The Sinop Postcards
With special thanks to Bob Van Erem who stopped by my house and dropped off his set of the Sinop Postcards for me to scan and add to the web site. The postcards are also available on Mike Doran's ASA Online site and his set contains two additional cards entitled "Sinop by the Sea" and "No Showers Today". When I locate my own set of these cards, I will add these two pictures to this page.
Each of the Sinop postcards bear a "copyright Ed Harrison 1959" notation. One card also includes the date June 10 '59. The back of the cards were printed up with postal card features to facilitate mailing and also indicates that they were published by Jack Freeman, Longport, New Jersey.
The set of postcards was available for sale during my stay on the Hill in 1960 and I believe that they may have been available for sale for several years thereafter.
I was recently (9/2003) contacted by Ed Harrison and he graciously sent along this email describing the history of his Sinop postcard set.
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From: OldTymFoto@aol.com
Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2003 13:37:21 EDT
Subject: Re: postcards of Sinop
When I was in high school, I began developing my hobby of cartooning. I was inspired by "Beetle Bailey" and tried (and I use that really loosely) to emulate that cartoon style. So, when I was on the "Hill" in '59-60, it was only natural for me to enjoy depicting some of the funniest (not so funny then), most natural experiences that were part of all of our everyday lives. Those personal experiences behind the postcard pictures will, I'm sure, be in the minds of the men for the rest of their lives. A close friend who was in the postcard distribution business in Atlantic City, New Jersey, had the pictures converted into postcards. . ( I used to walk around the Boardwalk with him filling postcard racks in drugstores, etc., while I was going to Drexel College in Phila.).
Actually, my thoughts then were not necessarily to profit, but rather to share the memories and laughter with others. When the printed cards finally arrived back on the "Hill", I was just about to leave the post thru the efforts of the Red Cross because of my mother's bout with cancer. I lost track of the cards. Hopefully, a number of men acquired the cards and, as I understand thru you, Bill, even have them today. I still have my set. Please be sure that they remain on the site and available to anyone who would appreciate them and have reminiscent laughs about what we all experienced. Incidentally, after I left the service, I worked for the company (who manufactured the postcards) for about three years traveling around the Eastern part of the country as a sales rep.
I would love to hear from anyone who acquired a set and/or how you enjoyed them.
Ed Harrison Oldtymfoto@aol.com
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On Tue, 11 May 1999 Harry Lance wrote:
I thought I recognized some of those post cards when I saw them on the other web page. When I read your text with the post cards, I damn near fell off my chair. Ed Harrison was on my trick. He was in our barracks and I use to watch him draw cartoons. I saw the orginals, but I never thought he would publish them.
His picture can be seen twice on my page, in the text portion, he is in the middle on both photos. Picture
He was one of the "college guys" I made mention of in my text. He was a good egg. One thing I do remember vividly: He was always taking photo's of the sunsets over there. For some reason ( I learned to appreciate later) everyone with a camera would head for the point or set up their tripods on the gym roof when sunset came. Ed Harrison must have had a million pictures of the Sinop sunset.
I know he was from Philadelphia. I have been trying to track down some of the other fellows I mention in my text using the people finder feature in ALTAVISTA. If you have any ideas of a better way let me know.Incidently I have been wanting to ask, did anyone ever send any info on Camp Wolters Texas. I have been trying to find some of the chaps I spent my time with their also.
Thanks for posting the post cards.
Harry Lance <LANCEHA@STROHCO.ATTMAIL.COM>
