Vintage Valentine Lollipop Cards

I love, love, love these vintage Valentine lollipop cards.  The earliest ones I have are from the 1940's to 1950's, and the others are 1960's vintage.  They are all printed by Rosen and they have little slots for a child to tuck a lollipop into the card.  So cute!   This 1940's vintage pirate card is especially nice.  Vintage Lollipop Cards at Birdhouse Books.

Vintage Hotels 1900's - 1960's -- Postcards and Travel Brochures

Hi all!

I've been having so much fun scanning, researching, and listing vintage hotel postcards.  The earliest date back to the very early 1900's, and the "newest" are from the 1960's.  In my store, Birdhouse Books, I have vintage items from:

• Fort Sumter Hotel, Charleston, South Carolina
• Gideon Putnam Hotel, Saratoga Springs, New York
• Belmont Hotel, New York City
• Broadmoor Hotel, Pikes Peak, Colorado
• Ambassador Hotel, Los Angeles, California
• Chalfonte Hotel, Cape May, New Jersey
• Chittendon Hotel, Columbus, Ohio
• Everett House, New York City (hotel demolished in 1908)
• Villa Roma Hotel, San Francisco, California
• Hotel Hayne, Walterboro, South Carolina
• Gibson Hotel, Miami, Florida - Art Deco
• Hotel Annapolis, Washington, D.C.
• Hotel Ben McGehee, Little Rock, Arkansas
• Pick Congress Hotel, Chicago, Illinois
• Hotel Cleveland and Terminal Tower, Ohio
• Hotel Deermont, St. Petersburg, Florida
• Hotel Del Monte, California
• Hotel Flanders, Ocean City, New Jersey
• Hotel New Yorker, Manhattan
• The Charleston Hotel, South Carolina
• Hotel Governor Clinton, New York
• Hotel Green, Pasadena, California
• Hotel Henry, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• Hotel Virginia, Stafford, Virginia
• Hotel Washington, D.C.
• The Sherman Hotel, Chicago, Illinois
• Hotel Westlake and Rocky River Bridge, Rocky River, Ohio
• Plaza Hotel, Corpus Christi, Texas
• Cloister Hotel, Sea Island, Georgia
• Richford Hotel, Erie, Pennsylvania
• Surf Hotel, Miami, Florida -- Art Deco
• The Pantiland Hotel, Grand Rapids, Michigan
• The Sheraton Cadillac Hotel, Detroit, Michigan

All these hotel cards and brochures are in my store:  Vintage Hotel Ephemera at Birdhouse Books - click here

Betsy, Tacy, and Tib

My all-time favorite book?   I can't name just one, but instead offer a series of books -- Betsy-Tacy by Maud Hart Lovelace.  This charming series of books spans time from 1897 - 1917, and tells the story of the friendship of three girls in Mankato, Minnesota.  When we first meet Betsy and Tacy, they are five years old.  Betsy is extroverted and wants to be a writer.  Tacy is shy and sweet-natured.  They are soon joined on their childhood adventures by Tib, who is pragmatic and bright.  Over the series of books (series order here), the girls go to high school, graduate, travel, find romance and marriage ... and generally enchant readers as they have since the books were first published in the 1940's and 1950's.

As a lifelong Maud Hart Lovelace fan, I believe that Betsy-Tacy fans are a different sort of reader.   We are reminded of the books in many places.  I have several items in my store that remind me of Betsy-Tacy.

This card has always reminded me of Carney's House Party:

The little girl in this postcard reminds me of Tib!

I have a copy of This Fabulous Century 1900 - 1910, and it is a wonderful reference about life in America during the years of my favorite books.

And of course there are the books themselves!   Betsy and Tacy Go Downtown is perhaps my favorite book in the series, about the adventures the girls have as they go downtown together.  I love the Lois Lenski illustration on this cover!

If you love vintage children's books, or if you know a young reader who would enjoy this series, I cannot recommend it highly enough.  The books build over time, and it is important to read them chronologically.  Betsy Tacy is the first book in the series.  Here's a link to the first book, and you'll find more titles on the right side of this web page.

Children's Fairyland - Vintage Story Book Land in Oakland, California

Children's Fairyland in Oakland, California was a Story Book Land amusement park that opened in 1950. It was designed by architect William Russell Everitt, and inspired Storybook lands across the country.  Although I never visited Children's Fairyland, I loved Story Book Lands as a child, and visited several of them on family vacations.  They had tableaus and old fashioned rides inspired by Mother Goose nursery rhymes and fairy tales.  I am delighted to offer several vintage postcards from this amusement park, with great Baby Boomer vintage scenes of the fun that was found there!  At Birdhouse Books - Vintage Postcards from Children's Fairyland

Deer Park Petting Zoo - 1950's to 1960's Michigan

Deer Park Story Book Lane in Michigan - between Muskegon and Whitehall - was an old fashioned petting zoo and small amusement park with a Story Book Lane for children. Story Book Lane had Mother Goose themed tableaus for children to explore.  This Story Book Lane and petting zoo was open 1956 - 1968.   The park then changed over to Michigan's Adventure.   I have some truly fabulous vintage postcards from this long-ago amusement park on eBay.  I love vintage Roadside Americana, and I'm excited about these!   Deer Park postcards at Birdhouse Books