Boats and Ships

Part of a real photo postcard of the Grand View Ship Hotel (see below). Note all the vehicles parked along the road. Is that a bus with the Greyhound logo?

"The Columbia National Bank. No. 4159. Columbia, Penna., May 21, 1876. Pay to the order of C. J. Nourse, Jr. One and 80/100 dollars. $1.80. To Importers & Traders National Bank of New York. S. W. Shoch, Cashier. United States Internal Revenue, Two Cents. 2. National Bank Note Company, New York." Mouse over the image above to see an enlargement of the vignette of steamboats and sailing ships in the upper left-hand corner.

For more information, see the full version of this check:

Advertisement on the back cover of this small children's tracing/coloring book: "The U.S. Fleet goes first through the Big Ditch. Red Rose of Lancaster brand coffee stands first in flavor with all coffee users. It's as 'Fragrant as Its Name.' Roasted, blended, and packed by M. S. Miller Co., Lancaster, Pa....1914, Kaufmann & Strauss Co." This booklet is an advertising giveaway that commemorated the opening of the Panama Canal (also referred to as the "Big Ditch") in 1914. See also Santa in an Airship High Over the Panama Canal :

"Going Some! The Hum-dinger of Seattle." Written on the back of this real photo postcard: "May 6, 1913 in Seattle, Wash. To Bro. John" A studio photo depicting what appears to be alcohol-fueled nautical maneuvering in the vicinity of Seattle, Washington. Judging by a similar Hum-dinger photograph that's part of the Seattle Photograph Collection at the University of Washington Libraries, this photo came from the Joy Parlor Studio, which billed itself as "the home of the cowboy post cards" and was located at 207 2nd South in Seattle. For an uncropped copy of the photo postcard, see Going Some with the Humdinger of Seattle! (Full Version) .

For more information, see the cropped version of this real photo postcard.

A photo of libraries or books for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. "Transport Mercury. Red Cross. From American Library Association for all men on board. Not to be opened until return voyage." This real photo postcard shows a photograph taken on board the USS Mercury , a United States Navy ship, as it transported troops home following the end of World War I. The sign on the left indicates that the American Library Association provided books for the troops. I located another photograph of this same scene that was taken from a different angle. This second photo was cataloged as NH 45345 by the Navy's Naval History and Heritage Command, and its description also applies to my real photo postcard: "Scene in troop spaces in a hold below the waterline, showing a card game in progress [why aren't they reading their books?], with banjo accompaniment [the banjo player's hands are partially visible at far right in my photo], circa 1918-1919. Note books at left, placed on board by the Red Cross and the American Library Association. Sign with the books indicates that the photo was taken as Mercury was transporting troops back to the U.S. from Europe after the World War I Armistice [November 11, 1918]."

Printed on the other side of this real photo postcard: "Boeckmann, park photographer, Olcott Beach, N.Y." Handwritten on the other side: "Ornan Rebert." Two fellows pretend to paddle their canoe in photographer John Boeckmann 's studio in Luna Park at Olcott Beach, located along the shore of Lake Ontario in Olcott, New York.

An on the water photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. A curious photo of a boy and a dog in a rowboat out on the water. Both of them are looking toward the photographer, who's on the shore or in another boat. The boy is holding a fish in one hand and a fishing rod in the other, and he's wearing a headdress and other clothing in imitation of Native American garb (for a closer view, see a cropped version ). Along the far shore in the background is what looks like the silhouette of a swan, though it seems much too big to be a real bird. This is an unused real photo postcard with an AZO stamp box on the back that suggests that the photo may date to sometime between 1904 and 1918 (or perhaps later).

For more information, see the full version of this real photo postcard.

"The Way We Catch Them. Souvenir Post Card Co., N.Y." Postmarked Ocean City, N.J., Sept. 6, 1919.

"Steamboat Mary, Wrightsville and Columbia, Pa. B. D. Beittel , Columbia, Pa." An early postcard of Steamboat Mary, which evidently ran on the Susquehanna River between Wrightsville, York County, and Columbia, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The card dates to the first decade of the twentieth century (circa 1907, based on the postmark of another copy I spotted elsewhere on the web). In the background is the Pennsylvania Railroad Bridge , a steel truss bridge that was built in 1896. It carried railroad and automobile traffic over the river until it was dismantled in 1963.

A photo of people exchanging "a look" that the photographer has captured perfectly for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. Never mind that it's a fake look in a fake boat—the photographer who created this real photo postcard has captured a studio scene of a man and women looking into each other's eyes and pretending to be in love. I just hope that the swan got out of the way before it got caught in the wake of the speeding boat!

"U.S. of America Submarine Chaser." A " submarine chase r" is "a small and fast naval vessel that is specifically intended for anti-submarine warfare," according to Wikipedia. I'm not sure where this sub chaser was docked or when these two couples reported for duty aboard the ship, but perhaps they were chasing an F-6 submarine .

A photo of hotels/motels for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. Caption: "S. S. Grand View Point Hotel. A Steamer in the Allegheny Mountain[s]. 17 miles west of Bedford, Pa. U.S. 30. Elevation 2464 feet." Signs: "Grand View Point Hotel. Post Cards. Souvenirs. See 3 States and 7 Counties. Visitors Welcome. Free Telescope." "Hotel. Restaurant." This building started out as the Grand View Point Hotel in 1927 and then became the S. S. Grand View Point Hotel, or Ship Hotel , in 1932 after remodeling. For more information about the hotel, see my description of the Grand View Ship Hotel: A Steamer in the Allegheny Mountains, 1932 . See below for some other postcard views.

An advertising postcard addressed on the other side to Mr. Wm. P. Breen, Fort Wayne, Ind., and postmarked New Haven, Conn., June 8, 1911. Off to Europe Visiting Ireland, England, Scotland, Belgium, France, Germany Switzerland. Are you coming with us? We must know soon. Party sails from New York, July 8. 'Phone, wire, or write for reservations. A few choice berths left. Columbus Travel Society, New York office, 2075 Metropolitan Building. Gramercy 3438. Prof. J. C. Monaghan, pres. Mrs. B. Ellen Burke, sec'y. D. P. Toomey, treas.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of ship out! (taking a trip by any conveyance but extra credit by ship or boat) . A souvenir real photo postcard of tourists riding in a gondola on the Venetian Lagoon in Venice, Italy. It's dated 1952 on the other side. The dome of St Mark's Basilica and its tall campanile (bell tower) are visible in the background.

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of tattered & torn (or otherwise damaged) . "For[idian] Ho[tel]. Floridian fishing dock, Miami Beach. Caught on yacht Skip Jack, Capt. E. P. Le May." A tattered, torn, creased, and taped photo of two fishermen posing with a sailfish on the dock of the Floridian Hotel in Miami Beach, Florida.