From the category archives:

Postcards

The Narrows

June 17, 2010
The narrows, Lake Minnetonka

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)

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Royal Hotel

May 20, 2010
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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”.

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Hotel Ponce De Leon

May 17, 2010
Hotel Ponce De Leon

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.”

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Music Stand

May 15, 2010
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This early postcard dates from 1904, and shows the Music Stand in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park.

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Santa Maria Inn

May 14, 2010
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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.

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Redondo Beach Pier

May 13, 2010
Redondo Beach Pier

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.

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The Raymond

May 13, 2010
The Raymond, Pasadena, CA

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.

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Raymond Hotel

May 13, 2010
Raymond Hotel

This early postcard was published in 1902 by the Detroit Photographic Co. and shows the Raymond Hotel In Pasadena, California. First built in 1886, the original structure burned on Easter Sunday in 1895. The second building, shown here, was constructed in 1901. The hotel failed to survive the depression and was torn down in 1934, [...]

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The Sunshine City

May 11, 2010
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One of my favorite postcards. It’s unusual in that the composition is more carefully thought out than was the norm, the figures and U.S. flag in the foreground adding a real three-dimensional quality to the scene. Even the description on the front of the card is atypical: “Green Benches, Open Air Post Office and Princess [...]

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The Marlborough Blenheim

May 11, 2010
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This postcard of the Marlborough Blenheim Hotel in Atlantic City was postmarked in 1949, but the original postcard art was almost certainly conceived in the ’30s. Another postcard view of the M-B Hotel can be seen here.

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Broadway

May 10, 2010
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From the Western Publishing & Novelty Co. comes this postcard view of Broadway in Los Angeles, California. The card probably dates from the 1940s.

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Victor Hugo Inn

May 10, 2010
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Located on a spectacular seaside bluff, the Victor Hugo Inn in Laguna Beach first opened in 1938. Ravaged by fire in 1954, the inn was soon reopened, and would become the Las Brisas Restaurant in 1979.

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Ferry Building

May 8, 2010
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This card shows the Ferry Building in San Francisco, a terminal for ferries that opened in 1898. Although unmailed, the card can be dated to between 1901 and 1907 because it has an undivided back along with the inscription, “This side is for address only”. Pre-1901 cards would include the line, “Private Mailing Card”, and [...]

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Central Park Boat House

May 8, 2010
Central Park Boat House

This card was made by the American Art Publishing Co., and appears to have been postmarked in 1913. The description reads: LAKE AND BOAT HOUSE, CENTRAL PARK, NEW YORK CITY “Central Park is one of the largest and most beautiful parks in the world. In it are a number of lakes and lagoons where boats [...]

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