Ed. Evelyn Yvonne Theriault

This 5th edition of A Festival of Postcards is dedicated to Quadrupeds, so whether you’re passionate about postcards or you’re just an animal-lover, you’ve come to the right place as over 30 genealogy, local history and deltiology bloggers from around the world share their serious, humourous and sometimes even bizarre images of man’s best – and not so best – friends! The first section - Postcards in the Past Tense – is the place where we showcase vintage and antique postcards. In this issue we feature the work of 10 new and 21 returning bloggers. The Artful Postcard is where we look at postcards as art – or art that is influenced by postcard and for this issue we have the specially prepared digitally-altered work of two family historians as well as links to the blogs of two professional artists whose work relates to postcards. Our last section is Contemporary Postcards - where we look at modern postcards and celebrate those who are keeping postcards alive in the second millenium.

However, before you move on to the postcards, you’ll want to check out this month’s Feature Article by Miriam Robbins Midkiff – a genealogist by avocation and a family historian with 22 years of research behind her! Miriam blogs at  AnceStories, the Eastern Washington Genealogical Society Blog, and now the Online Historical Directories Website but she’s joining us this month as the woman behind Scanfest, a monthly online activity where genealogists and family historians alike gather together to “ask questions about scanning and preservation, and get the kick in the pants we all need on starting those massive scanning projects that just seem too overwhelming to begin”.

Feature Article

When I first read Miriam Robbins Midkiff’s article – A Beginner’s Guide to Scanning Postcards – I was dismayed. Why? Because I’ve been scanning postcards for awhile now and I was pretty sure I knew what I was doing! Do you feel the same way? Well I suggest you take a peek at what Miriam has to say about the finer points of scanning postcards. Miriam says her article is for beginners – but I think that many of us could benefit from some of her tips on the fine art of scanning postcards for our blogs! I know that my blog will be the better for it – thanks, Miriam!

Postcards In The Past Tense

UK blogger Linda of About Postcards is presenting a Three Little Maids Hand Painted Cat Opera Postcard and she sent me this little message: “Hello Evelyn and greetings from England.  About Postcards is a labour of love that sometimes doesn’t get the time that I’d like it to have. I started the blog to both try and encourage those who were new to the hobby and to help the established collector with postcard information”. I think Linda’s site is a MUST VISIT for everyone, whether postcard collector or family historian, because it’s jam packed with useful articles about postcards in general, but also shows the different categories of postcards that you can collect. It’s a visual smorgasbord!

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Adam Gott of Vintage Postcard Blog is sharing a richly coloured postcard depicting a Cornish Mining Scene of 1890. Adam told me that he “… just started this blog to showcase interesting postcards that I encounter in my collection or on the web. It’s a pretty simple concept – one postcard per day in a variety of subjects” He’s having a Halloween Countdown tso this is the perfect time to drop by his site and check out his collection of Hallowe’en-themed postcards including my personal favourite of a witch and her black cat.

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Do you like bloggers with a wry sense of humour? Then you’’ll certainly want to spend some time at the blog of Alan Burnett – self-described “one-time bus conductor, political apparatchik, lecturer and writer on European affairs”. Alan’s blog is called News From Nowhere and his entry for the Quadrupeds Festival is Never Too Late For Love. which features the postcard: Runaway Wedding at Blacksmith’s Shop: Gretna Green, and some historical background on why some English couples used to go to Scotland to get married. If you’re a geneablogger you may also like to read posts such as his latest – If Music Be The Food Of Love – I Am In Danger Of Getting Obese - for original examples of family history/genealogy posts. I wish I could write like this!

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Karen Hammer of Ancestor Soup presents The Three-Legged Horse of William Lair saying, “Not *exactly* a four-legged animal”. In addition to her personal website, Karen runs four webistes for Genealogy Trails and says that though she’s new to blogging (less than a year) she finds that it “… encourages a bit more creativity than the typical genealogy website allows” and she finds “the format incredibly freeing”. I’m sure that Festival bloggers agree with that sentiment!

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Paul Ricketts presents Camels in the Holy Land at his family history site The sun rides high:Travel Through Time. Here’s an excerpt from Paul’s thoughtful essay on the notion of ” “home” and “place”: “My aim in building this web site is to view genealogy through a geographic lens, building stories of individuals travels to and throughout America. I am hoping that this approach will help broaden other genealogists’ research and make new connections between people and places. By weaving in aspects of my own family’s genealogy, I hope to illuminate how and why people traveled so far to find a house to put their “home” in” (see his About for the rest).

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 Genealogist and family historian Paula Hinkel of  It Just Never Came Up is sharing this funny Danish postcard AGlaedeligt Nytaaris from her family’s personal collection. She describes how this postcard unveiled a family secret. Paula is an active part of the “Californian genealogy scene” as past president of the South California Genealogical Society and co-chair of that Society’s 2010 Jamboree. I’m glad she finally had a moment to join us at the Festival – welcome Paula!

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Like many postcard collectors I also collect other “oddities” such as matchbook covers, old menus etc. If you’re like me you’ll really enjoy Susan E’s eclectic blog This Old Paper: curious things that are flat. This blog covers a wide range of paper ephemera ranging from items like pamphlets and bank savings books to puzzles. I think that as long as something is made out of paper Susan can find a place for it on her blog! For the Quadrupeds Festival she’s sharing (with a wink and a nod) a postcard of Buffalo’s Ellicott Square in 1904.

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Fans of Stephen Colbert will probably enjoy Leo’s blog. Why? His blog is called Postcardiness’s Blog in a sort of homage (pronounced in French with a “silent H” please!) to Stephen Colbert who coined the term “truthiness”. In his inaugural post, Leo states that he will “will explore the “-ness” of postcards, and relate the discoveries and stories that ensue”. And Leo’s second post ever (in this blog) is his entry in this month’s Festival – Lucy the elephant. I’m looking forward to all the “-ness” that Leo can provide.

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Another new entrant this month is Charles Hansen who “started genealogy in 1991 after a family reunion. Started online on Prodigy in 1991 and stayed until Prodigy folded.” with his Mikkel’s Hus blog, but I’d like to mention that Charles is also one of the bloggers behind Eastern Washington Genealogical Society Blog. Charles says he’s “been posting old Yellowstone Park Photos for Wordless Wednesday so this one fits with those photos” and his postcard Feeding the Bears will surely put a smile on your face!

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Becky Wiseman is, in her own words a “GeneaHistorian and Native Hoosier who grew up in Kosciusko County”. She blogs about “family history, genealogy, research tips, photography, travel and whatever else catches” her interest. Becky’s blog – Kinexxions – is well known in the genealogy community and for this Festival she’s posted a black and white real photo postcard. Not exactly of the “Ride ‘em Cowboy” genre.. Welcome on board, Becky!

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“The young man on the right has a wad of chew in his mouth and very dirty fingernails. They are both wearing bandannas, bandannas that look out of place with their clothing.” These are footNote Maven’s own words as she completes her usual thorough analysis of a real photo post card in a post entititled What were they thinking?

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Canadian blogger M. Diane Rogers of Jane’s Your Aunt is participating this time with Saddle Horse Party on the Sourdough Trails. This postcard is one of two sent to Diane’s mother when she was serving in Canada’s women’s Army corps during World War II. What a nice bit of personal family and Canadian history!

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For his third Festival , Jan Frieseke of Postcard-A-Day has prepared a little mini-magazine of his own by sharing a total of seven animal-themed postcards This series showcases the range of Jan’s postcard collection with black/white and colour postcards from around the world and in a variety of styles including tourist-like, novelty and documentary.

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I wondered whether  Scott Caron would be able to participate in the  Festival this time around because though he obviously has a large collection of  Postcards from Old Town (Maine), his focus seems to be on Old Town buildings rather than Old Town animals! Luckily for us, he was able to dig up something and left the following comment: “While the  quadrupeds are small in the postcard, they play a huge part of Old Town’s history.”

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Denise Olson of Moultrie Creek presents The Bridge of Lions saying, “For decades, two marble lions guarded the approach to the Bridge of Lions in St. Augustine, Florida. Right now they are currently visiting the spa. Read the article to find out what they’re up to and why”.

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 Kris is sharing  Conquering Fear: Farol de Rodillas. In his own words “This postcard of a moment in a bullfight (La Fiesta Brava) is strikingly beautiful. It depicts the daring move of the matador called, farol de rodillas, literally, “light of knees.” Kris blogs from the very stylish  Post Card Images: 100 years of life, love and mystery”.

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Judith Richards Shubert is back this month with  The West Begins in West Texas and tells us that  “The eight cowboys depicted here were probably from my hometown and they probably just got through riding in a parade down Oak Street or Hubbard. We had the most wonderful parades when I was a young girl. The Texas Rangers on horseback always made an appearance.” Judith’s blog is  Genealogy Traces.

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Grace of  Vintage Postcards Revisited also posted a rodeo card– but with a little twist! In her entry – Texas Prison Rodeo which portrays Texas convicts as they “cinch down on wild cows to open Wildest Rodeo in the World”. What is Grace’s connection to these Texas convicts? Click on the link and find out!

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Flipside blogger Linda Hughes Hiser presents Festival of Postcards—4 legged quadrapeds and says: “This is a photo postcard of my paternal great great grandmother, Ferdinande Weiss Olesen. Known as Ann by her contemporaries and as Granny Olesen by younger generations, she is shown with the Olesen family companion. This proud canine’s name has been lost to history, but was the subject of a Smile for the Camera blog done on Flipside back in the spring.

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T. Casteel’s entry this time comes from Europe. It’s a turn-of-the-twentieth century RPPC of her Hungarian grandfather as he strikes a very military pose. Drop by  Tangled Trees and you’ll learn that this postcard poses a bit of a  Military Mystery! Stay awhile and you’ll find that there’s also lots of useful information about local historical societies and resources for family historians.

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Kay Bauman of Kay B’s place poses a question this time with – A Whimsical Nature? and tells us that “Playfulness must have been part of my great grandmother’s personality. I say that because her albums have several photos that are clearly staged with elements of the whimsical”.

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 This is Postcardy Lynne’s 5th Festival and, as always, she’s sharing several great postcards. The first is the Children’s Zoo and Farm – Brookfield, Illinois, the second is Texas Longhorn Steer – Dead or Alive and the last is  Traffic Stopping Bears. If this is your first Festival and you’re not familiar with Postcardy: The Postcard Explorer, you should know that no matter what kind of postcard you like, there’s probably one on her site!

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Donna presents Remembering the Dog Days of Summer posted at, saying, “Here’s a family postcard with some partying quadrupeds! More importantly, once again in finding an entry to meet the “challenge” of the Festival, I am reminded of what postcards are all about…keeping in touch with family and friends. I was in high school when my brother was in the Marines, and it was always a special treat to get a postcard or a letter from him. I didn’t save all of them, but I did save a few that were special. I am sure this one made my “save” pile not only because of his loving message, but because of the humor of the card. In fact, I think he had a Hawaiian shirt just like that one they have on! I was about to enter my Hawaiian shirt & shades stage (I haven’t left it yet, by the way), so it was particularly fun to receive this one.” Donna blogs out of What’s Past is Prologue.

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Professional genealogist Janet Iles (aka Janet the Researcher) is joining us this time with her Canadian postcard Big Bruce from Chelsea, Ontario . Janet is extraordinarily involved in the Canadian genealogy scene and also blogs at has a second blog called Graveyard Rabbit of Grey County, Ontario.

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Chris Overstreet of  Wild Postcards and this month he’s posted a gorgeous card of a  Bobcat. New readers will be interested to know that Chris’ “is a blog of ramblings and remembrances” about his collection. Chris goes on to say that ” There are a great many serious collectors — “deltiologists” — with collections far more numerous than mine. Much of my collection, however, is more personal. It was started by my great-grandfather, Philip Nelson Smith (1896-1972), who kept a number of postcards from his childhood, and from his travels (mostly to visit family in Pennsylvania, after he and Great-Grandma Lottie left there to move in with my grandparents in New Jersey in the early ’60s). I always love to hear about how people got started collecting postcards!

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Carol Genung of Illuminated Ancestries shares an American pioneeer covered wagon. Carol has many years of “in-depth research experience in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and the American Civil War and holds “memberships in the National Genealogical Society, the Illinois State Genealogical Society, and the McLean County Genealogical Society” and also takes part in re-enacting and living history groups.

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For this festival, The Wandering Genealogist John Gasson has contributed the postcard Spotted Deer at Buxted Park, Sussex posted at saying, “A couple of postcards of spotted deer at Buxted Park, Sussex”. John says that his “love for genealogy was born out of my interest for local history and my first family history research experiences were not with my ancestors, but with people from the local area: licensed victuallers, brick makers and photographers. People who had far more interesting lives than my ancestors, or so I thought.”

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Randy Seaver is joining us with a really unique look at some of our distant quadrupedal ancestors in the form of an RPPC from the  Lyle Collinger Photo Album he inherited from his mother. Randy is well-known for Saturday Night Genealogy Fun (SNGF), a light-hearted activity he runs over at his blog Genea-Musings.

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For our Quadrupeds issue, Sheila has submitted a postcard of deer grazing at Knole Sevenoaks. Sheila has a lot of great cards and articles on her site A Postcard A Day. It’s accompanied by a wonderful article discussing Knole, the deer and technical aspects of the postcard. In speaking of her collection Sheila says: “My father started collecting postcards as a way to continue this life at least in spirit. I’m continuing the collection and posting at least one, chosen at random, each day.”

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Sue Edminster is sharing a photo postcard called The Buffalo which her husband inherited from his grandparents. Sue and her husband are very lucky because the collection contains a variety of cards including some “with elaborate floral designs or holiday greetings”. Sue is one lucky blogger – and the name of that blog is: The Family File: documenting their lives, telling their stories.

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Is horse-racing an “exciting and colourful event”, or is it cruelty to animals? That’s the question posed by Evelyn Yvonne Theriault as she shares her postcard of the Hippodrome (horse racetrack) in Trois-Rivieres, Quebec. Evelyn is the editor of A Festival of Postcards and her host blog A Canadian Family has been nominated in category 10 of the Family Tree Awards.

The Artful Postcard

 This month, regular contributor Vickie Everhart (BeNotForgot :: begotten & ne’er forgotten)has designed a piece called  Texas Horned Toad which she says recalls “… one of the delights of a lazy summer day — besides eating ice-cold watermelon, or even colder homemade vanilla ice-cream — was to line our little red wagon with sand from the garden spot……”

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The first thing you encounter when you arrive on Caroline Pointer’s site is a series of questions: “What is your family story? Do you know it? Do you know where you came from. And who your people are?” You can tell right away that Caroline Pointer of Family Stories is not just a great storyteller; she’s a great mentor for others who want to tell their stories in creative ways. Caroline’s contribution to this Festival is Look What I Found! – a digital montage related to a high school which her father attended.

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Next I wanted to share the site of a British Columbia artist who blogs under the name of Papercracker. I’m featuring her Giraffe post but also the camel you see to your left. While you’re at Senses Engaged you’ll want to take a look around. You’re in for a virtual smorgasbord! If you enjoy her altered artwork you can follow links in her sidebar to several other collections.

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I’m featuring the work of Mississipi artist Vicki Wood for two reasons. First, is for the quality of her watercolours which you can check out at her eponymous site Vicki Wood, JD . Wood specializes in animal portraits and likes to accompany these with stories that bring out each animal’s personality. How does this relate to postcards? Wood has found a creative postcard-related way to use her art. She’s creating hand-made postcards such as this one of an Elephant and sending them to her friend who is stationed in Iraq. What a wonderfully personal way to honour a friend – with both her time and her talent.

Contemporary Postcards

Brenda Perez presents has been collecting all kinds of postcards (e.g. fabric,wood, metal, leather) for over 30 years now. Her collection including: ” cards announcing the wrong person as president of the U.S., cards that are actual puzzles, cards that are actual records, light switch covers and a card mailed from the Hindenburg, 3D cards, hold to light cards, and just about everything you can think of”. For this Festival she’s sharing two postcards; the first is called – Festival of the Circus, Monte-Carlo while the second is : Monkey on a skateboard in Russia. they are both posted at her blog 9teen87.

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Abhishek Chandra of Abhishek’s PostCrossing Journey presents a Turkish postcard – The Big Cats. Abhishek is our man in India’s capital city of New Delhi and he specializes in postcards that represent any of the UNESCO World Heritage sites. He’s more than willing to organize exchanges with postcard collectors from everywhere around the world.

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Yiphinwai collects not only postcards but stamps and covers as well, and is interested in “other countries, their history, culture and nature. His postcards is of an ancient Roman Mosaic which depicts a hunt in the ancient town of La Olmeda when it was part of the Roman Empire. This blog is called Just my postcard collection.

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Newcomer Edmund Ong presents My three ’999′ covers!!! on his blog eD@HoMe.  I had asked Edumund for the significance of the “999″ number and he told me that “999 postmarks are special as they came only once in a lifetime. Actually I don’t really collect them but they are sent by fellow bloggers to me They are also excited about the 789 & 888 postmarks which I have missed.” I never fail to learn something new during the Festival.

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Bulgarian blogger Dragan Busculic of Pre-stamped postcards & aerogrammes is a Festival of Postcards regular. This time he’s sharing  # 266–PORTUGAL/8 « Pre-stamped postcards & aerogrammes which depicts Portuguese General Silveira atop his steed. Like many Festival participants, Dragan belongs to Postcrossing, a worldwide movement of postcard enthusiasts who exchange modern postcards.

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To close our Quadrupeds Festival. I’d like to introduce you The Pet Postcard Project. This goal of this non-profit organization is to obtain more food for shelter animals. They are sponsored by dog and cat food companies who pledge to donate 1 pound of food for every postcard they receive from a pet owner. Pet owners are asked to send in handmade postcards that picture their own pet.

Blogs in the October Quadrupeds Festival

9teen87′s Postcards

Abhishek’s PostCrossing Journey

 About Postcards 

 A Canadian Family

 A Postcard a Day 

 BeNotForgot :: begotten & ne’er forgotten  

CanadaGenealogy, or, ‘Jane’s Your Aunt’  

 eD@HoMe  

Family History Images  

Flipside 

  Genealogy Traces  

Genea-Musings   

It Just Never Came Up  

Just my postcard collection  

Kay B’s Place  

kinexxions

Illuminated Ancestries

Janet the researcher 

 Life in a Postcard Mirror  

 Little Red Mail Box 

Mikkel’s Hus 

Moultrie Creek  

Old Paper Art 

POSTCARD-A-DAY  

Postcards from Old Town

Post Card Images: 100 years of life, love and mystery  

Postcardiness’s Blog 

Postcardy   

 Shades Of The Departed

Tangled Trees 

The Sun Rides High.  

The Wandering Genealogist 

This Old Paper: curious things that are flat.  

Vintage Postcard Blog

Vintage Postcards Revisited

What’s Past is Prologue  

Wild Postcards

 Information on upcoming “White” Festival

 A FESTIVAL OF POSTCARDS – HQ