The Mission Inn

   

Written on the back, "Mission Inn-Riverside, Calif."  Frank Miller opened The Mission Inn in 1876.  It started out as an adobe boarding house that became a full-service hotel in 1900.  In 1903, a series of expansions were begun that finished in 1931.  Frank Miller died in 1935, after which his family ran the inn until the mid-fifties.  It changed hands a number of times and was facing a possible demolition when Duane and Kelly Roberts bought the property in the late 1980s and began a restoration that was finished in 1992.  The Mission Inn and Spa is still in business, and despite being in downtown Riverside, not exactly a tourist destination is doing quite well.  And, by the way, it isn't a cheap stay. 

The Post War European Trip Collection-Souvenir Snapshots 1

When I was a kid, you could go to the local Stuckey's and by a package of five or ten 35mm slides of the local tourist attraction, take them home, put them in the projector, (Or one of those little hand viewers if you didn't own an Agfa Cube.) and relive the all American road trip.  Anyway, in Europe, in 1948, tourists bought envelopes of small black & white photos of the local sights.  I've got a lot of photos from Gloria Lee's trip, but only five pictures taken by members of the tour group.  I've got 39 of these commercially produced photos, but after this, I'll be taking a break from this collection, so you'll have to wait for parts 2 through 8.  If anyone can identify any of these locations, please feel free to leave a comment.

As usual. click on The Post War European Trip Collection in labels to see more.

House Beautiful

Was this their house?  Was this the house they were going to buy?  Was this the house they would have bought had they made enough money?

The Green Album 1

It's time to put up another album.  Since each page has a number of images, I'll be returning to my usual practice of scanning the whole page  to show position, and then an individual scan of each individual photograph.  There are a lot of pages in this one, but most of them are blank.  Some of the pages have empty corners, or bits of glue and paper, and some of the blank pages are pristine.  Even though there aren't all that many pages with actual photographs, I may break up the way I post them, so, I'll label everything The Green Album so that they can all be brought up together.

None of the photos are labeled, so, once again it's conjecture time.  I bought this album from an eBay dealer in the mid-west.  It's been awhile, so my memory is a bit hazy on where exactly, but I do remember it was great plainsish.  Of course, photos and albums travel.  Sometimes with people as they move around the country, and sometimes, through the mail, from one friend or family member to another.

There's one thing we can be sure of, these beach side photos weren't taken around the great lakes.  Take a good look in the first photo.  There's a palm tree behind our lounging lady.  I've been all around Florida, and I don't remember any bluff side beaches, so I think California is a pretty good bet, but not near any of the cities.  Even when these were taken, Los Angeles, Long Beach, south bay, Orange County, and San Diego were all developed and crowded.  Perhaps a bit further north near Oxnard, Ventura, or Santa Barbara.

That New Car Smell

It's a Plymouth, and it has a 1940 California licence plate.  I did a bit of searching, and I think it's a Plymouth Special Deluxe Sedan.  One hell of a car.  A year or so latter, and war time gas rationing would have kept it in the garage.

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"

Christmas In California

I don't know how well it reads on a computer screen, but the photo credit in the lower left corner, "LEONARD'S STUDIO, THIRD & BROADWAY, SANTA ANA, CAL"  Written below that in pencil, "Dec 25th 1925"  Let's be honest, there's a difference between playing in the snow and living in the snow.

Views of the World, Palmetto Avenue, Los Angeles

I went through the junk in the hall closet and dug out my 2002 Thomas Brothers Guide,  (If you're not from my part of the world, you won't get the reference.)  and looked for Palmetto Avenue, L.A.  I found a Palmetto Ave. in Covina, a Palmetto Place in Pasadena, and a Palmetto Street in Los Angeles.  The one in L.A. is between the L.A. River and downtown. An area better known for warehouses, small factories, and scrap yards.  Things do change.

Click Views of the World in labels to bring up the rest of this collection.

Dawson Garage

This one, dated "Oct. 25, 1917," is a rich little picture.  Let's see, a cop, a street cart, a Valvoline Oil sign, Delco Batteries, tires for sale,  a Bell Telephone enameled sign, streetcar tracks, and a palm tree in the background.  And what is a half sole tire?

Nudists

Well, that's what I thought when I first saw this photograph at the flea market.  Then I picked it up, pulled out the loupe, and took a closer look.  So disappointing.  Still, one has to wonder why all the adults are looking away from the sunbathers, while the kid, dead center in the print, seems so fascinated.

Honolulu, The Travelers Collection

I've been in 45 of the 50 states.  Hawaii is one of the five I've yet to see, and in many ways it's the one I'd least like to visit.  I've read so much about the Islands, and the Hawaii that most intrigues me is the one that doesn't exist anymore.  Yes, I'd love to hike in the national parks and swim in the ocean, but the cruise ship culture, steel and glass high rise hotels don't appeal to me at all.  This one is dated "Honolulu 1933" and it looks like a good time to have visited.

Click on travelers collection in labels to see everything.

The Epworth League Album 35, What A Tree

Two more pages, two more single photos, two more to go and then it's bye bye to the Epworth League. I'll bet both of these images got sent back home. Yes Virginia, we do have really, really tall palm trees, and cactus gardens too. Of course, Iowa has the Mississippi River and L. A.'s river is just a tiny little thing. Can't have everything.