You'll Never Get Rich (You Son of a Smif) You're in the Army Now

 It's been a while since I've had a vintage postcard find.  Here are a few from a recent find.

These WWII-era postcards feature the popular (at the time) comic strip character Snuffy Smith, or "Smif" as he's known back home.  They were all sent by Private Louis F. Cimo of Rome, New York.  

Mary with Santa

 This past summer, I came across this vintage Real Photo Postcard of a young girl with Santa Claus.

Frankenstein -- Universal Truth

This 1972 postcard from Universal Studios presents a universal (pun intended) truth about Frankenstein: Kids love him.

The Phantom and His Visiting Fiends...er...Friends

It's another postcard today. This one from a set of Universal Studio postcards.

Since the original was a black and white movie, I guess it's open to interpretation, but I don't think The Phantom (who's name was "Erik" by the way) was blue.  The general consensus was he was born disfigured and was extremely pale from living in hiding for years.  "The Phantom of the Opera" is receiving a reboot this year courtesy of (or discourtesy based on "The Mummy") Universal's Dark Universe.

Halloween Reflections

When I was a kid, I took many superstitions seriously.  I always put on my left shoe first (good luck), I never stepped on a crack (and my mother's back thanks me), I never rooted for the home team (jinx), and my constant personal challenges (if I don't catch this ball 10 times in a row before the next car goes by, I'll fail the math test) bordered on obsessive compulsive. I wonder if kids today believe in any superstitions or if the age of information has wiped those clean.  That would be a shame.

I found this turn-of-the-last-century Halloween postcard at an estate sale this past year.  I was surprised to find it as it was mixed in with a lot of other travel postcards not nearly as old. Plus it was priced the same as the others at $1. It shows a popular superstition of the era: If you take a candle and look in a mirror at midnight on Halloween, you will see the reflection of your future spouse.  What he's doing in your bedroom at Midnight is none of my business.

Happy New Year, Be It 1913 or 2017.

2017. The number looks so foreign to me. The teens are almost over and I still haven't gotten use to the 2000 part.

This postcard is postmarked December 31st, 1913 from Murphysboro, Illinois and was sent by the parents of Charles Kepferer to his residence at 1117 N. 18th Street, St. Louis, Missouri.  I wonder if they were used to writing the 1900 part.

Catching up with The Grossman's

Waaaaaay back in 2011, I posted these turn of the last century Christmas postcards. They were sent to various members of the Grossman family including Alma and Masters Edd and Harry.

Corky

I've been a little lax in posting lately, so I thought I'd pull out all stops and offer this postcard of a stunt-boating clown named "Corky".

Soak Your Feet

This interactive card from Best Western Wyota Inn in Lebanon, Missouri was a recent find.

The Satellite Motel -- Oddly Shaped and Magically Fingered

This is the first of a group of post cards I found at a garage sale last weekend and features the Satellite Motel (Turn Left) of Omaha, Nebraska.

A View Askew

Slanted houses, Tilted houses, Gravity houses, Anti-gravity houses, Mystery Spots, they have many names. Up until a few years ago, I was only familiar with one in Silver Dollar City in Branson, Missouri called "Grandfather's Mansion".  My family went to Silver Dollar City yearly starting in 1974 and it was always one of my favorite attractions, especially since I was scared of the roller coaster there, "Fire in the Hole" (it's a really, really tame roller coaster.  Okay, I was a big chicken).

Among the brochures I found at a recent sale was this postcard from Silver Dollar City.

  Leanin' Lil's Broom at Slantin' Sam's Old Miners Shack (is that enough apostrophes or what???)

ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ANEΣΤH

I found this Greek (as it turns out) postcard at a sale a few months ago.  Given the iconography of the egg-shaped frame and bunnies, I assumed the words meant "Happy Easter".

A Happy New Year

Happy Thanksgiving!

Chimpanzoo

St. Louis boasts one of the best public zoos in the country, consistently earning a place in the Top 10, and it's free (the $20 parking fee notwithstanding).  That alone should be enough, but at one time, you could also see a chimp ride a high-wheeled bicycle.

Feel my Frankenstein

The stand out postcard in this  1960's Los Angeles Gray Line Tour booklet of 20 is by far the Universal Studios postcard of Frankenstein.

Clifton's Reopens

While reading my morning blogs, I came across this article on Clifton's Cafeteria.  Immediately, I thought, "Hey, I blogged about that cafeteria a while back."  Then I looked and discovered I never had (unless a reader remembers better than I do.  I couldn't find it doing a search).  I bought these postcards and booklet at a sale over a year ago.

Santa's Village

I previously blogged a "Santa's Village" brochure among the others I found last Spring.  Recently, I came across yet another one with different pictures.  "Santa's Village" was a North Pole-themed amusement park that opened in the 1950's.  They had 3 locations; 2 in California and 1 in Chicago. In addition to Santa Claus, the park featured other fairy tale buildings, rides and characters.

T'aint Funny, Megehee

After a long dry spell, I return today with some postcards I bought at the estate sale of Jesse Megehee Jr. a few weeks ago.  These postcards were sent to his father Jesse Sr. around the turn of the century. Jesse Sr. resided in Picayune, Mississipi, just north of the Mississipi River Delta and was born in 1892.  Some of the writing is difficult to read, so I've transcribed below each card.

A Glad Thanksgiving

I Got the Roaches

In honor of the first day of trout season here in Missouri (yes, some consider it a holiday), I thought I'd share this postcard, even if it's from Mississippi. Unfortunately, we received 6 inches of snow last night which resulted in a 35-car pileup on the main highway into Missouri's trout fishing parks, so I'm not sure how well opening day worked out.

I'm not crazy, right?  It says, "I got the roaches"?

609 (or 604) Spruce street appears to be a parking lot now.  Too bad, it's right by Busch Stadium.  Joe Weiss' Central Tavern would have done a booming business.  Come to think of it, it says "c/o Central Tavern".  I wonder if Joe owned the tavern or Harry just knew the postcard would find him there.