Tuesday Treasures - June 9, 2026

 As promised last week, here are a few of the postcards and photos I got at St. Vincent de Paul.  I got these on a Tuesday, right as they opened (they are closed Sundays and Mondays), and when I went back on Friday either all the ephemera had sold, or they moved the boxes into the back to refill. I hope the second reason is the correct one!

These first seven are part of a 1917-1918 censored wartime education series showing life in U.S. training camps.  Each postcard depicts soldiers preparing for overseas service.  The caption on the sides, "Passed by Censor, Washington, D.C." shows they were officially approved for public release as part of the government's effort to show Americans the troops were well-trained and ready. 

"A Fleet of U.S. Flying Boats" shows early Curtiss Model F or H-type seaplanes. 

Another collage of seven, these depict the Vanport (OR) flood, May 30, 1948.  Vanport was Oregon's second largest city, sitting on reclaimed land protected from the Columbia River by earthen levees.  When the river rose due to a heavy snowmelt a dike gave way, a sudden 10' wall of water rushed in, and the city was destroyed in less than one hour.  These postcards focus on the flood destruction in Portland (5 or so miles from Vanport) neighborhoods and industrial areas. Like the 1913 and 1937 floods (postcards shown here), these were taken by a local photographer who would have rushed out to take photos, which were hurriedly printed on blank real photo postcard stock the newspaper offices kept on hand for such breaking news.  They could be produced within days, or even hours, for distribution.  The captions were written, or scratched, onto the negatives, which print out white.  The photos were taken by a well-known (although not so well-know his last name is known) Portland photographer, Christian.

Fortunately, someone wrote on the back of this real photo postcard, identifying the scene.  

"Abandoned German field gun.  Belleau Wood"

The Battle of Belleau Wood was a major battle in WWI, taking place in France.  

This photograph shows a mess line at the Motor Repair unit near Marseille, France, c.1918-1919.  The note on the back tells us it held 2,500 and fed that many in one hour.

Leaving WWI behind, we move on to WWII photos. 

Postcard of the 40th Infantry Division, a National Guard unit active in WWII.  c.1942-1944

Air Force Band in the Trocadéro, Paris

August 1945

This is a photograph of the USAAF (United States Army Air Forces) Band in front of the Palais de Chaillot at the Trocadéro.  The Palais de Chaillot was constructed for the 1937 World's Fair.  The Eiffel Tower is reflected in the windows.  Paris was liberated from Nazi occupation the previous August. 

Quite a few souvenir photo books.

  

This is the most interesting.  The others were newer chrome photos of U.S. sites. 

A mini album of real photos of Würzburg, Germany, c1948-1953.

I forgot to count the total postcards, but it was a lot!

I'll throw in this item I got a while back at St. Vincent de Paul since it's WWII related.  I got it for a collector of cold war/Soviet Era memorabilia.    This is a West German Armed Forces Badge of Marksmanship (Schützenschnur) bronze class, c1960s. 

This one is dated by the stamp HUEWA, a company that produced military badges for the Germany military in the 1960s and 1970s.  The name is short for Hubert Wackermann.  Hubert later moved to the U.S. and now is quite a well known Western art painter, primarily of Native Americans.   I paid $5.  The recipient said he "loved it!" 

Incredibly, I found more dogs and postcards not long after this bunch!  That won't be next week, we need a break from dogs and postcards.