Your City Rank -- 1900 -- Census

Our city was ranked 48. Where was yours? Wow, LA only #36!

Census 1900
Provided by the railroad
and published
October, 1990

July Wrap-Up

Since starting John's Island over four years ago we have wondered if we would ever accomplish publishing a new post every day for a month. Today's post will complete that goal. We sure do not think we will be posting every day in most months as we move forward. We have found blogging to be a pretty neat hobby especially for someone who is a collector. It provides an incentive to get the collection organized and to see what you can learn about the items in the collection. Well, tomorrow is August 1, and in a just a few days we will pass the midpoint between summer solstice and fall equinox and move into the second half of the summer season. Thanks for joining us on John's Island.

Skyscraper Window Washing

We happened to notice window washers at work
on Two Union Tower
Seattle

Looking through the scope

How it's done by the pros ...

Thanks for stopping by John's Island.

2014 Mid Season Dahlia Update

On Sunday, July 27, 2014, John stopped by the Puget Sound Dahlia Association garden in Volunteer Park, Seattle, Washington, to see how this year's dahlia garden is progressing. Long term followers of John's Island will know that we've been here before and have posted several times on this garden.

We found wonderful blooms on many of the dahlias, although there are still quite a few that have yet to produce their first flower. Dahlia's may seem to be "late bloomers" ... they do take their time and, at this point, we would say it's about "mid season". Overall, this year, many of the plants seem to be a bit smaller than last year. Maybe just our perception ... not sure!

The weather on Sunday was just about perfect, clear skies, warm but not hot. The bright sunshine and deep shade, on some parts of the garden, produced some challenges to photo opportunities. All photos were taken with our trusty Sony RX100. We like the results we get with this camera, given its small size and weight. You can carry around the much bigger, heavy stuff, and possibly get better results, but we just don't think the difference warrants the extra effort!

Here are 37 mid-season 2014 photos ...

Our first post on this garden, for this year, is here.

Want to compare last year's dahlias? The post is here.

Thank you for stopping by John's Island.

Indian Warfare and Dining Fare 1950 - C M Russell

If you were riding a train from Chicago to Seattle in 1950, you might have been aboard the Great Northern Railroad's Empire Builder, and you might have seen this menu in the dining car. The menu, on its cover, features the art of C. M. Russell.

Here's the interior ... by the way, we like the prices. HOWEVER, we took a couple of items and applied the Consumer Price Index Inflation Calculator (on the web) to see what today's prices would be. They seemed a little bit high, but we are not sure if the prices on the 1950 menu seemed high at the time.

And the back cover ...

From the back cover about the art ...

"C M Russell

On the front cover of this menu is reproduced "Indian Warfare," one of the masterpieces of Western art by Charles M. Russell, the Montana cowboy-artist. A larger reproduction of the painting appears in the observation-lounge car of this train. Largely self-taught, Russell had no peer in the depiction of the Western horse, the plains cowboy and Indian. He died in Great Falls, Montana, in 1926. Russell pictures reproduced on the Empire Builder Fleet are owned by Mrs. Kenneth Egan, Maurice Egan and Gene Robertson, and are on exhibition in the Mint, in Great Falls."

Thank you for stopping by John's Island.

Antique Yellowstone Postcard Album [Part 2]

Antique Postcard Album
Yellowstone National Park

[Part 2 of 2]

Repeating the introduction from yesterday's Part 1 of this album ...

If you visited Yellowstone in the early 1900s you had (just like today) a choice of souvenirs to take home to help you recall your visit. You might have selected this album of postcards. The cover is like a snake-skin material. Inside, the postcards are mounted on pages of scrapbook paper. The views on the cards cover a little bit of everything ... geysers, springs, hotels, etc. We are showing you the album exactly as it would appear if you were here with us and looking at it in reality as opposed to virtually. That means some of the cards, the vertical views, will be sideways ... you can decide how to handle the viewing.

Here is Part 2 ...

Grand Canyon Hotel ---
A beautiful hotel, no longer in existence.

Thanks for stopping by John's Island.