The Orchestra Promenade

The Kansas City Municipal Auditorium was one of the buildings built in 1934 as part of a "Ten Year Plan" championed by various local politicians including Harry S. Truman and Thomas Pendergast. Other buildings in the plan included the Kansas City City Hall and the Kansas City branch of the Jackson County Courthouse.

The streamline moderne architecture was designed by the lead architectural firm of Gentry, Voskamp & Neville to appeal to new visitors with cool and confident restraint. True to its name, the style promised to envelop the visitor in modernity, assuring him/her that Kansas City was a rising star in the country, a place to recommend to friends and colleagues. When the building opened in 1935, it was called by the Architectural Record "one of the 10 best buildings of the world that year" In 2000, the Princeton Architectural Press called it one of the 500 most important architectural works in the United States
The Auditorium is now part of the Kansas City Convention Center, but I don't know if this beautiful lobby survives. Can any locals help us out?

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Municipal_Auditorium_(Kansas_City)#cite_note-4

In Memory of Sophie

This past weekend, our family had to put down Sophie, our 14-year old Bichon Frise, after a long decline in health. Especially tough for us was the fact that 3 out of 4 of us were attending a wedding half-way across the country and had to make a decision about euthanizing her on the phone, without the chance to properly say goodbye.

Here are several real photo postcards, about 100 years old, of Bichons or similar dogs. Hopefully Sophie has met up with them as she "crossed the Rainbow Bridge," and they are having a great time together!

Here's a portrait of "Bonnie" and "Dot," made in 1913...

And here's our Sophie... who we're missing very much.

Mandolin Band

A "real photo" gem from my collection of musicians. This mandolin band is posed in the studio with their instruments, festooned with sashes tied to the end of the necks. There's no information on the back of the card, so we don't know anything about these mystery players. Regardless, they will now live on forever (or as long as the internet lasts)!

Mel's TV - Then and Now

This great chrome postcard is advertising Mel's TV, in Venice, California. Lots of details on the back, including:

"Quality Sales and Service Since 1950. The right place to buy.. New Packard Bell T. V. - Radio - Hi Fi. New Webcor & V. M Phonos & Recorders. Used T. V.s with a money-back guarantee. Budget Terms."

Wonder whatever happened to the place? Now, it's a Thai restaurant! Am I sure of that? Yes Siam!!