21

I can't imagine this postcard made people want to gamble. The four players look bored, the casino looks empty, and there is something a bit sinister about the lurker in the shadows. The caption, "Legal, state-supervised gambling in Reno, Nevada, is one of the many attractions which draw thousands of tourists each year. A "21" game is pictured here in one of the city's many hotels and clubs." The publisher, "A MIKE ROBERTS COLOR PRODUCTION, BERKELEY 2, CALIF. Distributed by Sierra News Co., Reno." Thousands of tourists?

Fanny Takes It Off

As I've noted before, I spent decades working in photo labs and I never had a week go by where I didn't print at least one amateur pin-up, naked wife or girl friend, nude man, people having sex or a surprisingly large amount of cross dressing. People like to play, they like to take pictures, and they like to pass them around. It's human nature, and by the look of these two photos, it's been that way for along time. The name "Fanny" is written on the back of each print.

The Epworth League Album 19, By the Sea

In my imagination this lady and her family got on a train in Iowa or Missouri, and travelled west over higher mountains than they could ever envision. They got to southern California, set up their new home and then one weekend, put on their best clothes, got on the street car and went to see the Pacific, and they were awed. I grew up in the age of photography, movies and television and knew what to expect when I saw the Pacific Ocean for the first time. I wasn't awed, and that's a terrible thing.

The Epworth League Album 18, Hats

What can I say. Gotta love those hats!

The Epworth League Album 17, Back Home

I have to wonder if the two faded prints are from back home in the mid-west. There's a lot of old growth, far more than there would be around a new home in a new neighborhood. Remember, click on Epworth League in the labels section to bring up everything to date. Start with the first post and see the album in order.

The Epworth League Album 16, Another River

Pay attention to the photo with the ragged borders. More to come. On the second, the far ridge line is the San Gabriel Mountains and the closer ridge line looks like the Verdugo Mountians. If I'm right, then these three people are next to the Los Angeles River, very likely near where I live.

The Epworth League Album 15, Contrasts

In the novel Mildred Peirce by James M. Cain, much is made of the differences between Pasadena and Glendale, California. Pasadena is the city of old money and social position. Glendale is the city of a nascent middle class and social ambition. I do a lot of cycling in the L.A. area and I've ridden by the intersection shown in the first picture and while I'm not sure, I think it's in San Marino, a wealthy city on the southern edge of Pasadena. Some of the other photos show the type of house that was built for the new residents moving to southern California. Quickly built, smallish and moderately priced, just the type of home that once could be found lining every street in Glendale.