Hold to Light

This instruction appeared on many post cards that were manufactured around the turn of the 20th century.  When the user holds the card up to a strong light, translucent portions of the card are illuminated from behind.  On some cards, an image appears in a normally blank space on the card.  On other cards, colored lights appear in windows, or reflections appear in the water.  The scene appears to change from day to night.  The card below, depicting the town of Heidelberg, Germany, shows the dramatic effect.

Of the hundreds of hold-to-light cards that were produced, only a few were made that depict ships at sea, or in a harbor.  So far, I have come across less than a dozen that depict ships.  The one that first caught my eye started my collection:

At this point, I have acquired 10 cards that depict ships.  Here are two more that illustrate the variety and drama that these novelty cards offer:

This last card is called a "meteor" card.  Unlike the others, which have cut-outs in a nearly opaque layer of the card, the entire meteor card is translucent in varying degrees. As you can see, the effect is pretty dramatic.

Today, movie films, television shows, YouTube videos that saturate us with vivid entertainment.  But 100 years ago, the novelty of post cards like these, along with stereoptican viewers and Edison cylinder phonographs were the state of the art for parlor entertainment.  I hope that you enjoy them as much as I do...

Beautiful Ohio

I recently found a button made in Columbus, Ohio. It is about 2 1/8 inches in diameter.

Although it is not a campaign button, it does mention the names of 5 presidents from Ohio. That helps to date the badge between 1900 and 1908, since the names of Taft and Harding do not appear.

What is interesting, is that by 1901 there had been 6 presidents from Ohio. Two of them were named Harrison (William Henry and Benjamin). Maybe the badge designer figured every one knows about both Harrisons, and used the name only once to save space. Or maybe he decided not to count William Henry, as he held office for only a month. I guess we will never know.

The badge has a picture of the State Capitol at the top, the State Seal in the center, and a picture of the Battle of Lake Erie on the right side.

The picture on the left side is the scene of a land battle. The question is, which one? My guess is it may be the 1794 “Battle of the Fallen Timbers," in which General “Mad Anthony” Wayne defeated a force consisting of Blue Jacket's Shawnees and Buckongahelas's Delawares, Miamis led by Little Turtle, Wyandots, Ojibwas, Ottawas, Potawatomis, Mingos, and even some Canadian militia.

The music at the bottom is “Home Sweet Home.” It seems strange to me that the designer did not use “Beautiful Ohio,” which became the official state song in 1889, before William McKinley became president.

Figuring out the history associated with the old buttons is part of the fun I get from collecting them...

Post Cards with Flags

Here are a couple of old post cards from my collection. The first one was cancelled in 1909. When you know that, the picture of the flag presents 2 problems. Can anyone figure out what is strange about the flag?

The second one has a fanciful flag, and is an embossed card. I posted it just because it is attractive.

Captain Rob

On Wednesday I had another 'Before the Mast' program aboard the Pilgrim at The Ocean Institute. The students were 5th graders from Our Savior Lutheran school. I was the Captain on their program last year as well. Their photographer took lots of pictures of both programs, and he brought me a disk with the pictures from 2008. This one shows me standing on the quarterdeck of the Pilgrim.

We give the students lots of hard work and challenging tasks, but we sprinkle the program with sea chanteys, a jig, and a few humourous moments as well. Few things are as satisfying as the expressions on their faces.

A Second Grandchild

My elder daughter, Amber, and her husband, Ron have blessed us with a granddaughter, Briana Carlotta Gill.

Brianna was born on September 22. Because she is adopted, we held off on the announcements for a week or so until all of the adoption paperwork was complete. I sent out emails to family and friends, but I did not get around to writing in my blogs until today.

Bonnie and I are happy, of course, to have a second grandchild.

Quinton at 6 Months

Our grandson, Quinton Thomas Dale, was 6 months old in June. He sure is growing fast. Our daughter, Heather, had some great photos taken. I just had to post a couple of them:

Quinton and the French bulldog, Nick, are getting along well, too:

Rare Cactus Flower

When bought this cactus about 40 years ago. It was about 2 inches high and 2 inches around. Today, about 1 foot tall, the cactus bloomed for the first time. The nursery owner told me it is called Ferocactus Gatesii, discovered in the Baja California desert by Professor H. E. Gates at California State University of Fullerton. My cacti and succulents handbook does not mention it, but some internet research revealed that it is a subspecies of Ferocactus Gracilis, sometimes called "Fire Barrel Cactus."

Since this cactus blossom is probably seldom seen, I decided to celebrate by sharing the picture.