Postcards in the (home) archive 1965–1985

Printed on picture side: Duplicate postmark 

Printed on address side: POST CARD   The Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington   Administered by the Trustees of Amherst College Interior of the Theatre, view from the stage  Photograph by Horydczak THIS SIDE FOR CORRESPONDENCE THIS SIDE FOR ADDRESS 

Written message: Dear Miss Kruse, Remembering your lecture on this library I visited it & was very impressed. . . not so much by its grandeur as its simplicity. Gwen Koth 

Postage stamp: 5c dark blue gray George Washington, Scott #1213 Regular Issue 1962 

Postmark: WASHINGTON, D.C. 1B JUL 10 1965 

The whole postmark appears on the picture side on this postcard, too. I can’t explain it, but I note it. 

Cancellation on face 

Destination: Le Mars, Iowa 

Color type: B&W 

Dealer price: $2 

Dealer code: DHP 

Commentary: Miss Kruse–perhaps Gwen’s former English teacher–would swell with joy and pride receiving a postcard of the Folger from her former student. Folger principal architect Paul Cret and consulting architect Alexander Trowbridge, in turn, would beam reading Gwen’s description of the Folger as being impressive by its simplicity rather than its grandeur. 

Notably Gwen chose a Horydczak photo of the Folger theatre viewed from the stage, rather than an exterior view of the building. 

Did you notice that the postal clerk applied the postmark twice? Not on the address side. Once on the picture side; it’s referred to as “cancellation on face.” 

Printed on picture side: Nothing 

Printed on address side: POST CARD Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, Administered by the Trustees of Amherst College. The stage of the Shakespearian Theatre. Photograph by Horydczak. THIS SIDE FOR CORRESPONDENCE. Printed by the Meriden Gravure Company, Meriden, Conn. 

Written message: 27 Oct. ’65 Dear Mr. Morris – Warm greetings! What a perfect setting this would make for a “Morris Milestone.” Best wishes to your family. Always, Adam Lutynski 

Postage stamp: 5c dark blue gray George Washington, Scott #1213 Regular Issue 1962 

Postmark: WASHINGTON, D.C. OCT 27, 1965 

Destination: Chicago, Illinois 

Color type: B&W 

Commentary: Similar to the preceding Folger postcard mailed in 1965, this one to William Morris in Loyola University’s Department of Speech & Drama may also be a student-to-professor salvo made to delight the faculty member. How fitting that Adam was able to find the Horydczak photo of the Folger theatre stage rather than the much more common photo of the Folger library exterior from the northwest.  

In my collection, before this card in 1965 when was a postcard of the Folger theatre on a postally used card sent? In 1934. One cannot guess when a postcard was purchased, but if the Folger Gift Shop (was it there in 1965?) had one, it would be interesting to know of the Meriden Gravure Co. postcards for sale at the Folger in the 1930s were still for sale 30 years later. It looks plausible to me that they were. Somewhere in Folger accounting archives there should be records of which Folger postcards were ordered, and how many. 

Printed on picture side: Nothing 

Printed on address side: TAPESTRY, SWISS, 15th CENTURY Folger Shakespeare Library Washington, D.C. Color photo by Walter H. Miller Pub. By Walter H. Miller & Co., Inc., Williamsburg, Virginia 39868 POST CARD Address 

Written message: Hi–Hope you are comfortably settled in your new home. I am gradually using your kitchen supplies. Tried to call Isabel just now–She must still be gone. No communication from A.B. Just living for vacation Oct. 1. Love, E–

Postage stamp: 6c multicolored, Scott #1338 Flag & White House, 1968 

Postmark: No date indicated or in cancellation 

Destination: Charlottesville, Virginia 

Color type: Color 

Commentary: In addition to the faint writing make this message a challenge, look at the absolutely pathetic cancellation on the dark blue, red, and green stamp of the flag and White House! Most postcard senders do not bother to write the date on the card, as they might on a letter. We know that the stamp was first issued on Jan. 24, 1968. It could have been sent any time after that. The 6c flag stamp was issued in 1968, when sending a postcard in the U.S. required only a 4c stamp.  

These next two postcards are from a new series of Folger postcards produced by William H. Miller (1910–1999) of Williamsburg, Va. Miller opened a camera shop on the corner of Prince George St. and North Boundary that grew into a well-respected printing establishment. Miller cards were printed by Dexter Press. Miller wrote three books on photography.  

Note the serial numbers, 33290 and 39868. Oh, dear, they are not consecutive; the numbers are too far apart to be in the same series. You have a 15th century Swiss tapestry and a portrait by Isaac Oliver of Ben Jonson. A contemporary of William Shakespeare, Oliver was an English portrait miniature painter.

Printed on picture side: Nothing. 

Printed on address side: Detail from “Sixth Day of Creation,” From a pictorial commonplace book by Thomas Trevelyon, 1608. The Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, D.C. PUBLISHED BY KELLER COLOR, INC., CLIFTON, N. J. 07014 dp MADE BY DEXTER PRESS, WEST NYACK, NEW YORK. POST CARD 19501-D 

Written message: Everyone feels the push at the end of term, but some of us take it harder than others. I’m relaxing now at my favorite research rendezvous, the best academic club in N. America. The cherry trees are out in D.C. and property values are up all the way. Oh, & the gal in the illustration is not saying Men! Though it looks as though she is. Still, there’s always Shakespeare and the Folger celebrated his birthday in champagne. As the Washington Post put it, he would have been 415. Best, R. 

Postage stamp: 31c multicolored, Scott # AP63 Plane, Globes and Flags Scott 1976 

Postmark: WASHINGTON DC 200 24 APRIL 1979 

Slogan cancel: SPACE SHUTTLE BENEFITS EARTH 

Destination: Brighton, Blackheath, England 

Color type: Color 

Commentary: The image is a standard depiction of the creation of Eve from Adam’s rib (Genesis 2:21-25). You can also see the animals that were also created on the sixth day (Genesis 1:24-25), and the woman is reaching up for the Tetragrammaton. Genesis 2:21-22: “And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam and he slept; and he took one of his ribs and he closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.”  

Printed on picture side: Nothing 

Printed on address side: “Ben Jonson” by Issac Oliver. The Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, D.C. K Color Photo by Walter H. Miller Pub. By Walter H. Miller & Co., Inc., Williamsburg, Virginia 33290 POST CARD Address 

Written message: Good Grief what an astonishing memory you have–for SRO Dec 27, 1974! I’m pleased & honored to be remembered, but I just can’t do the data bank–too much committed already! Jeanne Roberts, American University 

Postage stamp: 20c multicolored, Scott #2104 Family Unity stick figures 1984 

Postmark: WASHINGTON, D.C. 200 JUN 17 1985  

Destination: Evanston, Illinois 

Color type: Color 

Commentary: Can’t you relate to the message: thanks for thinking of me, but I can’t add one more item to my workload? “Good Grief” is an expression denoting surprise, alarm, dismay, or some other, usually negative emotion. The stick figure stamp was designed by Molly LaRue. 

We will see more Walter H. Miller postcards of the Folger. Almost all of his cards in my collection were not sent through the mail. 

26 receiving states 1934–85
12 NY
7 OH
7 PA
7 VA
6 NJ
6 WV
5 IL
5 WI
4 CT
4 MA
4 MD
3 IN
3 ME
3 NH
2 TN
1 AZ
1 CA
1 DE
1 FL
1 GA
1 IA
1 KS
1 MI
1 MO
1 MN
1 NC
1 SC

Receiving country:
2 France
1 England

N = 93