These 16 Antique and Vintage Cards, Ranging in Theme from Sacred to Whimsical, Wish You and Yours a Happy Easter

Sarah Eva Howe Salyers of Carrollton, Kentucky, saved these cards in scrapbooks during the years her four children were growing up. Based on the occasional postmarked envelope and other items pasted on adjacent pages, I think the family received these cards between 1910 and 1930. Some appear to be designed earlier. The card illustrated with a little girl in a red dress is dated 1906. Another card apparently became a ticket to sit at "table 2" during an event.

 

 

The final card was from Sarah's mother and sister, Alice Ada Cost Howe (1859-1939) and Leonora Alice Howe Kipping (1896 - 1967). I extend the same wish to you as I prepare to take time off to enjoy being with friends and family.

Ceiliúradh! For the Howes of Carrollton, Kentucky, Celebrating St. Patrick's Day Meant Honoring Their Irish Ancestors

John Howe, the Immigrant, c1880

The scrapbooks of Sarah Eva Howe Salyers are full of reminders about her Irish heritage. Her grandparents John and Sarah Brown Howe were born in Ireland and, with their firstborn child, left there for America in 1847. A beautiful portrait of John has been handed down from one generation to the next. I know of no photograph of Sarah.

All things Irish were of interest to Sarah, and that interest remains alive and well in generations living today. Throughout Sarah's scrapbooks are bits and pieces of Ireland-themed items and St. Patrick's Day mementos. The greeting card below is one of my favorites. The term "mavourneen" comes from the Irish Gaelic expression meaning "my darling." On the card, someone has written "Shant." Sarah's children, famous in the family for the nicknames they gave each other, often called their mother "Shant." While they meant it as an endearment, it was in fact a reference to "shanty Irish," a relatively derisive term used to classify Irish people of lower economic and social classes. Continue reading to find out why Americans could have used this term to describe the pre-emigrant Howe clan. The term originated in this country and was not used in Ireland.

Also below are links to a diary kept by two of John's sons when they visited relatives in Ireland in 1876. Reading it is almost like being there.

Irish-themed greeting card, c1925

The next image poses a mystery. I can find no reference to the poem online, but I also cannot say that Sarah Eva Howe, who wrote many stories and verses, wrote it herself. Even though I have proven dates for births and deaths of Sarah's ancestors who lived in the 1800s, I see no ancestor who was born (or died, for that matter) in either 1826 or 1896. March 17, of course, is St. Patrick's day, but I don't know how that fact fits with the years or the poem. I welcome ideas about that.

Both Sarah and her daughter Mary Alice played bridge and Rook and saved many tally cards in the scrapbooks. These three from the late 1920s and early 1930s have distinctively Irish themes. The transcription under the first image takes a stab at reading Sarah's hard-to-decipher handwriting.

Transcription: "A tally at one of the Bridge Club parties (Banker Bob Feamster, Faye Mary Anderson, Harold Ashley, etc.)

This tally card, identified as "St. Patrick's Rook party at Virginia Bond's [19]27," is homemade.

This undated newspaper clipping, possibly from the University of Kentucky student newspaper or one of the Lexington newspapers of the 1930s, describes a bridge party hosted by Kappa Delta sorority. I can imagine Sarah's daughter Mary Alice, a UK student and member of Kappa Delta, arranging this party based on a St. Patrick's Day theme.

Some of John and Sarah Brown Howe's descendants traveled to Ireland to walk where their ancestors walked. Two of their sons, John Irvin Howe and his younger brother Robert James Howe (who would become Sarah's father), traveled from their home in Carrollton, Kentucky, to Ireland in 1876. The travelers  kept a detailed diary of days spent with their Irish grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Their diary entries paint word pictures that take us to Ireland to meet the Howe and Brown clans of that place and time. Had the same people been living a similar lifestyle in America, they would have been known as "shanty Irish," and that's how Sarah's children came up with her nickname "Shant." Of course, immigrant John Howe established himself in America as a successful tailor, woolen mill owner, and retailer, so he and his family would have left the ranks of the "shanty Irish" to become "lace curtain" Irish.

A transcription of the Howe brothers' travel diary is posted in three parts:

Part 1: Robert and John Howe Arrive in Ireland

Part 2: Roast Duck With All the Trimmings

Part 3: Robert and John Say Goodbye to the Howes, the Browns, and Ireland

In 2007, one of Sarah's grandsons, Al Hays, with his wife and their two sons, visited Ireland and the Howe ancestral places. One stop was St. John's Parish Church in Fivemiletown, County Tyrone. In this church Al's great-great grandfather was christened. Al's research indicates that the building today is the same building where the christening took place circa 1823, although he can't be sure.

Two of the immigrant John Howe's third great-grandsons, Mark Hays and Michael Hays, in front of St. John's Parish Church in Fivemiletown, County Tyrone, Ireland

Al wrote to me about St. John's and his Howe ancestors: "John Howe may not have actually been a member of that church, because Protestants were required to make births and marriages 'official' at the local Church of Ireland (England) even if they weren't members. This is one thing that our largely Presbyterian Scots/Irish ancestors resented and that acted as a stimulus to migration to America."

Another stop was Cavanaleck Presbyterian Church in Fivemiletown. On this site (but not in the same building) on June 2, 1845, Al's second great-grandparents John Howe and Sarah Brown were married. Read more about the Hays family's visit to Ireland in the post dated April 2, 2017.

Howe descendants Al Hays (right), Michael Hays (left), and Mark Hays (center) at the wedding site of their Irish ancestors John Howe and Sarah Brown

In the Howe family, sentiment remains strong for the Ireland homeland. My husband is the Howe descendant at our house, but I have my own Fitzsimmons and Arnold ancestors from the Emerald Isle. I share the sentiment for all things Irish, and so I bid you a Happy St. Patrick's Day.

Valentines from the 1930s – Including a 'Complaint' From a Man Who Resents Being Ogled by 'Gals'

Today comes another set of valentine greetings from the scrapbooks of Sarah Eva Howe Salyers. Most of these were designed for children; a few at the end were not. I hope you enjoy these paper glimpses into another era.

This card was popular for several years. I've found duplicates in several of the scrapbooks. The front of the card unfolds to create a 3-dimensional scene.

Popeye first appeared in comic strips in January 1929, then in short films in 1933 The next image shows the inside of this card. 

These two pieces are separate in the scrapbook, but they are based on the same theme. I tried to imagine how they could be two sides of the same card, but the shapes are so different, I doubt that was the case.

Remember Lawrence, Mary Alice's suitor introduced in the post of Jan. 21, 2018? He was a beekeeper, so I can't help but wonder if he sent this card and the next to her.

This card and the ones that follow have more grown-up themes. Note that the one signed by Lawrence uses the term "girl friend."

The inside of the "cantaloupe" card

I refuse to assign too much meaning to this "ice cube" card!

Last but not least, this role-reversal message. Oh, to know who sent it and who received it!

Please look at previous posts to see antique and vintage valentine cards preserved in the scrapbooks of Sarah Eva Howe Salyers.

Valentines from the 1910s to 1930s – Some Sweet, Some Cute, and Some That Would Be in Questionable Taste Today

 Sweet or sassy, floral or funny, there's a valentine for every person and purpose – even in the early 1900s. Here are a few valentines received in that time by Sarah Eva Howe Salyers and members of her family.

The first card, probably from the 1910s, would raise eyebrows today because of the "mooning" suggestion and the mildly racist slang attributed to the Native American population. Did you notice the swastika symbol in the top corners? I didn't until they were pointed out to me. I didn't know until I researched "swastika in America" that the symbol is one of the world's oldest cross emblems, formed with four "L's" standing for Luck, Light, Love, and Life. It was a good-luck sign for centuries, and Native Americans as well as other segments of the population used it in art, clothing, home decor, and architecture. The symbol was abandoned here when it became associated with the Hitler regime.

The next card, with its caricature of a boy in Chinese attire, could also be considered politically incorrect by today's standards.

The following cards, many of them addressed to Sarah's children, are from the first years of the 1900s through maybe the late 1920s. That's my best guess, as dates are not noted in Sarah's scrapbooks.

The handwriting "He stole all hearts" may have referred to Sarah's youngest child, David, who would have been younger than 5 years old when this card was sent.

Next time, we'll look at valentines that I think are from the 1930s. In the meantime, take a look at some lacy, romantic valentines dating from the late 1880s to 1920. You'll find them in the Happy Valentine's Day post dated February 12, 2017.