Pool Party!

Come with me to the Catskills for a Pool Party!

The top card is from the Hotel Zeiger in Fallsburg, NY.  The back of this card advertises "Best in entertainment -- sports -- accommodations and cuisine.  Dietary laws observed.  Beautiful Aquacade Pool and Sun Deck."  This resort later became the Eldorado, then the Palms.  Some say it then became a religious bungalow colony, but for the most part it's abandoned.

The middle card is from the Concord Hotel in Kiamesha Lake, NY.  At its peak, it had 1,500 rooms and was one of the larger hotels in the Catskills.  For sad pictures of this resort in ruins, use this link: http://www.uer.ca/~bratchny/catskills/12530/.  As of recently, however, Concord owner Louis Cappelli has been negotiating with the casino company Mohegan Sun to revive his defunct luxury hotel and racino plan on the site of the one-time jewel of Catskill resorts.  Let's see what the future brings!

The bottom card is from the Raleigh Hotel, in South Fallsburg, NY, another Catskill classic.  This one is still in business, focusing on Orthodox Jewish clientele.  Surprise!

Beach Time!

Memorial Day Weekend is the start of the Summer Tourist Season in Maine.  A great place to visit is Old Orchard Beach, a pristine white sand beach that has been hosting summer visitors since the 1860's.

The newest of this trio of cards is the linen one, with the dozen bathing beauties -- a dozen good reasons to visit Old Orchard Beach, so the card claims.

Slightly older is the middle card, the white border card of children enjoying their ponies on the beach.  Throughout its life, the beach has not only been home to ponies, but to airplane and automobile races as well.

The oldest card is postmarked 1908.  Like the first,it shows swimmers in the beach garb of the day.  Slightly more coverage than today!

Two Men - Two Guitars

I know nothing about these two men, posing with their guitars, in front of an old horse-drawn wagon.  They look proud -- the man on the right is nearly smirking.  I wonder how they sound?

Twin Lobsters

Here's a pair of lobster postcards to whet our appetites for these delectable crustaceans!

The first is a nice linen card from Boone's Restaurant in Portland, Maine, my home town.  The locals don't eat at Boone's -- it's for the tourists, so the man with the bib on is definately "from away."

The second card is from Eugene's Seafood, at the Hotel Juneau in Milwaukee.  I have seen other postcards on the web for Eugene's, but this is the only one I've seen with a photo of him and his trusty manager Mrs. J. W. Pfeifer.  The back has a nice description of the place:

When in Milwaukee, Stop at...Eugene's Hotel Juneau.  Milwaukee's Lake Cooled All Modern Hotel.  807-15 East Wisconsin Avenue.  Downtown overlooking the Lake.  Beautiful Juneau Park, Elks Club and one-half block from C. & N. W. Depot.  Rates with bath $1.75 and up; without bath less.  Convenient parking space.  Famous for sea food.  No larger variety anywhere.  Air conditioned dining rooms. Coffee Shop, Tavern and Lobby.  Recommended by Duncan Hines.

Linen Hotel Trio

Here's a trio of great linen hotel postcards from a recent purchase.  All have interesting deco graphic design. 

At the top is the Hotel Connor of Joplin, Mo.  There's a fascinating, but tragic story that goes along with this hotel -- in 1978, it was being prepared to be demolished, and the day before the demolition a crew went inside to salvage some of the architectural details.  While they were inside the building, it spontaneously collapsed, having been purposely weakened in preparation for the demolition.  Two men died, and one survived, spending 3 days buried in the rubble of the hotel until being rescued.  More information is here:  Buried Alive , including a news report where they dragged the poor survivor to the original site (now a library with a display case of Hotel Connor lore), so he could reminisce for them. 

As a bonus, I included two more nice cards. There's the Hotel Chicagoan from the Windy City, showing off its sign, the Lounge, and a "typical bedroom."  And finally, it's the Battle House Hotel of Mobile, AL.  It's still there -- now as the Battle House Renaissance Mobile Hotel & Spa!  Enjoy!