Shopping in Michigan

In the US the earliest postcards were used for advertising due to postal regulations that didn't allow personal messages to be visible. Each year I travel with friends to Saugatuck Michigan to visit a nice shop...the owners spend their winters in New Mexico buying art directly from Native American artists and also from pawn shops, then bring their lovely items north. Here are 2 advertising postcards showing some of the amazing things sold in their shop. The owners are incredibly knowledgeable about the art, native communities and specific artists, so its always a great learning experience to spend time with them!!

Every Wind

A Postcrosser sent me this very nice portrait of an Ojibwa (Chippewa) woman taken in 1915 by Roland Reed. Reed was from Wisconsin and photographed native people in Minnesota and later Montana.Historically Ojibwa people lived on the north side of Lake Superior, traded furs with the French and English in Michigan and Wisconsin; today they remain in northern Michigan. Helene found this postcard out in New Mexico and its a wonderful new addition to my collection!!

Kiowa Eagle Dancer

Stephen Mopope's Eagle Dancer, 1929. Mopope (1900-1974) was a member of the Kiowa 5, a group of young painters encouraged during the 1920s and 1930s by Oscar Jacobson, a University of Oklahoma art professor. These artists were inspired by earlier plains ledger style art but created a different flat style. This card is produced by the stationary company Pomegrante and was sent from Germany.