MORE LAKE CHAMPLAIN POSTCARDS

I just can't get enough of these vintage postcards. The graphics...the history. So good. Here are some more I got today:

 
Scene In Battery Park, Burlington VT. Postmarked 1907. Liza Cowan Ephemera Collections

 Built as a military camp during the War Of 1812, Battery Park history may be martial, but contemporary use is recreational.  In the summer there are concerts, there's a playground that my kids used to love. And the view, like so many views of Lake Champlain, is breath taking.

 
Scene In Battery Park, Postcard detail.

 
Vermont, Lake Champlain and Adirondacks from Burlington. Postmark 1906. Liza Cowan Ephemera Collections

 
Rock Point, Burlington VT, no postmark. Liza Cowan Ephemera Collections.

Rock Point is to the North of the city. Much celebrated in postcards, this thrust fault rock formation is geologically interesting:

One of the geologically most famous localities in Vermont (along with the world’s oldest reef in the Champlain Islands) is the Champlain Thrust, visible along the shoreline of Lake Champlain at Lone Rock Point, in Burlington, Vermont. In order to understand its significance we need to first understand what a “thrust” is. A “thrust” (geological shorthand for a “thrust fault,”) is a type of fault. A fault is a fracture in rocks where there has been movement. There are several types of faults and a “reverse fault” is one where older rocks have been pushed up over younger rocks. Geologists call a reverse fault where the fault is at a low angle to the Earth’s surface, a “thrust fault”." source

 

Rock Point, Burlington VT, postmark 1908. Liza Cowan Ephemera Collections.

 
 Sunset Rock, Rock Point, Burlington VT Penny Postcard, no postmark. Liza Cowan Ephemera Collections.

 
Sunset Rock, Rock Point, Burlington VT Detail. I love the guy at the railing.

In the South End of the city is Red Rocks, which I've shown before, but here are a few images I got recently:

 
Rock Road Summer House, Red Rocks Burlington VT. on Lake Champlain postmark 1927. Liza Cowan Ephemera Collections

 
Rock Road Summer House, Red Rocks, Burlington. Detail

That's it for today's tour. More to come for sure.

BURLINGTON VT, ON THE WATERFRONT

I've been rawther busy lately, plus my printers and scanner were on the fritz. But I've been busy gathering images, and here are a few of my recent treasures.

 
Dock Scene, Burlington VT  Liza Cowan ephemera collections

The postmark on this card is 1968, but the image and probably the printing are earlier. You never see wooden boats any more in the harbor, which I think is a shame.

  
Burlington VT postcard, Harbor, early 20th Century. Liza Cowan ephemera collections

This one is not postmarked, although it is addressed an written on. It calls for one penny postage. Most of those industrial buildings are gone, and in their place is a lively mixed use waterfront, bikepath, restaurants, businesses.

 
Burlington Harbor in a more recent view.

At the turn of the last century Burlington's Waterfont was home to many businesses. Not the  tourist, tech and green economy businesses we are famous for now, but real manufacturing. Lumber was big.

Dock frontage of 4,000 feet, Shepard & Morse Lumber, Burlington. Burlington Board Of Trade 1889

But with all the beautiful water and scenery, pleasure boating is always popular.

Lake Champlain Yacht Club Building, Burlington Board of Trade 1889

A bit farther south from the Waterfront you will find Red Rocks, a particularly scenic park. I've shown you other vintage images of Red Rocks from my collections, and now here's a recent acquisition.

 
Lake Champlain from "Red Rocks", Burlington, Vt. Postmarked November 10, 1908. Liza Cowan ephemera collections.

And check out how the gal on the left is snapping a photograph.

 
Burlington Red Rocks Park, gals snapping a photograph, 1908. Liza Cowan ephemera Collections.

 

 
They could have been using this Brownie Camera from Eastman Kodak.

SEED BOMBS AT PSAW

Spring is here and it's time to practice random acts of gardening.

Pine Street Art Works is now carrying Seed Bombs made by VisuaLingual, a small design and print shop in Over-The-Rhine, Cincinatti. Seed bombs have an honorable history as part of the guerrilla gardening movement, and are now coming into vogue as a part of the Green retail movement.

It's a great idea, gorgeous packaging, economical, and hey--what fun to use! Throw some in a vacant lot, a barren patch on the roadside, or your own yard and make a neighborhood more beautiful. That's an idea I can get behind.

 
Seed Bombs by VisuaLingual.

 In addition to making Seed Bombs, VisuaLingual makes wonderful screen prints and has a great blog.

The bird-, bee- and butterfly-friendly wildflower mixture includes Baby Blue Eyes, Baby’s Breath, Black Eye Susan, Blue Flax, California Poppy, Cornflower, Dame’s Rocket, Gloriosa Daisy, Lance-Leaf Coreopsis, Mexican Hat, None-so Pretty, Ox-Eye Daisy, Perennial Gaillardia, Perennial Lupine, Plains Coreopsis, Purple Coneflower, Red Poppy, Rose Mallow, Scarlet Flax, Shasta Daisy, Siberian Wallflower, Sulphur Cosmos, Sweet William, Wild Annual Sunflower, Wild Cosmos, and Wild Larkspur. These wildflowers were chosen because they're native to the East Coast, but many are actually native to much of North America.

The muslin bags were made in the USA and screenprinted by hand by VisualLingual with the East Coast Seed Bombs design. 

Inside each pouch is the full list of the seeds included. When you've used up the seed bombs, reuse the pouch or frame it!

 
Seed Bombs in production. From VisuaLingual blog. Click image to go to story.

Think about Seed Bombs for Mother's day, graduation, teacher gifts, birthdays, and random acts of kindness. Make your neighborhood a more beautiful place.