Asylum/Sanitarium – Global Postcard Sales

Total: 40 postcards

Manchester, from Asylum grounds (New Hampshire, USA)
What a great card. Alas, we didn’t get much help from Google in determining what asylum this was. We do understand asylum cards are in short supply–so you’ll know! The details: posted in 1907 with a one-cent stamp and full Manchester postmark to a Mrs. Palmer of South Sutton, with a poignant message from M.L.B. The card was made by Hugh C. Leighton Co., of Portland; was printed in Frankfurt, Germany; and carries reference no. 3246. Grade: 1

Code: 31900001
Price: $21.00
Highland Spring Sanatorium (Nashua, New Hampshire, USA)
Mrs. Palmer apparently had several friends in various asylums around the state of New Hampshire. In 1907 her friend Franc sent this poignant message from Nashua, using a 1-cent stamp; there are Nashua and Bradford postmarks. The card may have been commissioned by the Sanatorium itself, as the only attribution is to A.E. Brownrigg, M.D., Supt., with index number S.871115. Good that Franc was feeling better. Grade: 1

Code: 31900002
Price: $18.00
The Ft. Wayne Orphans Home, Main Entrance (Indiana, USA)
Unused and very old Auburn Post Card Manufacturing Co. unnumbered card, with a heavy vertical crease. Grade: 4

Code: 31900003
Price: $7.00
The Hydro, Warburton (Australia)
We were going to relate some of the history of this facility, but it’s better for everyone if you go directly to your search engine. This Southern Cross Series vintage sepia postcard 3607 was not postally mailed, but has a message written in 1945 on the reverse. Grade: 4

Code: 31900004
Price: $29.00
State Insane Asylum, Fort Steilacoom, near Tacoma (Washington, USA)
Unused Lowman & Hanford card 2017. Grade: 2

Code: 31900005
Price: $12.00
Hot Springs, Dr. Nichols Sanitorium (South Dakota)
Cancer a specialty. This facility seems to have moved around from place to place. The card was mailed (uncertain date, but early 1900s) with postmark and stamp, from Myrtle to Gertrude. Grade: 2

Code: 31900006
Price: $12.00
Muldoon’s Sanitarium, White Plains, NY
Unused Leighton & Valentine Co. card 213.267. Famous during its time, even Theodore Dreiser spent time there in 1903. Grade: 2

Code: 31900007
Price: $7.00
Rochester State Hospital (Minnesota, USA)
This card was mailed in 1914 (stamp is there, and partial postmarks) by a person who was apparently there for an operation. We are mildly confused as to whether this facility at that time was for persons with mental issues, or instead (or in addition) functioned as a general hospital. The writer seemed just fine in her message. Grade: 2

Code: 31900008
Price: $9.00
Hinsdale Sanitarium and Hospital (Illinois, USA)
Unused Curteichcolor card 8C-K2937. Grade: 2

Code: 31900009
Price: $3.00
State Hospital for the Tuberculous, Kearney (Nebraska, USA)
Unused Curteich-Chicago linen card 1B-H1219. Grade: 2

Code: 31900010
Price: $7.00
Lone Cliff, Logansport (Indiana, USA)
Another name for this facility was “Northern Indiana Hospital for the Insane,” though that didn’t make it on to the faintly visible caption at the front bottom of this postcard. Still, that’s what it was. The card is unused but has one name, Pauline, written in the address area. Grade: 3

Code: 31900011
Price: $8.00
The Palmer Sanatorium, Springfield (Illinois, USA)
We understand this sanatorium operated from 1913-1953, for treatment of tuberculosis. The card is unused. Grade: 1

Code: 31900012
Price: $4.00
Bahia, Asylo de S. Francisco (Brazil)
We must say up front that this card is fragile and has about a quarter-inch segment on the right front edge that is detaching itself. We will do our best to be certain it does not deteriorate further. As for the subject of the card, Google wasn’t very helpful and in fact became very confusing–so we stopped. The card was mailed in 1905, and has stamp and three postmarks. Grade: 4

Code: 31900013
Price: $9.00
The Menninger Foundation, Topeka (Kansas, USA)
The Foundation may have moved on, but this sturdy, unused, matte-finish card 81405 of the original building of the Menninger Clinic lives on. Grade: 1

Code: 31900014
Price: $3.00
Normandie, Lisieux – Le Nouvel Hopital – Pavillon d’Isolement (France)
Mailed in what we think is 1904: the stamp is there, and parts of two postmarks, neither of them easy to read. Writing on the front, as you see. Grade: 4

Code: 31900015
Price: $7.00
Tišnov, Sanitorium (Czech Republic)
Tišnov is a town in the Czech Republic. Tišnov is a town in the Brno-Country District of the South Moravian Region, 22 km northwest of Brno, near the confluence of the Svratka and Loučky rivers. In 2010 there were 8,704 inhabitants. Wikipedia tells us this, and we understand we’ve not written abut the facility, but the search engines will tell you that, too. So does the 2001 card’s caption, but all in Czech. Mailed in 2013 with a very large stamp, blue Prioritaire label, and full postmark. Grade: 1

Code: 31900016
Price: $4.00
Weserland – Klinik Bad Hopfenberg (Germany)
Mailed with three stamps and illegible postmark, trilingual Priority label, and also significant postal abrasion on the reverse. On top of all that, postal creasing on two corners. Grade: 4

Code: 31900017
Price: $1.00
The New Highland Mineral Springs Sanitarium, Martinsville (Indiana, USA)
Unused C.T. Art Colortone card 4A-H714. Had you stayed there, your health would have been restored. Grade: 2

Code: 31900018
Price: $2.00
Martinsville Sanitorium (Indiana, USA)
Mailed in 1906, when messages were not permitted on the undivided back, so what you see is Lib’s typed message to Jessie. Stamp is there, and postmarks from both the sending and receiving stations. Grade: 1

Code: 31900019
Price: $7.00
Home Lawn Mineral Spring, Martinsville (Indiana, USA)
Depending on which source you want to believe, this facility opened in 1889 and finally closed in either 1968 or 1971. The stamp is there, and partial postmark. Grade: 4

Code: 31900020
Price: $2.00
Marion National Sanitarium (Indiana, USA)
Unused Wayne Novelty card 90949 most likely from late 1920s or very early 1930s, slight abrasions around the edges and a small stain on lower right corner. This facility was later replaced by the Veterans Administration. Grade: 3

Code: 31900021
Price: $5.00
London, Kingswood, Dulwich, Massey-Harris Convalescent Home
And what does this convalescent home have in common with tractors? It was founded by the agricultural and implement company Massey-Harris (now Massey-Ferguson) in 1916 and treated wounded Canadian soldiers, but closed in 1919. A short history on an old unused Grano Series card, heavily aged. Grade: 2

Code: 31900022
Price: $3.00
Buffalo State Hospital (New York)
Construction started in 1871. The card is younger than that, and the writer told us that it is “on the list of most haunted places in the USA”. Mailed in 2014 with a round Global Forever Christmas stamp, and postmark. Grade: 1

Code: 31900023
Price: $3.00
Sunnyrest Sanitorium, Crookston (Minnesota, USA)
Indulge us here. We have all manner of mixed feelings about Crookston, none of which have to do with this facility that cared for tuberculosis patients from 1916 until 1967. (If you really want to know why we are Conflicted about Crookston, ask us!) The linen card was not postally mailed but has a message written into the message area. Grade: 4

Code: 31900024
Price: $3.00
Lapeer, State Home for the Feeble Minded, Administration Building (Michigan, USA)
This was not the only facility with what–in today’s terms–was such an unfortunate name. One excellent online source tells us: “A state institution lived here. Born as the Michigan Home for the Feeble Minded and Epileptic in 1895, it died by the name of Oakdale Regional Center for Developmental Disabilities in 1991.” It was reputed to be the largest such facility in the world, then. The unused card has aged but is otherwise in fine condition. Grade: 1

Code: 31900025
Price: $5.00
Ft. Smith, Wildcat Mountain Sanatorium (Arkansas, USA)
From a Fort Smith online source: “In the latter part of the 1930s, the Wildcat Mountain Sanatorium was established as an adjunct to the Arkansas Tuberculosis Sanatorium in Booneville. The first patients arrived on March 26, 1937, and the facility soon reached capacity … The sanatorium closed on Dec. 1, 1958.” Unused “local” linen card 15296. Grade: 1

Code: 31900026
Price: $2.00
Cartago, Sanatorio Dr. Carlos Duran (Costa Rica)
Unused, aging card. A Wikipedia article translated from Spanish tells us, in part: “Duran Sanatorium was a sanatorium with all the characteristics of a first world hospital trained to house about 300 patients, located between the districts of Tierra Blanca de Cartago and Potrero Cerrado de Oreamuno. It was created to house and treat patients suffering from tuberculosis, also known as the white plague. This old property is located 7 km north of the city of Cartago and about 18 km southeast of the Irazu Volcano,…and was founded in 1918 by the Costa Rican physician and politician Carlos Durán Cartín (1852-1924), ex-President of the Republic.” Grade: 1

Code: 31900027
Price: $2.00
Battle Creek Sanitarium, Pergola Promenade (Michigan, USA)
If you heard of or saw a film called The Road to Wellness, you’ll recognize this facility, which folded as a sanitarium just after the start of World War II. The film was hilarious (mostly) and so is the Wikipedia entry, which we wholly endorse as light reading. As for the card, mailed in 1929 with stamp and full Battle Creek postmark. Awesome! Grade: 2

Code: 31900028
Price: $7.00
Albuquerque, Indian Sanatorium (New Mexico, USA)
One thing this Curteich-Chicago linen card A-18 accidentally illustrates is the number of ways to spell “Sanatorium”. If you don’t believe us, check your search engine! Mailed from Tucson with two stamps and indistinct postmark. Grade: 2

Code: 31900029
Price: $4.00
Middletown, State Hospital (Connecticut, USA)
After an online search, we could say so much, but will confine ourselves (no pun intended) to this: opened in 1868 as the Connecticut General Hospital for the Insane, and now known since 1961 as Connecticut Valley Hospital. The postcard was mailed in 1944, with stamp, postmark, and old address label. Grade: 3

Code: 31900030
Price: $7.00
I am crazy for the love of you
The world wasn’t always as politically correct as it is now (or will be in the future). This card was mailed in the USA in 1911, from Grover to Janice, who might have wondered what Grover’s true message was. Grade: 1

Code: 31900031
Price: $3.00
Hoye’s Sanitarium, Meridian (Mississippi, USA)
The Sanitarium itself may be gone, but this unused early 1940s E.C. Kropp card 11811 (31) of the facility “in the mountains of Meridian” lives on, in fine condition. Grade: 1

Code: 31900032
Price: $5.00
Indian Sanatorium, Albuquerque (New Mexico, USA)
Brilliant card mailed in 1941 with stamp and postmark, unfortunately defaced by two holes punched through it (including through the stamp). So, space filler only, for collectors of sanitorium postcards. Grade: 5

Code: 31900033
Price: $0.50
Highland Sanitarium, Shreveport (Louisiana, USA)
This facility opened in 1917 and its successor seems still to be there. Well done! Old E.C. Kropp card 15636, unused. Grade: 1

Code: 31900034
Price: $6.00
Hinsdale Sanitarium and Hospital (Hinsdale, Illinois, USA)
Unused Curteichcolor card 8C-K2937 from (we’re guessing) the 1960s. Grade: 1

Code: 31900035
Price: $2.00
Austin, Insane Asylum (Texas, USA)
Yes, there was a time when hospitals (and postcards) could be called that. Google will tell you what came next. As for the card — and you can barely make this out in the scan — it’s “unused” but covered in raised dots similar to Braille writing. We very much doubt these were on the card at the beginning but do not know how they got there or if they represent anything. So, Grade: 5

Code: 31900036
Price: $9.00
Kenosha, Penoyer (sic) Sanitarium (Wisconsin, USA)
From the Wisconsin Historical Society, “The Pennoyer Sanitarium, later called the Pennoyer Home, was built in 1890 on the north end of Milwaukee Avenue. It was later used as St. Catherine’s Hospital until it was razed about 1930.” The unused postcard has been handled a lot, and folded horizontally although this is quite a faint flaw. Grade: 3

Code: 31900037
Price: $9.00
Denver, Spears Chiropractic Sanitarium and Hospital (Colorado, USA)
In 1993, an article appeared in the online Dynamic Chiropractic reporting (we’ve condensed a bit): “A chapter in chiropractic history will close this month with the demolition of the Spears Chiropractic Hospital … The D.D. Palmer Building will be razed. The Willard Carver Building will go the way of condominium redevelopment; townhomes will rise on the undeveloped parcels of land. The hospital, founded in 1943 by chiropractic pioneer Dr. Leo Spears, was the largest chiropractic hospital in the world. The hospital has been closed since March 1984.” Now this unused card’s caption says the artwork is of the hospital “presently under construction”, so that helps date the card itself, and that same caption calls it “the largest private hospital in the world”. Who knew?! Grade: 1

Code: 31900038
Price: $6.00
Long Beach Sanitarium (California, USA)
Mildly edited from a Loyola Marymount University website, “Sanitariums became popular in the late 19th century as hospitals to treat Tuberculosis … The Battle Creek Sanitarium in Michigan was operated by John Harvey Kellogg from 1876-1942, and promoted good health and fitness through diet, exercise, correct posture, fresh air, and proper rest. Southern California’s mild climate made the area a particularly appealing destination for individuals suffering from respiratory ailments. The Long Beach Sanitarium advertised such courses of treatment as the milk diet and rest cure, and had electric and mechanical Swedish departments.” The unused old postcard’s caption says nearly as much about this facility, and encourages you to “Mail this Souvenir to Your Friends.” Indeed. Grade: 1

Code: 31900039
Price: $5.00
Dallas, St. Paul’s Sanitarium (Texas, USA)
The facility is long-gone, merged, demolished, whatever — as related in part by a City of Dallas website excerpt: “The original buildings at St. Paul were demolished in 1968 following the completion and move to the Southwestern Medical Center Campus in 1964. Several other mergers followed and, in 2005, UT Southwestern merged with what was by then known as St. Paul University Hospital. The former site of the original St. Paul’s Sanitarium is now a residential neighborhood, but its legacy lives on.” This is an unused E.C. Kropp card 26898. Grade: 1

Code: 31900040
Price: $5.00

Total: 40 postcards