Postcards That Catch The Eye

[keesindy]

The young boy in this real photo postcard view reminds me of something Norman Rockwell would have painted. It's actually a very small part of the postcard image and I'll bet most people who've looked at the postcard over the years never noticed the boy. I've included the link to the full postcard image below so you can see how insignificant he is in the postcard view.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hoosier_re ... hotostream

[keesindy]

Etna is STILL a very small town in northeast Indiana.

I had heard of the Brush automobile, but have never seen one. As was the case with many automobile brands, they were made for only a few years. I didn't know they had wooden front axles and frames that were partially wood. The Brush automobile shown in this postcard view has clearly seen a few miles of back country roads. For that matter, the woman in the passenger seat was probably thinking she had seen more miles of back country roads than she cared to! Note that all the boys are barefoot.

The full postcard image is interesting as well and can be seen here.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hoosier_re ... hotostream

[thepostcarddepot]

Um, just got back from taking the sea air...

[keesindy]

We do see some strange things on postcards, don't we Brent?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hoosier_recollections/8165288545/in/photostream

1908 dated postcard. Gary is in northwest Indiana near Chicago. Town officials were "inspecting" (called a photo op today) what was probably a brand new sewer where it discharged in the Grand Calumet River.

[keesindy]

Often, we find these untitled postcards and have no idea what story the photographer was trying to tell. This one is a bit different. We know part of the story thanks to the couple from Yonkers, New York. They apparently took the photograph while visiting a resort in southern Indiana in 1913. The woman in Yonkers typed an explanation of the photograph on the back and entered the postcard in a local newspaper contest. The postcard eventually landed in my friend's collection.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hoosier_re ... otostream/

[youpiao]

We do see some strange things on postcards, don't we Brent?

Gary Town Board Inspecting the sewer RP Lyle 1908.jpg

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hoosier_recollections/8165288545/in/photostream

1908 dated postcard. Gary is in northwest Indiana near Chicago. Town officials were "inspecting" (called a photo op today) what was probably a brand new sewer where it discharged in the Grand Calumet River.

So, did it pass the sniff test?



Tedski

[keesindy]

It probably did!

This would have been a combined sewer that carried far more storm runoff than sewage. In such sewers, each storm event would tend to flush out the sewage temporarily. Plus, this was probably a brand new "unchristened" sewer. So, I suspect there wouldn't have been much of a "smell test" in this case. Otherwise, I doubt these guys would have been in there for the photo!

[michael78651]

When flooding out from storms, one benefit is that many rats would get swept away as well. I heard in the news after Sandy that with the flooded subways tunnels and sewers in New York City, they estimated that over 100 million rats would have drowned. Of course there are millions more still alive, and that 100 million loss will be made up by the rat population in no time at all!

[youpiao]

Of course there are millions more still alive, and that 100 million loss will be made up by the rat population in no time at all!

You mean by a mass migration from Capitol Hill?



Ted Tyszka

[michael78651]

Ted, we could only wish.

[thepostcarddepot]

Gee, the rats in Gary, IN were advanced - able to navigate boats through their sewers....

[keesindy]

This week marks the 100-year anniversary of the Great Flood of 1913. This was a devastating event that affected most of Indiana as well as parts of Illinois, Ohio and Kentucky. Property losses were staggering. Photographers throughout the affected area were out in force taking photographs and turning them into postcards. Hundreds, if not thousands, of different postcards were produced and many were dramatic real photo type images. I've put together s a set on Flickr that includes over 70 of these postcards from Indiana. Here's the link to that set and an example from an Ohio River town (Aurora) in southern Indiana.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hoosier_recollections/sets/72157625367038180/detail/

[mcdonnell4166]

Floods on postcards? I would never have thought of that topic before. Thank you for sharing.

[keesindy]

Hundreds, if not thousands, of flood-related postcards were produced in Indiana in 1913. So, a flood category was more a necessity than a brilliant flash of insight.

[bennettoons]

That flood also hit the little central Ohio town where I went to college . . . and I have at least 20 different postcards showing the town with water up to its hips!

. . . including the building in which my future wife and I first met!

Thanks for reminding me this year is the centennial of that big event!