The Pit - Revere Beach

This photograph is from inside the "Nautical Gardens" area of the amusement park at Revere Beach, Massachusetts. Postmarked in 1911, the postcard shows a turntable, which rotated and as it increased in speed threw people off to the edges. A viewer's gallery allowed people to watch as others tried to stay on. Many of these fun-house buildings at amusement parks were made entirely of wood and suffered many fires that burned them to the ground. Additionally, they may not have been especially safe, but in those days people just took the bumps and bruises in stride, pre-our litigious society.

Oh oh! Look what happened to the Pit, on August 28th, 1918 (as reported in the Lewiston, Maine Daily Sun.....

Post Office - Waterville, Maine

This beautiful post office, designed by Treasury Architect James Knox Taylor, was built in 1911. The building was placed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1977 and was sold at auction in 1980 for $112,000. It is now occupied by several businesses including the Mid-Maine Chamber of Commerce and Mainely Brews Tavern.

Mother's Day

Handwritten on the back of this postcard made at home: "My dear Mother, around 1909/10"

Happy Mother's Day!

Big Guy with Axe

This mammoth statue of the mythological, legendary giant Paul Bunyon is in Bangor, Maine. It pays tribute to the men that made this most northerly section of the country (and my home state) famous for its lumber industry.

Other statues of Paul Bunyan were erected in Bemidji, Minnesota, Rumford, Maine, Brainerd, Minnesota, Westwood, California, Del Norte County, California, St. Ignace, Michigan, Ossineke, Michigan, Enchanted Forest Water Safari, New York, and in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, and Minoqua, Wisconsin.