Pierpoint Landing

 

This postcard was never sent, so I don't have an exact date that I can reference in this post.  Just going by the cars, I'm thinking sometime in the 1950s to the early sixties.  I have one clue, the identity of the publisher.  "X.45 WESTERN PUBL. & NOV. CO., 259 SO. LOS ANGELES ST., L.A. CALIF."  The hint is that there is no zip code, which were first used in 1963.  Pierpoint Landing was a sport fishing venue with some kiddie rides and exhibits that was in business from 1948 to 1972.  And the caption on the back, "PIERPOINT LANDING LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA. The landing at the tip of Pier A draws nearly as many spectators as fishermen. There are many shops and cafes here as well as live fish and seal exhibits." The Long Beach inner harbor is far different now. 

The Other Side of the Gang

Of course, there's no way of knowing if this picture was taken at the same time and location as the photos on the other side.  Still, Sherry trout fishing near Casper, Wyoming in 1922 is nice to know.  Now for an interesting question.  Casper, Wyoming was built on the site of Fort Caspar.  Who changed the spelling?

Fishing In Florida 3

Those are really big fish.  I'm fascinated by the musicians in the fourth photo.  Were they hired to provide entertainment for a fishing trip, or did they hang around the docks hoping for a tip for a song or two?

Fishing In Florida 2

There is only one photo in this entire collection that has any labeling, the third in the column.  "Dugger"  I'm assuming that's the name of the man in the picture.

Fishing In Florida 1

All I know about these snapshots is that they are from Florida.  My guess is that the collection comes from the twenties or thirties.  I keep reading that commercial sport fishing is on the decline because there are fewer and fewer really large fish.

The Green Album 2

It looks like the same location as the first post in this series.  Click on The Green Album in labels.

Flying Fish

These could have been taken anywhere with palm trees, but I'm betting on Florida.  After all, that was, and still is, the retirement dream for a lot of Americans.  Love the hats in the first photo.  Dated "APR 71"

Trout Fishing In America

Anyone out there remember the rather strange novel by Richard Brautigan?

Click on the image and bring it up in a larger window to see the nice fly fishing rod in our angler's left hand.  And in his right, a cigar.  I purchased this photo at an antique mall in Pasadena, California, and it makes me wonder if this is what Topanga or Malibu Canyon looked like in, let's say, 1910.  Of course, the picture could have been taken anywhere.

Tending Nets

It looks like late nineteenth, early twentieth century, with women readying nets for the two men in the smaller boat.  It's hard to imagine that there was a time when commercial fishermen went to sea in small row boats.  I wonder how many of the women in this photo ended up as widows.

Camping At the Beach

This one is labeled "Palisades," and since I purchased it here, in Los Angeles, I'm guessing Pacific Palisades in Santa Monica.  Things are a lot different today.  Now, The Palisades, is a very upscale, wealthy, neighborhood.  Except for live-in staff, there aren't many people with an income less than the mid six figures living there.  Too, camping at the beach has become a good way to get arrested.

I get why camping at the beach is a bad idea.  There are too many people in L.A. to allow tents, camp fires, and long term parking along Pacific Coast Highway.  Still, wouldn't it be great to drive to the beach, pitch a tent, and just hang out by the beach for a few days.

Bait

For those of us of a certain age, there is a tendency to wonder why modern parents name their kids things like Dakota, Topanga, Madison, and a whole host of other semi-unique names.  I mean, what's wrong with Johnny, Cathy, or Bobby?  And then, I see an old postcard, and I realize  there is nothing new under the sun.  This card was mailed to "Mr. Bowdoin Horn, Stillwater, Maine."  Bowdoin Horn is such a great name.  It belongs in a Sherlock Holmes story.  Mr. Bowdoin Horn, caught robbing the Bank of England, blackmailing the Queen, stealing the crown jewels.

Postmarked, "MILO ME., OCT 18, 1909, 12 AM"  And the message, "Milo, Me., Oct. the 17, 1909, This is what we've got up in Milo but don't let it make you leave home from your friends.  Fred Ree, Milo, Me."

Click on flirtation and all that.

Another Brewer Postcard

On September 6,  I published a postcard written by Frank Brewer while he was at Camp Gordon, probably during World War 1.  Like the earlier postcard, this card isn't stamped or  addressed but does  have a  written message. So, each may have been sent in an envelope.   Signed "Brewer" the hand writing on this card seems similar but has enough differences that it might have been written by a different Brewer family member.  Too, the earlier card was full of misspellings, and this one isn't.

The message,

"Dear Friend,

 I am going to make a move in a day or so.  Over to the gulf coast somewhere.  Will let you know my new address when I get there.

This place is fine but I want to look around some.

As ever,

Brewer"

If nothing else, the Brewers get around.  Click on Brewer in the labels section to see both postcards.

Fishing in Color

A very faded color. That's the problem with old color snapshots. They have a tendency to turn pink. At least this guy looks like he had fun, if not a lot of success. Stamped on the back, "THIS IS A KODACOLOR PRINT MADE BY EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY T. M. REGIS. U. S. PAT. OFF. Week Ending Nov. 3, 1956 II Ro 1"

Steamed Crabs on Fisherman's Wharf, S.F.

Addressed to "Lois & Gil Yorba, 110-Morton Ave., Sierra Madre, Cal." This is the second postcard I have, sent to the Yorba family during World War 2. (Navigate back one to see the other.) The great depression and the war were great periods of internal migration in American history. The Yorba family had either family or friends who, at least, got to San Francisco and New York City. If they were like most Americans they knew people who spent time at a military training camp in some other part of the country, working at a war plant far from home, or overseas in Europe or the South Pacific. My father was born in 1919, dropped out of high school in the ninth grade because of the depression. He and his father ended up living in a dug out. (They dug out a flat spot on a hill side, pounded in some planking as a roof, shored it all up, and had an old rug for a door.) Then he ended up a homeless teenager, spending time with both the CCC and WPA. Then it was into the peace time army, then a few months after returning to civilian life, drafted into the war time army. As a cryptographer he never saw combat. but he did live in Iceland, England, France and then Germany. He thought that that was a good thing, and if it hadn't been for the depression and the war, he may have never got further than a few hundred miles from his small, home town.

"One of the principal industries of San Francisco is fishing, and centers around this point. From Fisherman's Wharf the fishing boats leave each morning to make their catches in shell fish and other sea foods. Here one may partake of the freshly caught ocean delicacies in one of the many outdoor stands or in the fine restaurants adjacent." Post marked, "SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF MAY 31 9:30 PM 1944" And the message, "Hello, We are simply eating ourselves in to a stupor but surely enjoying it. Going dancing at the Mark tonite. C you this weekend. Mary & Steve." And written in a different hand with a different ink, 'STAN HAS A NEW CADILLAC!" Of course since the auto industry had been turned over to war work, Stan had a used Cadillac new to him.