Here's the back of the card. it looks like the sender was preparing to post it off to someone at the U.S. School of Music in New York.
If you want to get an idea of how the town looked, here are some old Ballston photos from the Ben Maxwell Collection at the Salem Public Library.
Businesses in Ballston in Polk County, Oregon, 1959
Oldest surviving school building in Polk County, Oregon, 1964
Old vacant store in Ballston in Polk County, Oregon, 1964
The former railroad station at Ballston in Polk County, Oregon
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An interesting post card.
ReplyDeleteIt is an interesting sight to see a guy being hoisted to the brink. I am sure it must have been a joke but I can't see any of those guys in the school of music.
ReplyDeletei've never seen a postcard like this! it's very unique to me!! were there a lot like these at one time? were they mostly made in certain parts of the country..or was this "style" widely used? Do you know? Your blog has really turned me into a "gotta know all i can about it" postcard lover!
ReplyDeleteWow this is a very cool postcard, they don't make them like this anymore! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteAnn,
ReplyDeleteThese are what's known as real-photo postcards. In 1903, Kodak introduced a camera that took postcard size photos, so people could have their own photos developed as postcards. They were very popular and also unique. Depending on the subject matter, they can be some of the most expensive postcards. Not this one though.
Thanks for the links to Polk County, especially the old railway station. You could lose a herd of cattle in the grass.
ReplyDeleteHow interesting! I can only imagine the before and after! ;)
ReplyDeleteVery funny - poor chap being launched! Those real-photo postcards often turn up in my family pictures; I’m not sure they were ever sent as PCs though. Most have nothing on the back apart from a name and year.
ReplyDeleteThose Ballston thugs were the worst in all of Polk County!
ReplyDeleteSure would have been nice to have scored that 7UP sign off of the old store.
Thanks for adding the Ballston picture links - otherwise I'd have to drive over just to see the old school building. Your postcard is perfect for the space launch theme!
ReplyDeleteA great card - and what a ingenious link to the theme.
ReplyDeleteBit of a last ditch stand for the one in the middle...
ReplyDeleteWas machen die Jungs denn da???
ReplyDeleteSieht aus als wollten die beiden Großen, den kleinen in der Mitte auf die Gleise legen.
Na ja wahrscheinlich hättren sie dann keine Postkarte davon gemacht.
Ich wünsch dir was
Janine
Has the look of an old silent movie. I'm waiting for the Keystone Cops to appear running down the track.
ReplyDeleteIt looks suspiciously as though the population was about to become 103.
ReplyDeleteGreat postcard! I wonder if it's a candid shot or if they posed like that for the photographer.
ReplyDeleteBeing the youngest can really be the pits sometimes :) Thanks for the links to the old photos. Interestingly (enough for me, that is) I spent a good portion of Thursday looking at old (1860s to 1940s) one room school houses in my county, with their steps and covered porches.
ReplyDeleteInteresting photo. It took me a while to figure out there was a boy in the center. The boy on the left seems to be missing a leg, so I thought one of the center legs belonged to him.
ReplyDeleteThe postcard is a great gag, but the addressee puzzled me as I had never heard of that school. I looked "U.S. School of Music" on Wikipedia and discovered it was a music correspondence school that dates from 1898 and had an extensive training program to learn music on all kinds of instruments from piano to harp to Hawaiian steel guitar. They lasted until 1980.
ReplyDeleteNow the mystery is why is that particular address on the card? A joke for a distant music teacher?
i think i ran into some descendants of those ruffians when i was a kid...
ReplyDelete:/~
fun post nonetheless!!
:)~
HUGZ
Space launch!!! I love it!
ReplyDeleteBarbara
I'm guessing this one was posed, but there were no doubt some real launches... Like Ticklebear, I can relate to the local toughs making life difficult- this pic reminded me of the time I was crossing a stream on log and one of them rolled the log... I hung on upside down for a bit, but fell in eventually- fortunately it wasn't too high above the water!
ReplyDeleteYou're so funny! :D :D
ReplyDeletewow what a design
ReplyDelete