Having a Blast with Victorian Fourth of July Postcards

Small children handling explosives... People in powdered wigs... And young George Washington cutting down the cherry tree with his widdle hatchet... These are the images of patriotism in postcards from the early 1900s. I thought I'd share a few of my favorites with you today, as well as a special downloadable Fourth of July present for you. But we'll get to that later!

Just look at this kid...


The cherubic face, the knee socks with sandals, the knickers and about a half a ton of crackers and rockets. This fine fellow is prepared to do some serious damage. Why, he even brought a cannon. He's been saving up his paper route money for MONTHS to buy this celebratory stash. And is he ever going to get noticed at his parent's Fourth of July garden party-- oh yes! Mother will never forget THIS holiday.

Following the theme of small unsupervised children with things that go "bang," here we have Buster Brown and his sister...


At least this seems like a more manageable amount of firecrackers. The card itself reads;

With Freedom's soil
beneath our feet
And Freedom's banner streaming o'er us.

The definition of "freedom" is: blowing stuff up loudly, apparently.

Now THIS little guy, he's not only got a firecracker larger than himself, but he's armed with a sword...

I guess if I were a little boy wearing a powdered wig, I might feel the need to be armed, myself; oh, the teasing! The teasing! And kids can be so cruel. The caption reads:

This is a day of memory
T'is freedom's jubilee

I love the colors on these cards-- vibrant, but with still a soft watercolor or goache quality to them.

Now here, possibly more appropriate for President's Day than the Fourth of July, we see young George Washington explaining to his dear old dad why the family property is now minus one cherry tree...


The caption reads:

"Father, I cannot tell a lie. I did it with my Little Hatchet."

The card doesn't explain WHY exactly George turned to deforestation, but he does get points for honesty.

Now let's meet "Miss Columbia..."


No, she's not Columbia's contestant in the Miss Universe pagaent. She's the embodiment of the land that Christopher Columbus was said to discover-- the United States.

Here we see her proudly brandishing the American flag while carelessly carrying the cornacopia of prosperity along the way, likely leaving fruit behind her all along the parade route. She also seems to have some foot trouble... One goes forward, the other turns a bit at an unnatural angle. Well, hopefully it's not going to be a very long hike.

Lastly, we have Arm and Hammer Baking Soda's lesser known product Arm and Flag...


It never really took off as well as Arm and Hammer, and eventually was cut from the product line.

Okay, I'm kidding you. It's the strong arm of America showing patriotism in honor of the Fourth. The card reads:

Our Flag, the Flag of Liberty
The flag that flies for you and me
United by Right from day to day
The Stars and Stripes are here to stay!

Now I'd promised you a treat today, didn't I? Well, I've taken a few scans of these cards and made them into a downloadable PDF so you folks can print 'em out and use 'em for projects of your own. Decoupage? Mixed media? Whatever you choose.

Just click here to download the file now.

• And the last bit of business-- if you missed last Treasure Box Wednesday and it's variety o' goodies, click here.

• And for folks who missed the parade o' pyrex last Sunday, click here.

Me, I have a friend coming to visit for the long Fourth of July holiday, so if I'm a little late in posting next weekend, never fear-- the post is coming. It might just take me a little longer.

Hope your collective Fourth of Julys are a blast, my friends!

Thanks to You and Some Giving, Too!: Victorian Thanksgiving Postcards

Pull up a chair to the table and help yourself to some of that beautifully-roasted bird up there. This postcard is a Raphael Tuck card postmarked 1909. Yup, almost a century ago, and the setting is as appropriate for so many Americans today as it was then!..

Well, okay, so maybe not appropriate for MY family; I spend the holiday in the Florida Keys with my dad, who is retired, and my Thanksgiving feast involves beloved traditions like fresh steamed shrimp and crab legs dripping with butter and lemon ...

...I’m aware most folks don’t share happy memories of the annual Thanksgiving Crustacean.
That said, I thought I’d share with YOU some favorite Victorian Thanksgiving postcards from my collection-- which are 100% shellfish-free. And at the end of today’s post, there will be a little downloadable surprise for you as my way of saying thanks for visiting The Thrift Shop Romantic blog this year.

Turkey. The late Victorians were virtually unable to talk Thanksgiving without talking Turkey. And if you look carefully, you begin to suspect the scenarios they depict would not have been QUITE so idyllic as they portray.

For instance, one of my cherished cards here:


Awwww.... the baby has just learned to walk! Only now there’s simply no stopping him. So far he’s gone after the cat, the dog, the rooster, and now the turkey is being chased as part of a special holiday aerobics program.

Except anyone who knows the general disposition of turkeys knows that turkeys all have some attitude. So what self-respecting turkey is going to put up with a lengthy slow-speed barnyard chase scene instigated by a cherub-cheeked child in a ruff?

No good can come of this.

Now THIS poor girl is under the impression that she can make friends with the turkey through bribery...


You have to wonder who sent the child outside, not with loose grain, but with a corn cob to hand-feed the turkey? It’s probably that one goofy relative everyone has.

You know the one: that crazy Cousin Lou or weird Uncle Jimmy who, when you were five, thought it was HILARIOUS to play keep-away with your favorite stuffed toy? Or let it slip accidentally-on-purpose that your old dog Blue wasn’t sent to a farm to live after all?

Yep, he’s probably watching at the window of the house right now, waiting to see just what happens. He and cousin Eustace might even be making bets on the action...

At least it passes the time until college football starts.

Now THIS little girl has more of the right idea...


Look at the trepidation on her face. She is saying to herself, “Those birds are monstrous big and they’re beginning to circle. I’d try to pet one but I may need all my fingers for kindergarten next year. Perhaps I should think of some better pastimes than standing outside in the November cold without a coat.”

In contrast, there’s THIS kid...


He’s been desensitized a LONG time ago by “Old Yeller” and “The Yearling” and “Call of the Wild” and “Charlotte’s Web” and all those tearful classics we had to read. He’s made good friends with our friend trusting Tom Turkey, sure, so his smiling contemplation as he holds that axe is just a little unnerving...

And look at the turkey. Now there’s a turkey who not only feels betrayal but knows his goose is cooked...

Especially if he’s seen the little culinary equivalent of the Jolly Roger symbol there to the side of the card as we zoom in here...


Ah, but the Victorian era was not only about the eternal struggle between Child and Turkey. Here are just a few other cards from the same era, these depicting the serenity and beauty of the Thanksgiving autumn season...



Oh, and somehow still sorta about turkeys, though. Notice the number of them employed in even their most subtle designs. The Victorians clearly had their priorities when it came to Thanksgiving! (Here’s a rather beautifully-colored one which is entirely void of turkeys, believe it or not...)


I hope that YOUR Thanksgiving offers you some pleasant times with family and friends-- no matter what your dinner entails.

As a special treat, I leave you with this; I’ve placed scans of three of the cards you’ve seen today into a PDF document which you can download, print out and use for your own crafting/decoupage projects! Just click the file name below to begin downloading:

Thanksgiving.pdf

And next week? We’ll have “What in the Macrame Is It?” a humorous look at some very 70s crafts. Hope to see you then!

Cottage Decor Swap 2007

Our grandmothers would be in shock; swap-meets have taken to the Internet highway. Now instead of gathering together in a large church basement to trade crafts, baked goods and other items with friends and neighbors, we do so with our virtual neighbors online.

Recently, I had the pleasure of participating in my very first swap. This was a little bit of online whimsy devised by some of the crafty minds on the Cottage Living forum, and efficiently organized by one of the fine members there. In this case, our set of rules were this...

We were each to mail an assigned swap partner a package of cottage-style decorating items for their home. It had to include:

--One floral item (because, hey, what cottage girl doesn’t like flowers?)
--One old or distressed item (because cottage girls are never distressed by distress)
--One recipe
--And the total cost of the items were not to exceed $10 (because cottage girls believe in bargains)

Prior to the swap, each member posted a little info about their favorite colors, flowers, and collectibles, in order to guide their swap partner.

Below is the thoughtful and rather overwhelming collection of goodies my swap partner sent me.
Not only was I touched by how she took into account the colors and types of things I collect-- like the Victorian postcards and transferware plate-- but I particularly appreciated the handmade cards and pretty little notebook she took the time to assemble for me. The fabric-patterned notecards are so cheerful, I’ve included them on my memo board here by my computer, and I think they look right at home.

I’ll be having a lot of fun in the coming week finding just the right place for all of the items. I think it might be hard-- simply because there are so many things they’ll coordinate with!

Now, my swap partner indicated she collected milk glass and vintage handkerchiefs, loved peonies, had a number of rooms in a pale green, and had just beautifully redone some outdoor furniture in a vintage Shabby-chic-styled fabric. This was the kind of information I needed!

So armed with my list o’ rules and my swap partner’s favorites, I set out to, yes, the thrift store and antique malls.

This turned out to be amazing fun because, having never focused on milk glass as an option before, I was really surprised and delighted to see just how much of it is out there. For folks who are collectors, they really have a wide choice of lovely glass pieces, and it has gotten to the point that now when I go out on my shopping adventures, I actually can’t un-see the milk glass!

Anyway, at the Salvation Army, I uncovered a really nice milk glass vase-- good size-- and within my $10 limit. I was rolling!

But what to put in it?

Well, that very day I also found a bouquet of... pale limey green silk peonies of all things! When I saw them there in the craft aisle, I about fell over at the happy coincidence. So I grabbed those babies, which turned out to be just the right size for the vase. So that took care of my “floral” item-- along with enabling my swap partner’s milkglass collection.

The next thing I needed was something distressed. So I decided I’d go with something old, and distress it just slightly, in order to meet the criteria.

I think I’ve mentioned many a time about my Lamp Addiction, and how I like to fix these up to either use myself or give to others. Well, I selected very nice little lamp which was waiting for a home-- because it seemed to me very similar in style to the Shabby Chic outdoor furniture my swap partner redid. Probably originally from the 50s, the lamp just needed a little love and a bit of rewiring to really light up a room once more.

So I removed all the old, questionable wiring and added some new. Then I tackled the off-color fake golds of the lamp fixtures. First I painted the golds out with a vintage moss green. Then when dry, I rubbed various area of the painted metal pieces with a candle. Then I painted over the whole thing with wicker white. When dry, it was easy to rub off the candle wax and reveal bits of the green underneath. I recovered the felt base with some vintage color-coordinated fabric, and topped the whole thing off with a little Rachel Ashwell Shabby Chic shade. And there ya go!

The final part of the package was to include just a few vintage hankies I discovered from an antique mall.

It was a fun project to put together, and so nice to shop for someone else’s collections. But the most interesting thing about the experience, many of the participants agreed (myself included), is that we felt we got a chance to break down the “fourth wall” by sending tangible items into the homes of our online friends. It was just a little bit surreal to know something you chose is in someone else’s house. And best of all it’s been a wholly different way of getting to know each other.

Just one more wonder of the Internet!