Saturday, November 28, 2015

November Seattle Skies


November Skies, Seattle, Washington, USA ...

November 1 afternoon
Looking out over Puget Sound from our place.
(Click on images for larger view)

November 1 later
Looking west over Puget Sound

November 2

November 3
Fresh snow on Olympic Mountains

November 3 near sunset

November 3 from Kerry Park

November 4
Looking over ship terminal and marina.

November 8

November 9

November 17 stormy, windy afternoon

November 20

November 22

November 25 Olympic Mountains after sunset

November 26 Full Moon setting
Linking up today with Skywatch Friday  Thank you to hosts Yogi, Sandy, and Sylvia! Check out Skywatch for more sky photos!

Thank you for stopping by John's Island.

Friday, November 27, 2015

Black Friday

From our collection of old postcards ...


Way before the internet we had On-THE-Line shopping. Yes, those were the early days of LAND LINES! The Bell Telephone System, by publishing this old postcard in about 1912, wanted to let you know how easy shopping could be. Avoid the crowds ... Order on your phone ... Oh My!




Back of the card ...


Thank you for stopping by John's Island.

Thursday, November 26, 2015

Good Wishes for Thanksgiving Day [early 1900s]

From our collection of old postcards ...

Good Wishes for Thanksgiving Day
by Ellen Clapsaddle

We are thankful to have this old card in the collection. The artist, Ellen Clapsaddle, is recognized by card collectors as one of the most prolific greeting card artists of the Golden Age of Postcards (1898 - 1915) with over 3000 designs.

Signed  Ellen H. Clapsaddle

Here is what Wikipedia has to say about Clapsaddle:

"Ellen Hattie Clapsaddle (January 8, 1865 - January 7, 1934) was an American illustrator/commercial artist in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Not only is her style greatly admired and well recognized, today she is recognized as the most prolific souvenir/postcard and greeting card artist of her era.

Clapsaddle started by giving art lessons in her home near Columbia, New York. At the same time she created her own landscapes and was commissioned to paint portraits of families in Richfield Springs. She also submitted her work to publishers in New York City and became a recognized commercial artist. She was a freelance artist and her illustrations were often used in advertising and on porcelain goods, calendars, paper fans, trade and greeting cards.

Clapsaddle's greatest success was in the development of her artwork into single-faced cards that could be kept as souvenirs or mailed as postcards and she specialized in designing illustrations specifically for that purpose. Artistic designs had become highly prized particularly during the peak of production of the "golden age of souvenir/postcards" (1898–1915) for their great marketing possibilities. Clapsaddle is credited with over 3000 designs in the souvenir/post card field."

This particular card is an embossed card which would have been a premium item in its time, somewhere around 1900.

The unused back of the card as it appears in a normal scan.
We did some processing to help you see the effect of the embossing on the card ...

Some photoshop processing shows the effect of the embossing
which is difficult to see in a normal scan of the card.
The plate to create the embossing effect must have
been quite a work of art.
We have to wonder how many of this card were produced. The back of the card states that it was printed in Germany by International Art Publishing Company. A web search for more information on them did not reveal much. While we were putting together this post we had to sit back for a moment and wonder what Ellen Clapsaddle would think about how the means of sending a kind greeting has changed in just over 100 years. Would she be happy with our new technology?

We wish all followers and friends in the USA a Happy Thanksgiving Day and adding all of you around the world we are thankful that you have stopped by John's Island.


Monday, November 23, 2015

Seattle's New Fireboat [1910]

From our collection of old postcards ...

New Fire Boat Duwamish
Published about 1910
One card from a series entitled
The Pacific Northwest Photographic Series

Back of the unused card.

Description enlarged.

For comparison ... our photo of current "Fireboat 2"
Late August, 2015, at Pier 90, Seattle
The city now has several fireboats.

Other recent marine sightings ...

Western Dawn Fishing Vessel
at Fisherman's Terminal, Seattle

CMA CGM Bianca
Entering Elliott Bay
November 6, 2015

NOAA Research Vessel Thomas G Thompson
leaving our area on Nov. 21, 2015, 09:45
Sailboat masts in the foreground at
Elliott Bay Marina 
Check out the website for the University of Washington, School of Oceanography, RV Thomas G Thompson here.

Thank you for stopping by John's Island.

Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Art of Howard Fogg - Old Postcards [Part 3]

From our collection we continue with more of Howard Fogg's railroad art on old postcards ...

Please click on image for larger view.







Please be sure to see our earlier posts featuring Howard Fogg's art on postcards. In earlier posts we described the back of the cards and how we put together the views you are seeing today. After today's cards we are about half way through this series of old postcards and will have more for you in a future post.

Our first post is here.

Our second post is here.

Thank you for stopping by John's Island.

Thursday, November 12, 2015

Tom Dawson - Mountain Man [1940s]

From our collection of old postcards ...




Today's old postcard was published by the Great Northern Railway, probably in the 1940s, to stir interest in travel to Glacier National Park. Glacier and Yellowstone have been two of the most popular National Parks in the West. A web search for more info on Tom doesn't reveal much ... on one of the Glacier Park History sites we found this:  Thomas Dawson, an old-time guide in this area, and son of Andrew Dawson, last factor of the American Fur Company at Fort Benton.

Thank you for stopping by John's Island.

Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Thank You to All Veterans - 11 11 15

From our collection of old postcards ...

Honoring our Veterans on Veteran's Day 2015

Unused back of the old postcard.
The card was probably published in the early 1900s.

We recently saw a bumper sticker ... No Veterans, No USA.  So true ... and today is our day to say thank you to all Veterans. We took an old card out of the collection which was published in the early 1900s to honor the Universal Postal Union. The image seems appropriate for honoring Veterans as well and we added our own Thank You to the front of the card.

Perhaps you missed our post to honor Veterans last year.  If so, please check it out here.

Thank you for stopping by John's Island.

Sunday, November 8, 2015

A Week of Busy Bears -- Sunday [early 1900s]

From our collection of old postcards ...

Busy Bear postcard Series 79 - Sunday
Busy Bear postcard Series number 79. The art is the work of Bernhardt Wall and the cards were published by the Ullman Manufacturing Company, New York, in the early 1900s. Series Title: The days of the week. Today's card: Sunday ... Going to Church. To see all the other days of the week and the back of the cards, please stop by our earlier posts this past week.

How did you like the Busy Bears?

Thank you for stopping by John's Island. 

Saturday, November 7, 2015

A Week of Busy Bears -- Saturday [early 1900s]

From our collection of old postcards ...


Busy Bear postcard Series 79 - Saturday
Busy Bear postcard Series number 79. The art is the work of Bernhardt Wall and the cards were published by the Ullman Manufacturing Company, New York, in the early 1900s. Series Title: The days of the week. Today's card: Saturday ... Going to Market. Stop by tomorrow for the last card in the series ... Sunday. To see all the other days of the week and the back of the cards, please see our earlier posts this week.

Linking up today with Eileen's Saturday's Critters :-) Thank you Eileen!

Thank you for stopping by John's Island. 

Friday, November 6, 2015

A Week of Busy Bears -- Friday [early 1900s]

From our collection of old postcards ...

Busy Bear postcard Series 79 - Friday
Busy Bear postcard Series number 79. The art is the work of Bernhardt Wall and the cards were published by the Ullman Manufacturing Company, New York, in the early 1900s. Series Title: The days of the week. Today's card: Friday ... Cleaning House! Stop by tomorrow for Saturday. To see the cards for Monday through Thursday, and the back of the cards, please stop by our earlier posts this week.

Thank you for stopping by John's Island. 

Thursday, November 5, 2015

A Week of Busy Bears -- Thursday [early 1900s]

From our collection of old postcards ...

Busy Bear postcard Series 79 - Thursday
Busy Bear postcard Series number 79. The art is the work of Bernhardt Wall and the cards were published by the Ullman Manufacturing Company, New York, in the early 1900s. Series Title: The days of the week. Today's card: Thursday ... Baking Pies. (Yeah!)  Stop by tomorrow for Friday. To see Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and the back of the cards, please see our earlier posts this week.

Thank you for stopping by John's Island.

Wednesday, November 4, 2015

A Week of Busy Bears -- Wednesday [early 1900s]

From our collection of old postcards ...

Busy Bear postcard Series 79 - Wednesday
Busy Bear postcard Series number 79. The art is the work of Bernhardt Wall and the cards were published by the Ullman Manufacturing Company, New York, in the early 1900s. Series Title: The days of the week. Today's card: Wednesday ... Mending Clothes. Stop by tomorrow for Thursday. To see Monday, Tuesday, and the back of the cards please see our earlier posts this week.

Thank you for stopping by John's Island.

Tuesday, November 3, 2015

A Week of Busy Bears -- Tuesday [early 1900s]

From our collection of old postcards ...

Busy Bear postcard Series 79 - Tuesday

Busy Bear postcard Series number 79. The art is the work of Bernhardt Wall and the cards were published by the Ullman Manufacturing Company, New York, in the early 1900s. Series Title: The days of the week. Today's card: Tueday -- Ironing Day. Stop by tomorrow for Wednesday. To see the back of the card, please see our post yesterday.

Thank you for stopping by John's Island.

Monday, November 2, 2015

A Week of Busy Bears -- Monday [early 1900s]

From our collection of old postcards ...

Busy Bear postcard Series 79 - Monday


Back of the cards is the same for all in this series.


Information on card. Publishing date unknown - probably early 1900s.
Busy Bear postcard Series number 79. The art is the work of Bernhardt Wall and the cards were published by the Ullman Manufacturing Company, New York, in the early 1900s. Series Title: The days of the week. Today's card: Monday ... Laundry Day. Stop by tomorrow for Tuesday.

Thank you for stopping by John's Island. 

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