Nelson Doubleday Personal Success Program (1958)

Nelson Doubleday was the king of this type of illustrated booklet with inserts, as we've seen with the incredible Around the World Program for the American Geographical Society. We've got two more sets of these booklets to bring you, and we're starting with the Nelson Doubleday Personal Success Program. This first set is the covers -- check out the groovy backgrounds. This will be a fun series, as I'm also going to include the inserted practice materials. Enjoy the covers of the Nelson Doubleday Personal Success Program from 1958 below, or click through for the Flickr set.

Vintage Spanish Flash Cards (1959)

To break the stream of Christmas posts, here's a set of Spanish language flash cards from 1959. They probably belonged to my uncle or my father, but what I was so taken with were the simple, classic illustrations on each card. One side of each card has just the illustration, the other side the illustration with the Spanish term. Marjorie Lowry Pei served as the foreign language consultant for a former division of McGraw-Hill dubbed Gelles-Widmer, the company that produced these foreign language cards and a variety of other flash cards, including sets for arithmetic and the Presidents. Enjoy the slide show below of the 50+ flashcards, or click through for the Flickr set.

Indian Prayer from St. Francis Indian Mission, South Dakota (1950s)

Presented here is a beautiful prayer card from the St. Francis Indian Mission in St. Francis, South Dakota. I am not sure of the date of this item, but my guess would be 1950's, as this would have been when by grandparents were travelling in this area. This is a common prayer, quoted quite regularly across the internet. The simple design and colors are quite charming -- I would love to reproduce this somehow. Enjoy the images below, or click through for the Flickr set.

Hopalong Cassidy Children's Stationary (1950s)

Here's a wonderful, unused page of children's stationary from the 1950's, scanned in high quality for your pleasure. Referencing the fictitious Bar-20 Ranch from the world of Hopalong Cassidy, it has some illustrations around the edge of cowboys, cowgirls, horses and guns -- perfect for a young girl or boy in the 1950's. Click through for the full-sized image!

Recipe Sheets from Mary Cullen's Cottage (1950s)

I've come across stacks of these recipes sheets from "Mary Cullen's Cottage" over the past few weeks, sometimes four or five copies of each one. According to my research, there was no actual "Mary Cullen" -- the real author was International Newsmedia Marketing Association member Mary Elizabath Tobin:

Another early member was Mary Elizabeth Tobin of the Portland (Oregon) Journal, whose Mary Cullen's Cottage was one of the United States' outstanding newspaper promotions -- a complete little cottage household that served as an all-embracing homemaking guide for busy homemakers.

This wonderful batch of recipes must have been required reading for whoever owned these -- oh yeah, my grandmother! I'm sure she passed these around to friends at some point in time during the 1950's. Here they are in their usual slideshow, but we've also added them as a download in PDF format -- something new! As always, subscribe to the feed and click through for the Flickr set!

Program from "Guys and Dolls" Starring Pamela Britton (1950s)

I loved the film version of Guys and Dolls as a kid -- "I got the horse right here, his name is Paul Revere..."-- but I never have seen it on the stage. Apparently my grandparents did, because they came over from Port Townsend to see a production of it at the Greenlake Aqua Theatre, a magnificent outdoor stage at Seattle's Greenlake and saved this classic blue program. The production featured Pamela Britton as Ms. Adelaide, whose big claim to fame would come in the 1960's with My Favorite Martian. From the little bit of information I can gather, she worked in mainly West Coast theater circles throughout the 1950s while she raised her daugher, so that is as close as I can get to dating this program. Enjoy the slide show below, click through for full-sized images, and be sure to subscribe!

Billy Graham Crusade in Portland (1950)

My grandmother was a big fan of Billy Graham and his ministries, and during his 1950 Crusade in Portland she went to check him out in person. For one reason or another, this small piece of ephemera was saved, and brought back from the depths of history for you and presented here! As it's only three images, I'll do without the slide show, but as always, feel free to click through for the Flickr set.

Peter Pan Records -- Illustrated Record Sleeves (1950s)

Peter Pan Records was one of the biggest makers of children's records in 1950s, and as it turns out, we've got a bunch of 'em! I've got a couple of posts worth of images related to children's records, so stay tuned for more. These records all belong to my uncle, who loaned them to me for archiving purposes. Our first set includes all the record sleeves still in good condition, with both sides scanned for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy the slideshow below, or click through for full-sized images.

Variety of Non-Postage Stamps (1950s)

I picked these up recently at my favorite antique shop in Port Orchard, Washington -- Olde Central Antique Mall -- for a couple of bucks. They were just too fun to pass up. I particularly liked the Alcoa food labels, but the 1958 Publishers Clearing House stamps are pretty nice, too. Enjoy -- or click through for full-sized scans.

Hotel Greeters Guide and Denver Daily Doings (1958)

On a recent trip to the Kitsap Peninsula, I picked up this little pamphlet from the late 1950s. The Hotel Greeters Guide and Denver Daily Doings is basically a tourist guide to Colorado with a specific focus on Denver -- everything from sights and amusements to transportation. My favorite images, however, are the wonderful advertisements scattered throughout -- watch for the vintage Coors Beer image towards the end. Watch the slideshow below (and be sure to use the full-screen option in the lower-right corner) or click through for full-sized images.

Washington State Tourism Brochures (1950s)

Here's something a little different -- a batch of old tourism brochures from a school project my mother did in high school. We found them in an old scrapbook that she had done the project in, and my grandmother had saved it for posterity, and now we can bring them to you! Enjoy the slideshow below, or click through for full sized images.

Vintage Menus: Part II (1955)

It's time for more menus from restaurants of 1955! If you missed our first post, you can check it out here. In our second of three installments, we'll be featuring six fine dining establishments from across the country.

Hund's was located on the corner of Grand River and Bagley in Detroit, Michigan. The New York Restaurant was located, oddly enough, in Catskill, New York. The Down Under Cafe and Restaurant was located in the RCA Building at Rockefeller Center in New York City, though I can find little mention of it anywhere online. Kewpee's Colonial Drive-In was located at 802 Villa Street in Elgin, Illinois. This seems to be part of the famous Kewpee Hamburger chain, but I'm not sure after looking at the Wikipedia entry. Mayflower Coffee Shops were a nation-wide chain. I have no information regarding where this was collected, but I should be getting more information from my family about this. Hot Shoppe Restaurants was a chain located mainly in Washington, D.C., but also in Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and strangely, Salt Lake City, Utah. This was collected from one of the locations in Washington, D.C.

Enjoy the slideshow of the images, or click through for full-sized images.

Vintage Menus: Part I (1955)

My mother and her family took a family trip during the summer of 1950, and at some point along the line, it was decided to save the menus from this trip. Rescued from a haul to the dump, these wonderful menus from restaurants and other eating establishments across the country are a unique view into the style and design of the 1950s. In our first segment, we will feature The 4-B's Cafe, The Domeliner of Portland, Carder's, Childs, and the Sheraton Cafe Cadillac.

The 4-B's Cafe, "Original Home of the Guaranteed Steak," was a staple of downtown Helena, Montana for over 30 years. Helena as She Was has a wonderful set of photos on their site.

The Domeliner of Portland was the name of the Union Pacific Railroad train that went from Seattle, Washington to Chicago, Illinois. Here we have the dining menu and the beverage service menu.

Carder's appears to have been a restaurant in Chicago, Illinois, though I can find no information about it. The menu is dated "Thursday, June 16, 1955".

Childs appears to have been a steak house in Boston, Massachusetts, though I can also find no information about it. I especially love the cover with the filet mignon -- looks better than Denny's, that's for sure!

The Sheraton Cafe Cadillac was located in the Book-Cadillac Hotel in Detroit, Michigan. This was undoubtedly acquired on the family trip to pick up their new Cadillac car.

I hope you enjoy these! Stay tuned for more! As always, click through for full-sized versions.

AGS Around the World Program: Series Overview (1950s)

Welcome to the series overview for the American Geographical Society's Around the World Program, a wonderful set of books published in the 1950s discussing various countries across the globe. How I acquired this set is discussed in my first post, but as I've now added all ten volumes in my possesion, it's now time to give all these posts a hub for the many links associated with these illustrations. From now on, this will be the starting point for the Around the World Program books, and should I acquire more, I'll add them here as well.

Summary: Book Covers
Summary: Title Pages

Illustrations: Belgian Congo (1958)
Illustrations: Burma (1959)
Illustrations: France (1956)
Illustrations: Iran (1958)
Illustrations: Malaya (1958)
Illustrations: Pakistan (1958)
Illustrations: Russia (1958)
Illustrations: Scandinavian Countries (1958)
Illustrations: Surinam (1958)
Illustrations: Virgin Islands (1958)

AGS Around the World Program: Book Covers (1950s)

Here's a round-up post of all the covers from the American Geographical Society Around the World Program books. Clearly done by the same illustrator, these covers unfortunately have no credit as to who did these magnificent maps. Feel free to read my first post on the AGS Around the World Program if you'd like more information about these books and where they came from. Enjoy these wonderful illustrations and click through for full-sized images.

 

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

AGS Around the World Program: Title Pages (1950s)

Here's a round-up post of all the title pages from the American Geographical Society Around the World Program books. Of the ten volumes that I own, only one doesn't have an illustration on the cover pages, the volume on Scandinavian Countries. Feel free to read my first post on the AGS Around the World Program if you'd like more information about these books and where they came from. Enjoy these wonderful illustrations and click through for full-sized images.