The official quarterly newsletter of the South Jersey Postcard Club - Serving Postcard Collectors Since 1971
John H. McClintock (1925-2009), Founder
October 2011
Vol. 11. No. 5
The Cornish Litany, a Prayer for all Times
By Donald T. Matter, Jr.
To better understand the Cornish Litany, you must know the history of Cornwall, a small shire on the western most edge of
England. Hospitality in Cornwall is more or less obligatory. Each and everyone rejoices many times each year by joining
community festivals that take notice of tradition through thanksgiving and worship. They also honor all mankind as their
brethren. All such events begin at ten o’clock in the morning on “Feasten' Mondays.” If you go to these events, even now in the
21st century, someone is bound to call you cousin, for the Cornish believe that all men are related. Their joy of life comes from
“a willingness to accept the providence they have been given as they move on by helping themselves.”1
Most cultures (read “religions” if you wish) have prayers to comfort those of faith, and in this the Cornish are no exception.
They have prayers for morning, noon, and night and prayers for meals, weather, fertility, wealth, health, and hundreds of other
daily routines and the prayers are used with regularity and the Cornish people swear by the power of prayer.
From ghoulies and ghosties
And long legetty beasties
And things that go bump in the night,
Good Lord deliver us!
Yes, this is the litany being researched. My reader must know that I was tasked with this chore, and although I knew the
litany or as some would have it, the prayer, and often recited it in one form or another, to my daughter and grand-daughter, I
knew nothing of its origin. Therefore to learn more I had to go forth into the dim recesses of English and other Brythonic
literatures, and believe me, I knew this would not be an easy undertaking. Like so many others in these days of electronic
learning, I had a notion of finding all I needed on the Internet. So . . . let me tell you what I found. Nothing. At least nothing of
value. True, there are a couple of sites that have vague references and some suggestions of origin, but nowhere on the web is
there much more than some curious folks vexing over what they do not know and annoyed that they cannot find more. I fear
that some in the future will assume, if it isn’t on the Internet, it didn’t happen. Too many have already forgotten that they keep
most of mankind’s knowledge in libraries.
To give credit where it is due there are a few references credited to someone I have never met, but she is a recognized
authority on the topic, or at least the postcards on the topic. I would have liked very much to have interviewed Debra Meister,
who lives in North Carolina, for she has been collecting litany postcards for many years, and has recently self-published a book
entitled, A Litany ... Cornish and Otherwise, using her postcards as illustrations.2
I fear that you may assume that I have found the answers to all the questions, but I have not. For example, in one blog
entry Ms. Meister suggests, “No one seems to know where it came from or who wrote it. Sort of spooky, like it just appeared out
of nowhere.” To this I would add that so do thousands of other bits of myth and lore. This rationalization does not help the
curious , but suffice it to say, part of the wisdom in not knowing details is that no one else knows either. That puts you in the
company of many distinguished people.
But when an old fact-hound like me gets deep in a library cellar and discovers a book like Robert Hunt’s 1903, Popular
Romances of the West of England, we find where he writes in Chapter 18 of the witches, tinners and fishermen who knew the
stories of giants, fairies, demons, spectres, holy wells, and romances, as well as the tales of Arthur, that this litany is by their
accounts part of a 14th or 15th century parochial litany that and in its time was recited at church as:3
Laity: Oh Lord, deliver us from ghosties and ghoulies
And long-legged beasties
And things that go bump in the night.
Clergy: O’ Lord, deliver us.
Hunt also suggests that although sources within the Anglican church have been unable to locate the total litany that is
unimportant for it happens often that elements of prayer change depending on season, weather, health and how much the
petitioner wants to satisfy his need to be happy with his labors to belong.
Let’s say, we expand our understanding? What is a ghoul? Many will answer from experience that is far from the mark. A
“ghoul” is a grave robber and one who feeds on corpses. Okay, that is a pretty good thing to avoid.
Ghosts. The disembodied souls of the dead. As one who has lived many years learning and working in the sciences, I
have no knowledge of ghosts, nor have I ever experienced one. If however they do exist, I concede that they too would be
worthy of avoidance. As Charles A. Dana said, “I don’t believe in ghosts, but I have been afraid of them all my life.”
Beasts. Do you know that by definition a beast must have four legs? So how many long-legged beasts exist? I hasten to
suggest that the giraffe may be one of very few candidates. The giraffe, however, is an unusual beast, for they are deathly
afraid of humans and they are more likely to avoid us, then we them.
Not much more, we’re getting down to it: things that go bump in the night. The first time this phrase was used in the
printing of scholarly themes or essays was in the Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, published at Cambridge
University, England, in 1918. The author assumed his readers would know the term or that they would be able to assume a
meaning. Once when my wife and I were newly married we lived in an apartment that had a broom closet. One night a broom
fell against the door and did so with enough force to open the door, allowing the spillage of everything inside (continued on Page 2.)
VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT WWW.SJPOSTCARD.COM
October 2011
South Jersey Postcard Club
Page 2.
onto the kitchen floor. Needless to say, at 2 AM we did not recognize what the disturbance was until after we were out of bed,
wandering about on a cold floor, and very anxious to complete our moonlit investigation. That night, all those years ago, has
served as our experiential definition of this phrase.
Worthy of reporting are the various uses I have found for the phrase: titles of books (scholarly, casual, and juvenile), an
episode of a British sit-com, a movie, several songs, many poems, and believe it or not, a cell-phone ring tone. Without
additional comment, I tell you there are many who continue to re-define the phrase, and you owe it to yourself to view a few
such attempts that are currently found on the YouTube website - http://www.youtube.com.
Imagine yourself a supplicant who attends religious gatherings in the 1490s. Your prayers ask for all that would be good for
you and your family because you have been told “the world is filled with scary creatures .” That was then, when England’s King
Henry VII may well have recited the Cornish Litany. But now, what prayer do we have, for isn’t the world still filled with scary
creatures ? One scary thing is that wide-eyed computer sitting over there in the corner, don’t you often think, “this machine can
speak my words, pay my bills , and think my thoughts ?” Maybe you should say a prayer for the computer, for it is part of a world
still filled with scary creatures and unfortunately that world remains vivid for far too many. “This superstitious world view hangover is what social scientists call culture lag.” Dr. Don E. Post wants to know, how much endurance do we have for this world?4
Today the Cornish Litany, by any other name, i.e. Devon Litany, West Country Litany, Scottish Prayer, is not changed from
its 15th century origin. Post tells his readers that faith is a mystery that demands our attempt to make sense of it; our efforts fail
but faith prompts us to endure the mysterious and do so through prayer.4 The mystery of the Cornish Litany is charming and
should be endured and so should other rituals we all know and love, for example:
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John,
The bed be blessed that I lie on.
Four angles to my bed,
Four angles round my head,
One to watch, and one to pray,
And two to bear my soul away.
Thomas Ady, A candle in the Dark, 1636.
5
Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord, my soul to keep.
If I should die before I wake,
I pray thee Lord my soul to take.
Amen!
Anon, from the New England Primer, 1781
5
š›
Above left: Stanley T. Chaplin, British artist
and illustrator, Cornish Litany , No. 2 of a 12
card series . Harvey Barton & Son Ltd.,
Bristol, circa 1928. These cards are available
in black & white as well as colored.
Left: Arthur Wragg (1903-1976) an
uncatalogued British illustrator. Cornish
Litany, No.1. Polperro Press, circa 1920.
Above right: Alice C. Butler, Moonlight
Frolics at Polperro, Cornwall. Date and
publisher are unknown.
Right: Debra Meister, Cornish Litany,
www.Blurb.com, 2010.2
_______________
1. Courtney, Margaret Ann. “Cornish Feasts and Folk-Lore.” Folk-Lore Society Journal, 1886-87.
2. Meister, Debra. A Litany … Cornish and Otherwise. Online at http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/1545171.
3. Hunt, Robert. Popular Romances of the West of England: The drolls, traditions, and superstitions of old Cornwall. 1903.
4. Post, Don E., Ph.D. Christian Basics for the 21st Century, Ghosties and Ghoulies and Long-Legged Beasties and Things
That Go Bump In the Night. iUniverse, 2004.
5. Nettleingham e, Francis T. Polperro Proverbs and Others . (Taken from Jonathan Couch. The History of Polperro.
Simpkin, Marshall & Company, 1871).
October 2011
South Jersey Postcard Club
Page 3.
The Miracle of the Well
President’s Corner
Hello again dear club members and friends ,
Fall is a good time to get those collections advancing
and to completion or to start another collection. This hobby
is never ending and the more collections you have, the
smarter and more valuable you become. It is important to
share your specialized interests. We postcard people are
learned and interesting as a whole. Have a conversation
with a collector and they will share a myriad of details
concerning a topic which you may never have considered as
something even desirable or collectible. I am always amazed
at the collections and the reasons why people collect.
Some of the very best shows are in the fall, so be
prepared to attend a few shows. Visiting shows out of your
area can provide an exceptional opportunity to add cards to
your collection because different dealers in other locales
have different sources for inventory. Flipping through a box
or many boxes of cards sure beats clicking on them at eBay
or other postcard auction sites on your home computer, and
the dealer may offer a discount on multiple purchases.
Better too are the connections one makes with others while
at shows. This is a people hobby, and we collect people
along the way. We make friends and appreciate others for
their education and the information they share. Take a friend
to a show, and encourage them to collect something. Share
your collection with youngsters and oldsters alike. We must
encourage new collectors to ensure that this hobby will
continue to be strong and worthwhile. In the grand scheme
of things, cost wise, postcards are still fairly inexpensive and
store fairly compactly. So, come on, let’s go, and grow!
Till next time,
–—
Editor’s Niche
Lynn
September and October are catch-up time around our
house, so the concept is now being applied to The McClintock Letter. I hope you enjoy this issue; it is full of interesting
stories and cards.
Ray
South Jersey Postcard Club
Visit us at sjpostcard.com
to find general information and our newsletter archives.
President . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lynn McKelvey
Immediate Past President . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bob Duerholz
Vice President . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jim Estelle
Treasurer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sal Fiorello
Secretary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Emily DiVento
2011 Trustee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Charles “Bud” Shropshire
2011 Trustee. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jane Cocciolone
2011 Trustee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mary Chubik
SJPC Historian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sheila D’Avino
Newsletter Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ray Hahn
Please send club inquiries to:
The South Jersey Postcard Club
c/o Emily DiVento, Secretary
1746 Johnston Street
Philadelphia, PA 19145
Please send newsletter inquiries and articles to:
Ray Hahn, Editor
908 Barbara Terrace
Millville, NJ 08332
or email to ray@rayhahn.com
When you research a postcard like the one you see here it
is a difficult task simply because there are no English words
on either side of the card. If this research were happening
two decades ago, it would have been nearly impossible
without translators skilled in two languages – French and
Arabic. Today the Internet makes research a little easier.
Needless to say, I like the card; it is colorful and
although unsigned, artfully done. I had no idea what the card
was about, so let me tell you how I learned its story. I started
at a website called Google Translate – it is a site where the
user can type in any words from nearly sixty languages and
the computer will proffer a literal translation. When I keyed in
the French at the bottom of this card the translation was:
Marabout Sidi Aïça ben Mohammed whose tomb is in the
region of Aumale, celebrates the miracle that sent up a gush
of tar from a desert well which served to save the animals
suffering from scabies.
Scabies? Egad, I thought, what have I found?
« « «
Without a doubt, two of the most unpleasant words in
our language are “scabies ” and “mange.” Scabies is a
contagious skin infection that occurs in humans , commonly
called the seven-year itch. Mange is a nearly identical
affliction in animals . These miseries are caused by a tiny
parasite that burrows under the skin. In humans the
condition is effectively treated with creams and salves, but
there is no pharmaceutical remedy for animals except a
derivative of tar or bitumen. The worst cases occur in
horses, donkeys, camels, goats, sheep, and dogs . In dogs
mange is frequently fatal because of the brain damage that is
caused by the accompanying fever.
Crude bitumen is a naturally occurring sticky, tar-like
form of petroleum that is so thick and heavy that it must be
heated or diluted before it will flow, hence the miracle, I
presume. I read that its consistency at room temperature is
similar to cold molasses.
October 2011
South Jersey Postcard Club
Page 4.
Consider the Beer Can . . . It is beautiful . . .
By Danny Hack
January
24, 1935, was the first sale date for Gottfried
Krueger Brewing Company’s new packaging – they were the
first brewer of ale and beer to sell their product in cans.
That day was a long time coming. Montana brewer
Leopold Schmidt had asked about the possibility of canning
his products as early as 1909. At the time, this was deemed
not possible as cans were not sufficiently strong to withstand
the internal pressure of a carbonated liquid. Further, the beer
and metal would have reacted causing metal turbidity and
spoiling the beer.
hesitant and did not initially can their flagship Blue Ribbon
brand. Instead, Pabst Export Beer appeared on July 4th.
Plant of Pabst Brewery Co. Milwaukee
The American Can Company, Jersey City, N.J.
During the dark years of Prohibition, American Can
Company of Jersey City, New Jersey, solved the first problem
by developing a sufficiently sturdy can. Then Brewer's pitch
was applied to the interior of the can to prevent any
interaction between the beer and the tinplate. (Perfection
of the lining method would take until late 1934, when Union
Carbide developed a layer of enamel coupled with a new
product called vinylite).
When Repeal [of the 18 th
Amendment] came in 1933, the American Can Company
(ACCO) was ready. Their only problem was convincing
brewers to use the new packaging.
ACCO persuaded nearby Newark brewer Krueger to
test-can their product, and so, 2000 cans were filled with
Krueger's Special beer and circulated to friends of the
brewery along with questionnaires. The response was 91%
positive, but ACCO still had difficulty in convincing Krueger to
invest in the expensive canning machinery. Finally a deal
was reached where ACCO would install the machinery and,
should the experiment fail, remove it later, at no cost to
Krueger.
Cans of Krueger's Finest Beer and Krueger’s Cream Ale
were introduced in a test market in Richmond, Virginia, in
January 1935. This city at the fringe of Krueger's marketing
area was chosen so that should canned beer prove a failure,
it would do only limited damage to Krueger's reputation.
Krueger need not have worried. The cans sold - and
continued to sell. By the beginning of summer, Krueger was
in the unique position of having the only canned beer on the
market and they were operating at 550% of the previous
year's production, and were still unable to keep up with
demand. In practice, the can's selling points over bottles
quickly became clear. Cans blocked all damaging light,
chilled faster, didn't break, could be stacked, and did not have
to be returned for deposit.
In May, America's largest brewer, Premier-Pabst
Corporation, signed a contract with ACCO, but they too were
Northampton Brewing Company of Northampton,
Massachusetts, began canning its Tru Blu Ale and Beer
during the summer in cans made by National Can Company.
Schlitz Lager from the Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company
appeared in September, using Continental Can Company's
conical spout-topped cans, and by year's end, 200 million
cans had been sold, at least 20 brewers were canning beer
and another 13 had signed agreements with American,
Continental, or National. From then on there was no looking
back.
« « «
In addition, every January 24th is Beer Can Appreciation
Day. So pop open a can of your favorite and keep this
thought in mind:
"Consider the beer can. It is beautiful -as beautiful as the clothespin, as
inevitable as the wine bottle, as dignified
and reassuring as the fire hydrant. A
tranquil cylinder of delightfully resonant
metal..."
~John Updike
« « «
If, while appreciating your beer can, you put it up on a
shelf to better admire it, you may also wish to consider the
following:
On October 20, 1969, the St. Louis Globe Democrat ran
a feature story on a man with a unique hobby. Denver Wright,
Jr., had a collection of beer cans. This hobby was proved to
be not as unique as he imagined when Denver was contacted
that day by six other St. Louis area collectors, including his
younger brother, Larry!
If seven local collectors could be found, they began to
wonder how many other collectors were there across the
country. And so, on April 15, 1970 the Beer Can Collectors of
America was incorporated. The following year, the club had
over 200 members and hosted its first CANvention. At one
point in 1978, membership peaked at over 12,000 members.
Since the fad passed, the club has continued with around
4,000 members from every American state and dozens of
foreign countries. In 2006, the BCCA changed its name to
the Brewery Collectibles Club of America.
Information may be found at www.bcca.com and new
members are always welcome.
October 2011
South Jersey Postcard Club
Marcel Waves on Postcards
Francois
Marcel Grateau died in 1936 at his 500-acre
country estate near Berney, France. He was 84 years old
and a multi -millionaire because of an invention he created in
1872.
Mr. Grateau was all about hair and its care. From 1872
until his death, he acquired 14 patents for tools, clippers,
combs and brushes – all for the care of hair, both men’s and
women’s.
The universal popularity of his namesake wave began in
a one-room salon in the Montemarte section of northern
Paris. Marcel’s clients were much less than members of
French society – women from the poorer class would queue
at his shop to have their hair styled free of charge for Marcel
was always struggling to find customers to practice on.
Marcel’s “big break” came when the popular actress
Jane Hading learned of his skills in waving hair. Her hair
was, in the vernacular of the
salon, dead straight. She
promised to tell the world if
Marcel could make her hair
wavy. He did; and then she
did.
Marcel’s wave process
was accomplished by using
heated irons, manufactured
by the Pelleray Company of
Paris. The prototypes were
heated in gas burners or coal
fires, but by 1924 electric
made it possible to control
the heat for better results.
The irons were shipped
world-wide by the hundreds
of dozens.
Page 5.
Germany and England Early 1940
This World War II
era postcard presents a very interesting
comparison of the Familienunterstutzung (family support) for
the einberufener Soldaten (conscripted or enlisted
servicemen) in the German and British armies. The card is
an interesting piece of propaganda, and engenders questions
about how those “back home” were provided for by their
respective governments.
Miss Jane Hading
I was recently reminded
that Miss Crabtree, the new
teacher who replaced Miss
McGillicuddy,
in
the
“Teacher’s
Pet”
episode
(1930) of the Our Gang serial
wore her hair in Marcel curls,
but so did many other women.
From the world of advertising
to campus queens of the era,
the Marcel Wave was a style
for the ages.
The comparison of a soldier’s family support is computed
in Reichsmarks which in early 1940 were valued at the rate of
one pound sterling (£1) to five Reichsmarks (RM5).
Simple arithmetic tells us that the British soldier was
earning approximately 61½% of what a German soldier was
paid. Ranges of percentages from 61.5% down to 42%
determined the amounts that wives and children would have
for expenses at home while the husbands and fathers were
“away at the war.”
«««
October 2011
South Jersey Postcard Club
Page 6.
The Elephant Hotel, a National Historic Landmark
Courtesy Somer Historical Society and Grace Zimmermann
Griffith, Lionel Barrymore and other members of the cast
were guests of the hotel.
The hotel was purchased from the Bailey family by the
Town of Somers in 1927. It is now filled with filing cabinets,
desks and computers, the beauty of the building can still be
seen in the stately portico and entrance hall, the woodwork
surrounding windows and doors, the fireplaces in each
room. A huge fireplace, measuring 8 feet by 6 feet 3 inches,
once used for cooking, is now one wall of the town
employees' lounge.
On April 5, 2005, the hotel was designated a National
Historic Landmark by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior, Gale
Norton. See http://tps.cr.nps.gov/.
Postcard Published by Pendor Color, Pearl River, NY, circa 1963
The
Elephant Hotel was built in Somers, New York,
between 1820 and 1825 by Hachaliah Bailey, a significant
figure in the formation of the early American circus. The
building, a three-story brick structure is a rare, distinctive
example of Federal Period domestic architecture. It is also a
distinguished specimen of a rural turnpike hotel.
The words ELEPHANT HOTEL were painted across the
building to commemorate an elephant that was known as
Old Bet. In 1827 a wooden replica of Old Bet was mounted
on a granite shaft in front of the hotel. The monument
remains today, although the original statue had to be
replaced because of its decayed condition. The trunk of the
original statue is on exhibit in the museum on the third floor
of the building.
The village of Somers’s claim to fame as the "Cradle of
the American Circus" goes back to around 1805, when
Bailey acquired an elephant, named her Old Bet, and took
her on tour along the eastern seaboard of the new nation.
As he added other exotic animals to this menagerie, his
neighbors and relatives joined him in the enterprise,
sometimes as partners, sometimes as competitors. The
fever spread to North Salem, Carmel, Brewster, and other
adjoining towns. In 1835 the Zoological Institute was
incorporated at the Elephant Hotel.
Situated at the intersection of the Croton and Peekskill
Turnpikes, and in a very viable community, the hotel
became the economic and social center of Somers and the
surrounding area. Not only was it the meeting place for the
circus owners, it was a stagecoach stop for travelers
between New York City and points to the north and east.
In 1839 the Farmers and
Drovers Bank was chartered
and housed in what is now the
Town Clerk's office and an
adjacent building.
With the
coming of the railroad to the
east of Somers in the 1840s ,
the hotel and the hamlet of
Somers lost their status as the
economic center of the area.
The bank went into voluntary
liquidation in 1885 and ceased
operations in
Elephant Hotel, circa 2007
1905.
The hotel continued to be a social center. Balls,
soirees, dancing schools and other social functions took
advantage of its spaciousness. In 1923 D. W. Griffith filmed
a portion of his epic motion picture America in Somers. Mr.
š›
Postcards of the World’s Largest
I t is almost comical how some articles find their way into this
newsletter. The card here could well have inspired a story
about vases or pottery
in general terms, or
even the company that
made it - Weller Pottery
Co.,
of
Zanesville,
Ohio. All good ideas,
but instead it has
become an incentive to
find
how
many
postcards are out there
with the words “World’s
Largest” on them.
To do this kind of
research you need to
set some limits, so I
decided to choose
eBay as my marketplace and search only
the postcard sales that
mentioned the words
“world’s” and “largest”
in either the item’s title
or description.
I set my browser to download fifty items per page and I
decided to examine only the first few pages. I had no idea
what the result would be, but on Tuesday night, April 12th,
eleven pages of cards appeared – simple arithmetic
suggests that I had found 550 items for sale. I was very
surprised to see very little duplication. There were several
conflicting claims to being the “world’s largest,” but that is
very understandable since what appeared to me to be the
oldest card came from about 1904 and the newest from
around 1985. (As a point of interest, the very same card you
see above appeared on the first page – on sale for $9.99.)
Here is a partial list of the different things I found on
those postcards, all claiming to be the “world’s largest:”
soldier ant
log cabin
tarantula
RR tank car
diner
underground garage
grain elevator
slot machine
beer stein
meteorite
pecan tree
draft horse
helicopter
electric sign
basket factory
oil gusher
telescope
hailstone
dirigible
cactus
grasshopper
pipe organ
birthday cake
McDonald’s Restaurant
October 2011
South Jersey Postcard Club
Page 7.
The AIDS Memorial Quilt
Names Project Foundation’s inaugural display of the AIDS Memorial
Quilt. October 11, 1987, the Mall, Washington, DC.
About the Quilt*
Founded in 1987, The AIDS Memorial Quilt is a poignant memorial, a
powerful tool for use in preventing new HIV infections, and the
largest ongoing community arts project in the world.
Each "block" of The AIDS Memorial Quilt measures
approximately twelve feet square, and a typical block consists of
eight individual three foot by six -foot panels sew n together. Virtually
every one of the more than 40,000 colorful panels that make up the
Quilt memorializes the life of a person lost to AIDS.
As the epidemic continues claiming lives around the world and
here in the United States, the Quilt continues to grow and to reach
more communities with its messages of remembrance, awareness
and hope.
Chilton Printing
Card courtesy of Emily DiVento
At Market and 49
th
Streets in Philadelphia, Chilton Printing
Company traced its origins back to 1896. In 1900 the three
founding partners settled on the name Trade Advertising &
Publishing Co., but when incorporation took place on March
31, 1904, the official name of the company became Chilton
Company of Pennsylvania. The name of the company had
no relationship to the founding executives; it was chosen
from a list of the passengers on the Mayflower (James
Chilton from Canterbury, England).
Although known as a trade magazine and automotive
manual publisher, the firm did a vast array of publishing and
had the exclusive American rights to several German printing
procedures, including that of chromolithographic printing.
From 1904 until the firm was purchased in 1923 by United
Publishing, Clinton published no less then nine magazines at
its plant on Market Street. United moved the entire operation
to 56th and Chestnut Streets in the late 1940s.
In 1934 a complete reorganization of the company took
place. J. Howard Pew provided an infusion of cash and
saved the company from bankruptcy. (Is there anyone in
Philadelphia who does not know the name Pew?) Pew, the
co-founder of Sun Oil Company, merged all subsidiaries into
one company and re-incorporated them in the state of
Delaware as the Chilton Company.
The firm is now located in Radnor, Pennsylvania.
The final display of the AIDS Memorial Quilt, in its entirety, was between
October 6 and 8, 1989, on the Ellipse, in the backyard of the White
House.
« « «
Collectors of social history postcards will be able to find
several interesting cards about AIDS and AIDS awareness
by searching Internet auction sites. Prices range from less
than a dollar to about $12.00. The cards about are generally
available for about $5.
« « «
* The description of the quilt is taken from the Aids Quilt
website at http://www.aidsquilt.org/about.htm.
Additional
information may be obtained there.
–—
PoCaX - May 5, 2012
at the Double Tree Suites Hotel
515 Fellowship Road Mt. Laurel, NJ
Address side of card above
« « «
If you like collecting postcards from certain publishers,
you will have a field day with Chilton postcards. There are
millions of them. Look for their corporate name on the left
edge of every card they ever printed. (Follow the red arrow.)
–—
October 2011
South Jersey Postcard Club
Page 8.
A Page of Artists
John Victorine
John Victorine stands on the edge of the sidewalk behind a
museum in Roseau, Dominica. He is a person that when you
meet, you instantly know you want him to be a friend. He has
been there most days for more than thirty years. It’s where
he works. His skin in black; his hair is white. I would guess
him to be 65 to 70 years old. He is over six feet tall, thin as a
rail and has a bass-baritone voice that makes you think of
James Earl Jones. John is a wood carver. His hands are
arthritic and scared from years of tiny nicks and cuts. The
day we met he wore clothes that although they were old, told
me that he took pride in his appearance.
Any one who has ever visited our home and has sat on
our porch knows that we collect masks. All kinds – wood,
bone, ceramic, stone – we even have a cement one and one
carved from a fossilized root ball. One of our masks was
carved by John Victorine, but it is in our living room – a place
of honor.
Modern chrome postcard. The Domin ica National Museum
If you ever find yourself on board a cruise ship that calls
at Dominica you will see the National Museum across the
street from the harbor. The museum is definitely worth a visit
– it has an enormous display of postcards depicting the slave
trade and the sugar industry. After you see the postcards,
walk around back to the Old Roseau Market Plaza and find
John Victorine – he’ll be there – you can’t miss him.
š›
Bessie Pease Gutmann – a native daughter
Bessie
Pease was born in 1876, raised, and educated in
Philadelphia. She lived in the city until 1896 when she
moved to New York to continue her education at the New
York School of Art and the Art Students League.
Like Maud Humphrey (See The McClintock Letter,
November 2008), Bessie had a
long and very profitable career
making illustrations for books
and magazines. After creating a
wide-ranging student portfolio
Pease joined the staff of
Woman's Home Companion and
McCall's. Her work was featured
on over twenty covers between
1906 and 1920.
Being an artist whose work
was in popular demand led her
to consider having her art
published on postcards . Hullmut
Gutmann, her husband, who just
happened to be in the publishing business had the right
connections to make it happen, and in the fifty years that
followed she sold more cards than any other postcard artist in
America. Working at home was easy for Bessie – the
Gutmann’s three children, Alice, Lucille, and John, and each
one became a model for Bessie’s illustrations.
Bessie Gutmann lived in Centerport, New York, until
September 1960 when she died at age 84.
If Mrs. Gutmann were alive today, can you imagine her
astonishment in learning that many of her three for a nickel
postcards are now selling at shows and on eBay for up to
$250.00?
š›
Sir Edwin Henry Landseer, 1802-1873
Edwin Landseer, a member of the Royal
Academy, was an English painter, well
known for his paintings of animals particularly horses, dogs and deer, but he is
best known for something other than
paintings.
If you have ever been to
Trafalgar Square in London, England, or
seen a picture of Nelson’s Column, you
have experienced Landseer’s art.
Landseer’s most famous works
are sculptures – the lion heads in
London’s most famous tourist
destination.
A very interesting fact is that
Sir Edwin was able to paint with
both hands, for example, he could
paint a horse’s head with his left
hand, and its tail with his right hand
– simultaneously.
At left is an example of
Landseer’s work on a
Stengel postcard #29179.
It is entitled Shoeing a Bay
Mare and shows a donkey,
horse and a dog – three of
Landseer’s favorite subjects.
Sir Edward was also
renowned to be, when he
was in the mood, an
extremely fast painter, it
was not unusual for him to
complete a painting in just a
few days, although the
opposite was also true. He
was a master procrastinator
- there is a contemporary
account that tells of a
commission he agreed to
complete for an emissary of Queen Victoria. The contract
was deemed valid for more than 43 years, but there is no
record if the work was ever delivered or paid for.
š›
Future Contest Topics
October 2011 • Ready for the Rain
November 2011 • I never want to see another … !
December 2011 • Your Best New Jersey Card.