The Music of Madonna and Child

I have always had a fondness for Madonna and Child images. This antique greeting postcard with an embossed image shows mother Mary, a rather mature infant Jesus and a couple of ministering angels. A heavenly host of infant voices adds a choral dimension. On closer look it seems the child is singing, perhaps symbolizing the music of the spheres or the Word of God. The entire group is perched on a cloud. This could represent the scene is a fulfillment of God's will -- "on earth as it is in heaven."

This card was post dated December 22, 1908. It was sent to a "Mrs. M T Arnold" in Mount Clemens, Michigan, from "Eletha."

Merry Christmas, Sugah

How do you say Merry Christmas to someone far away? Today, you could phone or text or send a snail-mail, traditional, greeting card. The elaborate holiday greeting postcard from the 1950’s shows a plethora of Alaska native life scenes within the x-mas lettering. On the top left is printed “Hello, Ed Levin.” and just below the Christmas tree, center left , is ““Sugah” Levin.” Between both Ed and Sugah's first and last names is a trapezoid box with dates: 1954 for Ed and 1953 for Sugah. Are these birth dates?

The mystery of this card deepens on the reverse side where a penned message is written from Ed to Vera. Apparently, Ed was not able to make it to Alaska the past summer after being elected County Supervisor but promised to return the coming summer. The interesting thing is there is no postage or postmarks which makes me think the card made its way to Alaska via an envelope.

I found this card at a yard sale this summer along with many vintage postcards. I was intrigued by the multiple and varied images within the lettering. There are dog teams, animal pelts, whaling and boating scenes, even a boxing scene and numerous portraits of men, women and children in fur parkas.

The mystery is someone put these images together and must have know the identities of the models. Was this a family portrait? Was this Ed’s family or the accumulation of his travels in Alaska? Was Vera, “Sugah?” Was Vera, Ed's sister, lover, mother, or ex-wife? Anything is possible. One possibility is that Vera is Ed's mother. The card might have been sent to commemorate the birth of him and his sister, perhaps near Christmas.

An Internet search turned up a couple of possibilities. Ed Levin, a recording engineer, accompanied Father Bernard Hubbard to King Island, Alaska Territory in the 1930's. They filmed 27 hours of footage and taped more than seven hours of sound recordings of the native people there. In the 1990's these recordings were repatriated by the King Islanders. This could be the same Ed who became the Santa Clara, California, Supervisor, Ed R. Levin. He led a campaign to acquire state property for a park. Levin died in 1966. In 1969 Airpoint Park was renamed and opened as Ed R. Levin Park. I do not know if this Levin was the cards maker or sender, though the images, message on the back and the supervisor's timeline would be possible.

1950 Indinapolis 500 Starting Bomb

This postcard shows the starting field of the 1950 Indianapolis Motor Speedway race, 69 years ago. It was photographed in Kodachrome and Ansco color by Robert Martin for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Corporation. The description on the reverse side is vague but contains one note of specific interest. It records that the 33-car starting field awaits "the starting bomb" -- the speedway's signal for drivers to start their engines. This was the last year before the now traditional "Gentleman, start your engines" command would be uttered.

The winner of this race was Johnnie Parsons. He is in the yellow car, number one, far right, the fifth starting position. The first row is off picture further to the right. The car featured a lightweight aircraft-like tubular space frame, welded with chrome-moly steel. Instead of solid front axles with springs used by most cars, Parson's sported an independent front suspension with torsion bars. The modern suspension gave the car a softer ride, superior handling and faster cornering speeds. A DVD of the race is available here.

Merry Vintage Christmas

This embossed "Raphael Tuck & Sons "Wonderful White Winter"" Post Card is labeled number 513 in a series. The reverse side also says "ART PUBLISHERS TO THEIR MAJESTIES THE KING AND QUEEN," and has an emblem with a lion and a unicorn. The card is divided for address and message, so it probably dates to the Divided Back Era (March 1, 1907 to 1915), sometimes known as the Golden Age of post cards. (I will add an image of the back when I get my scanner operational.)




I love this card. It reminds me of an old water color painting. Though it belongs to series called, "Wonderful White Winter," their isn't one little drift of white snow. The scene seems to be in either a warm climate or a different season. My guess is a different season altogether in that the trees are abundant with leaves.


As with many cards in my collection, I do not have a clue where or how this card came into my collection. For all I know it is a Christmas miracle.

An Angel of the Lord

This is a "Whitney Made, Worcester, Mass" antique card from the golden age of postcards. I thought it was a fitting card for the Christmas season. It recalls the biblical story of the angel announcing the arrival of the Christ child. Though in the biblical account the glory of the Lord shines around the angel, in this image the angel glows in pastel colors, accompanied by a couple of children or maybe cherubs.

And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said to them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

In other words the angel scared the hell out of them. This is a reasonable reaction to meeting otherworldly beings. “Fear not,” is usually the first words out of any self respecting angel’s mouth, especially those of a biblical variety. These angels were not cute, instead they terrify, thus the need to reassure their human audience with some reassuring words. In some ways I think the bible was the first instance of alien encounter narratives -- otherworldly beings communicating directly with humans on earth. Like anyone who wishes to communicate effectively, you must quell your subject’s fear before you can gain trust to impart a message.

In the twentieth century art and popular culture angels and heavenly beings generally get a cutesy make over. In recent years a few American films have helped to reestablish the fearsomeness of the angelic presence. Movies like Constantine and The Prophecy have restored fearsomeness to the angelic host.

While this image shows a rather cute angel, there is a wolf in the picture too. The shepherds’ focus is transfixed on the angel. Meanwhile, the wolf runs between them and the flock. Perhaps the unknown artist has made an allegory of the twentieth century church. While the shepherds are mesmerized by a sentimental vision, the wolf (a popular symbol of Satan or Satan’s son) picks out his prey on earth. Another possibility is that the wolf is frightened also and hightails it out of the picture.

(I am at a loss as to the words at the bottom of this card. I thought it was German but can not seem to get a translation on the Internet. Maybe someone could help. I apologize for the print quality of images on this blog. I hope to purchase a scanner soon.)