Tag: Throwback Thursday

Postcards – Throwback Thursday/1903

On By TimelessladyIn Postcards6 Comments

North British Station Hotel, Scotland – Opened in 1902, it is now known as the Balmoral Hotel.

It’s been a long time since I have posted one of my vintage postcards. This one has entranced me for a week or two. I found it in a local Antique Conglomerate, in a box with many others, marked at just fifty cents. Oh my! What a bargain. It is postmarked September 1903, with the image of Edward VII on the half penny stamp. The ephemera I hold in my hand is just a few months shy of being 120 years old.

The age alone makes it a worthy treasure, but for me, it is always the written message, the address, the speculation over the person who picked out, wrote a message, and sent the card, Then, of course, next is wondering over what the person who received it thought of the correspondence. If you are like me, perhaps you too would come up with a whole story around the short message and names.

The postcard is in great shape. I tried to square it up for a photograph, and realized it wasn’t going to happen; the bottom is two to three millimeters less in width than the top. Comparing the date with the opening of the hotel I see it was probably one of the first images taken and sold as a postcard of the location.

Now for the fun part: the messages. The writer of the card had a lot to say in a small space and also used the front. I love the mention of the canaries. I wonder what the L stood for in the name. Was L a man, or a woman? I also wonder what the first name of Miss Young might be…

Eyemouth is a beautiful coastal town about fifty miles from Edinburgh. The word ‘Fruiterer’ means just what it sounds like, a seller of fruit. The recipient might have had a grocery shop, or small stand on High Street. ‘It’s a nicht one,’ is Scottish for night.

This postcard was very clear and easy to read. Other postcards I have are sometimes near illegible. At those times I take a photo of the postcard and magnify it on my computer, creating larger optics to better read the message.

My take on the messages:

Edinburgh 16/9/03
Front:
Dear Miss Young
I have just found
time to send off the P.C.
you requested me to forward.
Hope it will find a
space in your album.
L. Tait
Along the side:
___own Production” Could
you sell any
Back:
I send this just
for a “Lark” and hope
your Canaries are getting
on, & that you don’t miss
the one I took home.
Its a grand whistler.
“Its a nicht one”
Address:
Miss Young
Fruiterer
High Street
Eyemouth
Postmark:
Edinburgh
10:30 AM
SP 13
03

Vintage postcards are a great way to break up the tedium of winter weather and staying indoors.

Perspective – Throwback Thursday/Books & Cereal

On By TimelessladyIn Perspective15 Comments

New Bikes and Dolls – Christmas 1963 (I’m on the right)

According to Days of the Year, today is World Book Day. Since today is also Throwback Thursday I thought I would think back and list my favorite books of childhood and preteen years. I read many other books too, but these are the tales I know I read more than once. Did you read any of these as a child?

Little House Books by Laura Ingalls
A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Heidi by Joanna Spyri
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Tales from the Arabian Nights (compilations)
Red, Green, Yellow Fairy Books (compilation)
All of a Kind Family by Sydney Taylor
Mrs. Mike by Benedict and Nancy Freedman (This is an adult book that I adored as a child)
The Secret Garden by France Hodgson Burnett
Eight Cousins by Louisa May Alcott
Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
Charlie Cockatoo by Keith Moxon
The Bobbsey Twins at the Seashore by Laura Lee Hope
The Swiss Family Robinson by Johann Wyss
What Katy Did by Susan Coolidge
Patty Fairfield by Carolyn Wells
Elsie Dinsmore (first four books) by Martha Finley
* Adding Anne of Green Gables…how could I forget my beloved Anne?

March 7th is also Cereal Day. Compiling the book list brought up remembrances from the past; I recalled a cereal commercial from the 1960’s that made my 6 year-old self laugh hysterically. Crispy Critters featured a lion getting stampeded by dozens of cereal animals.

I also remembered Lorenzo the Clown and his stomp dance. When I watched the Youtube video I remembered doing the dance with my sister. It probably was the peak of my dancing career, before the inhibitions of possibly looking silly set in and I became a wallflower.

Researching this post I found The Lorenzo Show was a local Baltimore program. That is probably why when we moved away from Easton, Maryland, I don’t remember ever watching Lorenzo again. I might just try Lorenzo’s stomp with my grandchildren when we have our next sleepover. Fun!

Past & Phavorites – Throwback & Nurturing Thursday/The Waltons

On By TimelessladyIn Past, Phavorites10 Comments

I’ve already been playing Christmas music and loving every minute of it. One of my very favorite CD’s is ‘A Walton’s Christmas – Together Again.’ This CD was given to me by my sister many years ago. Not only is it a perfect choice for Nurturing Thursday, the  music and show are also an excellent selection for Throwback Thursday. It’s easy to see how well-loved and played the CD has been over the years by the battered state of the case. If like me, you are immediately uplifted by the opening chords of this song, enjoy listening to the Youtube video below. If you have never seen ‘The Waltons,’ try and find these reruns on your cable channels for enjoyable Christmas nostalgia.

People – Throwback Thursday/Dressing Up

On By TimelessladyIn People7 Comments

I remember dressing up as a playtime activity when I was small. Nothing was more thrilling than putting on my mother’s clothes and shoes to become a princess or a grand lady.

Everyone dressed up in the 1950’s. A Sunday-morning-going-to-church outfit for ladies consisted of high heels, stole, gloves and netted hat.

Here are my sweethearts dressing up for Halloween last year. I wonder what they’ll be this year?

 

 

Photographs & Postcards – Throwback Thursday/Teaberry Gum & Photo Tweaking

On By TimelessladyIn Photographs, Postcards12 Comments

couple-with-gum

Does anyone remember the flavor of Teaberry Gum?

“Clark’s Teaberry is a brand of chewing gum which the D. L. Clark Company of Pittsburgh’s north side purchased the patent from Charles Burke, who experimented with various flavors of chewing gum in the basement of 533 McClintock Ave, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Teaberry is currently marketed by Clark Gum Company in Buffalo, New York, and made in Mexico. The gum dates to 1900” ~ Wikipedia

I haven’t seen Teaberry Gum in any large grocers or box stores for many years, but it is still sold in my local Amish Market dry goods store. The flavor is distinctive and so is the aroma.

vintage-5-2

I searched in vain for a copyright free photograph of someone blowing a bubble. I finally resorted to two favorite sites I use for photo tweaking: Adobe Photoshop (Paint, a free computer application also works well for cutting away backgrounds) and the free photo editing site PicMonkey. Most of the applications on PicMonkey are free. The image I used was a postcard stamped with a 1920 postmark.

I cut away the background in Adobe, and used PicMonkey to add the transparent pink bubble.

For those of you who are not sure about images you can use for your blog, look up public domain image laws. I can rest assured that I can use this postcard because it was created and sent before 1920, and the copy I use for my art is owned by me.

“A great source of true public domain images that are available to you are old books and postcards. Look inside the book at the publishing details, if the date of publishing is before 1923, you can legally scan or photograph these images and use at your leisure. The same applies to old photographs and postcards, if the original pre-dates 1923, you can use the image for your purposes without permission or payment.” ~Ebay

Phun – Throwback Thursday/Padiddle

On By TimelessladyIn Phun4 Comments

padiddle

When I was young we played several games in the car to occupy the time. One of these was ‘Padiddle.’ The rules of Padiddle are easy: If you spot a car with only one headlight, be the first to say, “Padiddle,” and earn a point. This game could only be played at night.

Another game my sons played, that sometimes caused spats in the backseat due to too much ‘ooomph’ given to the punch, was ‘Punch-buggy.’ A Punch-Buggy was a nickname for a Volkswagen Beetle. The first person to spot one would yell, “Punch-Buggy,” accompanying the shout with a punch in the arm for his/her seatmates.

A few other backseat games:
The Alphabet Game – finding the letters of the alphabet in order on roadside signs.
The License Plate Game – Trying to find all continental state license plates on long trips.

Do children/teenagers still play these games or are their eyes always focused on a phone or tablet?

Can you think of any other games such as these that you played in a car?

Photograph – Throwback Thursday/Look Through My Window

On By TimelessladyIn Photo Challenge at Wordpress, photo challenges, photograph4 Comments

Goldfinch Frame3d (1 of 1)

The Daily Post Photo Challenge Frame:
“This week, I’d love for you to look at things a bit differently. Whether it’s through an actual picture frame, a few stalks of grass, or even the spokes of a bicycle tire, find an alternative frame to the world around you and share what you see.”

I love watching the birds from my back window. Look through my window with me and get a close-up view of a male goldfinch eating sunflower seeds. A good way to attract goldfinches is to grow plants they use as a food source. Some of these are: sunflowers, echinacea, zinnias, black-eyed susan, rudbeckia, and thistles. I thought this photo was perfect for this week’s Daily Post Photo Challenge. It inspired me to look up an old song from the 1960’s, “Look Through My Window,” by the The Mamas and the Papas. I think it’s a perfect way to celebrate the first Throwback Thursday of September.