miami bathing beach, 1930s

Summertime! Summertime! Summertime! - Summer's coming, time to start thinking of the beach. Thought this was a very good vintage beach scene. Click to enlarge the picture and note the meticulous 1930s landscaping and sharp looking old autos. Don't know the card date but it was posted from Miami via Air Mail to Belle Mead, NJ at 11:30 pm on Oct 5, 1934.

picture is worth.........

This Bridge and the background city require no introduction. Unless you've lived under a rock! But did you know that the bridge received its name from the gate over which it spans. Yes, the Golden Gate, the opening of San Francisco Bay into the Pacific Ocean. Now for those under the rock, any guesses as to the name of the city.

mother lode country

Been a busy week and I'm guilty of violating the first rule of blogging; failure to post. No excuses, I'll do better.

All right, time for a quiz. Next quiz is: This one should be easy since the title pretty well says it all. The historical area depicted in the Postcard above is located in what state? Being the big spender that I am, the first person to email the correct answer will receive a McDonald's $10 gift certificate. Hey!!! - it'll buy breakfast for two, or maybe three, or even four if you're not overly hungry (or thirsty). Forward your answer by eMail to may09quiz@postcardfile.com .

Also - - - Still awaiting a correct answer to the April 30 quiz. Check the archives to see if you know the body of water in question and send in the answer to either or both.

the pentagon west?

When I first saw this one, thought that maybe 'Jim' either didn't know where he was, or that maybe didn't know where the Pentagon building was located. But, after flipping card over a few times, figured that if he knew he had crossed the Mississippi heading to KC then he somewhat knew where he was. Anyway, note that the Pentagon cost $64 million to build. Wonder what the tab would be today.

old crabs everywhere

Think most towns have more than a few old crabs. This card had not been mailed, however there is a notation on back that says: I 'staid' here mar 8th 1961. Had a flat just before 'reachin' here and just after leaving bought 2 tires. Huh! Anyway, be sure to click on card to enlarge background detail; kinda interesting. Can't quite figure whether or not the gas price was 30 cents. Seems that I might remember it being around there at the time. Do remember that we would drive around half the night on a dollar's worth.

luxury then and now

This Hotel was the Jewel of the World in the 50s. These folks enjoyed their luxurious stay in August of 1957 as I was slaving away as a sophomore in high school. Originally built in the 1920s as The Stevens, the hotel cost the then astronomical sum of $30 million dollars, had 3000 rooms and was the grandest and largest in the world for many, many years. During World War II it was sold to the Army and housed 10,000 air cadets. After several renovations and name changes, in 1984 it was closed for a year and underwent the most comprehensive overhaul in hotel history at a cost of $185 million and resulting in a reduction to 1543 larger and more elegant rooms. Make sure to click on the postcard to enlarge picture so you can note that in 1957 the height of luxury was "radio and television available" and telephone numbers started with a word instead of area code. Today the hotel is known as the Hilton Chicago Hotel and is still the city's premier luxury destination.

thanks to Groceteria

Special thanks go to David Gwinn at groceteria.com. He graciously but unknowingly provided our Greensboro Banner Logo via his very interesting and highly informative Vintage (primarily) Supermarket site. We feel that he'll forgive our little appropriation, considering certain of his blog comments, and that he is a neighboring resident of Winston-Salem and a native of our Greensboro. If anyone is at all interested in things "Vintage", you might want to check out his diverse website. He's been at it, apparently with varying degrees of intensity since 1999, and the site covers a lot of territory in widely divergent areas of the country. And, if nothing else, he'll will entertain you with his language command.

yesterdays quiz, today!

First things first. Apologize for being a day late with the first quiz. Some days things just do not go as planned and yesterday was one of those. Now, first quiz is:

The name of the body of water depicted in Postcard above is_____ _____. The first person to eMail with correct answer will win a food gift certificate(s) for no less than ten dollars nor more then twenty five dollars. Reply by eMail only (not comments link) to: apr30quiz@postcardfile.com. Be sure to include name and mailing address for the mailing of your certificate. Unless the winner declines, details and comments as approprite will be published.

first daily

As our above hairy friend says, we'll be waiting on your pitch, i.e., comments, rants, gripes - - whatever you have on you mind and would like to share with the www community. Send us a favorite postcard, whether purchased or homemade and we'll publish it, along with any comments (keep it clean, please.) Also, tomorrow we'll talk about our first quiz.