1911 Vintage Postcards from Utah, Boston, New York, and Iowa

 A couple years ago I started collecting vintage postcards.  I don't have a lot, but a few special ones that I've picked out while visiting antique stores.

While visiting Arroyo Grande CA last Autumn, I stepped into Something Different, where, hidden away, I found a box of postcards from 1911, a dollar each.  I would have bought so much more, but I paid with cash, and was determined to only spend what I brought with me.  A lot of the postcards were the correspondence between a George to a Miss Emma in New York, each postcard with a little message. 

 The Tabernacle in Salt Lake City.

Of course I bought all the Utah postcards.  I love seeing what Utah used to look like.

 Snow covered Wasatch Mountains; Park City is just over those peaks.

 Utah Hotel, Salt Lake City.

I believe my Grandparents stayed here back in the day.  Now it's the Joseph Smith building which holds a nice cafe, a couple nice restaurants, genealogy center, and the Legacy theater, which is now showing Meet the Mormons for free.

 I picked up some Boston postcards, because that's where my Grandpa R. grew up.  I've been meaning to show them to him and ask if any of these buildings were familiar, or if they triggered any memories.  I've sat down with him a couple times to record some stories, but haven't for awhile.  I should do that today.

Two postcards showing Franklin Park in Boston.

 Massachusetts General Hospital.

 Hotel Brunswick, Copley Square, Boston.

 Mechanics Building, Boston.

Even though my Grandpa wasn't alive in 1911, my great-grandma Agatha Mahoney was born in Boston, and I believe my great-great grandfather Joseph Mahoney was an Engineer of sorts--I need to get more information--so I wonder if members of my family went into this Mechanics building.

 Fanueil Hall, Boston.

 My only ties to New York state is from the 17 hundreds, but I couldn't resist this 1911 postcard from 5th Avenue.  Really neat.

My Grandma A was born in Iowa.  I have deep farming roots from that side of the family.  Men and women of high integrity.  I have a couple books printed in Des Moines from when my Granny married my Gramps, one in which is a cook book.  And when I was in Iowa last year going to the Worlds OotM comp., we drove by the Iowa State Capitol.  It's stunning.  I wish I could have visited.

I love these Snap Shots from the past.

Salt Lake Comic Con Day 3

 My last day at the Salt Lake Comic Con started off amazingly.

Video Games Live!

I've literally waited years to experience this concert, and the wait was well worth it.  This show was beyond everything I imagined, and being there live is beyond what I can explain.

Lights, video, interaction, etc.

Usually when you attend the Symphony there's decorum.  Rules.  Etiquette.  There are only certain places you're allowed to applaud, after all.  Don't be the weirdo who claps in the middle of a movement.

But with Video Games Live you're allowed to clap and cheer whenever you feel moved, and there was A LOT of clapping and cheering going on, especially during favorite games.

I cried through the whole of it!!  Especially during the Kingdom Hearts.

I started crying before the concert began.  (I'm not joking.  A couple tears went down my face.)

And the Skyrim segment was so well done.  I couldn't help but think of my Dad, who would have LOVED this concert!!!!!, but decided back in May not to get a ticket.  He was addicted to Skyrim for the LONGEST time.  The game that will not end . . . heh.  But seriously, I'm dragging my Dad to this concert next year.

The Snow College choir sang, and at first my family laughed (sorry, we did) when we heard that they were singing, but they were Incredible.  Awesome bass section.  In an area surrounded by so many Universities (U of U, BYU, UVU) within 40 mile, Snow College is a 2 year college in Ephraim Utah, out in the middle of no where, about 122 miles from SLC.

The choir was Phenomenal.

And the soloist was amazing, too.

Honestly, I wish more people were aware of how amazing Game Music is.

 At the Evermore section.  Heh, I look more happy then scared.

 Steven with Heather Theurer, the amazing Fantasy artist, who has also painted some amazing Disney portraits.  They're worth checking out on her site.  Apparently the Merida painting was amazing in person, unfortunately it was sold out before I had a chance to see it.  I would love to own the Lilo and Stitch painting.  So cute.

 Brandon Sanderson!

He's an Incredible Fantasy writer.

(I recommend Elantris and Warbreaker, though I hear Mistborn is amazing, I just haven't read it yet . . . ).  He's an expert at creating unique magic systems.

I first found out about Brandon before he was even published.  While working on his masters at BYU, he was rooming with a few guys a couple blocks from where I live.  He didn't attend the YSA (Young Single Adult) ward I was going to, but his roommates did, and when some of his friends in the ward found out how much I love fantasy, they told me about Brandon.  So when Elantris was published, I went to the BYU library and found out every copy of the book was checked out, except his master thesis copy of Elantris, so I checked that out.  Didn't get all the little pictures, but it was really interesting.

And FYI, when he talks about a local church group service auction, in which cans of food were used as auction payment, during the annotations of Warbreaker, I was there.  (It was super surreal reading an event in a book I was actually present for.  Brandon put up as auction the opportunity to have a character in one of his books named after you.  That would have been fun :0)

 Disney Cosplayers right outside the Disney Store.  They totally went inside after this picture was taken.

A video to remind you what 2015 is supposed to look like, in case you forgot.

 The Batmobile!

 Kids shooting at Storm Troopers :0)

It's a great way to pass the afternoon.

 I geeked out over this recreation of Bilbo's Contract from the Hobbit.

 Beware the Orcs.

 More LEGO's, just for fun.

Comic Con was fun.  I wish I made it to more panels.  And I hope the Con works on it's efficiency next year when it comes to managing all the people and the registration line.  Far from perfect, but a good time.

SaltCity Steamfest 2012

"You see, Steampunk, to us, is something more.  It is the imagination . . . 

See, it is the rumination on 'What if.'  

What if Da Vinci's flying machine had worked?

What if Tesla had a better publicist?"

(Spoken by the host of the Salt*City opening ceremonies.  

If you don't know who Tesla is . . . 

and you know who Edison is . . . 

then that's tragic.  

Telsa is linked so you can discover his awesomeness.)

 (My Sister-in-law Krista, who found out about Steamfest and made

 it possible for my brother Steven and I to attend.)

Salt City Steamfest, in Salt Lake City Utah, was the first ever Steampunk convention in Utah, and it turned out to be a huge success.  I'll admit, I've poked my nose into Steampunk here and there, trying to understand it, and what makes up this genre, but never getting a full grasp.  I knew the Victorian era was important and that there was a lot of goggles and clocks involved.  HG Wells and Jules Verne are the original fathers of steampunk: Victorian sci-fi.  There's so much more then that.

My brother Robbie, the one on his mission, was crazy about Steampunk before he left, and he declared it would become the next big thing.  Sure enough, Steampunk has been showing itself in media and products.  Last fall I bought the most amazing Victorian military coat and buckled boots were all the rage.  At the scrapbook store it was easy to find paper and materials with a clocks-and-cogs, Victorian theme.  

    (Michael preparing for battle!)

There were so many interesting classes.  The first class I attended was all about weapons during the Victorian era, and it was fascinating. They were inventive, to say the least, with most of their weapons not doing well.  A harmonica on a gun to hold extra ammo. A gun connected to a brass knuckle and a knife.  A gun and an axe, in one.  Etc.   

A goggle making class was offered (because goggles are an important steampunk accessory).  There was a pattern making class, building and fitting a corset (that class had some fantastic tips), 19th century fashion, and steampunk in novels were just a few of the classes offered.  

 

LA Living Adventures, a company that specializes in larping, hosted a Nerf battle with steampunk looking weapons.  I didn't participate, but it was a lot of fun watching, and my brothers had a lot of fun fighting.

I had a fantastic time at the SaltCity Steamfest.  The character creation 101 class was really fun.  Its not about creating a RPG style character, but the character you create for yourself.  Really, the class was a love of history, of the years 1837 through 1901 and all the possibilities of "What if's" you can playwith.  There were so many interesting things happening historically all over the world. 

   

The Convention finished with "An Evening of Elegance."  A Steampunk Victorian ball hosted by Old Glory Vintage Dancers, a group who specializes, teaches, and holds authentic, old fashioned dances.  The class they had was fun, and now I want to get a fan and memorize all the ways someone can communicate with one.   

 The Language of the Fan

The fan placed near the heart: "You have won my love"

Closed fan touching the right eye: "When may I see you?"

The number of sticks shown answered: "At what hour?"

Half-opened fan pressed to the lips: "You may kiss me."

Drawing the fan across the eyes: "I am sorry."

Touching fingers to the tip of fan: "I with to speak with you."

Letting the fan rest on the right cheek: "Yes."

Letting the fan rest on the left cheek: "No"

Opening and closing the fan several times: "You are cruel."

Dropping the fan: "We will be friends."

Fanning slowly: "I am married."

Fanning quickly: "I am engaged."

Fan in right hand in front of face: "Follow me."

Twirling the fan in the left hand: "We are being watched"

Drawing the fan through the hand: "I hate you!"

Drawing the fan across the cheek: "I love you!"

I first learned about the language of the fan in my BYU Theater of Civilization class and found it very interesting.  Actually, it was a class highlight, next to the 5 minute complete Hamlet improv the theater students spontaneously performed.  

Here is a video of the Old Glory Vintage Dancers dancing with the TLC Trio, good ol' steampunk style, to Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance."  This really gives you a feel of what Steampunk is if you've never seen it.  The instruments are awesome!!  The amazing TLC Trio was there to perform during the ball.

Awesome weekend!  I hope they did well enough so that they can hold a convention again next year; I have the feeling they did.  I will attend, this time in costume.

Have a great week!

Sarah