Victorian Scraps

                 Victorian Scraps from The Victorian Sticker Postcard Book,
                 Collection of Elke Dröscher, © 1982, Harenberg Kommunikation,
                 Dortmund, West Germany, © 1985, English text Copyright,
                 Running Press Book Publishers, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Victorian scraps, those charming embossed die-cut images of animals, fruit,
flowers, children, Santas, and Valentine hearts have been inspiring crafters
since the 19th-century, are still being produced today.

Scraps come in sheets connected by tabs where one can find the name of the
firm producing them, and the country of origin, often Germany or England.

When cut out individually, scraps can be put into books devoted to collections
of them (scrapbooks, if you will), or incorporated into handmade greeting cards,
or used in découpage decorating.

Here is an excellent website called Victorian Scrap Papers that displays hundreds
of these precious images, and provides links to even more.

They can't help but inspire.  Happy scrapbooking!

www.victorianscrappapers.com                                                                       

Badminton anyone?

                                          THE NELSON-ATKINS MUSEUM OF ART
                                                             Kansas City, Missouri

                                                                SHUTTLECOCKS

                                 Claes Oldenburg, American, born Sweden, 1929, and
                                 Coosje van Bruggen, American, born The Netherlands,
                                 (1942-2009), Gift of the Sosland Family; aluminum,
                                 fiberglass re-inforced plastic, urethane paint, 1994.
                                      © Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen
                                                    Photo: Attilio Maranzano

This shuttlecock (one of four) looks as if has just landed out-of-bounds
in a giant-sized badminton game, on a lawn whose scale befits such a match.

Claes Oldenburg and his late wife Coosje van Bruggen have been turning
everyday objects into whimsical public art installations from Kansas City to
Korea for decades.  Oldenburg, age 82, was on hand last Saturday to witness
the unveiling of his latest creation-- a 51-foot high paint brush, erected in
Lenfest Plaza in Philadelphia.

The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in downtown Kansas City is a cultural gem
and a major institution on the American art scene.  Go!

          en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelson-Atkins_Museum_of_Art
                             
 

Volendam, Netherlands

                          Two Volendam maidens in traditional "Klederdracht"
                          -Postcard postmarked 1912, addressed to Miss Irene Van Zanten
                            of West 9th Street, Holland, Michigan, U.S.A.

Historic Volendam, Netherlands has been a tourist destination for decades.
It is about a 40-minute drive north of Amsterdam on N247 Highway, and is
a popular day trip for Amsterdamers and foreign visitors alike.

If you prefer, there are also organized tours of Volendam and region departing
from Amsterdam:  Click on the link for "Marken, Volendam and Windmill Tour",
Amsterdam Tours and Canal Cruises, Tours and Activities in Holland.

amsterdamcitytours.rezgo.com/details/3865/marken-volendam-and-windmill-tour

The two Dutch girls in this postcard are wearing the traditional "Klederdracht", or
costume of the Volendam region.  If you go there, you too can try on a dress and
lace cap and have your picture taken!

The website VVV Volendam is all about things to do in Volendam.  Click on the
British flag for the English translation.

                                                           www.vvv-volendam.nl/ni

For more Dutch-themed postcards, visit:

CIRCUMSPICE MICHIGAN:

Postcards of a Pleasant Peninsula

www.circumspicemichigan.blogspot.com

CIRCUMSPICE MICHIGAN is dedicated to Michigan postcards.  There, you 

will find recent postings of two cards from Holland, Michigan, with links to related 

websites.

                   

Salzburg Postcard Montage

                                                      Salzburg Postcard Montage
                                                      -Postcards from the 1970s            
                  
Salzburg... The Festival City, Mozart's hometown, and locale of The Sound of Music.

The Salzburger Festspiele starts on July 27, 2011... don't put off a visit for another
year!  The festival runs until August 30, 2011.

www.salzburg.info/en/art_culture/salzburg_festival/events      

Pat recommends two restaurants in Salzburg:

1)  St. Peter Stiftskeller, the oldest restaurant in Central Europe, was established
in 803.  Outdoor eating areas are amongst the ruins of the old monastery.
Full-course meals.  Classy!  Try a Salzburger Nockerl for dessert.

www.salzburg.info/en/gastronomy/restaurants.htm

For a Mozart Dinner Concert, the Salzburger Konzertgesellschaft performs
right at St. Peter Stiftskeller.  Click on this link to their utterly charming website
for more information.

www.salzburg-concerts.com/en/salzburg/mozart-dinner-concert/home

2)  Part beer garden, part food court, visit the Augustiner Braüstüberl Mülln.
Grab a beer stein, and put it under the spiggot at the beer fountain!  Take your
brew and a plate of food and sit out under the trees in the Gastgarten.

The beer-related website, Prost, Mahlkeit!, "In Austria's pubs and distant lands..."
has an English translation option that can be accessed from the Google search page.

                                        www.prostmahlzeit.at

-The Photo Gallery is on both the English and German versions of their website.
Scroll down to find the Photo Gallery on the left hand side, in either language.

                                     Ein Prosit der Gemütlichkeit!    -Pat

Here is another useful website for Salzburg events:

Salzburg World Guides:  Salzburg Events, Festivals in 2011/2012, Things to Do:
Events in Salzburg Area, Austria.

www.salzburg.world-guides.com/salzburg_events.html

                          

Kansas Flint Hills

      The Konza Prairie Research Natural Area, sometimes called the bluestem
      prairie, provides a unique outdoor laboratory of native tall grass prairie.
      The Konza is part of the Flint Hills of eastern Kansas.
                      
                     -Postcard photo copyright Kansas State University Photo Services
                      Kansas Postcard Company, Minneapolis, Kansas
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"When the first European explorers emerged from the dense northern forests of
America, they could scarcely believe their eyes.  A "fruitful champayne countrie",
a treeless ocean of wildflowers, birds and animals, and grasses nine feet high,
stretched unbroken to the distant horizon.  The explorers named it "prérie,"
meaning "grassland" or "grassy orchard"."

    -From the dust cover flap of the book Tallgrass Prairie by John Madson,
      Photos by Frank Oberle, Published in cooperation with The Nature
      Conservancy, Falcon Press Publishing Co., Inc., Helena and Billings,
      Montana, copyright 1993.      An exquisite coffee table book.  -Pat

Thanks to the joint efforts of Kansas State University in Manhattan, and the
Nature Conservancy, we can see the Konza Prairie as our forefathers saw it.

The Konza Prairie Biological Station website gives current weather conditions
and Twitter updates from people in the field.      kpbs.konza.ksu.edu

The Kansas Flint Hills defy description, and must be experienced in person.
Drive down to Cottonwood Falls in the heart of this region.  Have lunch at
the Grand Central Hotel, or have dinner and stay the night!

                                    www.grandcentralhotel.com

While in Cottonwood Falls, visit the historic Chase County Court House,
made of native limestone.
                                

Nathaniel Russell House

       NATHANIEL RUSSELL HOUSE  - Postcard photo copyright Bryan Riggs
                                                                    Charleston Classics, Charleston Postcard Co.

Charleston... nothing could be finer.  A friend returned from a visit to Charleston and brought postcards!

                                                                            

   NATHANIEL RUSSELL HOUSE, Charleston, South Carolina

The Nathaniel Russell House, completed in 1801, is widely recognized as one
of America's most important neoclassical dwellings, with elaborate architectural
detailing and a magnificent free-flying staircase.

This historic property serves as the ideal exhibition space for Historic Charleston
Foundation's outstanding collection of exquisite fine and decorative arts.
                                                  
                                                     -Caption by the Historic Charleston Foundation
                                                     -Postcard photos copyright Rick McKee & Bryan Riggs
                                                      Charleston Classics, Charleston Postcard Company

Historic Charleston Foundation ~ brochure

                                                          www.historiccharleston.org

                        

 Historic Charleston Foundation ~ inside brochure

(click on to enlarge)

Meubles de Jardin

        
                  Manufacture Française d'armes et de cycles de Saint-Etienne,
                  Tentes, parasols, guérites, c. 1900, advertising from their catalog.

                  Postcard printed in France, copyright 1995, Editions de Désastre,
                  Mise en couleurs Patrice Monnerie.

Manufacture Française D'Armes et Cycles de Saint-Etienne opened in that city
in the 1880s as purveyors of sporting goods.  They were the first mail order
company in France, and distributed large catalogs annually.  There were also
retail outlets throughout France and the colonies that sold things such as bicycles,
hunting rifles, fishing rods, and meubles de jardin.  The company now goes by
the name of Manufrance.

These charming vintage versions of our present-day cabanas remind us that
summer has arrived!  Here is an article from New Jersey Savvy Living
Magazine about the popularity of cabanas that have been appearing on the
New Jersey Shore in ever-increasing numbers.

                                    www.njsavvyliving.com/have-cabana

Happy Summer!   -Pat

I just found an example of some cabana-esque lounge chairs on a Florida
postcard from 2001. This card features the work of photographer Bill Bonebrake.

                   Copyright 1995, Bill Bonebrake, Just a Moment in Time Publishing
                                                        www.jamitpublishing.com