PostalPast
← Back to browse

In Kentucky poem card by James H. Mulligan, Kentucky, circa 1937

Subjects
Comics & HumorHorses
Card type
Linen
Date
c. 1937 (Linen)
Front of In Kentucky poem card by James H. Mulligan, Kentucky, circa 1937, Mrs Howard Mead, NJ, USA, c. 1937 linen postcard
Front
Back of In Kentucky poem card by James H. Mulligan, Kentucky, circa 1937, Mrs Howard Mead, NJ, USA, c. 1937 linen postcard
Back

About this postcard

A novelty verse card titled "IN KENTUCKY" prints a long comic poem of superlatives about the state, illustrated with an owl on a bare branch, a rural landscape with a farmhouse, a galloping racehorse, and a bearded gentleman in a white suit and straw hat raising a glass of beer. The verses are signed "JAS. H. MULLIGAN," the Kentucky orator and writer whose humorous poem "In Kentucky" was widely recited and reprinted. The poem runs through Kentucky stereotypes: bluegrass, thoroughbreds, moonshine, card players, and sharp politics, closing with the line that politics is "the damnedest in Kentucky."

Postcard Details

Message · English

sent from Wilmington, Del. July-10-1945 Minnie Raynor

PublisherCurteich-Chicago
IN KENTUCKY The moonlight falls the softest in Kentucky; The Summer days come oftest in Kentucky; Friendship is the strongest, Love's light glows the longest, Yet, wrong is always wrongest in Kentucky. Life's burden bear the lightest in Kentucky; The home fires burn the brightest in Kentucky; While players are the keenest Cards come out the meannest, The pocket empties cleanest in Kentucky. The sun shines ever brightest in Kentucky; The breezes whisper lightest in Kentucky; Plain girls are the fewest, Their little hearts are truest, Maidens' eyes the bluest in Kentucky. Orators are the grand- est in Kentucky; Officials are the bland- est in Kentucky; Boys are all the fliest, Danger ever nighest, Taxes are the highest In Kentucky. The bluegrass waves the bluest in Kentucky; Yet, bluebloods are the fewest in Kentucky; Moonshine is the clearest, By no-means the dearest, And, yet, it acts the queerest in Kentucky. The dovenotes are the saddest in Kentucky; The streams dance on the gladdest in Kentucky; Hip pockets are the thickest, Pistol hands the slickest, The cylinder turns quickest in Kentucky. The song birds are the sweetest in Kentucky; The thoroughbreds are fleetest in Kentucky; Mountains tower proudest, Thunder peals the loudest, The landscape is the grandest— And politics—the damn- edest in Kentucky. JAS. H. MULLIGAN
Addressed to
Mrs Howard Mead

Box, 271 Pennsgrove, NJ

FromMinnie Rausner, Wilmington, DE

Postcard record

PublisherCurteich-Chicago
SeriesKE-3 7A-H3282 C. T. GENERAL KENTUCKY SCENES—20 SUBJECTS
ConditionVery good
Place addressedMrs Howard Mead, Box, 271, Pennsgrove, NJ
Place mentionedKentucky, KY
Place mentionedKentucky, KY
PublisherCurteich-Chicago, Chicago, IL
Place sent fromMinnie Rausner, Wilmington, DE
NotesLinen-textured stock with white border; Curt Teich job number "7A-H3282" (1937) at lower right and "KE-3" at upper left. No postmark or stamp present; divided back with printed "PLACE ONE CENT STAMP HERE" box. Curteich linen-era card ("C. T. Art-Colortone"), sender dated it July 10, 1945. Light toning and slight edge wear.

Cite this card

In Kentucky poem card by James H. Mulligan, Kentucky, circa 1937, postcard, c. 1937. PostalPast Collection. https://postalpast.com/postcard/in-kentucky-poem-card-by-james-h-mulligan-kentucky-circa-193. Accessed November 2, 2026.