George Ekblaw and the Bananas

  

When possible, I like to do a little research on the images I post, and this one has a fair amount of info that I was able to run down.  To start with, the card's original photo is credited to "A. HIRSCHWITZ, NEW ORLEANS. LA."  I wasn't able to find any biographical details on the man's life, but I was able to find quite a few postcards credited to him, all published by 'THE CURT TEICH @ CO. CHICAGO."  Whether he was a freelancer who specialized in postcards or an employee of Curt Teich, well, I wasn't able to find any info on that.

There was a message written on the back, "I am seeing the sights at first hand.  Lordy here-azaleas, camelias, oleander in bloom.  I may see you-I will stop off at Mother E's on my way back. KJ has left for Florida to day.  Sunday we made a side trip to Biloxi.  Regards to all. AE."  

The card is addressed to "Dr & Mrs George Ekblaw, 511 W. Main Str, Urbana, Ill."  The postmark, "NEW ORLEANS LA, FEB 6, 11 AM., 1939"  

So, this is where it gets interesting.  I found a memorial page for the life of George Elbert Ekblaw, of Urbana, IL, published by the University of Illinois.  I'm only going to hit the highlights, so for those interested in more detail, it's easy to find online.  George Ekblaw was born in 1895 and died in 1972.  He was a veteran of World War 1, and after returning from Europe, he taught school for a few years, and eventually got degrees in engineering and geology from the University of Illinois.  After getting his degrees, he joined the Illinois State Geological Survey's Engineering and Geology Section.  It looks like it was his job to work on dams, roads, and tunnels.  I assume it was his specific task to survey the underlying geology for state projects.  He also found time to map the glacial moraines of Illinois and write at least one book on the geology of Illinois. He married Emma Josephine Nyberg and fathered at least one son, Andrew Ekblaw II, also a graduate of the University of Illinois, and also an engineer, though he moved to New York State and worked for G.E.  Andrew was born in 1933 and died in 2016.  If Andrew was the person who sent this card, he was all of six years old, so despite the initials, I'm thinking it was another Ekblaw. 

And the caption, "New Orleans, is the world's greatest banana port, more than 700 ships arrive each year loaded with 25,000 to 50,000 bunches of bananas.  Each individual bunch of bananas is carried from the hold of the ship to the door of the refrigerator car on mechanical conveyors."  Also, "NEW ORLEANS-AMERICA'S MOST INTERESTING CITY."  I'm not sure about that one.  I've been to New Orleans, as well as some other very interesting American cities. 

Los Angeles Indiana 11

 

Let's start with a bit of info on the whole collection.  Click on The Los Angeles Indiana Collection in labels to see everything posted so far, and there's still more to come.

Anyway, sometimes album pages can be quite informative.  The person who put the album together writes captions, or when it's possible to remove a photo that's held in place with photo corners, there's something written on the back of the print.  That's not really true of this collection.  There's a printer's logo on the back of the top print, but it's so faded that it can't be read.  On the back of the middle print, there is a lab stamp, "Kodak Printing, J.H. Ward, Lamar, Colo."  I don't know whether this family was well traveled or if it's the album itself that's made it to so many places. 

The Great Smokey Mountains National Park

  

I've got a fair number of postcards in my collection that started out as photographs, and this is one of them.  It's also one of the few that I can actually date.  The original photo was taken at the dedication of The Great Smokey Mountains National Park on September 2, 1940, though the only credit for the original that I've been able to find is the one on the lower border on the front, "PHOTO BY TENN. STATE DEPT. OF CONSERVATION."  Anyway, creating national parks in the West was fairly easy compared to parks in the East.  In the West, land was already owned by the government, in the East, land had to be acquired from private landowners.  In the Smokies, on the Tennessee-North Carolina border, land had to be purchased from both small farmers and large timber companies.  

The caption on the back of the card, "The following inscription appears on the plaque of this memorial: "For the permanent enjoyment of the people, this park was given one half by the peoples and states of North Carolina and Tennessee and the United States of America, and one half in memory of the Laura Spellman Rockefeller Memorial, founded by her husband, John D. Rockefeller."  The card was 'PUBLISHED BY ASHVILLE POST CARD CO., ASHVILLE, N.C." 

Once again, I don't know why, but a bit of the right side of horizontal images gets slightly cropped.  Click on the image and bring it up in a larger window to see it, side to side. 

Random Japanese Snapshots 1

 

Despite money being tight right now, I recently purchased an envelope of random Japanese snapshots.  Well, I don't know that for sure.  For all I know they all come from the same family which makes them far less random.  Anyway, I have a couple with some writing on the back.  They'll be published with a scan of the back that, with any luck, someone can translate for me, or at the very least tell me if they're upside down.  Some will be posted in lots of three, but I'm starting with a one-off of this group shot in the snow.  I'm thinking class photo considering the institutional-type building in the background.  Eventually, when I get around to putting more up, click on Random Japanese Snapshots Collection in labels to bring everything up. 

Deco Dress

 

 I think it's an art deco design, though I'm not 100% sure.  Still, it's a great-looking dress.  And don't forget to use the other door. 

Ice Work

 

It's been so hot out just lately, that I thought I'd put something up that's a reminder of winter and cold weather.  Anyway, I'm thinking that these two are on a glacier rather than a snow-covered mountain.  There's something written on the back of the print that I think is "Hilie n o Larff."  with a line over the "O."  I think they are names, but just in case I ran it through Google Translate which came up as Icelandic detected but offered no actual translation. 

Los Angeles Indiana 10

 

I haven't been buying too many photos, just lately.   To be honest, it's not a lack of interest so much as a shortage of money.  Anyway, I've got to cut back a bit, and collecting old photos has taken a back seat for a while.  So, it's back to the Los Angeles Indiana Collection, and you can click on that in labels to bring up the collection to date, including an explanation for the title.  A couple of photo booth shots.