Day 100: Postcards from The Baldpate Inn

Day 100! A perfect day to make note of and share with a friend! What better way than a postcard? We’ve talked about our artistic marketing and merchandise, but one of our most popular keepsakes are Baldpate Inn postcards.  

As far as I have discovered, we’ve had at least five different series of Baldpate postcards: Early bordered, Albertype, Hoffman, Sanborn, Dexter and our own from 1990s. 

It is interesting to note the variety of finishes that have been applied to several postcards versions. Since I love the watercolor look I think my favorites are the Albertype hand colored series of seven (of course) cards.  Wish they all had dates!

The earliest (I believe) of our Albertype set lists Clatworthy as publisher, and since the Key Room and second story West Wing are missing, they were before the 1935 addition.  The rest of the Albertypes note Baldpate Inn as publisher.

With the growth of our pine trees, until just recently, it was almost impossible to duplicate the angle of some of the photos, especially with Longs Peak in the background. 

Looking at this early 1 cent card with Mt. Meeker and Longs Peak in the background, I do have to admit to wondering just when folks started to get creative and "Photoshop" their pictures. Compared with our most recent aerial drone photo, those mountains seems a little out of proportion to me, what do you think?

Not yet a postcard, this newest (and my current favorite) aerial drone photo will be available this birthday season as a puzzle.  

So stop by and grab a few postcards or a picture puzzle to mark your adventures at Baldpate Inn celebrating our 100^th summer.

And stay tuned for one more bonus blog tomorrow!

Written by Lois Smith

Day 76: Baldpate’s Artwork – Key to the Past and Future

Artistic marketing, as we are so often told, is “key” to business success. We know from the earliest days, Baldpate used seven keys as a logo, and while the look has varied over the years, the key is always in there somewhere.

It is fun discovering some of the old stationery, cards and advertising that captured the evolution of our marketing.  Tag lines have gone from “Best cook in captivity,” to “Where Hospitality is King,” to “Like a mountain lodge of your own where you can go and do just as you please,” to “Enchanting travelers for over 100 years.”

Don’t know about you, but love our newest sketch of the main lodge, graciously given to us in 2007 by our guest, Nebraska artist, William Schlaebitz.

Artistic Christmas cards and letters were a great way to stay in touch with guests during the off season, both for the Maces and later for us. I recall going to the post office (since we do not have onsite mail delivery, we still have a PO Box) in early December one year, when the postmaster made a point to tell me of a loyal local guest who wanted to make certain Baldpate had her new address so as not to miss our Christmas card! Now our holiday greetings, specials and news updates are sent via emailed Keynotes newsletter. 

Perhaps its sort of sad to lose the staying power of printed brochures, but with the popularity of the internet, cost, and today’s means of instant information sharing, printed brochures have mostly gone the way of the past.

Chances are that generations to come won’t be learning about the past by sorting thru boxes of paper memorabilia, what do you think?

Written by Lois Smith

Day 20: Baldpate’s Keeper of the Keys, Beloved Gnome

A kid’s favorite (and master of our Junior Key Keepers Scavenger Hunt) is our Baldpate Key Room Gnome. 

This delightful handmade wood carving found its home at Baldpate’s Key Room in 1992.  Baldpate guests, Thurston & Shirley Bridges, who had stayed with us for many years, always enjoy spending time sitting on the front porch visiting with other guests and carving their unique gnomes.  We approached them about doing a special carving for our 75^th birthday and our beloved gnome was born! 

 

Since kids almost always are first to spot our Gnome in the Key Room, when our curators decided to do a special kids adventure, he came immediately to mind as the clever cluemaster! 

He will mischievously guide you around our Key Collection to discover special keys that are designated as part of the Baldpate’s "Roam with the Gnome Collection." And if, and only if you can find them all, you will earn the coveted Junior Key Keeper Award and Ribbon. 

Be careful, he will be watching you closely the entire time to be sure you are learning as you go!

Come see if you can find him in our key collection! 

Written by Lois Smith

Photos: Thurston begins with a log
Unneeded pieces
Our Gnome begins to emerge
Shirley begins her transformation

Day 13: Santa Fe Calendar Art

It would be very difficult to miss the world-famous key collection when visiting The Baldpate Inn. And although some overlook our black & white photo collection, we would guess not too many guests really notice our vast collection of Santa Fe Calendar Prints displayed throughout the main lodge. These artistic gems tell a tale of another time, a time of railroad heydays and pioneering artist colonies in the Southwest. 

Created and distributed by the Santa Fe Railway Company, the artwork displayed within The Baldpate Inn is a collection of various lithograph prints of paintings, with dates as early as 1926, through 1959. The calendars themselves first were published in 1907, with credit given to William H. Simpson, who established the Advertising Department of the railway in 1896. We believe that the calendars were sold at the Baldpate Inn for several years. 

The Santa Fe Calendar Prints project served several purposes. It certainly promoted the railroad and encouraged tourists to visit the Southwest. Through the partnership with the railroad, artists were drawn to the Southwest region and were paid to continue to produce vivid paintings representing this unique area. Learn more about the railroad and artist partnership here. When tourists arrived, the local Native Americans were presented with an opportunity to sell their own artwork and crafts. Possibly an unforeseen result was that it also helped promote a truly American art form. Instead of replicating European styles, a unique style of American art had been born and was appreciated around the world. Today these iconic paintings continue to inspire a love of the Southwest.

As you can see, this artwork has played an important role in the shaping of the American Southwest. We’ll sign off today with a quote that articulates the appeal of the Southwest. Included in the “Creating Images of the Southwest: The Santa Fe Railway Art Collection” pamphlet (1991), the quote is from 1926 but is still true today: 

Words are futile things with which to picture the fascination of this vast enchanted empire, unspoiled and full of startling contrasts that we call the Southwest. It is a land of limitless panoramas and distances dwarfed by the clear, dry air; of flooding sunshine and intense color; of snow-capped peaks and twisting, abysmal gorges; of sage and cedar and mountain forests; of lazy rivers and plunging torrents; of broad mesas and rich, peaceful valleys. It is a land where the sunsets flame and the afterglow softens the harsh outlines of the wilderness into a picture of unspeakable beauty; where the silence listens and the night stars glow light headlights.

Written by Liz Rodgers