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The Flatiron building was designed by Chicago architect Daniel Burnham and built in 1902. The name “Flatiron” derives from its resemblance to a cast-iron clothes iron.

The distinctive triangular shape of the Flatiron Building allowed it to fill the wedge-shaped property located at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Broadway. At 22 stories and 307 feet, the Flatiron was never the city’s tallest building, but is considered to be a groundbreaking skyscraper. Its popularity with photographers and artists has made it an enduring symbol of New York for more than a century. The Flatiron building was a popular image in the golden age of postcards.

Recently on a trip to New York I decided to take a photo of me in front of the Flatiron building holding a postcard of the classic building.

Standing in front of the Flatiron building.

Postcard in hand.

Postcard at the Flatiron building.

Flatiron Building - New York 1906

Looking up.

New York icon.

The distinctive triangular shape of the Flatiron Building allowed it to fill the wedge-shaped property.

Although several other German engineers were working on the problem at about the same time, Karl Benz generally is acknowledged as the inventor of the modern automobile.

A photograph of the original Benz Patent-Motorwagen, first built in 1885 and awarded the patent for the concept.

Here is a look at some automobiles through the years.

1905 Vauxhall

Franklin Sedan

1914 Winton Six

Buick Rumble Seat Coupe

1960 Ambassador super 4-Door Sedan

1968 Oldsmobile Delmont 88

1960s Karmann Ghia

1969 Dodge Charger

Open Arms receive you in Fergus Falls, Minnesota. 1917

Let’s get the facts out of the way first with a quick look at the two words in the title.

Minnesota: A state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state on May 11, 1858. Known as the “Land of 10,000 Lakes”, the state’s name comes from a Dakota word for “sky-tinted water”. The large majority of the residents are of Scandinavian or German descent.

Postcard or post card: A rectangular piece of thick paper or thin cardboard intended for writing and mailing without an envelope and at a lower rate than a letter.

Steamboat Landing and Union Station. St. Paul, Minnesota.1905

Postcards give you a window to the past…

Nicollet Avenue from Third Street. Minneapolis, Minnesota. 1908

and into the Minnesota way of life. Ya sure, you betcha!

Girls Wanted. Minneapolis, Minnesota. 1908

A land of sports enthusiasts…

St. Thomas College 1905 Football team.

and

Paynesville Minnesota Golfers 1918

culture.

Casey Jones WTCN TV Promo 1960s

There are lots of beautiful places and interesting sites throughout the state.

The animated Paul Bunyan. Brainard, Minnesota. 1950s

Not just a land of over 10,000 lakes but also of over 10,000 postcards…ahh… Minnesota.

Ya sure, dontcha know.

A conversation or contact via amateur radio is referred to as a QSO or a QSL. A “Q” code message can stand for a statement or a question. In this case, QSL means either “Do you confirm receipt of my transmission?” or “I confirm receipt of your transmission”. A QSL card is a written confirmation of that contact.

QSL card - Dayton, OH. to Ferguson, Mo. 1948.

QSL cards are a part of HAM radio tradition, sent to confirm radio contacts made around the world. In the early days of HAM radio after World War I, operators were required by the FCC to log all their contacts. The confirmation cards helped track radio activity when scientists were still learning about radio wave behavior.

QSL card - Ashland, Oregon. to Overland Park, Kansas. 1966.

QSL cards are collected by both radio amateurs and shortwave listeners as confirmation of having received the signal of a particular station. A typical QSL card is the same size and made from the same material as a typical postcard, and most are sent through the mail. The standardized card, with call sign, frequency, date, etc., may have been developed around 1919.

QSL card - Bison, Kansas to Ferguson, Mo. 1950.

A while back we acquired a ham operator’s whole collection of QSL cards. We put those items up for sale. We received a call from a gentleman who wanted to give us some background about the QSL card he just purchased from us. He was browsing through our cards when he made a discovery. One of the cards displayed his call sign! It was one that he had sent, when he was a young man, to that operator over 40 years ago! He was very happy to have a memento of his early days as a ham radio operator.

W4MTL Hapeville, Georgia. Fine vintage Ham Radio QSL postcard. Dated 1948.

QSL cards are a ham radio operator’s calling card and are frequently an expression of individual creativity. As a result, the collecting of QSL cards, especially interesting designs, has become an add-on hobby to the simple gathering of printed documentation of communications over the years.

Postcards became very popular as a result of the Columbian Exposition, held in Chicago in 1893, after postcards featuring buildings were distributed at the fair.

1893 Official Souvenir Postcard. World's Columbian Exposition. Produced by Charles Goldsmth. Undivided back. Unused condition.

1901 brought cards with the word “Post Card” printed on the reverse (the side without the picture). Written messages were still restricted to the front side, with the entire back dedicated to the address. This “undivided back” is what gives this postcard era its name.

The “divided back” card, with space for a message on the address side, came into use in the United States around 1906. The back is divided into two sections, the left section being used for the message and the right for the address. In 1908, more than 677 million postcards were mailed. So began the Golden Age of postcards, which lasted until about 1915, when World War I blocked the import of the top quality German-printed cards.

One of the hallmarks of the Golden Age of postcards was the Hold-to-Light postcard.

The term Hold-to-Light is sometimes designated with the initials ‘HTL’. The postcards image changes when held up to a bright light. This gave the viewer the illusion that the scene was being viewed at night with lights a blaze.

St. Margaret Catholic Church, Old Orchard Maine. Produced by Reichert Bros., Boston. Hold into the light and the windows appear to be lit.

There are two types of postcards that fall in this category. These two types are transparency and hold-to-light and there is a difference between the two. The hold-to-light postcards generally contained cut-outs on the top layer of the postcard revealing another colored layer underneath that would be illuminated under light. Cut-out postcards allow for very specific areas to be illuminated. The transparency postcards do not have cut-outs. They have a separate image or plain colored tissue between the front and back layers that illuminate under light.

Congressional Library . Postmarked 1908. Hold into the light and the windows appear lit. Fine undivided back.

Bern Switzerland. Bundespalast. Hold to light postcard. When held into the light the sepa tones change into a night scene. The lights of the building are lit, the moon appears as well as Swiss flags, all in color.