Momie, Ruth, and Helen

Written on the back of the second photo, "Detroit River, summer 1938.  Momie & Ruth." The third picture, "Detroit River, summer 1938.  Ruth & Helen."

The Detroit River connects the not so great Lake Saint Clair,  Detroit, and Lake Erie.  (The Saint Clair River connects Lake Huron and Lake Saint Clair.) It also separates Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, Canada.  In 1938, it was one of the most polluted waterways in North America, so if these three ladies were actually swimming, they risked at least a few weird  infections.  More likely, they were headed to Lake Erie for a week of sailing.

1938 was near the end of the great depression.  In a few years, World War 2 defense spending would make Detroit one of the wealthiest cities in the world.  After the war, with no real competition from foreign car makers, Detroit continued getting richer and richer.  If this family could afford a sailboat during the depression, they probably were in a position to really cash in during the war and the post war boom.

And yes, who ever wrote the message on the back of the photos did spell it Momie.

Los Angeles Civic Center

Yet another linen postcard of downtown Los Angeles.  Take a close look at the the very tall building, the Los Angeles City Hall.  The original photograph was  in black & white and it looks like it had some separation problems.  The tower is white and against a sunny sky, white objects in black & white photos have a tendency to merge into the background.  One way to solve that problem is to draw in an edge line.  Click on the image to bring it up in a larger window and it's obvious that the person who added  color to the image also drew  a black line around the building.

The Los Angeles City Hall was designed by John Parkinson,  (The designer of the Rosslyn Hotel from the previous post.) Albert C. Martin, and John C. Austin.   It opened in 1928 and at the time, at 32 floors and 457 feet,  was the tallest building in L.A.  Until the late 1950's the L.A. City Charter limited building to 150 feet, excluding decorative towers.  City Hall was the tallest building in the city until 1964.  Today, the 73 story U.S. Bank Tower,  at 1018 feet,  is the tallest building in Los Angeles City, Los Angeles County, and the state of California.

The message on the back, "Well, here journey's end where to go from here?  Arrived here 7:00 A.M. Wed. still raring to go, don't want to stop anyplace. Spent a day in Frisco, had to leave, too cold.  George"  Mailed to "Bob R. Sudnick, 52 Piquette St., Detroit, Michigan"  And the postmark, "10 LOS ANGELES CALIF, AUG 6 12 P.M. 1941"  

What a date.  The middle of 1941 meant one thing to  American men and  women.  The last few months of peace before Pearl Harbor.  George was enjoying his trip.  Who knows.  It might have been his first chance to travel.  Six months latter and he was probably off to a military base and then Europe or the south Pacific.  When I read the messages on these old postcards  I always wonder if the writer survived the next five years.

Polarine From Standard Oil

Even though this postcard is of a Detroit city bus, it was mailed from and to Kansas City. The postmarks, for sending and receiving are both "KANSAS CITY NOV 5 1911" The times are "7-PM" and "8-PM" Mailed and sent to the same post office. It's addressed to "Mr Raymon Walker, MC book" No street address or city name, so it might have gone to a box in the building, or it was for counter pick up, or the mail man knew everyone on his route. And the message, "Mr. Walker, Dear friend thank you verry much for your remembrance towards me. Will leave KC November the 6th for Va by the way of Atlanta, Georgia. Your G. McWilliams" Mr Walker, Dear friend, a strange mixture of the formal and familiar. And he misspelled dear friend's first name. Very strange.