1940s Meridian Mississippi Senior High Junior College

Visit Moody's Postcards, your source for vintage, collectible postcards!

Subscribe to Moody's Postcard Blog by Email

Today's postcard AND the subject are multi purpose and both are very well done! This post card is a dual view and displays not only the school but also the football and track stadium. The school is the new Senior High and Junior College in Meridian Mississippi. Established in 1937, the school covers grades 11, 12, 13 and 14, with a twenty-six acre campus in a residential district. The main auditorium seats 1,250, the gymnasium seats 3,000 and the stadium seats 14,000 and has lights for night games. This is an E. C. Kropp 1940s postcard which can be found in my Mississippi listings along with 10,000 more postcards on my website Moody's Postcards.

Centre College Danville Kentucky 1930s

Visit Moody's Postcards, your source for vintage, collectible postcards!

Subscribe to Moody's Postcard Blog by Email

Centre College was founded by Presbyterian leaders, was chartered in 1819 and opened for business in the fall of 1820 in "Old Centre", the first building on campus and which is still in use today. In 1862, it served as a Civil War hospital during the battle of Perryville. In 1901, Central University in Richmond Kentucky was consolidated with Centre and the Kentucky College for Women merged with Centre in 1926. Today, Centre College is an accredited private four year liberal arts college and ranked 44th nationally in the 2007 US News & World Report list. The first postcard below is was produced by Curteich in the 1930s and shows the Main building.

The second post card was also produced by Curteich in 1933 and shows Morgan Hall, the Woman's Department of Centre College. Both of these postcards can be found in my Kentucky listings along with 10,000 more postcards on my website Moody's Postcards.

Iola & Fort Scott Kansas Early Court Houses

Visit Moody's Postcards, your source for vintage, collectible postcards!

Subscribe to Moody's Postcard Blog by Email

I love the old court houses from the early 1900s for their beautiful architecture and imposing structures. Today I want to share two from Kansas with the first being the Allen County Court House in Iola Kansas. Iola was organized in 1859 at the confluence of Elm Creek and the Neosho River with the intent to take the Allen County seat from "inconveniently located" Humboldt, which was selected in 1858 by the legislature. An election held in 1860 failed to move the county seat but the persistence of Iola residents prevailed in May of 1865 and the records and county offices were immediately move to Iola where they remain today. The 1910 census showed a population of 9,032 which was helped by the economic boom from natural gas which began around 1895. This is a circa 1918 E. C. Kropp post card of the court house.

The second court house postcard is from Fort Scott Kansas, which is the county seat of Bourbon County, and was established and garrisoned by the U.S. Army from 1842 to 1853 to assist with the protection of the Permanent Indian Frontier. The fort was abandoned in 1853 and the buildings were sold by government auction in 1855 and became the center of one of the largest towns in Kansas Territory. Kansas joined the union January 29 1861 as a free state and was the center of significant Civil War activities. The 1910 census showed a population of 10,463 helped by the town's competition with Kansas City to become the largest railroad center west of the Mississippi. This is a circa 1915 E. C. Kropp postcard of the Soldiers' Monument and Bourbon County Court House. Both of these post cards can be found in my Kansas listings along with 10,000 more postcards on my website Moody's Postcards.

Santa Fe Railroad Hotel 1908 Hutchinson Kansas

Visit Moody's Postcards, your source for vintage, collectible postcards!

Subscribe to Moody's Postcard Blog by Email

Fred Harvey was the head of the Fred Harvey Company, which in 1876 began a partnership with the Santa Fe Railroad. He developed the Harvey House lunch rooms, restaurants, souvenir shop and hotels which served railroad passengers on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, the Gulf Coast and Santa Fe Railway, the Kansas Pacific Railway, the St. Louis San Francisco Railway and the Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis. While Fred Harvey died in 1901, his sons and grandson ran the company until it was sold in 1968. The postcard below was copyrighted by Fred Harvey and printed by Arthur Capper of Topeka Kansas around 1908 and shows The Eisonte Hotel, a Santa Fe Railroad Hotel run by the Fred Harvey Company. There are many collectors of Fred Harvey related postcards which were often printed by Fred Harvey or the Detroit Publishing Company for him which makes today's postcard a bit unusual. This postcard can be found in my Kansas listings along with 10,000 more postcards on my website Moody's Postcards.

Newton Kansas Court House & Bethel College

Visit Moody's Postcards, your source for vintage, collectible postcards!

Subscribe to Moody's Postcard Blog by Email

In 1872 the city of Newton Kansas was incorporated and the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad was established here and the town became the rail head for the Chisholm Trail. In 1873, Mennonite settlers from Russia, Switzerland, Germany and Pennsylvania began to arrive in Newton and became an important force within the town. According to the 1910 census, Newton had a population of 7,862 people which grew to 9,781 in the 1930s and today is a little over 17,000. This post card was produced by the E. C. Kropp company in the 1940s and shows the beautiful Harvey County Court House which is quite large for a town this size.

The second postcard of Newton is a circa 1905 Raphael Tuck & Sons postcard view of Bethel College. The Mennonite community was a driving force behind the establishment of this college which had the charter signed in May of 1887, the corner stone for this administration building laid in October 1888 and the college opening on 20 September 1893. The college still thrives today, 115 years later. Both of these postcards can be found in my Kansas listings along with 10,000 additional post cards on my website Moody's Postcards.

1930s Downtown Laurel Mississippi

Visit Moody's Postcards, your source for vintage, collectible postcards!

Subscribe to Moody's Postcard Blog by Email

The postcard of the day is a circa 1930 dual view of downtown Laurel Mississippi produced by E. C. Kropp of Milwaukee Wisconsin. Laurel had a population of approximately 13,000 people at this time, is in Jones county and is the home to the Lauren Rogers Museum of Art, Mississippi's oldest art museum. The 2000 census showed a population of 18,393 but it experienced a significant increase post Katrina. The top view of the post card shows Oak Street looking East from the Post Office. The lower image shows Central Avenue looking West from the Woolworth store. This postcard can be found in my Mississippi listings along with 10,000 more postcards on my website Moody's Postcards.

1920s Downtown View of Spencer Iowa

Visit Moody's Postcards, your source for vintage, collectible postcards!

Subscribe to Moody's Postcard Blog by Email

Real photo post cards, RPPC or RP as they are often abbreviated, are one of the hot commodities today in the post card world since they give you an accurate view of one moment in time. That is not to say you can believe everything you see in a RPPC as some publishers added or deleted items but these are often easy to detect and today's postcard does not appear to be altered. This is a great 1920s downtown view of Spencer Iowa along Main Street looking South. In the left foreground is a Garage & Livery business which advertises supplies and repairs and has a number of automobiles in front of it. Farther down the street on the left is another Garage with a sedan backed up to it. In the right foreground is a bank on the corner and everything on this side of the street appears to be horse drawn. Spencer had a population of 3,005 according to the 1910 census, around 4,599 in 1930 and today has around 11,000 people.This postcard can be found in my Iowa Listings along with 10,000 more postcards on my website Moody's Postcards.

High Schools of Wichita Kansas

Visit Moody's Postcards, your source for vintage, collectible postcards!

Subscribe to Moody's Postcard Blog by Email

One of the more popular postcards is the hometown high school which brings back many memories, happy I hope for you as they were for me. These were the formative years and I believe the quote "You are what you were then" applies especially to this time of our lives. I am not sure how may high schools Wichita Kansas had in the 1940s but today I want to share two that I am sure touched many young peoples' lives. The first is simply labeled High School North and the second is High School East. Both were produced by E. C. Kropp and can be found in my Kansas post card listings along with an additional 10,000 post cards on my website Moody's Postcards.

1915 Business in Perry Iowa Part 2

Visit Moody's Postcards, your source for vintage, collectible postcards!

Subscribe to Moody's Postcard Blog by Email

My last post covered the C. D. Marckres & Company, a lumber and coal merchant in Perry Iowa and today I want to highlight the Perry Packing Company which produced Iowa Brand Evaporated Milk in Perry Iowa. The back of this 1915 Curteich, or Curt Teich, post card has printed on it: "Iowa Brand Evaporated Milk, Eight per cent and Full Skimmed Condensed Milk. Homogenized Cream, Sweet Cream and Pasteurized Milk. Iowa Milk for Iowa People. Perry Packing Company. Perry, Iowa."

In front of the building, there are two horse drawn wagons with 5 gallon milk cans loaded on them and then there is the same automobile, added to this scene by the publisher, that was added to the previous postcard discussed except this time they painted it red. These two companies show the town had a very vibrant economy even though the population was 4,630 in the 1910 census. These postcards can be found in my Iowa listings along with 10,000 more post cards on my website at Moody's Postcards.

1915 Business in Perry Iowa Part 1

Visit Moody's Postcards, your source for vintage, collectible postcards!

Subscribe to Moody's Postcard Blog by Email

Perry Iowa is in Dallas County Iowa on the Raccoon River. Perry began in 1869 when the railroad came through the area and by 1870 the population was 70 and grew to 999 in the next 10 years. The 1910 census shows 4,630 people and the 2000 census came in at 7,633. The postcard for today was produced in 1915 by the Curteich Company and shows the C. D. Marckres & Company which dealt in lumber and coal according to their signage. You can see a horse drawn wagon in the front loaded with lumber and more horses at 3 o'clock. The auto was added by the publisher to give a progressive look to the town but the horse is larger than the automobile. This post card is available in my Iowa listings along with 10,000 more postcards on my website at Moody's Postcards.

Weed Park Club House in Muscatine Iowa

Visit Moody's Postcards, your source for vintage, collectible postcards!

Subscribe to Moody's Postcard Blog by Email

Today's post card features the Club House in Weed Park in Muscatine Iowa. This is a circa 1908 view which highlights the wrap around porch and two unusual dormers that are shaped differently and include porches that would give a great view of the park. Weed Park still exists today and covers 72 acres including a 3 acre lagoon but there was no mention of this club house. This postcard is available in my Iowa listings along with 10,000 more postcards on my website at Moody's Postcards.

Elephants in Sioux City Iowa

Visit Moody's Postcards, your source for vintage, collectible postcards!

Subscribe to Moody's Postcard Blog by Email

Everybody loves a circus and Sioux City Iowa was no exception circa 1912. This postcard was mailed in February 1913 and even I know it wasn't February when this photo was made so I am just guessing 1912. I can see three elephants enjoying the water at Riverside Park with most of Sioux City's population looking on. This post card was published by The Simplicity Company in Chicago Illinois and is available in my Iowa listings along with 10,000 more postcards on my website Moody's Postcards.

1908 Main Street in Pella Iowa

Visit Moody's Postcards, your source for vintage, collectible postcards!

Subscribe to Moody's Postcard Blog by Email

Today's place of interest is the town of Pella Iowa as it appeared around 1908. Pella was a small town of 3,021 according to the 1910 census, was still around 3,300 by the 1930s and today has approximately 10,000 inhabitants. This early view shows the main business section on the left and the town square on the right as you look South along Main Street. Pella was founded in 1847 when 800 Dutch immigrants led by Dominee Henry Scholte settled the area. One of their claims to fame is being the childhood home of Wyatt Earp and another is the fully functional 1850s style windmill that is 134 feet high. The Vermeer Mill grinds wheat into flow using only wind power and is the tallest working windmill in the US. Pella has a three day Tulip Time festival the first weekend of May and the current excitement is the planned Earthpark, North America's largest indoor rainforest. This postcard is available in my Iowa listings along with 10,000 more post cards on my website at Moody's Postcards.

Fireman Parade Day Muscatine Iowa

Visit Moody's Postcards, your source for vintage, collectible postcards!

Subscribe to Moody's Postcard Blog by Email

We all run across postcards that beg more questions about what, where or when so today I want to show an example of one that answers where and when but not the "what is it" question. The back of the post card is a divided back postmarked 25 Oct 1907 so we know the image is prior to that date. The front of the postcard tells us it is a street scene in Muscatine Iowa and we can tell it is a parade of some sort with the participants all in a uniform that is not military. Each row of marchers in the foreground are holding on to a rope and this leaves us to guess what the occasion is.

I have an advantage since I have a similar post card which not only tells us what the occasion is but also helps to narrow down the approximate date of the parade. If you compare the postcard below, you will see the same people and same flag placements even though a different part of the parade is shown. This Curt Teich undivided back postcard is postmarked November 1906 and provides more information which tells us that it is a Firemen's parade and we are looking at East Second Street. Now we know "what" the parade is and we are a year closer to the actual date. Both of the postcards and 10,000 more can be found in my Iowa listings on my website at Moody's Postcards.

St. Joseph"s College Gymnasium Rensselaer Indiana

Visit Moody's Postcards, your source for vintage, collectible postcards!

Subscribe to Moody's Postcard Blog by Email

I have seen a lot of gymnasiums in person and on postcards during my life but today's postcard certainly breaks the mold of the usual look. This circa 1912 E. C. Kropp post card shows the St. Joseph's College Gymnasium in Rensselaer Indiana which appears to have a basement and maybe classrooms or a dormitory on the back. In fact, if it weren't for the caption, it could pass for an armory. This postcard and 10,000 more can be seen on my website Moody's Postcards in the Indiana listings.

Puyallup and Western Washington Fairgrounds

Visit Moody's Postcards, your source for vintage, collectible postcards!

Subscribe to Moody's Postcard Blog by Email

Today I wanted to share a couple of circa 1950 real photo postcards of the Puyallup and Western Washington Fairgrounds. The first real photo postcard is an aerial view with the fairgrounds and the race track in the foreground and the city of Puyallup in the distance but this photo was not made during the fair.

The second real photo postcard was taken down in the middle of the action and excitement of the fair and shows the Ferris Wheel, roller coaster, Tilt-A-Whirl and numerous other rides and a very large crowd. These post cards can be seen in my Washington listings on my website at Moody's Postcards.