This gallery includes an even dozen photos from Beulah’s Album. The people and locations vary, their relation to each other being far from clear. But a forgotten thread of history keeps these events together, residing as they do in a single 1930s family album.
Valley Forge Motor Court
U. S. Route 202 & 83
Valley Forge, Penna.
Located at Entrance to Historic Valley Forge Park. Near to Penna. Turnpike – convenient to Philadelphia. New and Modern Motel with Tile Baths and Television. Member of Pennsylvania Motel Association.
Owner-Operators: Mr. and Mrs. B. Martin
Telephone: Valley Forge 9-5474
This postcard was never mailed, but has handwritten on the back, “We stayed here one night, June 29, ’52.” There’s also a description on the reverse:
Wishard’s Motor Court
On U. S. 15 – 12 miles north of Historical Gettysburg
York Springs, Penna., Phone 40-R-11
20 modern units. Adjoining restaurant serving best in foods. Each cottage equipped with Simmons Beautyrest mattresses. Automatic hot water heat. Circulating hot water. Tubs and Showers.
OPEN ALL YEAR
Owned and Operated by – Mr. and Mrs. Ernest E. Wishard.
Another gem from the orphaned family album that I’ve affectionately named, “Beulah’s Album“. Part of the appeal of these old albums relates to the questions they invoke. Why has the photo been titled, “Old Maids 1934″? There’s almost certainly a humorously good-natured story behind it.
This view of the Augusta House in Augusta, Maine was published by the Miller Art Co., a Brooklyn, New York postcard company that was active from 1922 until 1941.
Published by the Portland Post Card Co., this postcard was mailed in 1909. Cards from that era didn’t usually provide information about the depicted scene, and there is no description of the Nortonia Hotel’s Grill Room to be found on this one.
I’m not sure what vintage this postcard is, but it could be from the late ’30s. The description on the reverse reads:
The Revere Room
New York’s Smartest Bar and Restaurant
Here you may see the famous murals depicting the life of Paul Revere. Open for breakfast, luncheon, dinner and supper-delicious meals at popular prices.
HOTEL LEXINGTON
Lexington Avenue at 48th Street, NEW YORK
CHARLES E. ROCHESTER, Vice Pres. & Man. Dir.
Boston Public Library. This postcard’s best days are behind it, but I suppose allowances should be made considering it was mailed way back in 1908.
ATLANTIC CITY, N. J. “It’s a real treat to bicycle along this “Wooden Way”. Scores of bikes, some built for two and even three, sail along the Boardwalk. Youngsters, dignified dowagers, tired business men all keenly enjoy their early morning workout.”
The Marlborough-Blenheim Hotel, along with the Traymore Hotel, accommodated Atlantic City visitors in style. The Marlborough was built in 1903, with the Blenheim constructed next door a couple of years later. The Bally Atlantic City would later reside at the location previously occupied by the Marlborough-Blenheim.
This card isn’t postmarked, but judging from the cars and clothes I’d guess it to be from the early ’70s. This facility is still in operation today. On the back:
MAGIC VALLEY TRAILER PARK
On Business Hwy. 83, Weslaco, Texas 78596
Phone (512) 968-8242
“The park in the Valley designed especially for Recreational Vehicles – in a semi-tropical setting, with 600 spaces.
An adult park offering lighted Shuffleboard Courts, Heated Swimming Pool, Therapeutic Pool, Billiards, Horseshoes, Bingo, Cards, Movies, Square and Round Dancing, Spanish Lessons, and Workshops.
Field Trips and Bus Tours arranged.
Golf Courses and Fresh or Salt Water Fishing nearby. Ten minutes from Old Mexico, Less than an hour from the Gulf.
No Dogs Allowed.”
This comic cat postcard is unmailed and has no indication of the publisher. It probably dates from the 1940s or ’50s.
Mailed from St. Petersburg on January 24, 1950, this card features four premier hotels. On the back:
“The Vinoy Park, Soreno, Don Caesar and Princess Martha Hotels are amongst St. Petersburgs Leading Hotels. They are modern hotels in every respect and do credit to the West Coast of Florida. In these Hostelries you find guests from all parts of the Country throughout the Winter months.”
This particular photograph, one from the family album that I refer to as “Beulah’s Album”, is one of the few with writing on the back, although it’s really too brief to be called a description. It says, “Dormitory – Beulah” and below that has what appears to be the name, “Wm. Robertston”. That name, which could also be interpreted as “Mr. Robertston”, appears on the back of two other photos, but never in pictures with people in them. The word “dormitory” is curious, as I think of the term in connection to college housing, and, while that could be what’s depicted here, it just doesn’t look the part.
