Roadside America - Embers Motel Coffee Shop Cars Paris Texas 1960s postcard

Embers Motel Coffee Shop Cars Paris Texas 1960s postcard

A Tribute to Palm Springs California in Postcards & Photos

A tribute to the beauty of Palm Springs, California by Butterfly in the Attic blog - check it out:at http://www.butterflyintheattic.blogspot.com/index.html

There are all sorts of postcards and other fun things to see at Butterfly in the Attic.

Roadside America - White's Motel Court Gettysburg Pennsylvania 1954 linen postcard

White's Motel Court Gettysburg Pennsylvania 1954 linen postcard

Near to the entrance to the National Cemetery at the Gettysburg civil war battlefield, White's Motor Court offered 23 Modern Units with all conveniences - Radio and thermostatically controlled heat. May as well leave the cell phones and iPads at home....

Roadside America - 7 Gables Motel Restaurant Lake Cumberland Burnside Kentucky linen postcard

 7 Gables Motel & Restaurant Burnside Kentucky linen postcard

Visiting Lake Cumberland, KY in the 1950s? Why not pull off US Highway 27 at Burnside and stay the night - comfortable beds, tile baths, air conditioned restaurant open 5 am to 10 pm, serving the finest food in the South.

Electric Shovel Coal Strip Mining Southeastern Kansas linen postcard

Electric Shovel in action Coal Mining in SE Kansas linen postcard

An industrial monster in action as depicted on a linen postcard. Electric powered, the caption on the reverse records this shovel has a 33 cubic yard bucket that is able to uncover coal at a depth of 45 feet. It could complete a cycle performance in 50 seconds.

Let's Go Bowling - Plaza Bowl Kansas City Missouri 1948 linen postcard

 The Plaza Bowl Bowling Alley Kansas City MO linen postcard

Let's Go Bowling at the Plaza Bowl at 430 Alameda Road Kansas City Missouri. This linen postcard showing the Plaza's bowling lanes, is dated 1948 on the reverse.  

Unfortunately as is often the case with such delicate paper or cardboard items it has some creasing that lowers its quality but the image is still a stunning example of some of the better linen postcards produced between 1935 and the early 1960s.

Exchange National Bank Olean New York 1906 postcard

Exchange National Bank of Olean New York 1906 postcard

Interior of the Exchange National Bank of Olean New York

Home town banks were one of the centers of the local community.  They were built in an architectural style that spoke to solidity, security, stability, and permanence.  Your money is safe here! So the bank exterior shouted to an anxious depositor passing by.  But instability came by the stroke of the pen or, today, by the click of mouse.  No amount of marble could underpin that.

Insane Asylum Kankakee Illinois State Hospital

It's been a long time since I last posted...

To kick things off - postcards of a dismal place ... no, I haven't been spending time there!

What was referred to as the insane asylum a century ago.  A popular topic on postcards then - often the sender writes on the back "I spent a night here" or "I hurried on by quickly" - and still popular among collectors today.

Opened in 1879, the hospital underwent several major changes in the course of a century or so, becoming the Samuel H Shapiro Developmental Center in recent decades to serve the developmentally disabled.