Friday, August 30, 2013

Wild West postcards and Round Robins (RRs)

My favorite history subject is the settling of the wild west. I love receiving postcards of anything related to this or Native Americans. It's rare for me to receive postcards about this so when I discovered a RR (round robin) that would allow me to receive these types of postcards on one of the Postcrossing forums, I just had to join. (Click here to see and read more about this specific RR. Some of the postcards I collect are ones I find on my trips around the US. This RR allows me to send my blank unwritten postcard to a different user who then writes it, stamps it and sends it back to me. I love it because I get the postcards I really like written, stamped and sent back to me. Here are the three postcards I received from the RR. All of these postcards feature Virginia City, Nevada in the late 1800s.
The 20th-century site of the Crystal Bar stood on the corner of Taylor and C Streets. A stylish woman is probably enjoying a mint julep, the signature beverage at the Crystal. When the business moved a block north of its 19th-century location, it took the celebrated crystal chandelier to its new home.
In 1887, Joe Ferretta posed with his freight wagon and an eight-horse team. Comstock teamsters lost a great deal of the trade with the arrival of the railroad in 1869, but there was still sufficient business to keep dozens of them employed for the following years.
Fourth Ward School teachers, such as the two in this undated photograph, were among the highest paid educators in the state. Virginia City's school district required prospective instructors to pass grueling examinations in a wide variety of topics before they received a teacher's certificate. Graduates of the schools were sough after for teaching positions in Nevada and California.

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