It took some work to push the toolshed door open. My grandfather, one of the finest pack rats to ever live, had used the tiny shed to store things both necessary and random. Gardening tools. Old wooden mirrors that, one day, he might want to hang again. Little boxes of this and that. Stuff. As a kid who loved to collect things, who shared her grandfather's pack rat ways, that shed was a jewel box.
I was reminded of my finest shed discovery this past Saturday when I received an advance copy of
Coast to Coast: Vintage Travel in North America. Every page of the book offers up vintage postcards, travel brochures, photos, maps, and more. There's the baggage label from
Milwaukee Railroad's Hiawatha "Speedliner"; a bold graphic of the gleaming train looks like it's going to power right off the page. There's a turn-of-the-century photochrom of an ancient oak tree outside
Biloxi's Shady Oaks Hotel. There's a lunch menu for February 27, 1889 from
St. Augustine's Hotel Ponce de Leon. (Broiled shad with radishes. Crab croquettes a la creme. Boston-style pork and beans with hot Boston brown bread.) The book also features reproduction postcards tucked between many of the pages.
That's when I thought of the cigar box. It's been sitting on my dresser for years but I hadn't looked inside it in, what, two or three? I loved the American Pointers cigar box itself when I found it in the shed but the real treasures lived inside: a stack of postcards and photos from the early 1900s. My grandfather had rescued them from a flea market. Most of the postcards featured handwriting nearly indecipherable to my 21st century eyes. Several--including one of a place I visited this summer, "
Boldt Castle on Heart Island, Thousand Islands, N.Y."--were stamped with a penny's worth of postage but remained blank. I understood. Over the years, I've toted home more than a few postcards I meant to send but didn't.
From here on in, the cigar box will have a new home. I'm moving it to a bookshelf with Coast to Coast. Both the postcards and the book deserve more attention.
Coast to Coast (Vendome Press, $55) goes on sale October 1, 2009.
[caption id="attachment_1771" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="From the cigar box."]
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Tags: Antony Shuggar, Boldt Castle, Books, brochures, cigar box, Coast to Coast, collection, ephemera, Heart Island, NY, Peach Lake, postcards, Thousand Islands, travel, vintage
It took some work to push the toolshed door open. My grandfather, one of the finest pack rats to ever live, had used the tiny shed to store things both necessary and random. Gardening tools. Old wooden mirrors that, one day, he might want to hang again. Little boxes of this and that. Stuff. As a kid who loved to collect things, who shared her grandfather's pack rat ways, that shed was a jewel box.
I was reminded of my finest shed discovery this past Saturday when I received an advance copy of Coast to Coast: Vintage Travel in North America. Every page of the book offers up vintage postcards, travel brochures, photos, maps, and more. There's the baggage label from Milwaukee Railroad's Hiawatha "Speedliner"; a bold graphic of the gleaming train looks like it's going to power right off the page. There's a turn-of-the-century photochrom of an ancient oak tree outside Biloxi's Shady Oaks Hotel. There's a lunch menu for February 27, 1889 from St. Augustine's Hotel Ponce de Leon. (Broiled shad with radishes. Crab croquettes a la creme. Boston-style pork and beans with hot Boston brown bread.) The book also features reproduction postcards tucked between many of the pages.
That's when I thought of the cigar box. It's been sitting on my dresser for years but I hadn't looked inside it in, what, two or three? I loved the American Pointers cigar box itself when I found it in the shed but the real treasures lived inside: a stack of postcards and photos from the early 1900s. My grandfather had rescued them from a flea market. Most of the postcards featured handwriting nearly indecipherable to my 21st century eyes. Several--including one of a place I visited this summer, "Boldt Castle on Heart Island, Thousand Islands, N.Y."--were stamped with a penny's worth of postage but remained blank. I understood. Over the years, I've toted home more than a few postcards I meant to send but didn't.
From here on in, the cigar box will have a new home. I'm moving it to a bookshelf with Coast to Coast. Both the postcards and the book deserve more attention.
Coast to Coast (Vendome Press, $55) goes on sale October 1, 2009.
[caption id="attachment_1771" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="From the cigar box."]
[/caption]
[...] Reading America: Coast to Coast: Vintage Travel in North America « flyoveramerica.wordpress.com/2009/09/14/coast – view page – cached It took some work to push the toolshed door open. My grandfather, one of the finest pack rats to ever live, had used the tiny shed to store things both necessary and random. Gardening tools. Old wooden mirrors that, one day, he might want to hang again. Little boxes of this and that. Stuff. As a kid who loved to collect things, who shared her grandfather’s pack rat ways, that shed was a jewel box. — From the page [...]
This exhibit of photographer Walker Evans’ postcard collection was one of the most wonderful shows I’ve seen in recent years:
http://www.metmuseum.org/special/se_event.asp?OccurrenceId={4AF0B4EC-3013-4FD9-B3A3-59993F3A68C7}
For anybody who missed it (including, sadly, me), some images from the exhibit:
http://www.metmuseum.org/special/walkerevans_postcard/images.asp
Just finished framing a set of vintage postcards I found at an antique store yesterday – my favorite is to get one of those glass “floating” frames so you can see the front and back… will need to check out the book!
Hi Janelle — Thanks for posting. You’ll love the book. Guar-on-teed. And I like that floating frame idea. Hmmm.
Can you tell us about some of your vintage postcard finds? Where are the postcards from?
Well since you’ve already read the book,you can just send it to me.
Hmmm, let’s see. Um. Well. No. But, if you lived anywhere nearby, I would lend it to you. But you don’t. So I can’t. But, seriously, you must get your hands on this book….you’ll love it.