Los Angeles via Hurricane, Utah 4

Time for side two of this loose album page.  So, don't blame me because things are crooked.  Who ever put this album together didn't help out by cutting off borders from the individual photos and the seller didn't help either they way they cut the album apart.  Looking at this first row of images I have to wonder if the two guys that appear in so many shots worked at a gas station.  Well before self serve, gas stations, especially in a big city, needed staff.  Too, since most places offered basic mechanical service as well, it would have been a good starting place for two couples newly arrived in L.A.  When I started in on this collection I wrote that I actually recognized a location on this side of the page.  The bridge in the final picture is near Marina del Rey.  Today it's foot traffic and bicycles only.  Take the Ballona Creek Bike Path to the ocean and you'll get there.

Click on LA Hurricane to see more and to understand the title of the collection.

No ICE in Sight

Yes, I know.  The world is very different now from when the original photograph, the basis of this card, was taken.  Still, it's nice to remember that there was once a trolley that connected El Paso, Texas and Juarez, Mexico.  People used it to shop, eat, work, and visit family.  Not a bad way for two neighboring countries to get along.

The Post War European Trip Collection-Berne 3

I'm burning through Bern.  This section presented a bit of a problem as far as scanning goes.  I'd much rather have done each panel individually, but the publisher's choice to put a fold through the middle of the photos took that option off the table.  I don't know about anyone else, but I'd love to see the statue of the baby eating ogre.  I wonder what that says about the Swiss mindset.

As usual click on The Post War European Trip Collection in labels, etc.

Pittsburgh and the Point Bridge

If I had thought this on going series of riverside postcards through, I would have posted this with the the Mount Washington Incline card.  Oh well, the rather spectacular looking bridge is long gone.  It's been replaced by a much more common looking structure.  However, downtown Pittsburgh, spelled with an H on the end is far more interesting.  A piece of advice, if you ever fly into Pittsburgh airport, wait until the sun goes down before entering the city proper.  The way the view opens up on exiting the Fort Pitt Tunnel, with the city lit up and the three rivers, is one of the great urban landscapes in the United States.

This card was sent to "Lewis C. Eames, North Bethel, Maine."  The message, "Sept 8, Dear L, You can sit in the swing chair with Myra or any chair if you come up 2 think.  Love B"  No idea if Myra would be coming with Lewis or if she lived with B.  Postmark, "GRAFTON MAINE, SEP 8, 1908."

On the Road

Had she seen It Happened One Night, she'd know to show a little leg.

High Level Bridge, Chagrin Falls, Ohio

Well, I still have a few examples from my early days of collecting, but I think, after this one, I'll be moving back to the more recent acquisitions, which means pretty much anything from the last ten years.

Anyway, there are a fair number of bridges over the Chagrin River, so I wasn't able to positively identify the one on this card.  The Chagrin River actually has two branches, the Aurora and the East branch.  The Aurora Branch is a white water rafting destination, which is hard to imagine in flat, northeast Ohio.  Both branches are also fishing favorites.  Chagrin Falls, the town, is a suburb of Cleveland.  The Cleveland, Akron, Canton area of northeastern Ohio is the fifteenth largest statistical area (A designation used by the census bureau .) in the United States.  Nothing to do with Chagrin Falls, or the Chagrin River, but right in the middle of that densely populated area is Cuyahoga Valley National Park.  Yes, the river that was once so polluted that it caught on fire, the river that was the butt of jokes, is now a national park.  At least the parts south of Cleveland and north of Akron.  Kind of gives us all a bit of hope.

Culver City Trash, European Trip 3

Is there more than one Tower Bridge in England?  Perhaps one kept up for the tourist trade?  Is it just me, or do the proportions look off on the top picture?  It looks like the top two images are from England, at least the Ye Olde England tourists love.  The others, I'm not so sure.

Anyway, I may never get another chance to quote Noel Coward, so here goes...."The stately homes of England we proudly represent.  We only keep them up for Americans to rent."

Click on Culver City Trash collection for more.

Culver City Trash, European Trip 2

Well, we're still in Paris.  At least the top four photos.  The generic building in the bottom shot could be from a lot of places.  All that grain and moodiness makes me think of some of my favorite movies from the French new wave.  Breathless anyone?

Click on Culver City Trash Collection in labels to see more.  

Bridge Running

I know it's out of focus and  leaching 80 year old chemistry, but I like it anyway.   I wonder if they were running from something?  A little harmless prank, hurrying away before getting caught, while their less adventuress friend took pictures?

Two Views of the Point

As anyone from Pittsburgh, PA can tell you, the point is where the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers come together to form the Ohio River.  These two views of the point are quiet a few years apart.  The top image shows the original Point Bridge.  It opened in 1877, crossed the Monongahela and connected the south side with downtown.  In 1927, the second Point Bridge was built right beside the original, which was dismantled after it's replacement opened.  In 1959, it happened again, but this time the new bridge was named the Fort Pitt Bridge, which can be seen on the right of the second image.   The first and second bridges ended in an industrial area, but now, the point area is a state park.  The land was taken, using eminent domain, in the fifties, but the park wasn't completed until the point fountain was completed in 1974.

The top card is postmarked, "PITTSBURG, PA SEPT. 25  7:30 P.M. 1908" and addressed to Mrs. W. W. Van Cleve, 289 So-18th-St, Newark, N.J."  And yes, Pittsburg is correct.  For some odd reason, the "H" was dropped for a number of years from the city name.

The second card isn't a very good picture, it's damaged, and looks as if someone stepped on it.  I bought it because I really liked the message on the back.  "Hi Jim!  Arrived here Nov. 23, 1954 and have been enjoying this wonderful metropolis and it's inhabitants ever since. Maybe you'll come see me sometime.  I think I'm going to stay here for awhile.  Latter, Eileen."  It's addressed to "Jimmy Daschbach, 1315 Wood St., Pgh., PA 15221"  So, the Point State Park Fountain can be seen in the photo, so Eileen has been in the city for at least twenty years, and is sending a card to Jimmy, also living in Pittsburgh, like he's some sort of distant friend.  I've always thought that a middle aged Eileen was trying to set something up with Jimmy.  And now that I'm well into my fifties, I like the idea of a tryst between a couple of aging Pittsburghers.  It gives me hope.

The Epworth League Album 10, Life on the River

I wrote in an earlier Epworth League post that the pictures in the first part of the album had a mid-western feel to them. Well, here's a bit more of that feel. A river this wide, in the United States, is probably the Mississippi, the lower Missouri or the lower Ohio. There might be some other candidates out there, but those three are the most likely. I spent some time, on line, searching for images of old bridges along those rivers and couldn't find a match. But someone out there must be able to recognize these locations. As always, click on Epworth League in the labels section to bring up the lot.