BROOKLYN HOME FOR BLIND, CRIPPLED & DEFECTIVE CHILDREN : PORT JEFFERSON, NEW YORK

This vintage lithographic postcard features the Brooklyn Home For Blind, Crippled And Defective Children, located in Port Jefferson, Long Island, New York. Although by today’s standards, the name of the hospital is politically incorrect, the institution did important therapeutic work. The hospital is known today as St. Charles Hospital. Here is some history. In 1907, a group of 27 homeless children with disabilities went by train from Brooklyn, New York, to Port Jefferson. They entered into the care of four French Sisters from the Order of the Daughters of Wisdom. That same year, the Brooklyn Home for handicapped children was established. Its mission was to provide support, care, education, and medical and surgical treatment of blind and handicapped children. By 1910, a building was constructed to house 250 children. The facility was dedicated to and named as St. Charles Hospital. The hospital became regionally renowned for its great success in helping disabled children. Breakthroughs in treating polio attracted national media attention. In 1915, the hospital once again expanded and in 1921 the hospital acquired ten adjoining acres. Expansion has continued over time. Today the hospital is a full service, general hospital and regional rehabilitation center. This unused postcard was published by L. H. V. Reynolds & Company (New York). SOLD

Published in: on March 31, 2025 at 12:00 pm  Comments (1)  
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DR. TURNER’S SANITARIUM : COLFAX, IOWA : RPPC

sanitarium 1This vintage postcard features a picture of Dr. Turner’s Sanitarium in Colfax, Iowa. Drs. Alice and Lewis Turner were owners of the Sanitarium “where one is taught to get well by natural methods”. The sanitarium was established by the Turners in 1904. The building was previously a hotel (The Grand). The average patient stay was three weeks and the doctors only used medicine in “stubborn cases”. Instead, hot packs, formentations (hot moist substances applied to the skin), and local mineral water were the treatments of choice. A stay at the sanitarium cost between 8 and 12 dollars a week. Mineral baths cost extra.  In 1911, the Turners sold the rest home to Dr. Lewis C. M. Porter, who joined forces with a local hospital. The rest home burned down in a fire in 1928.The postcard was published between 1905 and 1910 by H. W. Wood (Colfax Postcard Company). The postcard is a color lithographic print made in Germany.  SOLD                                                                                               

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Published in: on November 9, 2024 at 12:00 pm  Comments (6)  
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THE SWEDISH HOSPITAL : BROOKLYN, NEW YORK : VINTAGE POSTCARD

This vintage linen postcard features the Swedish Hospital in Brooklyn, New York. The hospital was located at Bedford Avenue and Dean Street. Swedish Hospital opened in 1906 and expanded over time, but closed in 1975. Upon the closing of the facility, the New York Times (1975) published an article about how New York City would be adversely affected by the closure. The hospital was compelled to close because the state health department cited the institution for structural and safety deficiencies in their building. The cessation of services created a problem because Swedish Hospital was the only medical facility in New York City that dealt exclusively with alcoholism and alcohol related medical illnesses. The closing cut two thirds of the beds available for hospitalized alcoholics in Brooklyn. This postcard was published by Curt Teich (Chicago) as part of a series (No.9B-H501).  (SOLD)

Published in: on June 13, 2022 at 12:00 pm  Leave a Comment  
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