A Thatched Roof Cottage

Divided back postcard. Postmarked May 10th, (year missing) from Santa Rosa, California. Printed in Germany. Publisher unknown. Number or series:  2781. Circa 1907 – 1914.

Price:  $5.00

Addressed to:   “Miss Lily Rea. Gilroy Calif. Box 23.”

With this postcard (see if the cottage doesn’t remind you of the house in the prior post) we’re getting back, momentarily, to the Lily Rea Collection (more to come later). This is a card from Lily’s good friend, Hazel, who writes:

“Dear Lil: – Card recieved today found me all in. I had too much carnival. Gee kid the fun I did have wish you could have been here. There was a swell dance in the eve. Lee was here Sat. but had to go back in the eve. Its a dead old town now though. I may go to F’risco soon for a few days. Ans. soon    Hazel    To bad my aunt is sick. Give Ella my love.”

Initials TM?

This could be an artist-signed card, per the marks in the lower left corner, as in the initials TM. (They don’t really look like they fit for markings in the grass.)

Only the postcard artist knows for sure?

It was over a hundred years ago that the artist rendered the charming scene for this card, and we suspect that if this painting had been done today, it would not include the sort of bulky topping on the roof with the jutting horn-like things….It makes one realize that over the years details can get lost and form become homogenized…..and then makes one appreciate when historical references come shimmering in, sometimes from the most unlikely places. And so, was it from memory that the artist worked, or a “present-day” cottage he painted from, or maybe it was his artistic expression of something like the carved animal heads in the illustration below (see Low German house). Here we’re at one of those points where one sees oneself writing a book (if one had the time, put everything on hold and take five years) on the subject of rooftop decorations, symbols, significance, etc. throughout the world from the earliest ones found to modern day. (No small task, but it would be beautiful!)

Lastly, while googling “thatched roofs decorations” we were happy to discover that thatching is still alive and well today. And check out these modern-day examples of thatch ornaments from some of the master thatchers in the UK, Brian and Tom Mizon.

Sources:  “Straw Finials / Straw Animals / Straw Ornaments.” http://brianmizonthatching.co.uk/ (accessed October 8, 2018).

Low German house. n.d. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low_German_house (accessed October 20, 2018).

The Original Water-Wagon

The Original Water Wagon pc1The Original Water Wagon pc2

Undivided back, used postcard. Postmarked April 1, 1909, from Santa Rosa, California. Publisher:  A.T. F. Co.

Price:  $8.00

This is the first in a collection from Miss Lily Rea. Her address at this time is Box 23, Gilroy, California. We’ll get more detailed in later posts, but for now, this one is up due to it being April Fool’s Day. Lily’s friend, Hazel writes:

“April Fool. Ha! Ha. Apr. 1. 09. Recieved your card glad to know you are well. Hope to see a picture of you soon. I recieved a card from George Wells to day. Who showed you the picture of L & I. Sure all my friends are nice looking & he is a swell kid too. I hope you can meet him some day. Ans. soon  Hazel. Regards to Rocky.

The card’s design, Noah’s Ark on Mount Ararat, (an elephant and giraffe survey the receding flood) and the caption, “The Original Water-Wagon,”  got me wondering why this card was so current to the times. Here’s a screen shot of a Google search “water wagon images in the early 1900s” showing some great old photos and some comic cards:

Google search image water wagons early 1900s

And see  Origin of the idiom ‘falling off the wagon’ from StackExchange for the origin of being on and off the wagon.

Sources:  “Water wagon images in the early 1900s” Google image search. (Accessed April 1, 2016.)

“Origin of the idiom ‘falling off the wagon’.”  StackExchange.com. (Accessed April 1, 2016.)