Oakie's Heartland Clippings

Vol. 75, No. 41, Thursday, September 16, 1999

A Passion For History
(Penny Postcard Nostalgia)

It only takes looking inside of ourselves to find the passion and courage to follow our dreams. Whatever that passion is in each of us, it gives us a uniqueness and satisfaction that so many are searching in their lives. Have you found that passion or talent in yourself that makes you unique from all others?

I was talking (Emailing) with a friend the other day and mentioned, "Sometimes I forget what all I've collected over the past few years until someone reminds me -- Like you! Lately, I have had this passion and hunger for history. Something I never had while I was young and going to school. If you will recall, back in your school days -- history class was always taught by the Coaches. Now...If they would have hired a Genealogist to teach history, maybe my grades and interest in the subject would have been better than average."

Another passion of mine is organizing my grandmother's photographs and penny postcard collection on CD's and putting them on my web pages or in some sort of book form. That is what has me so engrossed lately. Grandma Constance Estella Warwick McGill had thousands of penny postcards. Some are even engraved in leather.

BIG QUESTION: Does anyone out there know anything about leather postcards? When and Where they were produced? I would love to hear from you. What do they call those who collect postcards?

Some of the postcards that I have scanned are Oklahoma scenes from around the early 1900s. I have only barely touched the surface of them all, but eventually I will get through them. Meanwhile...I would like to share a few of them here with you. I have incorporated a lot of them into my "Okie Legacies" web site (http://wwwpubco.com.). I have also linked some more counties at my "Okie Legacies Site" -- So you might want to go check out Alfalfa, Blaine, Carter, Garfield, Logan, Major, Muskogee, Oklahoma and Woods.

I also acquired a booklet of an early postcard view of Alva, Oklahoma called "Glimpses of the Past" compiled in 1987, by the Alva Centennial Commission. It was printed in black and white and is a collection of some great old postcard pictures of Alva, Oklahoma in the early 1900s.

Did you know that Alva had an "Alva Post Card Company" located at 321 College Avenue, ca. 1908? It was established in 1908 under the management of W. M. Gilmore as a wholesale-retail operation. It was located two doors north of the Alva Security Bank Building which occupied the corner where the Central National Bank now stands. This company printed a large number of postcard views of Alva and the surrounding area.

In September, 1906 William Jennings Bryan was stumping through the state of Oklahoma for the Democrat nomination for President and for the approval of the 1907 State Constitution. Anyway, you can check it out the web site. (http://wwwpubco.com/woods/woods1.html.)

I have put up a present day photo of Alfalfa County Court House at the following web site -- According to a friend, "The Commissioners of Alfalfa County have plans to do some renovations to the court house and some landscaping to the grounds around it."

I would love to hear from some of you Alfalfa County Alumni out there to fill me in on some history and legacies of that fair county just east of Woods in the northwest part of Oklahoma. It is always great hearing from someone who can shed some light on my McGill ancestor's past.

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