Saturday, July 16, 2011

Saturday's postcard: Hedley Edwards' flamingo eggs


This unused postcard from The Bahamas was most likely produced in the 1960s.1 The information on the back includes:
  • T-312
  • Ardastra Gardens' owner Hedley Edwards displays eggs of Flamingo.
  • Nassau Advertising Agency
  • Copyright Hedley V. Edwards
  • Printed by Transcolor Corp., 527 Lexington Ave., New York 17, N.Y.
Hedley Vivian Edwards, a Jamaican horticulturist, founded Ardastra Gardens in The Bahamas in 1937, according to Margaret Bailey of Jamaicans.com:
"The Ardastra Gardens include an extensive array of exotic flowers and birds. ... The garden includes 'The Tree of Life', The Lignum Vitae, which is also the national flower of Jamaica, and Banyans, which are the national trees of the Bahamas. Ardastra Gardens Zoo and Conservation Center is a place where pink flamingos can be found and gnarled vines abound. It is an oasis of coconut trees, surrounded by wild orchids, hibiscus and bougainvillea blooms."
Ardastra Gardens now has about 300 animals and is best known for its flamingos. Edwards perfected the process of "training" the pink birds to behave around humans in the 1950s. He also trained them to march to his spoken commands, according to the caption on this 1973 photo of Edwards and his birds from Corbis Images.

It sounds like the birds might have been the most important thing in Edwards' life. Here's a closing nugget from the November 16, 1961, issue of Jet magazine:
GERRI MAJOR'S SOCIETY
COCKTAIL CHIT CHAT:
The on-again marriage of New York private school owner Mildred Johnson Edwards2 and Nassau owner of The Bahamas' famous Ardastra Gardens, Hedley Edwards, is off-again. Said the trainer of the world-renowned performing flamingos: "Marriage may be strictly for the birds."
Footnotes
1. For more photographic history of The Bahamas, check out the "Old Bahamas in Photos and Postcards" website.
2. The Jet article refers to her as "Mildred Johnson Hedley," but that must be an error.

Friday, July 15, 2011

Photos from Old City Cemetery in Lynchburg


These are some photos I took at Old City Cemetery in Lynchburg, Virginia, during a trip that Joan and I made in January 2010. Pictured above is the arch that marks the entrance to the Confederate section, which contains the graves of more than 2,220 soldiers. Some more photos from that section:



Thursday, July 14, 2011

"Real Kiddie-Kars Are Made Only By White"


This large color illustration is part of a full-page advertisement1 in the November 1919 issue of The Ladies' Home Journal.

The advertisement states, in part:
"The only genuine KIDDIE-KAR is made by the H.C. White Company2 of North Bennington, Vt. The name KIDDIE-KAR is a registered trade mark; it is always on the seat. The KIDDIE-KAR is protected by four patents."
The prices weren't bad. The Kiddie-Kar came in five sizes, with costs ranging from $1.25 to $3.50. (That's the equivalent of a relatively reasonable $15.61 to $43.72 in 2010 prices, according to The Inflation Calculator.)

Prices were, however, "higher west of the Mississippi," according to the advertisement.

What would a vintage Kiddie-Kar cost you today? There are a couple for sale on eBay right now. One can be had for $29, assuming no one else bids. The other has a "Buy It Now" price of a mere $299.95.


Footnotes
1. A full page of the magazine in 1919 measured 10½ inches wide by 16 inches deep. It was too big for my scanner, but the full advertisement can be seen here.
2. H.C. White Company was first known for producing some of the world's finest stereoviews. Then it changed gears abruptly around 1915 and began to produce the famous Kiddie-Kar. Okinawa Soba has posted a detailed history of the company on his Flickr page, which includes an engraving of H.C. White's factory facilities in North Bennington.

Some selections from the "Papergreat" archives


If you're new to Papergreat or want to catch up on some groovy older posts you might have missed, here are some suggestions from the archives:

History & Ephemera
Restoring telephone service after Hurricane Hazel in 1954
Illustrations of Pennsylvania's orphanages, circa 1880
Bond Clothes notepad, a swing glossary and old pigskin records
The books and papers of Elbert Nostrand Carvel, Part 1
An evening with labor activist Sam Scarlett
A family history told through newspaper blurbs
An old copy of The Herbalist Almanac
Delving into Henry K. Wampole & Company
An old receipt from F.W. Behler (and its followup post)
American flag history, compliments of Leinbach & Bro. in Reading
Guy Brown Wiser, artist and World War I aviator
Coupons from the E.H. Koester Bakery Co.
Old geography book doodles, Part 1 and Part 2

Postcards
Rome and Milan in black and white
Nieuwmarkt and the Waag in Amsterdam
The dancing pavilion at Hazelden
Fiskargränd in Visby, Sweden
Kozy Kabin Service Station & Kafe

Goofy stuff
Why don't I ever stumble across Nicolas Cage vampire ephemera?
Selections from the 1967 Top Value Stamps catalog
Old Dinosaur Illustration of the Day
Morris didn't fare much worse than Louie Youngkeit
Saturday's postcard: Sun Valley Lodge and physical cosmologies (a post about "The Shining")

Mysteries
Doll fads of 1960 (Lada Draskovic, Part 1)
From the Notepad (Lada Draskovic, Part 2)
Birthday gift from the Class of 1943-44
Mystery photos inside "Helen of the Old House"
Old photo stirs up a blizzard of mystery

The Yard Sale Series
Part 1: Mister Rogers and How to Meet Men
Part 2: Pals Club activity book
Part 3: Painting, baseball and Pac-Man
Part 4: This and that ... and Scott Baio!
Part 5: Is this Dondi the elephant?
Part 6: Safe journeys, Quizmo and a lion

Baseball Tuesdays (a summer series)
1973 Spartanburg Phillies program
Slats Marion, baseball's best shortstop
Collection of Phillies ticket stubs
John Doll's 1929 baseball predictions
Down memory lane with 1983 Topps Baseball Sticker Album
An all-star lineup of Camel smokers from 1954

Also, I'm a big fan of children's author Ruth Manning-Sanders. Check out my many posts on her life and works.

Happy reading! I'll be back with a new post tonight.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

An all-star lineup of Camel smokers from 1954


On the day of the 2011 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, here's the back-cover advertisement from the June 1954 issue of The American Legion Magazine, which I mentioned in yesterday's post.

Broadcaster Red Barber1 leads off this group of baseball all-stars who are endorsing Camel cigarettes (a brand offered by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company).2

An excerpt from the ad copy:
"Year after year, Camels increase their popularity-lead over the second-place brand! Listen to Major Leaguers - listen to smokers everywhere - and you'll know why more people get more pure pleasure from Camels' mild, flavorful blend of costly tobaccos! Try Camels for 30 days - see what you've been missing! See how well Camels agree with you!"
Here's the all-star lineup of smokers, which includes Bob Lemon, Mickey Mantle, Harvey Kuenn, Mel Parnell, Ted Kluszewski, Virgil Trucks, Red Schoendienst3, Warren Spahn, Harvey Haddix, Gerry Coleman, Granny Hamner4, Eddie Lopat, Bob Porterfield and Mickey Vernon:








Footnotes
1. Barber's full name was Walter Lanier Barber. He and Mel Allen (aka Mordechai ben Yehuda Elya) were the first two recipients of the National Baseball Hall of Fame's Ford C. Frick Award.
2. Randomly, and somewhat unrelated to R.J. Reynolds, this is my favorite YouTube clip from "The Insider".
3. Full name: Albert Fred Schoendienst
4. Full name: Granville Wilbur Hamner

Monday, July 11, 2011

Some miscellaneous Monday morning ephemera

Here are a few unrelated pieces I have floating around...

I was about to toss out the torn and soiled dust jacket of 1944's "No Time to Kill" by George Harmon Coxe, but then the back of it caught it my eye. Here's a portion of the Triangle Books illustration touting the joy of books and reading, scanned for posterity:


Here are a pair of blank reader response cards from inside the Abingdon Press books "The Philosophy of War and Peace" and "Kagawa of Japan":



Here's the cover of an undated advertising brochure for Martin Mahony & Brothers, Limited, of Blarney, Ireland:


And here's an advertisement for Kruger pistols1 (just $3!) from the June 1954 issue of The American Legion Magazine. (That same magazine will also provide the content for tomorrow's smokin' baseball-themed post.)


Footnote
1. Here's some info about the Kruger .12 caliber pistol from a message board:
The ".14mg powder charge" was a regular paper cap, and the "bullet" was No.5 shot. They did work after a fashion. I have one I bought not long ago for $6 at an antique store.

One influence they had was that many folks ordered one thinking they were full size and real guns, and were disappointed and angry. Later, another gun was advertised with a similar name and appearance, again obviously a fake playing on the famous "Luger." Quite a few people refused to buy it, sure that it was just another plastic toy like the Kruger. In spite of that, quite a few were sold. The second fake Luger was called the "Ruger."

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Breakfast ideas from Tang with a space shuttle theme

In honor of the final mission of the space shuttle, which began successfully on Friday1, here's a 1983 Tang recipe pamphlet from General Foods Corporation.

The front of the pamphlet states:
"Ready, set, lift off, for a nutritious breakfast every school day morning. With these fun-filled breakfast ideas, you can prepare quick and easy breakfasts for the kids to enjoy. Greet them with Blast-Off Breakfast Nog on Monday and continue through the week with Crater Eggs, Lunar Parfaits and more recipes created especially for the junior set."
The other recipes include Coconut Moon Toast, Moonwalk Cereal (made with Post Grape-Nuts), Orbital Fruit Milk, and Spaceship French Toast.

Here are a couple of the recipes:
Blast-Off Breakfast Nog
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoons Tang orange flavor instant breakfast drink
1 egg


To serve hot: Heat milk and honey in saucepan to just below boiling point. Combine instant breakfast drink and egg in blender container. Blend, adding hot milk mixture gradually. Then blend about 15 seconds, until smooth and frothy. Serve at once. Makes 1 serving.

To serve cold: Combine all ingredients in blender container; blend well.

Lunar Cereal Parfait
1/2 cup vanilla-flavored yogurt
1 cup Post Super Sugar Crisp2 sweetened wheat puffs
1/4 cup fresh, frozen or canned fruit


Spoon half of the yogurt into dish, add the cereal and top with remaining yogurt. Then add fruit and serve at once. Makes 1 serving.
The tri-fold pamphlet also includes a special offer (pictured below) in which you can get a 24-inch inflatable space shuttle for $1.75, plus one Tang proof of purchase.


While the space shuttle program is being retired after this final mission, we can still dream of the stars. There's even a perfect spot right here in Pennsylvania. Check out this recent Philadelphia Inquirer article on Cherry Springs State Park in Potter County. For stargazers, the spot in the northern Pennsylvania woods is one of the darkest places in the eastern United States. The International Dark-Sky Association terms it one of just a handful of "international dark sky parks" in the nation.

Footnotes
1. This morning, Atlantis docked with the International Space Station. Here's a description from the NASA website:
"At 11:07 a.m. EDT, Commander Chris Ferguson guided space shuttle Atlantis into pressurized mating adapter #2 on the International Space Station’s Harmony node. The two spacecraft were flying about 240 miles high, east of New Zealand, at the time they docked.

"This was the 12th and final time Atlantis docked to the space station. It was the 46th shuttle docking to a space station, nine to the Russian Mir station and 37 to the International Space Station. Atlantis performed seven of the nine Mir dockings. This was the 86th space shuttle rendezvous operation and the 164th “proximity operation” in the history of the Space Shuttle Program, where a shuttle conducted operations in close proximity to another spacecraft.

"The shuttle and station crews will open hatches and hold the traditional welcome ceremony at about 1:19 p.m. Atlantis’ crew of Ferguson, Pilot Doug Hurley, and Mission Specialists Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim will join Expedition 28 Commander Andrey Borisenko and Flight Engineers Alexander Samokutyaev and Sergei Volkov of Russia, Satoshi Furukawa from Japan, and NASA’s Ron Garan and Mike Fossum.

"The combined crew of 10 begins more than a week of docked operations, transferring vital supplies and equipment to sustain station operations once the shuttles are retired."
2. That cereal is now called Golden Crisp. According to Wikipedia, it "has undergone drastic changes in marketing over the years, including changing the name from Sugar Crisp to Super Sugar Crisp to Super Golden Crisp (during a time when many cereals dropped the word 'Sugar' from their titles) to the current name."