US Navy Ship Postcards

Most people are familiar with various types of mainline fighting ships used by modern navies - frigates, destroyers, missile cruisers, and aircraft carriers come readily to mind - but navies also have special purpose vessels that receive much less attention.

Here's a sampling of a few of the latter type used by the US navy in the late twentieth century.

Click on the pictures for complete details of these postcards.

The USS Norton Sound started out its service career as a seaplane teader with the Pacific Fleet at the end of WW II but underwent conversion to a floating laboratory platform for guided missile projects during the Cold War.

The USNS Observation Island was a forerunner for use in the Polaris/ Poseiden missile programs, operating in the Military Sealift Command of the US Navy.

The USNS Hayes served as an oceanographic research ship operated by the Military Sealift Command for the Office of Naval Research.  It's catamaran design was adopted to provide a stable work platform with a center well to operate research equipment at great depths.

Ship Postcards

The Kaiser Wilhelm II in New York Harbor

I've added more ship postcards to my store. Here's a sampling of new additions. 

Click on the picture for complete listing details. The ships category can be found under the Topics category on the store page.

The Christopher Columbus, whaleback steamer, between Chicago & Milwaukee, Lake Michigan

Steamer North Land off Mackinac Island, Michigan

Pinning The Postcard Depot on Pinterest

Want to keep up with The Postcard Depot's new listings? 

Follow us on Pinterest. 

Click on the image above to see our Pinterest postcard boards. 

The New Finds board is updated regularly to provide a sample of our new listings on multiple venues including our own The-Postcard-Depot.com web site as well as our auction venues hosted by eBay, BidStart, and Etsy. 

In addition to the New Finds board, we also have specialized boards where we pin postcards by category or theme, including Roadside America, Beach scenes, Lighthouses, Ships, Railroad, and major cities such as New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. 

Hopefully, you'll find something there to like and enjoy. 

Here are a few of our recent pins - click on the pictures for links.

Car Ferry Bayfield - Madeline Island Wisconsin 1960s postcard

 Mount Washington Bretton Woods Hotel White Mountains NH postcard

Main Street & Cars, Brockville, Ontario, Canada 1950s postcard

Roadside America - Tennessee Motels, circa 1950s

Lloyd's Alamo Plaza Court Motel, Shelbyville, Tennessee, circa 1950s

Cleveland Motor Court Motel, Cleveland, Tennessee postcard, circa 1950s

Can't get away this summer? Yearn for an earlier time when the pace was slower, life was simpler? 

Why not slip away to Tennessee for a few days and at the end of a long day pull into a roadside motel offering, as does Lloyd's in Shelbyville, electric heat - wait, no!, we need air-conditioning!!! - tile baths, and Beautyrest mattresses for a good night's sleep. 

 Click on the images for complete listing details.

Big Bear Lake California Large Letter Linen Postcard

Big Bear Lake California Large Letter Linen postcard

Produced in the linen era of postcards, circa 1935 to early 1960s, large letter linen cards have a strong following among collectors and local history buffs. 

Their influence lives on in the many derivative products that abound in the form of posters, decorative wall hangings in restaurants and so on today that encapsulate the large letter style. 

This example celebrating the outdoor western life to be found at Big Bear Lake, California, published by Curt Teich & Co, is typical of the stylish lettering, multiple images, and vivid colors of the genre. 

 Click on the postcard image to see the complete listing.

Car Ferry postcards: A Lifeline To The Other Side

Ohio River Car Ferry Boat Fly OH Sistersville WV 1965c postcard

Car ferries - and before them wagon ferries - were a common sight in the development of the United States. Where the road was punctuated by a river, lake, or the sea, often the quickest and cheapest way to continue the journey was to float one's way across. Broad, flat bottomed craft, the ferries were built for load over a short and shallow journey; grace and style were left for the paddle steamers and ocean liners. Money for bridges would come later as the economy grew and eventually result in the disappearance of the car ferry.

 Shelter Island Car Ferry Boat Greenport Long Island New York postcard

These postcards provide a sample of car ferries still operating in the 1950s and 1960s.  

The Ohio River ferry boat between Fly, Ohio and Sistersville, West Virginia, nears Fly, OH on one of its many trips across the river. The caption on the card notes that the ferry was still operating in 1965, the year of publication, despite may other ferries having given way to modern bridges.

The "Islander" approaches its slip in Greenport, Long Island, New York, completing a routine trip from Shelter Island off Long Island, loaded with cars and a truck and their passengers.

The ferry operating across Lake Champlain between Grand Isle Vermont and Plattsburg New York was operated by the Lake Champlain Transportation Co.. Built in 1953, the card's caption reports it was 138 feet long, 37 feet wide and powered by two 425 horsepower diesel engines delivering a speed of 11 knots. A fine vessel like this could carry up to 26 cars. On the day of this photo, it looks like it was a light day with six cars and a bus!

Grand Isle Car Ferry Boat Lake Champlain Burlington Vermont 1950s postcard

Steamers South & North American at Docks Holland Michigan postcard

SS South American & SS North American at Dock, Holland Michigan, 1940s linen postcard

The steamers South American and North American at Holland Michigan circa 1940s.

The South American was built in 1914 for the Chicago, Duluth & Georgian BayTransit Co. of Detroit.  It was in service for over 50 years before being sold for use as a floating dormitory,  and eventually scrapped in 1992. 

Built in 1913 for the same company, The North American had a history of running aground through its history, finally doing so in 1967 and sinking in 200 ft of water.