Old 'Bill Pelican' in Louisiana, 'The Pelican State,' 1940

Subjects: Birds Coastal Scenery Comics & Humor
Card type: Linen
Date: c. 1940 (Linen)

Back of Old 'Bill Pelican' in Louisiana, 'The Pelican State,' 1940, Miss Grace Minnix, VA, USA, c. 1940 linen postcard — Back

About this postcard

A large pelican with a long yellow bill stands on a weathered wooden piling at the water's edge, with waves and a pink-and-blue sky behind it. The image plays on Louisiana's nickname, the Pelican State, and on the pelican's role as the state bird. A comic verse about the bird's bill accompanies a short natural-history note on its pouch, colonial nesting, and the way young pelicans feed from a parent's pouch. The message writer is less taken with the emblem, joking about not getting "in the mood" and calling the bird the "Belican," which the writer does not find pretty or cute.

Postcard Details

Message · English, in other medium

Margaret bought this for me to send to you but I told her "I could not get in the mood" Am not yet but here comes the "Belican" any how dont know what they ever made it the symbol for I certainly dont think it pretty or cute Brer Kenner Nov 23

PublisherE. C. Kropp Co.

OLD “BILL PELICAN” IN LOUISIANA, “THE PELICAN STATE”—181 A Gorgeous Bird is The Pelican, Whose Beak Can Hold More Than His Belican, He can Put in His Beak, Food Enough for a Week, But I'll be d——d if I can see how in Helican. COPYRIGHT BY E. C. KROPP CO. --- The Pelican is the largest of web-footed birds, has an enormous bill to the lower edge of which is attached a pouch in which fish are temporarily stored. The birds are highly sociable, living in colonies following a cooperative plan in their fishing. A curious sight is to see the young Pelican plunge its head deep into the parent bird's pouch to dig out partly digested food. POST CARD 8308 MADE IN U.S.A. BY E.C. KROPP CO., MILWAUKEE, WIS. New Orleans—America's Most Interesting City

Addressed to

Miss Grace Minnix

No 10 Langley Ave Smith, Va Portsmouth, VA

Postcard record

Publisher	E. C. Kropp Co.
Series	8308
Condition	Very good
Place addressed	Miss Grace Minnix, No 10 Langley Ave, Smith, Va, Portsmouth, VA
Place mentioned	Louisiana, LA
Stamp	1c George Washington, green, issued 1909
Stamp	1c George Washington, green, issued 1938, perforated on all sides
Notes	Linen texture; white border; printed poem and vertical copyright line on front. Postmark: KEN[illegible] 194[illegible]. Divided-back linen card with white border; 1c green Washington stamp; E.C. Kropp imprint; message dated Nov 23. A struck-through address line appears above the final Portsmouth, Va line.

Cite this card

Old 'Bill Pelican' in Louisiana, 'The Pelican State,' 1940, postcard, c. 1940. PostalPast Collection. https://postalpast.com/postcard/old-bill-pelican-in-louisiana-the-pelican-state-1940. Accessed November 2, 2026.