1889 OCEAN PARK OLD ORCHARD MAINE CHILDRENS DAY CARD FREE BAPTIST CHAUTAUQUA OPA For Sale

ITEM DESCRIPTION

Original 1889 printed Children’s Day invitation or souvenir card for Ocean Park at Old Orchard, Maine, dated August 7th, 1889. The card features a bold decorative heading, a circular Ocean Park Association emblem dated 1881, and a vignette view of the Ocean Park Temple. The left margin reads “COME AGAIN NEXT CHILDREN’S DAY,” and the main printed message welcomes visitors “on this festival day” to the grounds, the temple, and the pleasures offered there.

A wonderful early Ocean Park Association piece from the formative years of the seaside religious assembly at Old Orchard Beach. Ocean Park was founded in 1881 as a Free Will Baptist summer assembly and developed within the broader late-19th-century Chautauqua tradition, combining religious meetings, education, music, lectures, moral instruction, youth programs, and family recreation at a coastal resort setting. This card dates only eight years after the founding of the Association and directly reflects the early program life of the community.

The Ocean Park Temple, shown within the printed seal, was one of the central landmarks of the assembly. It served as the religious and cultural heart of the grounds, and the card’s wording specifically welcomes the visitor to “these grounds, this temple and to all the pleasures they afford.” The card is signed in print by E. W. Porter, B. F. Hayes, H. F. Wood, and J. M. Lowden as the Assembly Committee, tying it to the leadership and organizational culture of the Free Baptist assembly.

The lower portion includes religious and moral text appropriate to a Children’s Day celebration, including a printed “Children’s Bible Letter” reference from 1 John 2:12-13, as well as devotional verse encouraging noble conduct. This is not a common tourist postcard, but an early dated 19th-century event card from a specific Ocean Park Association children’s festival, making it especially appealing for collectors of Maine history, Old Orchard Beach material, Baptist history, Chautauqua ephemera, Sunday school material, and early American religious resort communities.

Good antique condition overall. The card has age toning, light soiling, small spots, minor foxing, edge and corner wear, small nicks along the lower and right edges, and a few light surface scuffs and abrasions. There are old brown drip or ink stains at the top center crossing into the decorative title area. The reverse is blank with toning, scattered soiling, light handling wear, and a pencil note along the left side. The printed image and text remain strong and legible. It will be mailed in the archival sleeve and rigid top-loader case shown.

Make sure to see the photos above for complete details.

Single card.

Measures approximately 2 3/4 inches tall by 5 inches wide.

KEYWORDS

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