G.A. Heyne, Druggist - Syracuse, New York

Here's a trade card, probably from the 1880s, from Syracuse, New York. Why the druggist would use a chef with a lobster on his card is a mystery to me, but it's a captivating picture.

In 1894 the State Department of Health of New York issued a report on the quality of diluted sulfuric acid from various druggists. G.A. Heyne received a rating of fair.

Uppity Women

Here's a great old German postcard characterizing the women's movement. It shows all the male-dominated venues that women could potentially infiltrate, and what might happen to men as a result. They could end up wearing aprons and feeding babies like the guy shown above. The caption under him says "The Man of the Future."

Women, in the meantime, would be taking over the male habitat and drinking beer in the morning,  going to smoking clubs, and paying for kisses from the kissing booth. Worst of all, these women would refuse to bear children and would instead pick them up from Stork & Co. And notice that almost all of these women appear to be wearing trousers. What a hilarious concept!

This card was sent to Leonard Beeler in Schwyz, Switzerland in about 1909.  In that very year, regional chapters of the Swiss Association for Women's Right to Vote were asking for equal rights for women. It was a long wait in Switzerland, as women there didn't even gain the right to vote until 1971 - yes, 1971!

Luckily, we don't have any strange or humorous perceptions of gender roles or differences today.

Gay's Lion Farm

Charles and Muriel Gay opened Gay's Lion Farm east of Los Angeles in El Monte, California in 1925.  They bred, trained, and exhibited lions there, and it quickly became a popular tourist attraction. Some of the lions they raised and trained were used in Hollywood movies.

I am so glad that the person who visited the farm took the time to write the date and a few other notes on the backs of the cards.

Saturday, July 17 - 1926  "Numa" This lion earns $10,000 a year in the movies.

This card also has the same date on the back.

Grrrr....

Saturday - July 17 - 1926 "Slats"

Slats was the original MGM logo lion and was used in all the black-and-white MGM movies from 1924-1928.

In 1928, an unfortunate event happened while Charles and Muriel were in Europe. Three of the lions escaped as they were being moved between cages. The farm manager was slashed by one of the lions and ended up dying. That lion and the other two had to be shot.

Gay's Lion Farm had to close in 1942 because war shortages made it impossible for them to get the ton of horse meat they needed daily to feed the lions. Although the farm no longer exists, there is allegedly a life-size statue of a lion at the Interstate 10 overpass where the farm used to be. Somehow, this reminds me of the North-going Zax and South-going Zax from Dr. Seuss.  Remember them? They meet face-to-face in the Valley of Prax and are both unwilling to move. Eventually freeways and overpasses are built around them. It's just a visual similarity, although the moral of the Seuss story (compromise) doesn't apply here.