L'shanah Tovah

Happy New Year, L'Shanah Tovah to all my Jewish friends.

This recent addition to my collection is one of the less commonly found Jewish New Year cards from the Williamsburg Press, around 1910-1920.  The newspaper salesman is standing before his display of papers, with headlines for the holidays.  The upper left hand corner says "L'Shanah Tovah," which means "Happy New Year."  The one to it's right says "Gut Yom Tov," which is a Yiddish phrase meaning the same thing.  My favorite is the lower left hand corner, which says "Tikeeyah Gadola,"  which is the phrase that is recited in the Synagogue, when the Shofar (Ram's Horn) is blown at the end of services, indicating the musical (?) blast should be long and loud.  More about shofars: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73Qw4HZkZDw and their primitive sound.

I do need help translating the text in the upper right hand corner.  Anyone out there speak Yiddish?

Puttin' on the Ritz

A couple of other Ritz's, that is.

The top linen card, the Ritz of Muldraugh, Kentucky, is advertised as being "completely air-conditioned," and as having a "clean rest room."  It specialized in "Southern style cooking for tourists."

The Ritz Plaza on the bottom is located in Terre Haute, Indiana.  It was right next to the Howard Johnson's, and had RCA 21" televisions in all the rooms, not to mention wall-to-wall carpeting.

Two great examples aspiring, but not quite reaching the caliber of the real Ritz's, which were the hotels in the Ritz-Carlton chain starting way back in 1918!

All Hail Caesar!

Once upon a time, Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas may have been a little bit alone on the Strip.  The place wasn't as built up, back when this postcard was produced just after 1966, when it opened.  But, did it really look that desolate back then?

I don't think so!  Look closely, and I think you'll agree.  The desert background, in both top and bottom shots, is exactly the same.  The crafty graphic designer cut out the two views of the hotel (old school, way before Photoshop, way before personal computers) and plopped them onto the same background.  It's especially obvious on the left hand side of the pictures, where you can see the same mountain rise in the distance, and the same road going off into the vanishing point with an asphalt area to its left!  Maybe this would be an acceptable practice for pictures on two different postcards, but for two pictures on the same postcard?  This graphic artist should have had his license revoked!!

Accordion Time

As the back of this card from the 50's-60's says, "Introduce your child now to the delight and satisfaction of the accordion."

Or, just give 'em an iPad.  The more things change, the more they stay the same (or is the other way around??)