Thursday, March 25, 2010

Lake Geneva

My maternal Bigmother, as we knew her, loved to travel. She would take off alone or with a child in tow to travel across the country in order to visit friends or relatives. My mother recently gave me a large envelope full of Bigmother's postcards. This is a postcard folder which she sent, from Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, to her youngest son in 1952, two years before my birth. Bigmother was middle-aged when she had my Uncle Don. He was the caboose of 6 children, my mother being the 5th and 9 years older than her baby brother.

The postcard describes Lake Geneva as having "charming scenery and excellent facilities for outdoor sports." In addition, there was a "picturesque auto-drive of thirty miles completely encircling the lake." Red Cross life guards patrolled the beaches, making it a safe place for children. There was a library open to summer guests and golfing for dad. One could fish, sail, go motor-boating or hiking as well. The second largest (in 1952) astronomical observatory in America, Yerkes Observatory was located at Williams Bay, Lake Geneva.


There was even a wild-flower and native-tree preserve to be found at Lake Geneva, which I am positive my Bigmother made sure to visit. She was a life-long lover of gardening. When I was a child her backyard was one big winding flowerbed. The only grass was the pathway. She was a long time member of her local gardening club as well as one of its past presidents.

If you care to read more about Lake Geneva, Wisconsin click here.




This post is a combination of Postcard Friendship Friday and Sepia Saturday.
Please visit both sites to read more posts like this one.

40 comments:

  1. How cool is this!!! Two years ago we took a boat tour around the lake. It was the mail boat and we watched the girl jump out of the boat, run down the dock, put the mail in and jump back on while the boat only slowed down.

    Lots os gorgeous high-priced houses around the lake now.

    Thanks for the memories!

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  2. This was so much fun, I had no idea there was a lake Geneva in the US.;) My sister lives next to a lake Geneva, but an entirely different location.;)
    Happy Friday!!:))
    xoxo
    Zuzana

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  3. I have not been there but will keep it in mind the next time I visit family in WI. That 3cent stamp sure tells a story too.

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  4. Aha! Thanks for letting me see your family's similarities to mine! :)

    Wisconsin is one of the few states that I haven't visited and I've always wanted to go there. I must put Lake Geneva on my travel list! Thanks for the mini-tour, Stevie!

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  5. What a lovely post. I enjoyed reading about these--and the personal touch is wonderful. I would love to visit Lake Geneva!

    Happy PFF!

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  6. Hi!
    Beautiful collection of postcards. Have a great day!

    Sherrie
    A View of My Life

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  7. a wonderful, truly personal post... and i just LOVE the name "Bigmother"!! happy PFF!

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  8. I have been to the observatory and Lake Geneva in the summer. It is really beautiful, and there's something about the air coming off the lake - makes you happy.

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  9. Beautiful post ... beautiful place and beautiful memories! Thank you! Happy PFF!

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  10. Lake Geneva sounds like such a pretty place, Stevie.
    It must be so nice to have some of the post cards your Bigmother sent out during her lifetime.

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  11. Lake Geneva sounds charming! Thanks for sharing!

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  12. Lake Geneva sounds very inviting. How nice that your Grandmother loved to travel - and sent memories of her visits for you to share with us. Happy PFF AND Sepia Saturday!

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  13. I love old postcards - what a great idea combining the two themes. Your Grandmother sounds like she was quite an adventurous lady! I really thought it was going be THE Lake Geneva - but I wasn't disappointed - Lake Geneva, Wisconsin looks like a wonderful place.

    Jeanne x

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  14. That looks like a nice place to visit in the summer.

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  15. I thought it was going to be about Switzerland when I first started reading. I hadn't heard of Lake Geneva in the USA before, so this was very interesting for me.

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  16. I would also love to visit this place in the summer! What a wonderful post & blog!

    Happy Friendship Friday & wishing you a great weekend too. Look forward to *seeing* you again!

    XOXO LOLA:)

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  17. what treasures!!! love the vintage cards as well as the photograph

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  18. Bigmother! When I first read it I wondered if it could be in WI and sure enough. I love that you have the postcards all here too!

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  19. Bigmother is a great name, and she sounds like a very interesting lady. Fun to see this collection!

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  20. I enjoyed these 'messages from the past' Steviewren, of Big Aunt's holiday at Lake Geneva. I specially liked your term for your Uncle Donald as the 'caboose of six children!' :-) - Dave

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  21. Wonderful post. I love the tie to the family.... thanks for sharing.

    Thanks for stopping by. PFF!

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  22. I like how your posts always get me thinking. I need to do more, get out and enjoy life more. That's what this one made me think.

    I liked the "caboose of 6 children" too. :)

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  23. Given my interest in postcards and family history, reading this has been like a birthday and Christmas rolled into one!

    Very nice post.

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  24. Steviewren, love antique postcards depicting a very lovely place! Thanks for commenting at my PFF post! :)

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  25. What great postcards -- and narrative. I'd love to have seen Bigmother's garden.

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  26. I'd love to know who wrote the word "Mother" on the photograph. One of her offspring, I presume?

    And by the way, thanks for the term "caboose" - now I'll know what to call my youngest sister!

    Evelyn in Montreal

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  27. Wonderful post, Stevie. I love the melding of the Sepia and Postcard!

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  28. Hi Stevie, great post. My husband picked peas in Wisconsin in the summers around 1954,55 or 56. I would ask him where but he is out now. He loved it up there and of course the single temp males had a big time.
    QMM

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  29. Bigmother sounds fascinating - not too many women were traveling around in those days. The post cards are wonderful.

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  30. Love the Lake Geneva postcards. Looks like another place to add to my travel wish-list. Thanks for sharing.

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  31. I've been to the other Lake Geneva now I'll have to see this one. It'd be much easier to get to.
    Interesting story about Bigmother. A woman driving alone in those days must have been very brave. What if she had a flat tire? I'll bet Bigmother could have changed it !

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  32. What a treasure your Bigmother left you.

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  33. The postcards are so neat. They look like they could have been hand tinted. I like the big mother name. I have never heard of it before.

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  34. Love your Mag 6 story. I will make time to click and read a few more tonight! I could see it as a Hallmark movie. Lake Geneva looks like a nice vacation spot. I would love to be the kind of person who just picks up goes on a trip by myself. This crafter loves the paper covered chocolate favor idea. They would be great treats for Easter or any occasion. When isn't a chocolate bar a good idea?
    denise

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  35. lake geneva is beautiful, but in the summer time, it's so busy with tourists that just getting in and out of there is a nightmare....

    we go just up the road from there to elkhorn for their flea markets during the summer....if you like that sort of thing, they have a great one !

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  36. Love the way you combine the two themes and we certainly get twice the pleasure from the combination. Suddenly discovering the existence of such places as Lake Geneva (Wisconsin) is quite fascinating and I couldn't resist taking a look at it on Google Earth.

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