September 8, 2011
by Becca Milfeld
It’s the end of summer, so we thought we’d post a message to take readers back to the very beginning of the warmer months (and of course, back in time!) This postcard, which features a view of the Potomac River from the Mount Vernon Piazza, was postmarked April 18, 1910. Text reads:
We are having a
grand time -
Everything is lovely
and Mt. Vernon is the
grandest place I ever
saw. The view is wonderful.
MV Mailbox Series: The postcards featured in the MV Mailbox series and nearly 950 others are part of the Barbara L. Anderson Postcard Collection that was donated to the Mount Vernon library in 2010. The postcards range vastly in age and subject matter, but have one underlying commonality: George Washington’s estate.
Category: MV Mailbox
July 18, 2011
by Becca Milfeld
The front of these two postcards might look like different rooms but they’re in fact the same chamber — George Washington’s bedroom — only in different decades.
An elaborate and extensive series of postcards were made of various Mount Vernon rooms over the years, creating a tourism-kitsch-turned-historical-record of the many iterations in which visitors might have seen the General’s living quarters.
The blue-walled room version, which was first printed in September 1914, portrays the room’s south wall with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking a balcony. Both the large windows and balcony were post-Washington additions, the balcony having been added by the General’s nephew Bushrod Washington, who inherited the Mansion.
By 1941, when the second post card was printed, the balcony had been removed and windows restored to their historical form. It wasn’t uncommon for printers to take artistic license with the pictures, which were based on lithographs. Although all the furniture was present in the room, printers sometimes got creative and made things different colors.
The room’s one constant seems to be the Washingtons’ bedstead, which George and Martha Washington are thought to have purchased in 1797 and in which George Washington would eventually die. It can still be seen today in the Washington bedchamber.
Background: These postcards and nearly 950 others are part of the Barbara L. Anderson Postcard Collection that was donated to the Mount Vernon library in 2010.
Category: MV Mailbox
June 29, 2011
by Becca Milfeld
Some postcards are a little cryptic, and this one’s no exception. Sent from Washington, D.C., on May 16, 1909, it has a few indiscernible words and ambiguous punctuation, but one thing is clear: The individual who sat down to pen this letter had a pretty good time exploring the Mansion and Martha Washington’s bedroom while he or she was here.
We’ve made our best guess as to the text and put any illegible portion in brackets. Feel free to chime in below in our comments section with your thoughts on the postcard’s wording. We think it reads as follows:
[May 16th]
Dear Lizzie,
[We were] in this room having the time of our life
Love to all
[illegible] & Mr T
Background Info: The postcard was published by B.S. Reynolds, a company that was based in Washington, D.C., and that made nearly 100 views of Mount Vernon between 1908 and 1955, plus postcards of other Washington-area buildings. The postcard pictured here has a one cent stamp. This note and nearly 950 others are part of the Barbara L. Anderson Postcard Collection that was donated to the Mount Vernon library in 2010.
Category: MV Mailbox
June 8, 2011
by Becca Milfeld
In light of the summer holidays Mount Vernon is taking a look at its vast collection of estate postcards from the 20th century. This one, sent from Mount Vernon on October 12, 1907 and received in Sandy Creek in Oswego County, N.Y. two days later, reads as follows:
Friday Oct 11
Dear Mother,
Am here today having a most delightful time. Will tell you all when I get time.
Love,
Anna
The postcard that Anna sent her mother, which has a 1 cent stamp, was part of a set of 12 cards produced by Leet Brothers in late 1907. The Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association began working with publishers to produce postcard souvenirs at the beginning of the 20th century. Approximately 18,000 copies of this Leet Brother’s image were produced for Mount Vernon between 1907 and 1908 and 29 different color scenes of the estate were developed between 1908 and 1913.
This note and nearly 950 others are part of the Barbara L. Anderson Postcard Collection that was gifted to the Mount Vernon library in 2010.
Category: MV Mailbox
