All posts by PrintFromVintage

The Largest Medieval Town In Europe

City of Carcassonne is the largest medieval town in Europe and its walls are completely intact.

This castle city is famous for its 53 watchtowers and double-walled fortifications creating a massive structure with defenses all around.

1. Cite de Carcassonne – Ensemble a l’Quest

(View of the City of Carcassonne from the West.)

Click here to Download Free .pdf of this picture

Its strength had a lot to do with the strategic location as well. It dates back to the late 13th century to early 14th century making it well over 700 years old! During that time, it has seen its share of battles and fortifications. It was ultimately restored by architect Eugene Violet-de-Duc in 1853 and added to the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites in the late 1990s.

The city of Carassonne in 12 pictures – souvenir packet.

Now, it’s a tourist destination and has been for a long time.

These old photographs of Carcassonne are small but beautiful!

The color is just as I have scanned it. Not a typical black and white but a brilliant sepia tone!

Castles hold a dear place in all of our hearts because they represent power and stability. So, if you are a huge fan of castles, then why wouldn’t you be intrigued by a whole city? The fact that these structures exist at all is what fascinates me the most. Also, the realization that someone had the power to create it and then defend it during medieval times makes me want to know the whole story. If only these massive walls could talk!

The backside of this souvenir packet has a description of the photos inside.

(Please note: My translations of these names/words may not be correct. I am only using the internet as my guide. Please feel free to email me at: printfromvintage@gmail.com to help me correct any translations that I attempt below. Thank you in advance!)

2. Vus prise de la Tour de l’Eveque

(The Tower Of The Bishop.)

3. La Montee de La Porte

(The rise of the door)

4. Les Hautes Lices

(Between two ramparts)

5. L’Eglise Saint – Nazaire (partie gothique)

(Gothic part)

6. La Tour de l’Inquisition

7. Ensemble de la Porte de l’Aude

(View from the door of the Aude (river))

8. L’Aude et la Cite

(The River and City)

9. Les Avant-Portes de l’Aude

(Before the doors at the Aude (river))

10. Cite de Carcassonne – Cote du Midi

11. Cite de Carassonne – Vue exterieure du Chateau

12. Vue generalo de la Cite (Sud – Est)

A Unique Way To Display Old Books

I picked up this old chest at a yard sale in the mountains of Northern California. Inside the lid was this amazing print of a child and some flowers. If I had to guess, this is from the 1800s. It’s made of solid wood and is fairly heavy. It was also pretty messy and needed some cleaning. The picture inside was brittle and in danger of crumbling away. I sprayed it with some Mod Podge Spray to help keep it intact.

Pretty soon, I’m topping it off with some book displays and now I can’t stop looking at it when I walk by. Also, I love the fact that I can easily get to these books because they are out in the open and not hiding on a dark shelf somewhere. However, I can also close it up and us it as a tabletop. This really made my day!

Cool & Sentimental Stuff You Kept From Your Childhood

There are plenty of times in our lives when we are forced to downsize and yet, even after all of these years there are still some things that just seem to have stuck around. Perhaps it is because they bring back fond memories and for rhat reason you just can’t get yourself to part with it. These days, people collect items such as these because they are now considered “vintage” and so you have used that as an excuse to keep them around. However, sometimes, there’s just no excuse for holding on to certain items except for the fact that it brings back good feelings when you look at it. Here is a list of items that you are probably still holding onto, even after all of these years:

1. Your First 3D Glasses.

Probably from the movie Jaws 3-D.

2. Your First Lunch Box.

You felt so special having your own lunchbox and you just don’t want to let go of that special feeling.

VintageCraverBlackHoleLunchBox — The Black Hole Lunchbox

3. Caboodles box.

Only now, it’s your catch all box of leftover stuff.

4. Your favorite board game – Clue.

This was a great game and you thought that maybe you’d find time to play it again.

Remember what the pieces look like?

Rope, candlestick, revolver etc.

5. Your first (and only) caricature sketch.

This could’ve happened at any theme park, in this case, Great America!

6. This Lava Lamp.

You’ll never get rid of this! It’s sooo groovy!

7. Your first musical carousel.

You still love the song that it plays.

8. Your coolest rock T-shirt – Ozzy Osbourne.

This is from 1988. You weren’t at the concert and neither was Ozzy! Therefore, it’s a collectible and justifiably kept.

9. This Rubix Cube.

It’s still scrambled but you’re proud of the fact that this one side is all lined up.

10. Sea Shells.

No doubt from your trip to the ocean. You’ll never forget it.

11. A Spacemaker.

Only now, you store old pictures in it.

12. These Tapes – VHS & Cassettes.

You’re not sure what’s on them and so you had better keep them just in case it’s important.

13. Your favorite book – The Outsiders.

Mostly because it has all your favorite characters illustrated on the cover.

14. This White Tiger Picture.

This 8×10 picture of this white tiger that’s been on your wall for decades!

15. Your favorite stuffed animal – Winnie The Pooh.

This little guy has probably seen you through many tough times. There’s no way you’re getting rid of him!

Why An Occupation Is More Than Just A Job

These words were re-created from an old book:

The Royal Path Of Life

We all have employments to pay our obligations in this life, however, this happens to be my occupation (that which occupies my time). Without it, a poor man constantly wants more and a rich man is relentlessly tormented with boredom. That is, men and women with no business in this world (nothing to do) are absolute pests to society. They look at hundreds of things and see nothing. I have worked as well as wished, labored as well as prayed to be in a position to perform all duties of my occupation.

The world is full of those who are disgusted with their vocations, getting their living by their weakness instead of their strength. The are doomed to hopeless inferiority. The only true method is to adopt a natural progression. Otherwise, when the crisis comes, this artificial character will break down, failing at the very time when it is most wanted.

However, when one steals midnight moments to practice music and another copies whole books of studies by moonlight, not spurred on by the paychecks so worshipped in our society, then we become what nature intended and therefore, we are a success. To be anything else, you will be ten thousand times worse than nothing.

An unoccupied man cannot be happy, nor can one who is improperly occupied. They are examples of dishonest living; hypocrites, shining in stolen and false colors; vampires, eating out the life of the community. Frown upon them and learn in your heart to despise their course in life. They have no trade, no object before them, nothing to do and yet have a great desire to do something worthy of themselves. They waste their time, energies and great earnings in endless changes and wanderings. They have not the stimulus of a fixed object to fasten their attention and awaken their energies. They grasp at random at a hundred things and catch nothing.

Purpose must be followed by action. However, the choosing of an occupation is not a small thing. Therefore, CHOOSE WISELY!

San Francisco Earthquake – Palace Hotel – 1906

The San Francisco Earthquake took place on April 18, 1906 and ignited massive fires with electrical dangers, causing many deaths during the first hour until the power to the city was finally shut off. Afterwards, the fires raged for three days and destroyed nearly 500 city blocks.

This earthquake did not discriminate. It leveled brothels and luxury hotels. One, in particular, which was designed to withstand such a natural attack, didn’t stand a chance.

The Palace Hotel was built to withstand an earthquake.

Designed to withstand both earthquakes and fires, the Palace Hotel was built on massive pillar foundations dug twelve feet deep. The outside walls were made of brick two feet thick and reinforced every four feet with double strips of iron bolted together to form continuous bands. Ultimately, thousands of tons of iron had been add to the walls. To prevent fire, in addition to the basement tank, seven more tanks were added on the roof with 130,000 gallons of water to help fight fires on its own if the city’s reserves ran dry. Five miles of piping had been built in the walls of this hotel to help disperse this water through three hundred and fifty outlets, each containing twenty thousand feet of fire hose. For this reason, this hotel was one of the most formidable buildings in the city as it has been said that if the Palace Hotel ever burned down the whole city would also be gutted!

View of Market Street before the disaster:

Despite a quick response from San Francisco’s large military population, the city was devastated. The earthquake and fires killed an estimated 3,000 people and left half of the city’s 400,000 residents homeless.

Aid poured in from around the country and the world, but those who survived faced weeks of difficulty and hardship.

The survivors slept in tents in city parks and the Presidio, stood in long lines for food, and were required to do their cooking in the street to minimize the threat of additional fires. The San Francisco earthquake is considered one of the worst natural disasters in U.S. history.

Congress responded to the disaster in several ways. The House and the Senate Appropriations Committees enacted emergency appropriations for the city to pay for food, water, tents, blankets, and medical supplies in the weeks following the earthquake and fire.

They also appropriated funds to reconstruct many of the public buildings that were damaged or destroyed.

Purchase .pdf – $1.99

The Picture Story Of The San Francisco Earthquake!

Vintage Shotgun Shells Display – DIY

If you ever come across an old, vintage box of shotgun shells then there is a possibility that they are no good. However, the box and shells are fun to look at and many people are considering them to be collectible because of their unique colors and designs on the boxes. So, we have created a display for our old box of shells so that we can enjoy them everyday. The first thing that you are going to need is a small display frame. Ours is an exact square that we picked up at a yard sale. The back was missing but that doesn’t stop us from re-purposing it.

1. Pick out a display frame.

2. Fix it up if it’s used. In this case we had to make a new backing for it.

The box of shells that we got came from a family member however, you can find them anywhere online or just keep an eye out! Collecting these old shotgun shells can be a great hobby AND a great investment. For those who are investing, I probably wouldn’t rip up the box like we are about to do. We are collectors, not investors and seeing our shotgun shells displayed like this is a great way to enjoy our collection and celebrate the past.

3. Next, we pick out the shells that we want to display along the bottom of the frame. You’ll notice that we mixed in one, different shell for a nice contrast.

4. Then we began to break down the box to pick out the sides that we wanted.

5. We attached the shotgun box pictures that we cut up to the backing, using different sides of the box to show off the different artwork.

Once our backing was complete, all we had to do was piece it all together. Many of these old shells have a cardboard cover because shotgun shells have undergone many changes over the years. That’s why finding them now is such a treat for collectors because they are so unique looking.

6. Here’s a close-up of the box in the frame.

7. And finally, here is the finished product!

Even if you don’t like shotgun shells for yourself don’t hesitate to buy the next, old box that you come across to create this as a gift for one of the GunCravers in your life!

The 5 Foods Your Child Needs

Food and Nutrition – Proper feeding during the years of growth is generally recognized as fundamental to the health of every child. The kind of food your child has today determines to a large extent the kind of man or woman that he/she will be tomorrow. It then behooves every parent to understand the principles which are involved in proper child feeding.

Let us consider first a little about food and the human body in general. Food, of course as everyone knows, give us the following things:

Fuel for body activities – enabling us to work both mentally and physically; to play and to keep us warm. In order for our life processes to go on normally our bodies must maintain a certain temperature – the heat for this comes entirely from the food we eat.
Food supplies material to repair the parts of us which become worn out be working and playing.
Food supplies material for growth.

With these three great general uses of food in mind let us make a simple classification of food material.

1. Fuel Foods- these include:

(a) All fats- such as butter, cream, olive oil, fat of meats, etc. (b) All Starches and Sugars-such as bread, cake, crackers, cereals, desserts and pastries, all vegetables

and all fruits.

2. Foods for Growth and Repair – these include:

All the so called protein foods of which eggs, milk, cheese, fish, lean meat and the grain are the most important.

3. Mineral Salts –

these include:

Salts of iron, of lime, of sodium and many others. They are found pretty well distributed thru all of our food, some foods being rich in one and some in another.

Iron salts, for instance, are especially abundant in oatmeal, whole wheat flour, raisins, etc.

The salts of lime are very abundant in milk- and as it is these which aid young children chiefly in forming bone and one very good reason for the free use of milk with growing children will be seen.

Iron salts are an indispensable constituent of normal blood.

4. Vitamins –

Food substances not completely understood but which are vitally necessary to the normal growth and health of every child.

(a) Those found in fresh fruits and leafy vegetables such as cabbage, spinach, lettuce.

Tomatoes are also rich in this vitamin.

(b) Those found in milk and dairy products.

5. Water –

This is frequently not classed as a food because it does not give energy, nor repair waste or supply growth. It is, however, necessary in order that all the above named processes should go on.

The usual method of measuring food quantities in relation to nutrition is by the calorie. The calorie is really a certain amount of heat. In this connection one calorie represents enough heat to raise the temperature of about 1 quart of water 1 degree fahrenheit . The reason the calorie is chosen as the unit for measuring foods accurately is because all of the major classes of foods, i.e., fats, starches, sugars and proteins are transformed into heat in our bodies.

It is not necessary for the parents to puzzle unduly over total calories. After total quality of food required is settled in a general way the next important question to be determined is the proper protein requirement. Children require more protein than adults because of growth. Roughly speaking; 15% of their total daily calories should be derived from protein food. The best all-around protein food for the growing child is milk. After milk, egss, simple cheese and cereals are also preferable to meat. A very small piece of meat or fish once each day is the most required by a child.

Bread, cereals and grain products should furnish 1/3 of the child’s total food intake. Remember that the darker, coarser breads are preferred. Cooked cereals are more nourishing than the cold ones and vegetables form a very essential part of the diet. There is little danger of feeding a child too many vegetables. They are important in helping to counteract constipation. Potatoes, baked, boiled or mashed, should be given every day.

Lettuce, spinach, beet greens, carrots, cooked onions and all the dried vegetables should be generously served.

This information comes from an encyclopedia from early 1900’s. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to email: PrintFromVintage@gmail.com. Thank You!

Signed Book – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Famous Poet From 1800s Writes in THIS book that I got on ebay!

To begin with, I purchased an antique book copyrighted in 1845 about Elocution Philosophy (for $10) and I was intrigued when I found this handwritten poem on a back page with the title of it reading,

“Mountain & Squirrel”

The Fastest Way To Lose Weight – Old Book Remedy!

“The weight will be reduced from one-half pound to two pounds daily, and with marked improvement in all the physical functions.” – Dr. Frank McCoy

Of course, we all know that our diet is bad, but what can we do to fix it fast? That’s what this book “The Fastest Way To Health by Dr. Frank McCoy” is all about. What I like most is that it gets right to the point with a contents page that lists numerous conditions such as: Acne, Blood Pressure, Diabetes, Headache, Kidney Stone, Varicose Veins and of course, Obesity plus many, many more.

This article will give you the treatment to one of those conditions and that is, Obesity (at the end of this post is a link to download this chapter for yourself). The reason that I picked this particular topic is that I find it helpful, easy and quite simply, it works! I’ve given this information to people that I know and when followed, the results were dramatic and fast. Even if I don’t personally struggle with Obesity in the same way that another might, that is, “having difficulty breathing and freedom of movement”, I do have binges of eating (Christmas, Buffets) and afterwards, I take to this treatment and get myself back on track fast! “Your age can never be a handicap to you, for you may develop a beautiful body at any age,” Says Dr. Frank McCoy and it’s true!

So, without further ado, lets discuss this easy-to-do remedy to get back on track with whatever weight problems that we may have in our lives at this time. It will interest anyone who may be:

“Conscious of carrying around too much weight – who are stuffy, short of breath, sleepy, and uncomfortable.”

Regardless of where you fit in the treatment is simple: Water and citrus juice.

Easy, right? According to this chapter, “The quickest and most infallible method of reducing the weight to the normal is the use of the fasting cure in some form. Fasting with small amounts of water and the juice of citrus fruit is perhaps the best procedure for the average case. The weight will be reduced from one-half pound to two pounds daily, and with marked improvement in all the physical functions.”

I have taken this information and developed my own method using my high powered mixer at home.