Scenic drive through virgin pine, Itasca State Park, Minn., 1951

Subjects: Forests & Trees National & State Parks
Card type: Linen
Date: c. 1951 (Chrome)

Back of Scenic drive through virgin pine, Itasca State Park, Minn., 1951, Park Rapids, MN, USA, c. 1951 linen postcard — Back

About this postcard

A road curves through a stand of tall pines, their bare lower trunks rising to a high green canopy, in Itasca State Park. The printed caption calls the stand "Virgin Pine," a reference to the old-growth white and red pines that survived the logging that cleared much of northern Minnesota's pine forest in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Itasca, established in 1891, is Minnesota's oldest state park and contains the headwaters of the Mississippi River. The sender's note places a visit in late July 1951, with a lunch stop in the park during a trip through the Bemidji area.

Postcard Details

Message · English, in pen

7/30/51 Dear Mom & Dad: Here Don & I sit in the clean cool shade of Bemidji & the kids all decked into our [illegible] here. We went thru Itasca Pk. this afternoon & ate lunch there. Potato salad & ants & ham sandwiches, & ants & milk & ants, awful good that's for sure. The waves are high right now & as the wind is fairly strong — so Don isn't talking high now. He's busy chewing on my pencil. I guess he thinks I'll stop writing. I located him the [illegible] ball point pen. Bye. Betty & Don.

PostmarkedBEMIDJI, July 31, 1951, 11:30

Addressed to

Mr. & Mrs. A. Gleckau

1050 Beech Ave. St. Paul, MN 6

Postcard record

Postmarked	July 31, 1951, 11:30, BEMIDJI
Publisher	Northern Minnesota Novelties, Crosslake, Minn.; printed by Curteich-Chicago
Series	BM-30 8B-H1122
Condition	Very good
Place addressed	Mr. & Mrs. A. Gleckau, 1050 Beech Ave., St. Paul, MN, 6
Place depicted	Itasca State Park, Park Rapids, MN
Publisher	Northern Minnesota Novelties, Crosslake, Minn.; printed by Curteich-Chicago, Crosslake, MN
Stamp	1c George Washington, green, issued 1938, perforated on all sides
Stamp	1c George Washington, green, issued 1937
Notes	Linen-textured stock with a white border; series/card number printed vertically along the right edge. Postmark: BEMIDJI JUL 31 11:30 AM 1951. Linen-era divided-back card with white border; light edge/corner wear and a few foxing spots on the address side.

Cite this card

Scenic drive through virgin pine, Itasca State Park, Minn., 1951, postcard, c. 1951. PostalPast Collection. https://postalpast.com/postcard/scenic-drive-through-virgin-pine-itasca-state-park-minn-1951. Accessed November 2, 2026.