This linen postcard probably dates from the ’40s, and shows “the narrows”, a channel on Lake Minnetonka that connects Lafayette Bay and Old Channel Bay. (Lake Minnetonka is near Minneapolis, Minnesota)
Heading home for lunch, this is Charles Bailey (on right) and a friend. Both worked at the Singer Manufacturing Co. in South Bend, Indiana.
Mr. and Mrs. Willie Kay in 1906. Before the Model-T changed the face of America by bringing affordable autos to the masses, motorcycles, and the many variations thereof, were a less expensive alternative. The Indian Motocycle Company offered the Tri-Car, an interesting three-wheeler that placed the passenger right up front. Were women more trusting in those days? My wife would never consider pulling duty as a bumper!
This postcard from the Royal Hotel, mailed from Excelsior Springs in 1951, is interesting in that it lacks the kind of description that typically accompanied a hotel card. The only information is found on the front: “Missouri’s National Health and Pleasure Resort”.
Another batch from the So. Cal. Photo Album. This time we have a broad assortment of images, leisure scenes taken at the beach, the lake, and even one at the Hollywood Bowl. There’s also one person on horseback who’s said to be “Jim”, the first name I’ve encountered so far. (this is also Jim’s first appearance in the album) Most of the photographs still revolve around the two men (brothers, I suspect) and their girls.
I had long thought this old Polaroid to be lost, but I came across it yesterday as I sifted through some old boxes. It’s a snapshot of my grandmother Goldie’s house in Columbus, Ohio, taken as we were getting into the car to head home. It was the conclusion of our semi-annual trek to Tennessee and Ohio and would be the last time I saw my grandmother, as she passed before we made it back to Columbus. The house was torn down a few years later to make room for a parking lot.
I remember that house clearly, a three-story turn of the century structure that was unlike anything I had seen. It had a basement (something never seen in Texas), a very skinny stairwell that led to the upper floors, and a “door bell” that was an old metal knob built into the center of the door that was spun to make noise. Located very near the Ohio State campus, with every visit she would introduce us to a different student boarder, always Korean and always named “Kim”, something I thought was an amazing coincidence. Goldie was the kindest, gentlest of women, and always saw that the refrigerator was stocked with “Chocolate Soldiers”, a chocolate milk-type bottled drink, whenever I came. Knowing how much I liked Peanuts cartoons, and given that our local paper didn’t carry the comic strip, she would cut it out of the Columbus paper each day and mail them to me weekly. Nice memories. Grandma Goldie can faintly be seen behind the screen door.
HOTEL PONCE DE LEON,
ST. AUGUSTINE, FLA.
“Built 1885. One of the famous East Coast System hostelries. Spanish style of architecture. Cost $2,000,000; considered one of the finest hotels in the world. Has five acres of roof.”
This photo is from my “in-law archives“, and shows a non-family member whose identity no one can recall. The bike can easily be identified as a ’65 Harley-Davidson FLH Electra Glide, as that was the last year for the “panhead” engine and the first for electric start and the “Electra Glide” name. (visible across the front fender)
This early postcard dates from 1904, and shows the Music Stand in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park.
Postmarked in 1928, this card shows the dining room of the Santa Maria Inn, “the most unique dining room in California”. Opened in 1917, the inn is still in operation today. The postcard has no marking to indicate the publisher.
From the So. Cal. Photo Album comes this group photo, possibly taken at Lake Tahoe. (just a theory of mine)
The 1922 silent film, The Crimson Skull, was produced entirely in Boley, Oklahoma, the largest predominately black town in the United States at that time. The all-black cast included famed rodeo star Bill Pickett, who had already appeared in 1921′s The Bull Dogger. The artist responsible for this attractive lithograph is unknown.
Published by M. Kashower Co. of Los Angeles, this view of the pier at Redondo Beach probably dates from about 1917. The building on the right housed the casino, auditorium and bath house.
Another postcard view of the Raymond Hotel in Pasadena. The previous card dated from before the “split back” era, making this card several years younger. No publisher is notated, and the quality is clearly inferior to the older effort.
