Ephemera for Lunch #13: John Penn Motel in North Carolina

The vital stats, from the back of the card:

JOHN PENN MOTEL
P.O. Box 1 — Dial 693-8176
Oxford, North Carolina
Modern, quiet, comfortable, air-conditioned units — Hot water heat — TV in rooms — Children's playground.
Restaurant & Service Station Adjacent
On U.S. Route 15 — One mile South of Oxford, N.C.
According to a North Carolina history blog: "The John Penn motel built in Oxford, NC in 1954 evoked Mt. Vernon with its white paint and cupola."

You can check out another vintage postcard of the John Penn Motel, with a better view of the building, on this Flickr page.

I found some obituaries indicating that people were still working at the John Penn Motel as late as the mid-1980s, but nothing firm regarding the motel's current status, if it even still stands.

John Penn, by the way, was a signer of the Declaration of Independence from North Carolina.

Ephemera for Lunch #12: War-Lou Motel in New Orleans

This week's theme of "Ephemera for Lunch" will be postcards featuring motels and hotels of the past. (As opposed to the future, I guess?) These come of the heels of the July 29 post featuring three American motels that are now just memories. Because there are always more vintage motel postcards to showcase.

The vital stats, from the back of the card:

WAR-LOU MOTEL
"MOTEL WITH A PERSONAL TOUCH"
34 beautiful units in the heart of New Orleans. Swimming pool and roomside parking — 4 minutes from the Vieux Carre — 100% air conditioned — T-V — phones — sightseeing tours — complimentary coffee.
2424 Tulane Avenue, New Orleans 19, Louisiana
Phone 523-3828
There is no longer a motel called the "War-Lou" in New Orleans. The address is now the location of the Capri Motel. The Capri is described in a 2014 review on TripAdvisor as a "Drug/Prostitution Den." The review further adds: "This hotel is close to downtown but in a shady area near the city jail. Bail Bonds stores, hookers, and drug addicts are the norm for this area and motel. The rooms are basic and rife with vile odors." So that's not a great review.

In 2012, according to The Times-Picayune, a woman was shot in the buttocks at the Capri Motel.

At this point, it's not clear if they still offer complimentary coffee.

"A Farmland Fantasy" by Thomas Wells

I found this attractive piece of artwork by Thomas Wells on a sample sheet (about 8 inches wide) that was intended, I think, to show customers what illustrations were available for Constellation Line calendars back in the day. Here's the full text from the back:

CONSTELLATION LINE
A FARMLAND FANTASY
by Thomas Wells
This Subject, in this size and numbered as indicated, is carried in the following SERIES of CALENDARS
Sterling Series ............ No. 1432
Regal Series ............... No. 1632
For other SERIES in which this subject is carried, please see back cover of Constellation Line Price List.
Please replace this Picture in Envelope "B"
And here's the information etched on the front of the illustration.

I also discovered that this illustration was used for a jigsaw puzzle produced by the Consolidated Paper Box Company (under the brand name Perfect Picture Puzzle) sometime between the mid 1930s and early 1960s.

Beyond that, I don't have much information. And I don't know if there was a connection between the Consolidated Paper Box Company and the Constellation Line.

Beachy cover of Life magazine from 85 years ago today

Before it became an iconic photojournalism magazine in 1936, Life was a weekly humor and general interest magazine from 1883 until 1936. This was its goal:

"We wish to have some fun in this paper.... We shall try to domesticate as much as possible of the casual cheerfulness that is drifting about in an unfriendly world.... We shall have something to say about religion, about politics, fashion, society, literature, the stage, the stock exchange, and the police station, and we will speak out what is in our mind as fairly, as truthfully, and as decently as we know how."

The August 22, 1930, cover of Life, shown above, is certainly fun. I love the myriad colors of the umbrellas and the way they pop out against the bright-yellow sand. The level of detail is tremendous, too.

The artist is Russell Patterson (1893-1977), who did numerous covers and illustrations for this early iteration of Life. Patterson became famous across many platforms — magazine illustrations, Hollywood costumes and set designs, cartoons — but was perhaps most influential for his style of drawing women and their outfits and accessories. His illustrations helped to affirm and even create fashion trends, especially that of the flapper.

You can browse other early Life covers — and there are many that are super-cool — at 2Neat Magazines.

Note: This is one of those rare ephemeral items that I post despite not actually having it in my possession at the time. It was just so cool that I wanted to share. I originally came across it on Pinterest.

Ephemera for Lunch #11: Sarsaparilla and some dogs

Let's finish this week with some animals used in advertising. The small text on the bottom of this dog-filled Victorian trade card states: "Take Hood's Sarsaparilla. 100 doses one dollar."

The back of the card is filled from top to bottom with Hood's long-winded advertising pitch. Here's an excerpt:

"100 Doses One Dollar can only be truthfully applied to Hood's Sarsaparilla, and is an unanswerable argument as to strength and economy. Hood's Sarsaparilla is made from Sarsaparilla, Yellow Dock, Wild Cherry, Dandelion, Juniper, Pipsissewa, Stillingia, Mandrake, and other selected roots, barks, and herbs in a combination and by a process peculiar to itself. We challenge any preparation to show a home appreciation so throughly vouched for."

That's followed by a series of testimonials in which customers and druggists claim that the product, produced out of Lowell, Massachusetts, could cure:

• Serofula
• Salt Rheum
• Catarrh
• Dyspepsia
• Any blood disease
• Scrofulous sores
• Poor appetite
• Bowels all out of order
• Indigestion

Not surprisingly, Hood's Sarsaparilla has an entry on The Quack Doctor website. And, not surprisingly, there was an ingredient, not listed above, the likely spurred the medicine's popularity. An excerpt from The Quack Doctor:

"Analysis by the BMA [British Medical Association], reported in Secret Remedies: What they cost and what they contain, showed that the mixture contained only '2.0 parts of vegetable extract per 100 fluid parts.' Instead, its popularity might have been down to it being nearly 20% alcohol."

Ephemera for Lunch #10: P. Fleischner & Co.

This Victorian trade card doesn't have any information on the back, so we can only go by what's listed on the front — P. Fleischner & Co., Favorite Ladies' Shopping Resort, 208 North 8th St.

No city is listed, but a little searching indicates that this "Resort" was located in Philadelphia. The company ran advertisements in The Times of Philadelphia in December 1879, urging readers to do all their Christmas shopping there.

The advertising and horseshoe didn't bring much luck, as it appears the store didn't last very long. A short blurb in the February 1, 1881, edition of The American Bookseller states:

"M.H. Pulaski, of the firm Guggenheim & Pulaski, of Philadelphia, has offered the creditors of P. Fleischner & Co., of that city, thirty cents on the dollar in notes at six months, and the committee appointed by the creditors has recommended that the offer be accepted, as they believe this is more than can be obtained in any other way."

Ephemera for Lunch #9: Gilbert S. Graves' starch

Here are two colorful cards for Gilbert S. Graves, a 19th century starch manufacturer out of Buffalo, New York. Their products included mirror gloss starch¹, family starch and laundry starch. Both cards feature a complete 1882 calendar on the back.

These are both great illustrations, but I think the second one is my favorite, because I like winter illustrations. That's a great scarf the girl has on, too.

Footnote
1. Corn starch remains a bit of a magical secret ingredient for cleaning glass and mirrors. Here's an excerpt from a 2010 post titled "Battle of the Homemade Glass Cleaners" on the Crunchy Betty blog:

“What the …. cornstarch?” you ask.
“Yes,” I reply. “Cornstarch.”
It’s absolutely, without a doubt the secret ingredient to clean, shiny, amazing mirrors (and windows, I’m sure). I kinda freaked out a little at the effectiveness of this one.

Ephemera for Lunch #8: Soapine, the dirt killer

Here's a well-dressed young lady on ice skates, showing off her box of Soapine, which appears to feature a whale on the front.

Indeed, it is a whale. The Boston Athenaeum Digital Collections feature another Soapine advertising card. And, in that one, the Kendall Mfg. Co. product works so well that a beached whale has been scrubbed snow white.

It's kind of sad and creepy, what happened to the whale. Buy, hey, it was a great soap!

P.S. — A 32-page booklet titled Soapine Did It! An Illustrated History of Kendall's 19th Century Soap Advertising Campaign, written by Dave Cheadle and W.H. "Bill" Lee, was published in 2000. No used copies are currently available through Amazon, but there may be other ways to acquire a copy, if you're interested.