Thursday, April 30, 2015

April Photos

A few photos taken in the Emerald City in the last few days ...

"The Mountain" of the Pacific Northwest
Mount Rainier -- 14,409' (4,392 m)
Towering above Port of Seattle
and into the clouds. 

A lady snaps the view from Kerry Park ...
a favorite spot to overlook the city.
And a runner up for our Good Fence entry.

Afternoon sun creates thousands of sparkles on the water
of Puget Sound

Our entry for this week's Good Fences.
It looks pretty good to us, how about you?
Linking up today with Good Fences. Thanks to Tex for hosting!

We like this tree!

Another tree in a little park in the Magnolia neighborhood.
The bench gives you a some perspective on the size of the tree.
Great spot to sit and ponder just about anything.

The new leaves and angle of the sunlight almost
make this tree shine.

We love these in their fall colors ... but isn't the green beautiful too?
These flowers seemed to be glowing in the bright afternoon sun.
A rose is a rose ...  but this one is wild!
Thank you for stopping by John's Island. Can you believe April has gone by so fast ... how was your April?


Tuesday, April 28, 2015

The Half Moon [History -- Ships -- ca. 1609]

From our collection of old postcards ...

The Half Moon was a Dutch East India Company yacht, more properly known as Halve Maen. The ship was assigned to Henry Hudson by the Dutch East India Company for a voyage in 1609 to find a passage from the Netherlands to the Spice Islands. This old postcard features an image and description on the back.


The following is our summary of information found on the Library of Congress website about Dutch Exploration and tells the story of the ship on our postcard. 

The Half Moon was a Dutch East India Company yacht, more properly known as Halve Maen. The ship was assigned to Henry Hudson by the Dutch East India Company for a voyage in 1609 to find a passage from the Netherlands to the Spice Islands in the Far East. Actually, what Hudson found was a part of the New World.

Hudson left Amsterdam on April 6, 1609, aboard the Half Moon, a small, eighty-ton yacht with a crew of eighteen sailors. Sailing along the coast of Norway, he reached the North Cape on May 5. Fearful of another setback in the Arctic waters and worried about quarreling among the Dutch and English sailors on his crew, he made a bold decision to head westward toward North America, following a map that his friend Captain John Smith had shown him. There he hoped to find a westward passage to the Far East - an inlet that would lead to a river across America and into the Pacific.

Hudson made landfall on Labrador and then began to head south along the coast. He entered Chesapeake Bay and stopped briefly at the mouth of the Delaware River before turning north again. In early September he entered what later would come to be called New York Harbor and the Hudson River. Still searching for a passage to the East, the Half Moon sailed almost as far north as present-day Albany before Hudson turned back, convinced by the increasingly shallow water that the river would not lead to the open sea. Although disappointed that he was unable to find the fabled route to Asia, Hudson was impressed by the wealth of the New World. The ship's log describes a country teeming with beaver, deer, and otter and dotted with Indian villages that cultivated corn and beans.

The maps of Hudson's voyage are quite interesting and can be found on the website here.



Read more about the Half Moon at Ship Wiki here.

Thank you for stopping by John's Island.

Monday, April 27, 2015

Five Little Eskimo Sisters [ca. 1906]

From our collection of old postcards ...



Five Little Eskimo Sisters, Copyright 1906 by F. H. Nowell, Nome, Alaska. Published by Edwin Mitchell, San Francisco, probably 1906 -- 07. This card is one of many catering to the fascination, during that time period, that many Americans had with Alaska and Native Alaskans.


The title is hard to read at the top of the photo. We are uncertain ... card number 1??8.




Thank you for stopping by John's Island.

Sunday, April 26, 2015

Recipe Week [P7] -- Shredded Wheat and Strawberries

We saved the oldest postcard and easiest dish to prepare for your Sunday ... Shredded Wheat and Strawberries ... Enjoy!

"A food to grow on, to work on, to live on."

Niagara Falls, New York -- "The Home of Shredded Wheat"

Thank you for stopping by John's Island.

Saturday, April 25, 2015

Recipe Week [P6] -- Devilled Crab Cakes

Continuing our week of recipes on postcards ... This one looks kind of complex, but perhaps with some extra time on Saturday it might be worth a try ... New Orleans Devilled Crab Cakes ...


Recipe from Commander's Palace in the Garden District
of New Orleans.
Do you like crab cakes?

Thank you for stopping by John's Island. We will complete one week of postcard recipes with one more tomorrow ... stop by and check it out ... it's an old favorite!

Friday, April 24, 2015

Recipe Week [P5] AND Smoky SkyWatch

Smoky SkyWatch earlier this week ...

Smoke from fires in Siberia, Russia, made it all the way across the Pacific Ocean and gave Seattle some unusual skies and sunsets around April 17 and 18, 2015.

Here is our photo of the western sky in late afternoon April 17 ... the only processing on this photo is to reduce the size ...

Looking West over the Olympic Mountains

Another photo of the same view taken on the afternoon of April 18 ...


Sunset on the 18th ...


You can read the whole story, see a satellite photo of the smoke, and more photos here. The story was posted online by one of our local TV/Radio News stations, KOMO.

Linking up today with Skywatch Friday  Thanks to the Skywatch hosts!

Continuing our Recipe Week ... For your Friday, how about Alaska Blueberry Muffins? ...




John thinks this one looks pretty easy ... How does it look to you?

Thank you for stopping by John's Island. Stop by again tomorrow for another postcard recipe. And be sure to stop by on Sunday for our favorite from this series of postcards.

Thursday, April 23, 2015

Recipe Week [P4] -- Beef and Rice

Continuing our Recipe Week ... From your postcard collector ... Recipes on postcards ...

"Delicious Beef and Rice"

Mountain West Prints published this postcard as one in a series featuring Mormon recipes.


This card is not too old ... probably '90s. Thank you for stopping by John's Island and stop by tomorrow for another recipe on a postcard.

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Recipe Week [P3] -- Yellow Cake and More!

For our 3rd post in Recipe Week, 3 recipes on 1 postcard ... all using Emergency Flour ... Hope you can find it! ....

Aunt Jenny is awesome but where can I find "emergency flour"?
Which one sounds best:  Chocolate-Frosted Yellow Cake ... Spice Loaf with Raisin Cream Frosting ... or Favorite Devil's Food Cake?

"Test cake well to be sure it is done before removing from oven
as baking is especially critical with emergency flour."
Do you think we could substitute regular flour?  Thank you for stopping by John's Island.

Update - Emergency Flour and Spry - After preparing this post we did a little extra research on the WWW and discovered this: Emergency Flour was mandated by the Federal Government for a couple of years around the end of WWII. Apparently there was a shortage of regular flour at the time and by adding some extra ingredients they could make "regular" flour go further. Spry was like Crisco ... a shortening. In some forums on cooking history old timers say they often used butter or margarine instead of shortening in the recipes like we have in our post today.

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Recipe Week [P2] -- Shoofly Pie

For Tuesday's post in Recipe Week we present Shoofly Pie as described on a postcard from the Pennsylvania Dutch Country ...


Be sure to click on the image for larger view so you can easily read the recipe.

"Delicious served warm and topped with whipped cream."

Have you ever tried Shoofly Pie? If yes, did you like it?

Another recipe tomorrow. Thank you for stopping by John's Island.

Monday, April 20, 2015

Recipe Week [P1] -- Big Bertha

This week, here on John's Island, we'll give you a postcard recipe each day.  Today is Big Bertha ...

"Really sticks to the ribs!"
Serves 6
Back of the card ...


Important:  All recipes this week look good to us but we can't say for sure how good they will turn out. John does not necessarily endorse these recipes! LOL. We have not tried all of them. In addition, we do not make any claims for healthful dishes. Just sharin' ... as they say. Some of these postcards are old ... we hope you can still find the "brand name" ingredients. 

Another recipe tomorrow.  Thank you for stopping by John's Island.  We will love to hear your comments and/or reviews if you prepare these dishes.


Sunday, April 19, 2015

Mishima Maru [ca. 1909 - 1915]

From our collection of old postcards ...

Artfully designed card featuring S.S. Mishima Maru
Dates to 1909 - 1915
European Line of the Nippon Yusen Kaisha, built by Kawasaki Dockyard Co. Ltd., Kobe, Japan, 1909.


Card back -- Note stamp spot indicated by port hatch

Screen Capture from website OceanDictionary.jp
Beautiful Model of Mishima Maru
and some history
Link to Ocean Dictionary is here.

Thursday, April 16, 2015

Church at Grand Tetons Wyoming [1950s]

From our collection of old postcards ...


"The Chapel of the Transfiguration is a small log chapel in Grand Teton National Park, in the community of Moose. The chapel was sited and built to frame a view of the Cathedral Group of peaks in a large window behind the altar. The chapel, which was built in 1925, is owned and operated by St. John's Episcopal Church in Jackson." --- Wikipedia

We think this one qualifies for Good Fences.  Thanks, Tex, for hosting.



Have you visited the Grand Teton National Park?

Thank you for stopping by John's Island.

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Monarch of the Road [ca.1913]

From our collection ... the Monarch of the Road ... King of the Speedway ... National Automobile ... these vintage ads are from approximately 1913 ...

"Nothing classier in the automobile world than this
four-passenger, fore-door toy tonneau, mounted on the
famous National 40 chassis. $2,600."
Our collection is mostly trains and ships, but we could not resist throwing in a few old cars for good measure. And, in that caption above, it's not a typo, the ad calls it a "fore-door" ... apparently because the doors were "forward" from where you were sitting? Is that correct?

"The seven-passenger body is longer and roomier. It is
mounted on the National 40 chassis, which has ample
power to carry twice as big a car. $3,000."

"The popular and convenient open-front type of body may
be had in either the five-passenger touring car or four-passenger
toy tonneau. $2,500."

"Faster than anything you will meet on the road, carrying
you hundreds of miles without a stop, it is small wonder that this
car is the favorite of men who want and can have the best
in motordom. $2,500."
Yes, in the caption above, quoted from the ad, we know it says favorite of "men" ... like many of you have commented, these old ads frequently make us aware of the stereotypical culture of the day. We are not saying we approve of it, just showing it the way it was.

Unless you wanted the limo model (below) it looks like you would be getting an open top. We have to wonder what it was like driving those cars in a heavy rain, or even worse, snow storm.

"Luxury is embodied in every line and movement of the National 40,
seven-passenger limousine. Its appointments are as complete
as it is possible to make them. $4,000."
 We like the little drawings at the bottom of the ads.

"Carrying four passengers in perfect comfort, the National toy
tonneau has won its recognition as one of the neatest,
trimmest body designs in motordom. $2,500."
Thank you for stopping by John's Island.

Sunday, April 12, 2015

National Parks of the West [1935]

From our collection ... Adventuring through the National Parks of the West ... A Souvenir from the California Pacific International Exposition, San Diego 1935 ... Please click on the images for a larger view ...


The story begins …

“TRAVELER, in planning your national parks holidays, remember that each of these enchanted wonderlands is an adventure in itself. You must visit them all to know your national parks. Each surpasses all the others in some outstanding, incomparable natural wonder.”



Yosemite - Sequoia - General Grant

Lassen Volcanic - Crater Lake

Mt. Rainier - Glacier

Yellowstone - Teton - Carlsbad Caverns

Grand Canyon - Zion - Bryce

National Monuments
This little booklet was prepared and published by the Standard Oil Company of California in 1935.

Back Cover

Thank you for stopping by John's Island.

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