The Vogels of Artesia, New Mexico 2

   

Another hand franked postcard from "Pvt. Roy R. Vogel, 346th Air Base Sgdn., Municipal Air Port , Memphis, Tenn, Barrack 411 S."  Well, now we know Roy's middle initial and his barracks assignment.  Once again it's mailed to "Miss Dorothy Vogel, Artesia, New Mex, Box #632."  Spelled out a bit differently, but the same recipient. And the message, "Dear Dot, I received a letter from you and one from Jane a week or so ago so will send this on to both of you as I have so much waiting to do.  The pictures are just like the animals in the zoo.  It is the second largest in the world.  I am feeling all all right.  I will be closing for today.  Your cousin Roy."  Well, not too detailed, and I have my doubts that the Memphis Zoo was the second largest in the world, but how much can you get on a postcard, and how much honesty can you expect from a young private who was probably away from home for the first time in his life.

  The postmark is "MEMPHIS TENN, DEC 3, 8 PM DE SOTO STA. 1" The caption, "Scenes from the Memphis Zoo, one of the finest in the world."  Click on The Vogel Collection in labels to bring up the rest. 

The Vogels of Artesia, New Mexico 1

 

Time for another three-part collection, though I don't think I'm going to put them up in a row, so click on The Vogel Collection in labels to bring all three up.

So, all three of these postcards were mailed during World War 2 and all three were hand-franked.  Basically, during the war, U.S. military members could use the mail for free.  All they had to do was write free where the stamp should be and off it went.  This card was mailed by "Pvt. Roy Vogel, 346th Air Base Sgdn., Municipal Air Port, Memphis, Tenn."  It was mailed to "Miss Dorothy Vogel, Artesia, New Mexico, Box 632."   And the message, "Dear Dorothy, I received your letter this morn.  Was glad to hear from you. I had some pictures made the other day.  I will send one in a few days. I feel well at present.  Hope I can continue feeling that way.  Your cousin, Roy." 

So, presumably, Roy Vogel was in the Army Air Corp. (There was no separate Air Force during World War 2)  As a private, he wasn't training as a pilot, co-pilot, or navigator.  Perhaps he was training as a mechanic or as a gunner.  

There is a readable postmark, "MEMPHIS, TENN. NOV 3 4 PM 1942, DE SOTO STA."  The card's caption, "The Memphis Municipal Airport is one of the finest in America.  Made by Curteich, Chicago. 

The Statue of Ramses

Yet another unused card, credited to "Lehnert & Landrock, Cairo"  I've actually been able to find some info on this pair.  Rudolf Franz Lehnart and Ernst Heinrich Landrock were a pair of Austrian born photographers who met each other in Switzerland in 1904.  The two formed a partnership in Tunis, where Landrock had taken a series of photographs, which lasted until 1914, when they were interred by the French as enemy aliens, at the beginning of World War 1.   Their large collection of glass plate negatives were also seized.

They didn't meet up again  until 1920.  With the dissolution of Austria-Hungary,  Landrock found himself a citizen of the new nation of Czechoslovakia, an ally of France, which allowed him to get the partner's negatives returned to him.  Lehnert had returned to Tunis where he photographed nudes for Jouret Studio.  They formed a new partnership, in Cairo,in 1924, where they published postcards from their photographs.  Lehnert sold out his half of the business to Landrock in 1930.  In 1939, fearing another internment, Landrock left for Germany.  He left the business under the management of his Swiss born nephew, Kurk Lambelit.  It's believed that the majority of the negatives from the partnership was destroyed by allied bombing, in Germany, during World War 2.

  Lehnert & Landrock is still in business, in Cairo, as a publisher of guide books.