Vintage Postcard – Kellogg Regional Airport
New Air Terminal
Kellogg Regional Airport
Battle Creek, Michigan
Curteichcolor 3-D Natural Color Reproduction REG U.S. Pat Off
Scherer News Co., Battle Creek, Mich.
This vintage postcard was mailed using a gray 5 cent Washington stamp “ABCD” Mail for Better Business Service postmark from Battle Creek on February 18, 1964. It was mailed to Mrs. Robert Rundle, 604 18th Ave, Monroe Wisconsin. It reads:
Dear Sis: well here it is Sat. P.M. I have been in Room 318 at Leila Hosp. since Wed. morn. I was burned at work Wed morning on the right foot and ankle 2nd degree also in the groin or crotch, I don’t know how long I will be here I thought I had my share by I guess I had more coming Deb is O.K. with safe. Love Bro Norm.
First things, first…that’s a hell of a message without a lot of punctuation. I suspect that Brother Norman simply had someone pick up a postcard from the Leila Hospital gift shop so he could send messages, and the new airport terminal was the most attractive/only available postcard. I wouldn’t guess that Norm actually received his crotch/groin burn while working at the airport, or that he carried a supply of airport postcards in his pocket just in case of 2nd degree burn. Perhaps he worked at one of the cereal manufacturing plants (Kellogg’s, Post and Ralston Foods are all here in town, making Battle Creek the Cereal Capital of the World). From what I understand, there is a good chance of injury making cereal (degloving, anyone?). Also, I wonder what other mishaps he had experienced, given that he believed karma had already had its way with him prior to this most recent injury.
Leila Hospital is now Bronson Battle Creek.
Kellogg Regional Airport is owned by the City of Battle Creek. According to their website, “for the 2011 calendar year, Kellogg Airport was the fifth busiest airport in Michigan.” Now, if you live near Battle Creek, you are probably thinking that the City is made up of a pack of liars…because our airport is tiny. It’s not a regular commercial airport at all. However, WMU’s College of Aviation actually is housed in the “new air terminal” in the postcard (and is the third largest flight school in the country). From their website “the Flight Operations Building is the former airport terminal and tower. Its space is now devoted to administrative offices, flight planning areas, and flight briefing/debriefing rooms.” We also have a branch of the Air National Guard flying in and out of this space, as well as three smaller aircraft manufacturing plants (Duncan, WACO and Centennial). Our little airport has a very long runway, and when the Presidential Air Force One flies in to West Michigan, it’s normally through Battle Creek.
And now, for a personal story. When I was young, my Dad worked at Clark Equipment Company. His job required that he travel out of town for work most of the time, only coming home on weekends. Mom would take me to go pick Dad up from this little airport when he got back into town. He’d arrive with his giant old suitcase, swizzle sticks from drinks had in the hotel lounge and mini bars of soap from the hotel. I remember the airport being an exciting place. Air travel itself seemed exotic and wonderful. One time, Dad managed to get me up into the tower of the airport, as seen in the postcard above. One of the air traffic controllers gave me a stick of Big Red gum, and I was able to look out and see the view. I felt like I was on top of the world.
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