Nostalgia

Ah nostalgia.  Do we all long for a simpler time and see that time as so much better than what we have now? The original photograph for this card was probably taken around 1910, give or take a year or two in either direction.  But it was mailed in 1940.  Did the lady who mailed it think about a looming world war and say to herself, "If only we could all go back,"  conveniently forgetting that World War 1 was just a few years in the future when this image was taken?  It's human nature to remember better times that never where.

Postmarked, "CANANDAIGUA N.Y. JUN 17 12:30 PM 1940"  Sent to "Miss L. Smith, 341 Maple Ave., Oradell, New Jersey"  And the message, "Greetings to all the Chapter and congratulations to the new sister.  Hope we have many more.  Alana T. Wallis"   I would guess that the chapter was a college sorority, but I suppose it could also be some sort of club.

Canandaigua is a bit confusing because there is both a Canandaigua city and a Canandaigua town,  they border each other, and each is on Canandaigua Lake.  Now if the city was big while the town was small, it might make some sense, but they're both about the same size.  I wonder if the urbanites look down on the townies?  Famous Canandaiguans include painter Arthur Dove and comedian Kristen Wiig.

Horse

Now here's a mystery.  Why would anyone make a postcard from this nag?  He's not a race horse.  No, this horse is a working horse, made obsolete by tractors and cheap fuel.  This one's a pretty old card, from back in the day when farmers worked their horses and didn't think of them as a family pet.  Maybe the owner of this animal had a soft spot and liked his livestock.  Maybe after his working life this horse was retired to the back pasture.  More likely, when this photo was taken, the farmer/owner was thinking of how much money he could get for old Jughead.  Take a look at this card and make an offer.  Jughead can still pull a plow, a wagon, and if that doesn't work, there's always the slaughterhouse.

Greer Garson

This is it.  In the past week or so, I've been putting up a few Hollywood celebrity postcards, and this is the last one I have.

I have to admit, Greer Garson isn't an actress that comes to mind when I think of classic movies.  The only movie of hers that I can remember is Mrs. Miniver, an overly sentimental film about a brave family during the London blitz.  In the end, actors and actresses aren't remembered for their acting, they're remembered for their movies.  Garson was a huge star in the forties, with five straight Academy Award nominations from 1941 to 1945, but didn't make that many memorable films.  There would eventually be seven nominations total, with one win, the already mentioned Mrs. Miniver.

She was born Eileen Evelyn Greer Garson in England in 1904.  She was, for her day, a very well educated woman, attended King's College, London, and the University Of Grenoble, France, with  degrees in French and 18th century literature.  Garson's intention was to teach, but ended up working for an advertising agency.  Her acting career started in amateur stage productions, she joined some repertory companies, did some experimental television productions in the late thirties and was discovered, and signed to a contract by MGM after being spotted by Samuel Goldwyn while on a talent scouting trip.  Her first film was Goodbye Mr. Chips, made in 1939.  Her last theatrical film was The Happiest Millionaire in 1968.  She continued making occasional TV appearances, the last, Little Women, in 1978.   She became a naturalized American citizen and died in Texas in 1996.

Garson was married three times.  Her second husband, the actor Richard Ney played her son in Mrs. Miniver.  Her third husband was Texas oilman Buddy Fogelson.

Greetings From North Bessemer

I gotta say, I've been to North Bessemer, Pennsylvania, and I wasn't impressed.

The message on the back, "Dear Helane,  I discovered you forgot cover but I thought I would send it home with Peurle on Sunday.  But I believe I will mail it to you at once.  Hershell was dissapointed he said I want my Helane to come back. We have a big circus in our town today.  Today I wish you could see it.  Grace"

Mailed to "Miss Helane Kohou, 935 Jerome St., McKeesport, Pa.  And the postmark, "UNITY STATION, PA  AUG 23, 3PM 1916"  I've also been to Unity Township, formally Unity Station, near Plum Township as well as McKeesport.  Again, not impressed.  The real question is how this postcard ended up in an antique shop in Pasadena, CA.  And finally, did Helane and Hershell ever get together?

Bing Crosby

How can a man be as well known, and as forgotten, as Bing Crosby?  There aren't many Americans who haven't heard the song White Christmas, and while It's A Wonderful Life has supplanted White Christmas, the movie, as the favorite TV Christmas special, it's still very popular.  But who remembers Bing Crosby the musical innovator?

I've been collecting 78 rpm recordings for decades and at first, if Crosby's name was on the label, I passed.  Then one day, I got a load of Crosby records as part of a larger lot and began listening.  What a revelation.  This beautiful bass-baritone voice that sang in an almost conversational style.  I was hooked, a Bing Crosby fan for life.   Too, as I listened, I noticed something else.  It was like there were two periods of music.  PB, pre- Bing, and AB, after Bing.  The style didn't exist before Bing Crosby came along.  I can remember a conversation I had with another fan.  He told me that there were changes in the technology of recording about the time that Crosby arrived on the scene that made it possible to capture the tonal range in his voice, and that was the reason for the change in popular musical styles. That always seemed specious to me, so I've never done any research into the claim, but I pass it along for what it 's worth.

And a quick note on Bing Crosby the actor.  Based on number of tickets sold, Crosby is the third most popular movie actor in history, behind Clark Gable and John Wayne.  Once I became a fan of the music, I started watching the movies.  White Christmas, of course, (For the record, I prefer it to It's A Wonderful Life), Holiday Inn and some of the other musicals, but also the road movies with Bob Hope.  The humor still holds up quite well.  At least in my opinion.

Bing Crosby was born Harry Lillis Crosby in 1903, in Tacoma Washington.  He began singing professionally while still in high school.  His first big success was as a member of The Rhythm Boys with the Paul Whiteman Orchestra.  Depending on the source, Crosby either quit to go solo, or was fired because of his drinking and marijuana use.  His first wife was the actress Dixie Lee.  They had four sons, two of whom, Dennis and Lindsay,  committed suicide.  A third son,  Gary wrote a tell all book accusing his father of being physically and emotionally abusive.  Philip, twin brother of Dennis,  died of natural causes.  Crosby had three more children with his second wife, Kathryn.  Harry Jr., Nathaniel, and Mary.  Bing Crosby died of a heart attack in 1977, in Madrid, Spain.

The Famous Sunshine Benches of St. Petersburg

Florida, not Russia.  It's amazing how an old postcard can lead you into the depths of strange, useless trivia.  I went to Google and typed in sunshine benches, St. Petersburg, not really expecting much.  I figured this card was nothing more than an advertisement for a bank, First Federal Savings, painted on the one bench. Was I wrong.  St. Petersburg was once was known as the city of green benches.  Way back when, in the first decade of the twentieth century, a local real estate agent put a couple of green benches in front of his office.  They became so popular with passers by, that in 1916, the St. Pete city council decided to install benches all over the downtown business district, that they all had to be green, and they all had to be the same size.  Now I can't imagine that sitting on a bench, next to parked cars, in Florida, especially in the summer was a pleasant experience, but it seems my imagination is a bit faulty on this one.  But unforeseen problems do have a habit of rearing their ugly head.  It seems that the benches attracted the wrong sort of people.  No, not criminals.  Not drug dealers.  Not unruly teens, smoking and making rude comments to proper young ladies.  The benches attracted the elderly.  Old people sitting in the sun, not spending money.  Just imagine, old people in Florida!  In the early sixties, someone on the city council came up with the bright idea of painting the benches in pastels.  Surely orange, yellow, and pink benches would attract shoppers with money to spend.  Didn't work.  In 1967, by order of the city, all the benches were removed.  The old people did not go away.  And that is how civilizations fall.

The message on the back, "Feb 12th Hope you are feeling fine again from your opperation the 16th we are going over to visit the Pedricks.  I am having a nice time and feeling fine.  We are having a lot of rain. Love Aunt Irene."  Mailed to "Mr. & Mrs. B. J. March & Buddy, Road, Schwenksville, R.D. 2, Pa."  And the postmark, "PINELLAS PARK, FLA  FEB. 13, 1964"

Lana Turner

Imagine.  It's the 1940s and you've saved your money so  you can visit Hollywood.  You go to the restaurants you've read about in the fan magazines.  You hang out at the studio gates, and take the tour bus to the home's of the stars.  And in the end, the only movie stars you see are the ones on the postcards sold at the corner news stand.  Remember, it's Hollywood, where people make up stories for a living.  The folks back home can be told anything, and who's the wiser.

Oh Lana Turner, what a life she lead.  Born in 1921 in Wallace, Idaho, as Julia Jean Turner, she moved with her family to sunny southern California when still a child.  No, she wasn't discovered at Schwab's Drug Store, but at a small cafe near Hollywood High School.  The rewards of skipping class.  She made a lot of movies in her career, and by any standard  was a successful actress.  A lot of those films were good movies and a couple have withstood the test of time.  Most notably, The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946), The Bad and the Beautiful (1952), and Imitation of Life (1959).  Unlike a lot of glamour girls, Turner could act, and while the parts disappeared as she aged, she never officially retired.  Eventually she would make her way to television and make a notable turn on the night time soap, Falcon Crest.  Her last movie was Thwarted, a low budget film made in Florida.  It was made in 1991, just a few years before her death in 1995.

Lana Turner also had an adventurous private life, going through seven husbands, and more than a few lovers.   To put it mildly, she didn't always make the best choices.  There were husbands that hadn't gotten around to divorcing previous wives.  Physically abusive husbands, including one, actor Lex Barker, who was alleged to have  raped Lana's teen aged daughter, Cheryl Crane.  And then there was boyfriend, Johnny Stomponato.  Stomponato was a gangster and member of the Mickey Cohen crime family.  Lana and Johnny took up  in 1957.  Lana tried to break things off, but Johnny Stomponato wasn't the type of man to leave when asked.  In 1957, Lana took a part in a movie being made in England, Another Time, Another Place, opposite a young Sean Connery.  Johnny followed her to England and  confronted Connery with a gun.  Sean Connery decked Stomponato with one punch, disarmed him, and turned him over to the police.  When Lana Turner returned to Hollywood, Johnny Stomponato was waiting for her.  And then he was dead, stabbed to death in Lana Turner's house.  The official story is that Stomponato was beating her and that Lana's daughter, Cheryl, stabbed Stomponato, defending her mother's life.  But of course, it's a Hollywood story, so there are rumors of murky cover-ups.  The most popular is that Lana and Johnny had reconciled, that things had gotten rough, and that Lana did the stabbing, and that after consultation with studio lawyers and publicity men, it was decided that Cheryl should take the blame to save her mother's career.  In 1958, the  DA decided that Cheryl Crane's actions were justified and no charges were filed.

I Want What I Want...

...When I Want it.  I'm not even going to try and make out what's written on the back of this card.  It's just too faded.  I'd criticize the writer for not using a more permanent ink, but then again, the writer probably assumed that this card would be thrown away fairly quickly.  I wonder just how racy this was when it was purchased.

Aunt Fronia

I bought this real photo postcard at the same time, and from the same dealer, as the previous post.  The handwriting on the back is similar, but in my opinion, not a close enough match to be sure that they are related.  And the caption, "Aunt Fronia Kerney and half sister Laura."

Little Pauline

Another real photo postcard.  Labeled "Pauline Fay Buckner."  My mother would go crazy when I sat on a chair like this.

Four Chums

I'm going to do postcards for awhile.  Sooner or latter I'll get tired of it and move on to snapshots, or photo albums, or something else.  But for the time being, it's all postcards all the time.  Just a bit on dating early postcards.  Up until 1898, the U.S. Post Office, in the United States, had a monopoly on the printing of postcards.  After 1898, private publishers and individuals were allowed to make cards, but the post office retained control over the term postcard so privately produced cards were referred to as private mailing cards.  After 1901, the post office ceded it's exclusive use of the word postcard.  Up until 1907, it was against postal regulations to write anything on the back of a card, except the address.  Cards had undivided backs, lacking the line that divided the address from the area allowed for messages.  So, this is a privately produced card, labeled postcard, with an undivided back, so it should have been made between 1901 and 1907.  That is if the person who printed this card hadn't saved a box of card stock for a decade or two.

Written on the back, "Ruby"

Come on in the water's fine.

It's the middle of winter, so I thought I'd just put up a reminder of the summer ahead.  This real photo postcard was addressed to. "Miss Alberta Simmonds, Clinton, Tenn." but never stamped or mailed.  I guess Clinton was small enough back then that a street address wasn't necessary.

Hotel Semiramis, Damascus, Syria, 1955

I admit it.  As postcards go, this one isn't all that impressive.  But, when I saw that it was from Syria, I thought I should pick it up.  The Hotel Semiramis is still in business and, as of right now, taking reservations.  Of course, how much longer that will last is any one's guess.  I've got a funny feeling that a good portion of Damascus will be in ruins before the last of the Assad family flees or is killed.

Printed on the back, "Damascus-Semiramis Hotel"  "Reproduction Interdite Photo Deposee"  Vraie Photographie Printed in Lebanon"  "Photo Sport-Bab Edriss-Souk Seyour-Beyrouth"  The French shouldn't be too surprising.  During the first world war, France and Great Britain publicly supported the Arab revolt, but secretly negotiated the Sykes-Picot Agreement that divided the non Turkish parts of the Ottoman Empire into French and British spheres of interest.  In a nutshell, modern day Lebanon and Syria became de facto French colonies. Lebanon and Syria wouldn't gain their independence until 1948.

There are a number of Semiramis hotels in the eastern Mediterranean and Arab states.

The Swedish Snowman

Arghhh....The computer has been down for awhile.  About a week ago I logged on and a window popped up informing me that my computer was infected with all sorts of nasty intruders.  Windows XP security, and since I use Windows XP I followed the prompts.  Right up until I was asked for a credit card number.  Well, it doesn't take a computer genius (I'm not even close.) to know it was scam time.  And then, all of a sudden, inexplicably, the scam window disappeared and I'm back in business.  I suspect the virus is still hidden somewhere deep in the digital world that we all inhabit, but since I can't afford to get it removed by someone who knows what they're doing (Not me.) I'm just cruising along hoping for the best.

So, today's entry.  It's cold and there's snow in the local mountains.  The San Gabriel Mountains of Los Angeles County.   Anyway, this image looked appropriate for winter weather.  I think it's Swedish.  Translations welcome.  I'll try and mix in some warmer photos over the next few months.

Swedes In America

Are there any Swedes out there?  I'm not even going to try and translate this one.  I assume it's in Swedish because it was mailed from the United States to Broby, a town in southern Sweden.  I'm not even sure from where in the U.S.  The image is from southern California.  The publisher is M. Rieder, a company in business from 1901 to 1915, located in Los Angeles, but the postmark....well, I think it's from Michigan, but I'm not even sure of that.  Did a Swedish immigrant pass through L.A. on his way to Michigan and send a card to those he left behind at home?   I would say that's most probable, but it's not the only possible explanation.  Los Angeles is a seaport, and there are also ports on Lake Michigan that service international shipping.  So, perhaps, a sailor.  Then again, the sender of this postcard might have been a tourist.  1906 seems far back in time, but like today, there were plenty of international travelers who just roamed for the sake of seeing the world.  And that's why I need someone who can decipher the handwriting and translate it into English.  It's the only way I'll know the who and the why of this message.

We have a partial translation from J'lee.  Click on  comment at the bottom to read what she has found out.  It seems Nils, in Wallace, Michigan is trying to send something to his sister Sigrid, in Sweden.  Whatever it is, it has to be well packed.  Wallace is the name of two occupied places in Michigan.  One on the southern, upper peninsula, and one not.  And I've double checked.  The entire card is visible on the post.

Los Angeles Civic Center

Yet another linen postcard of downtown Los Angeles.  Take a close look at the the very tall building, the Los Angeles City Hall.  The original photograph was  in black & white and it looks like it had some separation problems.  The tower is white and against a sunny sky, white objects in black & white photos have a tendency to merge into the background.  One way to solve that problem is to draw in an edge line.  Click on the image to bring it up in a larger window and it's obvious that the person who added  color to the image also drew  a black line around the building.

The Los Angeles City Hall was designed by John Parkinson,  (The designer of the Rosslyn Hotel from the previous post.) Albert C. Martin, and John C. Austin.   It opened in 1928 and at the time, at 32 floors and 457 feet,  was the tallest building in L.A.  Until the late 1950's the L.A. City Charter limited building to 150 feet, excluding decorative towers.  City Hall was the tallest building in the city until 1964.  Today, the 73 story U.S. Bank Tower,  at 1018 feet,  is the tallest building in Los Angeles City, Los Angeles County, and the state of California.

The message on the back, "Well, here journey's end where to go from here?  Arrived here 7:00 A.M. Wed. still raring to go, don't want to stop anyplace. Spent a day in Frisco, had to leave, too cold.  George"  Mailed to "Bob R. Sudnick, 52 Piquette St., Detroit, Michigan"  And the postmark, "10 LOS ANGELES CALIF, AUG 6 12 P.M. 1941"  

What a date.  The middle of 1941 meant one thing to  American men and  women.  The last few months of peace before Pearl Harbor.  George was enjoying his trip.  Who knows.  It might have been his first chance to travel.  Six months latter and he was probably off to a military base and then Europe or the south Pacific.  When I read the messages on these old postcards  I always wonder if the writer survived the next five years.

The New Hotel Rosslyn

I went back and forth about this postcard.  I try and limit things on The New Found Photography to actual photographs or images based on photos.  At first I couldn't make up my mind.  Was this postcard a drawing or was it a hand colored and heavily manipulated photograph converted to a card.  In the end, after looking close with my best magnifying glass, I decided that all the fine detail that can be seen on the building's facades  indicated photo, so here it is.

Finding the history of The Hotel Rosslyn was a bit tougher than I expected.  In separate articles, I found dates of 1911, 1912, and 1913 for the main building's opening.  1913 was the only date that I could find that was mentioned multiple times, so I'm going with '13.  The annex opened in 1923.  (At least there was agreement on that date.)  I also found mention of an addition that burned down in the early 1940's.   Both the main building and the annex were designed by architect John Parkinson.

When the Rosslyn was built, Fifth and Main was the financial center of Los Angeles.   After World War 2, the banking and business hub of downtown L.A. moved west and north and the former banking district slowly went into decline and eventually became a haven for the down and outers, drunks, and drug users, prostitutes, hustlers, and petty criminals.  In 1959, the main hotel closed. It reopened in 1979 with a different name, The Frontier, but the new owners either couldn't afford,or didn't care enough, to change the outside signs.  A good thing, since one of the great things about both buildings are the large roof top neon signs.  Watch enough television, and some cop show will have a fight scene on the roof, with the sign framework in the background.  It must have been confusing having a Frontier Hotel signed Hotel Rosslyn right across the street from the actual Hotel Rosslyn, that was originally the Hotel Rosslyn Annex.

This card was postmarked "LONG BEACH, CALIF, FEB  4, 1:30 PM, 1935"  Judging by the message, the Rosslyn's decline was still in the future.  "Dear Donna, This is where mother and Esther stayed last night.  We have the grandest time here.  Love, Mother."  Addressed to, "Donna Wilson, 2946 Russell Ave. No., Minneapolis, Minn."  And somehow or another it made it's way back to L.A.

And now for my own remembrance of the Rosslyn.  When I was in my mid twenties, and first arrived in Los Angeles, I spent a couple of nights at the hotel.  It was an experience.  I can remember getting out of bed when I heard a lady weeping in the hallway outside my room.  I took a quick look and saw a woman leaning against the wall, shabbily dressed, with a platinum blond wig, crying.  A few hours latter, another woman knocked on my door and asked if I wanted to party.  And she'd only charge me twenty bucks!  The second night of my stay, water started coming through the ceiling.  I found out, the next morning, that my upstairs neighbor had died of a drug overdose while filling the bathtub.  Two nights were enough for me.

Today the main building has been converted into lofts.  Micro lofts starting at $789 per month.  The annex is still a hotel.

More From the Brewers

More from the Brewers of Ohio.  This is the third postcard I've found from this traveling family.  This one is addressed to "F.A. Brewer, 623 N. St. Clair, Painsville, Ohio"  I've managed to confirm that F.A. Brewer is Frank A. Brewer, born in Painsville, Ohio on May 30, 1891.  There were quite a few Brewers born at about the same time.  But who sent this postcard?  The message, "Feeling fine.  Had good milk. Children good, not tired, getting in Chicago.  Will write soon.  C.B."  And added latter, "10 P.M. getting on train in Chicago."  Not exactly florid prose.  C.B. could be Frank's sister Carrie  or perhaps Frank's wife.  Impossible to tell.  The card was postmarked "CHICAGO ILL OCT 9 1928"  If C.B. and the kids were on their way to Painsville, did they beat the postcard?

Click on Brewer in the labels section to bring up the other cards.

Another Brewer Postcard

On September 6,  I published a postcard written by Frank Brewer while he was at Camp Gordon, probably during World War 1.  Like the earlier postcard, this card isn't stamped or  addressed but does  have a  written message. So, each may have been sent in an envelope.   Signed "Brewer" the hand writing on this card seems similar but has enough differences that it might have been written by a different Brewer family member.  Too, the earlier card was full of misspellings, and this one isn't.

The message,

"Dear Friend,

 I am going to make a move in a day or so.  Over to the gulf coast somewhere.  Will let you know my new address when I get there.

This place is fine but I want to look around some.

As ever,

Brewer"

If nothing else, the Brewers get around.  Click on Brewer in the labels section to see both postcards.

Summer Camp

A postcard, and the caption, "CAMP NOTRE DAME, Lake Spofford, Spofford, New Hampshire An interior view of a typical cabin."

I'm not going to write much about the whole summer camp experience. I came from small town, rural poverty and  never went to summer camp.  I had a shot at church camp one year, but the whole atheism thing shot that one down real fast.  Anyway, no first hand knowledge and since most people are aware that summer camps were where city folks shipped the kids for a bit of rural, summer fun....Well, I'll leave it at that.

I went to Google and ran a search for Camp Notre Dame.  I didn't find a website, so I'm guessing that this particular summer camp went belly up.  I did find a listing for a populated place, government speak for a community too small for town status, so the old cabins might still be there, just no longer being used by happy campers.  I also searched the names carved in the cabin rafters.  The only real hit was for Conrad Ambrette, a lawyer from Darrien, Connecticut, born in New York City in 1947.  It might not be him, but the age is about right.