generally associated with the early decades of the 20th century. By the middle of the century, colour photomechanical printing had mostly taken over. 

I was thus delighted to find these hand-tinted postcards from Sweden in the 1950s, published by the Swedish postcard company Almquist and Cöster. The modern clothes and cars contrast with the old-school selective stencil tinting in such a striking way.

Swedish National Heritage Board

The Square in Haparanda. Source

Swedish National Heritage Board

The bar at Skrea beach in Falkenberg. Source

Swedish National Heritage Board

The camping ground at Skrea beach in Falkenberg. Source

Grow Careful

Another collection to add to the rounds! Wellcome Images is a part of the Wellcome Collection, a terrific, quirky-yet-intellectual museum located in London (I highly reccomend a visit--it's free, too!). The site encompasses a huge number of photographs, "with themes ranging from medical and social history to contemporary healthcare and biomedical science" (Source). While on the one hand it is a commercial image library, specializing in medical images, they've also recently released a large number of historical images, available for free creative commons use. This is what we like to hear!

Anyway, so these are the fruits of my first jaunt into their holdings-- some terrific health and safety posters created by the British Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (which apparently still exists under that great name). Unfortunately, as this collection is image-based, very little contextual information is given, not even dates. Visually they look quite a bit like WPA posters and WW2-era British posters, so my guess is late 1930s to late 1940s, but I'm not at all a poster expert. Mid-century, almost certainly. 

Source

Source

Source

A Day in Hyde Park

Photographs of people enjoying the spring in Hyde Park, London, 1951. By Cornell Capa (brother of Robert). 

Cornell Capa, LIFE © Time Inc.

Couples cuddling beneath the trees in the park. Source

Cornell Capa, LIFE © Time Inc.

A man feeding birds. Source

Cornell Capa, LIFE © Time Inc.

A nap in the sun. Source

Caught in Traffic

Ah, the good old days, when traffic was... as bad as now, apparently, just with different cars. 

Yale Joel, LIFE © Time Inc.

New York, Major Deegan Expressway, 1958. Source

Nationaal Archief

Holland, 1964. Source

Gordon Parks, LIFE © Time Inc.

A traffic jam in Paris, 1951. Source

Dmitri Kessel, LIFE © Time Inc.

Houston, Texas, 1946. Source

Al Fenn, LIFE © Time Inc.

Heavy truck traffic due to a railway strike, New York, 1951. Source

US National Archives

Honolulu, Hawaii, 1973. Source

William C. Shrout, LIFE © Time Inc.

New York City, 51st Street, 1945. Source

Carl Mydans, LIFE © Time Inc.

Regent Street, London, 1954. Source

Dmitri Kessel, LIFE © Time Inc.

Bangkok, 1950. Source

Co Rentmeester, LIFE © Time Inc.

Traffic in the downtown of an unnamed city in Indonesia, 1966. Source

Andreas Feininger, LIFE © Time Inc.

New York, pre-Christmas traffic on 5th Ave (including many double-decker buses!). 1948. Source

Michael Rougier, LIFE © Time Inc.

Greenville, Texas, 1948. Source

Andreas Feininger, LIFE © Time Inc.

Traffic Jam (no location given), 1951. Source

Andreas Feininger, LIFE © Time Inc.

New York City, 5th Ave, 1959. Source

Loomis Dean, LIFE © Time Inc.

Los Angeles, 1949. Source

William C. Shrout, LIFE © Time Inc.

New York, 1945. Source

Andreas Feininger, LIFE © Time Inc.

New York, 1954. Source

Cornell Capa, LIFE © Time Inc.

A messy traffic jam in Boston, 1949. Source

Ralph Crane, LIFE © Time Inc.

New York, Long Island Expressway, 1969. Source

Loomis Dean, LIFE © Time Inc.

Los Angeles (with a boy selling newspapers amongst the cars), 1947. Source

The Secret Lives of Pennies

I have to admit, I love the "filler" stories from LIFE magazine. There's dramatic, insightful, though-provoking photo-essays... and there's tests on cooperation in cats, pet lemurs, and Parisians drinking Coca-Cola. Most of these kinds of stories would only have a few pictures in the published magazine, somewhere in the middle to back, surronded by ads-- but thanks to the online LIFE archives, we can enjoy the silliness/banality to its fullest! 

This picture story is apparently concerned with pennies, and what you can do with them.

Photographs from 1953, taken by Nina Leen. 

Nina Leen, LIFE © Time Inc.

A store receiving their week's worth of pennies, with police escort. Source

Nina Leen, LIFE © Time Inc.

Tea bags you can buy for one cent each. Source

Nina Leen, LIFE © Time Inc.

Boxes of matches 2 for a penny. Source

Christmas Seals of Former Days

You probably know the Christmas seals the Lung Association puts out every year as a fundraiser-- I seem to recall a time when they mailed them to you before asking you to pay, but now apparently you have to order them. They've been putting them out since 1907, and you can see a nifty gallery of seals since 1920 on their site. However, if you have ever experienced them live, you'll know they don't come one by one, as shown in the gallery--they come in massive sheets, usually in different designs, sometimes with designs spanning several seals. Also, they weren't just made in the United States-- different countries had their own designs. 

Luckily, I have a nice little collection of these, coming from my late grandmother. It is in no way complete, but it's fun to see the vintage sheets and international seals--and lots of great graphic design! 

personal collection

1937

personal collection

 1944

personal collection

1945

The Photographer's Cat

Gjon Mili is one of my favourite photographers, and I've shared photographs of his on many occasions (A general selection, stroboscopic photographs, filming of West Side Story, and 1940s nightlife in Paris). He did a lot of shooting in his own studio where he could control the lighting, of which he was a master. 

Also at his studio was his gorgeous black cat, Blackie. Blackie, it seems, never hesitated to make friends with Mili's sitters, and Mili in turn didn't hesitate to use Blackie in his shots. He also used Blackie as a sitter himself, resulting in the kind of gorgeously lit black-on-black shots only Mili could create. 

Gjon Mili, LIFE © Time Inc.

Blackie and nightclub entertainer Maune de Revel, 1946. Source

Gjon Mili, LIFE © Time Inc.

Blackie joining a model in a bridal fashion shoot, 1945. Source

Gjon Mili, LIFE © Time Inc.

Blackie sitting on a piano as opera star Jennie Tourel plays and sings, 1952. Source