Polarine From Standard Oil

Even though this postcard is of a Detroit city bus, it was mailed from and to Kansas City. The postmarks, for sending and receiving are both "KANSAS CITY NOV 5 1911" The times are "7-PM" and "8-PM" Mailed and sent to the same post office. It's addressed to "Mr Raymon Walker, MC book" No street address or city name, so it might have gone to a box in the building, or it was for counter pick up, or the mail man knew everyone on his route. And the message, "Mr. Walker, Dear friend thank you verry much for your remembrance towards me. Will leave KC November the 6th for Va by the way of Atlanta, Georgia. Your G. McWilliams" Mr Walker, Dear friend, a strange mixture of the formal and familiar. And he misspelled dear friend's first name. Very strange.

Dinner at The Mark Twain Hotel

This image was a throw in on some loose pictures I bought. At first I didn't give it much thought, but after awhile it kind of grew on me. I liked the mountain of spaghetti in front of the older woman. It reminded me of the cheap Italian restaurants that could be found in the coal mining towns around where I grew up. A night out, cheap food, for people who didn't make a lot of money. Too, while it is often possible to really research an image, more often than not, the fun of old photos lies in speculation. Was this a family get together? Friends? An anniversary? Did the bald guy on the right score a younger wife, or is it his daughter? Perhaps it's a great grandmother, son and daughter-in-law, grandson and great grand daughter. Written on the back, "J. Henry Grimm, Mark Twain Hotel, Hannibal, Missouri." I looked it up, and there is a Mark Twain Hotel, still in business, located at 204 Earl St., Hannibal, MO 63401. On the Yahoo site, the user's review notes that it is comfortable and a good value, though there is no place to eat after 10 P.M.