Charlotte Lederer illustrations within 1928's "The Story of the Gypsies"

I have a falling-apart copy of the 1928 hardcover The Story of the Gypsies, which was written by Konrad Bercovici (1882–1961). Bercovici was born in Romania and was raised in a multicultural environment, learning to speak Greek, Romanian, French and German. His family also had close ties with local Roma people. He later became a journalist (among many other life adventures) and was well-known for literary fiction exploring Romani/gypsy themes. He traveled widely to research enthnographies and other books, and hobnobbed with the likes of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway and Charlie Chaplin, the latter who had to pay him $95,000 to settle a lawsuit over the authorship of the script for The Great Dictator.

There's not much about the original The Story of the Gypsies (which was republished in 1983 as Gypsies: Their Life, Lore, and Legends) available online. But J. Cox wrote an eloquent piece as an Amazon review in 2016. Here are some excerpts:

"This is a strange and beautiful book. More of a mix of journalism, folklore, and the oral tradition than straight history, Mr. Bercovici was obviously in love with the people whose lives he described. ...

"This book was written and in 1928. The author ... is fearful for the future of the people who's lives he describes. Though Germany was solidly democratic at the time, Bercovici particularly cites the German addiction to strict law and order and the demand for cultural and ethnic homogeneity as the great threat to Gypsy survival and the Bolshevik ambition to transform society as a threat to Gypsy freedom. Given what what was coming in ten years time, the Porraimos, the Devouring, the systematic extermination of the European Gypsy communities by Nazi Germany, and its sad coda, the forcible assimilation of the remaining Gypsy communities in the post-war Communist regimes, this book ultimately strikes a note both heartbreaking and prophetic."

And then we come to the book's illustrator, Charlotte Lederer. We don't know much about her, specifically. She was likely born in Hungary in the late 19th century, and her maiden name was Charlotte Bacskai. We know this because her daughter, Anna Marie Rosenberg (1902-1983), achieved a more lasting fame. Anna and her family came to the United States as immigrants in 1912, and Anna's impressive resume included working as a student nurse, a seller of Liberty Bonds, a regional director for the National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933, a regional director for the War Manpower Commission, and, ultimately, she was confirmed as the first Assistant Secretary of Defense for Manpower and Personnel, despite strenuous opposition from U.S. Sen. Joseph "Red Scare" McCarthy. She remained, I believe, the only woman to hold that post until Stephanie Barna had the job from 2014 to 2016 in President Barack Obama's administration.

But back to Charlotte Lederer. We know that some other books she illustrated include Tales from the Crescent Moon, Malou: A Little Swiss Girl, The Children of the Rising Sun, The Magic Cock, The Golden Flock, Ginevra, Made in Hungary, and Tinka, Minka and Linka.

Here are her four beautiful color illustrations from 1928's The Story of the Gypsies:

Book cover: "So you want to be a Ham"

I thought this post would be thematically appropriate, given all the QSL cards that have been featured on Papergreat over the years...

• Title: So you want to be a Ham
• Author: Robert Hertzberg (1905-1992)
• Cover artist: Unknown
• Publisher: Howard W. Sams & Co., Inc., of Indianapolis, Indiana
• Publication date: 1977 (Seventh Edition, Second Printing)
• Original publication date: 1955
• Seventh Edition price: $5.95 (That price in 1977 is the equivalent of about $25 today, so this was a pricey tome.)
• Price I paid: $3.50 at The York Emporium
• Pages: 189
• Format: Paperback
• Back cover excerpt: "Modern radiocommunications is one of the most fascinating technological advancements of our time. It has played a major role in making the world appear smaller than it is. An amateur radio operator, using only a small amount of power, can talk to fellow hams in distant countries. What better way is there to learn more about the world than to talk to someone who lives in another country thousands of miles away?"
• About the author: Col. Robert Edward Hertzberg, who used the call signs 2ABK, W2DJJ and K4JBI during his lifetime, is profiled on the Quarter Century Wireless Association website. This is his mini biography that appears on the back cover of So you want to be a Ham:
  

  "Robert Hertzberg was only 15 years old when he received his amateur license on December 17, 1919. The next day, using a buzzer transmitter and a crystal receiver, he worked his first station. It was only two blocks away, but he has never forgotten the thrill that it gave him. Over the years that followed, his equipment has progressed from crude spark to sophisticated sideband, and to this day he gets a kick out of every new contact, local or DX.
  
  "While in college, Bob received $5.00 from an early radio magazine for a description of a homemade code-practice oscillator. Almost immediately, he turned his interests toward technical journalism. During a busy career as both editor and writer, he has authored more than thirty books and countless magazine articles.
  
  "In the late 1920s, he helped organize and promote the Army Amateur Radio System. This led to a commission in the Army Reserves, to five years of active duty during World War II, and to eventual retirement as a Colonel."

• First paragraph: "It is late in the afternoon of a wintry day and you're killing time before supper. All you can find on TV is an old Western in which the 'good guy' manages to coax nine or ten shots out of a six-shooter without reloading. For relief, you turn on the old all-wave console radio you have retained for just such emergencies. As the set warms up, a lot of grinding noise comes out of the speaker."
• Last paragraph: "As a hobby, ham radio seems to be closely related to shooting and photography. It is interesting to read the classified ads and to note that receivers, transmitters, rifles, pistols, cameras, and enlargers are always for sale or wanted."
• Well, that's disturbing: Yes.
• Random sentence from middle: "A picnic in the country becomes doubly enjoyable if you park your car in some quiet, secluded spot, preferably on a hill, where reception and transmission are both good."
• Excerpt from a review: Written by W4KYR on Halloween 2016 for eHam.net:
  

  "This is the Fifth Edition, published in 1971 by Howard Sams & Co. This book was in my local library around the very early 1970's. When I saw this on one of the online bookstores going for under $5 I snapped it up.
  
  "From a purely historical point of view, this paperback classic is filled with photos of hams at their stations using now what we call vintage equipment. One picture was of a lady ham from Iowa who could send and receive at an impressive 60 wpm. Another picture is a ham who has his rig on the floor behind the driver's seat! The rig was so big that he couldn't even fit it under his dash. ...
  
  "If you are an older ham, this book should bring back some memories. If you are a newer ham, then buy this book for an exciting snapshot of our past. You should be able to pick this book at one of the online used bookstores for a few dollars. The historical pictures alone just about makes it a must buy. This book gets an 5 out of 5, but purely from an historical point of view."

Bonus interior photo

"Mrs. Eileen Cline ... often flabbergasts other hams by sending at 60 words per minute"

Mystery real photo postcard: Girl in the yard with pillow

I've been working on a longer post, but in the meantime here's a stained real photo postcard of a girl standing in a yard. She's holding what appears to be an embroidered pillow that's set upon a small table. Did she make the pillow? Was it a gift? A family heirloom?

Interestingly, she has a ring on the middle finger of her left hand. (You'll need to click on the photo and magnify to see it.) Anyone know if that signifies anything? Note, too, that she's wearing high-laced boots and has elaborate pigtails with ribbons. The yard itself isn't very interesting or filled with clues.

The back of the postcard has no writing and NO STAMP BOX, which is rare for the RPPCs I've encountered. That left me seemingly up a creek. But it turns out that the amazing Playle.com has a page that allows you identify a real photo postcard just by the typography of the word POSTCARD on the back. And so it turns out that this postcard was published by Kregal (or Kregel) Photo Parlors in St. Paul/Minneapolis, Minnesota, between the years of 1910 and 1918.

So that's nice, but of course none of that is likely to ever help us identify this girl.

The final two pieces of ephemera from that May yard sale!

We now have closure! Here, finally, are the last two postcards that Ashar and I picked up while checking out Dover Township yard sales on a May morning earlier this year. Up first is a postcard that was never mailed. The German caption on front states Ein Wolkenbruch, which translates to "a cloudburst." I asked Ash for his analysis of this odd postcard, and he said:

I'm guessing they're in a plane, but out on this thing and that the people with umbrellas are running away because the baby is peeing on them. That pretty much sums it up.

I find it hard to disagree with his assessment. I also find it hard to understand why this postcard exists. Less hard, perhaps, to understand why it was never mailed. I'm not quite sure who you would send it to.¹

* * *

The last postcard is an AZO real photo postcard that dates to between 1910 and 1930 based upon the stamp box. This card was printed at The Wilson Studio, which had two locations: No. 225-227 West Market Street in York, Pennsylvania, and No. 420 Market Street in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. There is no further information, useful or otherwise, on the front or back.

Ash's analysis is:

That baby looks alarmed. Mostly because I think that baby's sitting on a dead animal.

At least the baby itself looks alive, unlike that sensitive issue we dealt with in 2014.

Previously on "that May yard sale!"

• Mystery RPPC: Long-ago toddler with fuzzy toy
• Mystery RPPC: Girl with parasol and witchy socks
• Mystery RPPC: Young girl with parasol and animal
• Old photo: Children on a slide
• Mystery RPPC: Man in bowler hat and tired girl
• Mystery RPPC: Girl with bear

Footnote
1. Ash and I decided that a more descriptive German caption for the postcard would have been Zoinks, ein Kind aus den Wolken pinkelt auf mich!, which translates to "Zoinks, an infant from the clouds is peeing on me!" Don't you now regret scrolling down to this footnote?

1975 call for gun control

Here are excerpts from this letter, which was published 44 years ago in the October 10, 1975, edition of The Daily Telegram of Adrian, Michigan.

"I was extremely dismayed at the recent approval the Lenawee County Board of Commissioners gave to a resolution opposing stricter handgun control legislation. ...

"Of course, one often hears the deafening chorus of screams from the conservative members of our society against gun control laws, claiming it is an inalienable right to bear and possess handguns. But is not the right to live without fear for one's safety a more important inalienable right? Democratic freedoms cannot thrive in an environment of fear, distrust and hate, and each passing year is accompanied by growing fear, distrust, and hate for one's fellow citizens.

"Despotic rulers rise out of chaotic environments. ...

"To avoid despotism, stability and trust must be restored to the United States. Clearly, the first step to resurrecting a vision of democratic freedoms is enacting stricter laws which would severely limit and regulate the ownership of handguns."

Again, that was 44 years ago...

Lost Corners: The fascination with BBC Radio's Shipping Forecast

I have a minor fascination with BBC Radio's Shipping Forecast, which is fairly odd, I suspect, for someone who lives in the United States. And is rarely on a boat.

I think we can chalk it up to a combination of my interests in the weather, late-night radio¹ and Anglophilia.

What is the Shipping Forecast? With a history that dates to the 1860s, it's, per Wikipedia, a "broadcast of weather reports and forecasts for the seas around the coasts of the British Isles." There are four broadcasts per day, and they follow a rigid format as they provide concise forecasts for the 31 zones, which have colorful names such as Forties, Cromarty, Tyne, Dogger, German Bight, Humber, FitzRoy, Lundy, Hebrides and Wight (see full map below).

A BigThink.com article in 2016 dubbed the Shipping Report "quite possibly the most British thing ever" and Frank Jacobs further wrote:

"One of the Shipping Forecast’s attractions to others than fishermen and sailors is its poetic effect, the result of its very strict format and an arcane terminology, only intelligible to the initiated.

"Each bulletin begins with exactly the same opening line, and follows the same structure. Preceded by gale warnings if necessary, a General Synopsis gives the position, pressure in millibars and track of pressure areas. Then follows the forecast for each of the 31 areas, sometimes with some areas grouped together if they have the same outlook. Each of these lists wind direction and strength, precipitation if applicable, and visibility (‘good’ for more than 5 nautical miles, ‘poor’ for less than 2 nm, and ‘fog’ for less than 1,000 metres). The whole thing never exceeds 370 words."

And so a section of the forecast might go like this: "Humber, Thames. Southeast veering southwest 4 or 5, occasionally 6 later. Thundery showers. Moderate or good, occasionally poor."

But, unless you're a captain at sea, it's not the words themselves that matter. It's the mood that is evoked. To get a sense for it, you can listen to recordings of the Shipping Forecast on YouTube. Check out "5 Hours of The Shipping Forecast on BBC Radio 4!" or "The Shipping Forecast - BBC radio 4." And don't miss the iconic Shipping Forecast theme, "Sailing By."²

I have listened to some of these recordings on YouTube, and it was the comments there that compelled me to put this post together. Those memories of listening to the Shipping Forecast are the potential Lost Corners of the Internet. They represent first-person thoughts about a shared cultural experience, and it struck me how similar so many of the comments are. The Shipping Forecast, intended for mariners, means a great deal to generations of landlubbers, too.

Here are some of those YouTube comments, gathered for posterity:

• I think the soothing feeling people get from this might be a remnant of our past. There is something soothing about people talking around you as you fall asleep. It's reassuring. The home is guarded. The fire is maintained. Predators are kept away. You are safe.
• Imagine listening to this whilst on a boat in the North Sea or North Atlantic, a little bunk bed, tucked up, rain and spray battering the porthole windows. A small hurricane lamp above you swinging casting shadows about the cabin.
• Curled up in bed with my ear to our old Hitachi radio turned low. R4 LW and listening to "The Hobbit" — book at bedtime and then the headlines followed by the shipping forecast. Rain and wind howling against the window but here I am nice and cosy. All those places incanted like a spell around the coast of our island with gales and storms but I am nice and warm and sleepy. Radio off and time to go to sleep thinking of the sea waves crashing around us and the poor souls having to endure the storm.
• It is so reassuring to hear a calm monotone voice talk about shipping weather.
• I fall asleep to this almost every night. There's something oddly soothing about hearing the weather forecast told by someone with a British accent.
• I love The Shipping Forecast. I use it to help me sleep at night. I close my eyes and vision myself on the seas. I first heard of it through another BBC Radio 4 program, and decided to try it. My favorite is Mairead Devlin. She has such a calm, soothing voice, especially when she wishes me a safe and peaceful night.
• I love the shipping forecast. I lie in bed and imagine all the people out on boats both big and small also listening to it. It's a beautiful feeling.
• I'm an American and lived in the UK for 4 years. BBC Radio 4 at midnight was one of my guilty pleasures and it's one of the most British things I can remember from my stay. Big Ben tolls out the stroke of midnight before the world news. It segues off to Sailing By, then the shipping forecast, and the service ends with God Save the Queen. Makes me nostalgic even ten years on.
• It's great to listen to on a cold dark winter night when you are all wrapped up warm in bed.
• I honestly thought it was just me who snuggled up safe and warm in bed and listened to this and said a prayer for our heroic fishermen out on those dark unforgiving seas.

These are specifically regarding "Sailing By"

• There's an entire subculture of insomniacs united by this music. I think of boats at sea & all the other people who are awake, working and not sleeping listening this. Makes me all warm, cosy and slightly melancholy. Lovely stuff.
• This is beautiful. Being tucked up in bed and the rain at the window pane. So romantic. Thinking of the ships at sea off to far away places.
• For a yachtsman, especially when at sea at night who is wrapped up snuggly in his bunk after a tiringly hard watch but still keeping awake to hear the all important shipping forecast, there is no other music that can come anywhere near to the wonderful feeling and aura of contentment, belonging, peace and tranquillity that this particular piece of superb music evokes. Brings back absolutely wonderful memories even for one who thinks he has seen it all.
• The only piece of music that has the power to bring tears and one of the things that I miss not living in the UK. I used to love listening to the shipping forecast, either tucked up in bed at home or lying in my berth on a boat, wondering what the weather had in store for the next day. Proof that despite all of our wonderful technology, when it's blowing Storm 10 and above all you can do is plan for the worst, hope for the best and hang on.

Footnotes
1. See "Fascinating peek into early 1970s world of Long John Nebel" and "RIP Art Bell, of the Kingdom of Nye". There are other memories of late-night radio I should explore in future posts, too.
2. Also, you can learn more about the Shipping Forecast in Charlie Connelly's book Attention All Shipping: A Journey Round the Shipping Forecast.

Revisiting the Lakeview Gusher

One thing I love about this blog is that you never know when or how a post from the past is going to resurface in an interesting way.

More than six years, during the Postcard Blogathon 2013, I had a short post about the largest accidental oil spill in history — the 1910-11 Lakeview Gusher. That blowout in California spewed for 18 months and drew disaster tourists from all over. I featured a West Coast Art Co. postcard of the accident; it had been mailed in September 1910 and included this message: "Received your welcome card and was glad to hear from you. This view is of the Famous oil well at Maricopa, maybe you have read about it. Hope everybody is well. I remain yours truly."

Recently, I was contacted by Dan Brekke, a reporter at KQED/NPR in San Francisco. He was working on a story about the Lakeview Gusher and wanted to use the front and back images of the postcard that appeared on Papergreat. When I did the original post, I had only scanned the front of the card. So I wasn't sure whether I still had the postcard, in order to scan the back. After some literal shoebox searching, it turns out I did. So I was able to provide it for Brekke's story.

It's a great piece, titled "The Chevron Oil Spill Is Big, But This One Was Bigger — a Lot Bigger." It compares century-old and modern-day petroleum catastrophes. Here's an interesting excerpt:

"The Lakeview Gusher wasn't front-page news at first. But as crude oil continued to blast from the hole, it was regarded first as a natural wonder, then as a wild, uncontrollable force, and finally as a headache — an outpouring so overwhelming that it blackened the countryside for miles around and produced so much oil so fast it created an oversupply that depressed the California oil market."

You should check out Brekke's full piece, which has lots of fascinating historical nuggets and contains images beyond just those from Papergreat.

Some more Postcrossing comings and goings

Here is the front of Postcrossing postcard (mentioned Sunday) I received from 11-year-old Vera in Novosibirsk, Russia. Vera also drew an incredible picture of a chicken holding a flower, shown at right. That propels this firmly into my Postcrossing Arrivals Hall of Fame.

Vera's note, in careful printing, stated:

Hello Chris!
I'm from Russia. I'm 11 years old. I study at school. But it's the holidays now. This is the first postcard wich I send. I'm happy to send it to you. On it is drawn a fary tale "Three bears." I hope you like it! Happy Postcrossing!!!

Here are some of the other cool messages I've received on recent arrivals to my mailbox:

From Germany: "Dear Chris, my name is Sandra, I'm 50 years old & I live with my son (17) in small village close to the city of Munich in Bavaria. I love to be in the open nature by biking & walking. I like music, cinema, theater, knitting, books, yoga. I wish you a wonderful summer season. Many greetings. GOD BLESS YOU, LOVE, LIGHT & PEACE"

From Australia (postcard shown above): "Hi Chris ... I'm 48 years old and live in a small country town named Daylesford in Victoria, Australia. I have 7 children with the youngest 4 still at home. I work as a school crossing supervisor and also as a checkout chick. Fairy Park is located around 50 mins drive from my house. My youngest princess loves it."

From China: "Hello! I am a high school student from China. I like collecting all kinds of papers, too. I always send a postcard to home at whichever mailbox I meet. Have a nice day!"

* * *
Thanks from abroad

And here's another batch of emailed thank-you messages from fellow Postcrossing enthusiasts across the globe.

MagicalMermaid from India wrote: "Thank you for the cute postcard and sweet message. Oh ... i guess your first postcard is lost then ... Take care and have a wonderful day. May you have a peaceful, magical and star-filled year too."

Anastasia from Russia wrote: "Thank you for such a cute card and for your words. I totally agree with you. And I think Postcrossing is a little step forward our understanding that people from all parts of our planet are equal. Best wishes to you and your family. Good luck to Ashar with the play!"

Chien from Taiwan wrote: "Hello! What an adorable card I received from you today ... just when I needed a smile. Also, the stamps are amazing. Thanks for taking time to read my profile and send this great card. I hope you get cards today, too."

Natalia from Switzerland wrote: "I received a postcard from you today, very-very pleasant surprise! My daughters like it, thank you very much for your beautiful card, legible handwriting and for such a warm message! I love reading, I also have a lot of books (it seems to me, I'm so old-fashioned. Best wishes and good luck to you and your son!"

Meike from Germany wrote: "I think you write very important words in Postcrossing. We only have one world and this time we should use. All the best from the north of Germany. I live in a nice village called Aukrug."