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The first known reference to a “Webfooter” in Portland was at the Lewis & Clark Expo in 1905. The Webfooter was a mascot of sorts for the fair. You can find his likeness on plates, cups and spoons from the Expo. He was actually a frog. Portland’s first baseball team was known as “The Webfooters”.
Post card collecting was a popular pastime in Oregon’s early days. You will find many post cards that are 100 or more years old and they were lovingly preserved by post card collectors over the years. One of the earliest known post card clubs was known as The Oregon Postal Card Exchange and it dates back to about 1910. Fred Grammell of Portland published a bimonthly bulletin called The Oregon Exchange for members who lived all over the world.
Members would exchange post cards with other members in Japan, China, Germany and nearly every country in the world. Members were encouraged to correspond in foreign languages and some of the stories in The Oregon Exchange were actually printed in foreign languages. Grammell was still publishing the Oregon Exchange in 1917 and it is not clear how many years the Exchange was active.
The roots of the Webfooters Post Card Club go back to 1954 when Ernest Cooper advertised in the Postcard Collector that he wanted to start a club for post card collectors. It wasn’t until 1965, when a preliminary organizational meeting was held on May 23 at the home of Myrtle Jensen to form a post card club. Oregon historian Ed Culp was chosen as the temporary chairman. In attendance were Ernest Cooper and a young Robert Potts who was a member until he died recently.
The next meeting was held on September 11, 1965 at Ed Culp’s home. Ernest Cooper was named President and Toni West handled the Secretary-Treasurer duties. Ernest Cooper offered to write the bulletin, Bob Potts volunteered to print the copies and Toni West was to handle addressing and mailing duties. It was proposed that advertising be included in the bulletin and Al Armstrong was present at the meeting.
On January 22, 1966, the group met again at the Multnomah County Library. Ernest Cooper was elected President. Thelma Bengs and Doris Kelly (later Brockell) were present. Webster Webfoot was accepted as the club mascot and dues for the Webfooters Post Card Club were set at $2 per year. Advertising costs in the bulletin were as follows: $4 for a whole page, $2 for a half page and $1 for a quarter page. They began a bulletin exchange with other post card clubs.
The Webfooters met again on April 23, 1966 at the Community Room in Far West Federal Savings on Northeast Wasco Street in Gateway. In attendance were Al Powers, Ernest Cooper, Thelma Bengs, Bob Potts and Doris Kelly. Chuck West proposed a new slogan for the club: Every subject known to man can be found on a post card. The slogan was adopted, John Rehorka was designated as Vice President and Family member dues were set at $4 for one family at one address.
The next meeting was held on July 23, 1966 at the First Federal Savings and Loan building in Albany. Another meeting was held on October 15, 1966 at the Benjamin Franklin Savings & Loan Building on Southwest Stark Street in Portland. Another election of officers was held and Ernest Cooper was again elected President and Editor, John Rehorka was elected Vice President and Toni West continued as Secretary-Treasurer. The Webfooters had grown to 38 members.
In the early years, The Webfooters met quarterly. Meetings were held at Far West Federal Bank in Gateway. In 1968, club meetings were held at Pearson’s Mortuary. In 1969, meetings were moved to The Oregon Historical Society, where they stayed for the next two years. Al Powers (member number 58), organized The Webfooter’s first public Post Card Show which was held June 2-6, 1969. The next show was held on July 6-11, 1970 at Meier & Frank, where 75 frames held displays.
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