Mt. Lowe Railway, California

Just looking at this gives me vertigo.

You may remember Mt. Lowe from a previous post on Echo Mountain that showed a horse-drawn tram on a rather steep incline. You can read all about the Mt. Lowe Railway here. This card shows the upper part of the railway, above the Mt. Lowe Incline on the way to the Alpine Tavern.

The railway was plagued with problems, and there's little trace of it anymore, but it must have been a fun trip for people who lived close enough to Pasadena to take the ride. Here's a card showing the Great Incline and the funicular that transported passengers up Echo Mountain.

Here are the backs of the cards in the same order. The first one was written on September 1, 1930 and mentions crossing 18 bridges besides this circular bridge.

Pasadena, California

Pasadena has beautiful houses and an ideal climate. It also has the annual Tournament of Roses Parade,  a tradition since 1890.  Here you can see the students from Madison School marching in one of the early parades.

Below is a view of Pasadena showing the Colorado Street Bridge, also known as the Arroyo Seco Bridge. The bridge is still there after some seismic retrofitting in recent decades. It's on the National Rregister of Historic Places and has a also been designated National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark.

 Although it still stands, the bridge is dwarfed somewhat by the adjacent freeway bridge.

Photo by Bobak Ha'Eri Source

The first card has no message on the back, but the second one does. I'm interested in the name of the recipient, Miss Cunard W. Lind. I find her in the 1910 Census as a two-year old boy. I can only think that the census taker wrongly assumed it was a boy. The parents were Swedish.
The message is a little difficult to read.

Here's a quick try.

L.A. 2-6-26
Loved _____ at Home. The weather is _____ clear and warm here saw some of Los Angeles yesterday.  _______ this morning for San Diego for a few days will return here and ____until the Boat sails _______
Grant Widel's son in Law is the captain of the boat. Have called for mail but nix so far. 
Joe

Asbestos Letter

Oh, the mystery! Miss Gillita Workman traveled to Europe, where she received postcards care of various pensions and care of Cook and Sons. At home she received cards care of Bullocks, where she worked in the Book Department. Perhaps she had no fixed address. As far as I can tell she never married. The 1930 Census lists her as a boarder at an address in Glendale, California, with an occupation of saleslady in a bookshop.

The front of the card shows a very nice view of Spokane, Washington with building signs and streetcars.

The back of the card, sent in 1920, has a message from Honore Rusner (?) that reads:

Dear Workie

Have oodles to tell you, but must put it in an asbestos letter - when I can.

My address is 

2105 W. Pacific

however and I am

the same.

Honore Rusner

Note: Although I assumed that 'asbestos letter' referred to something to be kept secret, WJY commented below that it is actually archaic slang for a sexually-themed love letter. Presumably asbestos could contain the fire within. WJY also suggests that this may have been a lesbian relationship. The handwriting does look feminine, and although Honoré can be either a man's or a woman's name, it is more often masculine.

Although I have a few postcards addressed to Gillita, I don't have the asbestos letter.

Ocean Park, California

Ocean Park (South Santa Monica) was a popular beach resort back at the turn of the century. There was a huge heated indoor saltwater plunge, a dancing pavilion, a casino, auditorium, skating rink, an aquarium, and amusement rides. Despite numerous fires over the years, Ocean Park continued to thrive until the Depression. By the 1950s efforts were underway to create a new amusement park at the location. The new park closed and declared bankruptcy in 1967.

Here's a card showing Pier Avenue in about 1905.

Here's on that shows the dancing pavilion.

And, finally, a beach scene showing a lot of overdressed people. It appears that there is quite a bit of litter on the beach, and something that resembles a barrel down by the water.

Here are the backs of the cards in the same order.
The first one was sent to Mrs Mirrieto Kiser in Chicago in 1908. The message reads:

Los Angeles, Cal

Nov 27 - well dear sweet heart did you think of me today when you ate your dinner I did you I had a nice dinner but not good unless you were at my side + then I would be happy

Your lover

Fred

The second one was sent to Miss Gladys Smith in Regina (?), California in 1913. The message reads:

Dear Gladys -

I was awful glad to get your letter. Did you write it your self? I am going to send you some story book some time. Be good girl and write again

Sister Sue

The last one was sent from Venice, California to Miss Bernice Wiskotschell of Marysville, California in 1908. The message reads:

 Venice - Aug. 16 - 08

Dear Bernice,

Receivd a postal from you today - good to hear that you are having a good time - this is a view of where I am this afternoon. remember me to all.

Goodbye

Daddy

Giant Peaches

No need to worry about those peaches rolling off the flatcar; note the carefully positioned braces.

Rosella sent this card in 1912 to her sister, Mrs. Ina Clark, in Eureka, California.

The message reads:

Dear sister:-

Mamma received your Birthday postals . We are waiting for you to come home and see us. Uncle Hans'  and Uncle Amos' came up in the automobile on mama's birthday. How is Mrs. Crothers? We are all well and hope you are the same. Best regards from Raymond and all. 

Rosella.    write soon

Santa Cruz, California

Most people don't think of casinos when they think of Santa Cruz. Instead, they might think of the boardwalk, hippies, UC Santa Cruz, Birkenstocks, Monterey Bay, the earthquake, etc.
But back in 1904, when the casino was built, it was a main attraction. There was no boardwalk; that was built later around the new casino. The original casino (shown below) burned down in 1906. Work started on a new one in 1907.  As far as I know, that building is still part of the current boardwalk, although there is no gambling there. You can read more about the casino and see a picture of it in flames on the Santa Cruz Public library website., along with some pictures of the new casino.

Here's the back of the card, sent to Ida Schack of Chicago in 1905.

Centurylink - exactly which century?

If you're wondering why this post is late, here's the story.
I called Centurylink when I realized I didn't have a dial tone on our home phone. The repairman came and tinkered about and then left, proclaiming the problem fixed. He never tested the telephone though, which still didn't work. Not only that, but the internet, that worked fine before his fateful visit, now didn't work either. It turns out he knew the problem wasn't fixed, because Centurylink had not closed the repair ticket. He must have had other plans.

I won't describe the many phone calls to Centurylink or the number of times I had to enter my phone number, repeat my name, address, and social security number, and re-state the problem. In all, I spent several hours on hold listening to recorded assurances that Centurylink strives to provide excellent customer service and my call is important to them. In any case, their automated caller confirmed that a repair technician would be at my house between 8 am and 11 am. You guessed it - no one showed up! Another hour on hold, and I was told that a technician would be here by 8 pm. Sigh. Anyway, I'm happy to say that it's finally fixed.

It hasn't always been like this. Technology may have moved forward, but it doesn't mean that customer service has. Here's a great example of customer service: the Chinese Telephone Exchange in San Francisco. It opened in 1909, and was staffed with operators who had to speak fluent English as well as five Chinese dialects. They also had to remember not only the names of the thousands of Chinatown residents, but also where they lived. They had to know what they did for a living too, so they could distinguish between two people with the same name.

The exchange was destroyed by the San Francisco earthquake, but was rebuilt and continued to operate until 1949 when the rotary phone system made the switchboard obsolete. For more on the Chinese Telephone Exchange, including video footage from the 1920s, be sure to visit the fabulous foundSF website.

Here's a great card showing the interior of the Chinese Telephone Exchange.

San Francisco's Chinatown

Pamela Gerard of Cappuccino and Art Journal kindly sent me this San Francisco postcard folder. There are too many views to show all of them, but here are some of the highlights.

Here's a link to the Tattered and Lost post mentioned in the comments below. I also saw a very nice old San Francisco Chinatown card recently at Postcard Roundup.

More San Francisco Flower Vendors

I posted some 1910-1920 postcards of flower vendors in San Francisco a few days ago. These are a bit later - 1930s and 40s, but the flower vendors are still going strong.

By the way, how do you spell the word -vendor or vender? I have heard that vender is the American spelling and vendor is the British spelling, but I hardly ever see it spelled with 'er'  here in the United States.

Here are the backs of the cards in the same order.

San Francisco Flower Vendors

After reading about Barry the San Francisco Florist at Tattered and Lost Vernacular Photography, I had to look through my San Francisco flower vendor cards. You don't see flower vendors on the streets in San Francisco like you used to.

Here are the backs of the cards. The first one was written in 1923.

The message reads:

San Francisco - Feb. 1 - 23
Arrived yesterday A.M. with my friend and shall be here over the week-end. Mildred will come over to me tomorrow + with me two nights. Mr. Hayes telephoned me ate this afternoon from our house + said they were suffering with the extreme cold temperature down to 28 degrees and snow on all the surrounding mountains. So cold then the house wasn't comfortable.


No message on the second card.

The Ladies from Milwaukie

The spelling of Milwaukie, Oregon often causes confusion, since the other Milwaukee (the more important one) is spelled with two E's.  But we like our little Milwaukie too.
Ruth Hudson sent this card to her mother, Mrs. W.J. Hudson, in Milwaukie, Oregon in 1912.
It was late July, and Ruth had gone to Chico, California, perhaps with some other girls from Milwaukie. They may have had some kind of summer employment.

Ruth's message reads:

Thurs.

Dear Mama: The Peckover girls have on the hats. Ruth has on the embroider dress. Grace B. has on the ribbons. Hazel Lillie is sitting beside Grace B. and Edith is sitting beside me. We are not making trays to day. Florence and I are going downtown soon. Tell papa and Paul to write. My, I wish that you could have some of the ice cream, watermelon and peaches that we have here. Well Bethel is doing dish so I must run and wipe them. How are you getting along with the work. xxx Ruth H.

Although you may not encounter ice cream, watermelon, and peaches, you can expect to find additional photos of other lovely ladies at Sepia Saturday this weekend.

Pacific Grove, California

Pacific Grove is a charming little town on California's Monterey Peninsula, near Pebble Beach, Monterey, and Carmel. The beach at Pacific Grove still looks very much like this.

The swimming pool was located directly above the beach. Note the red lanterns hanging above the pool and down below towards the beach; that's an indication that they were probably getting ready for the annual Feast of Lanterns, a tradition since 1905.  The festival is hard to describe. In the past it has had a hokey small-town flavor to it, which made it really fun. There is a play, a pageant, a pet parade, and fireworks. Years ago it was a small enough event that you always ran into people you knew. I'm not sure that's the case anymore.

The festival is meant to honor the former Chinese residents of the area. From the 1850s until 1906, Chinese immigrants lived in a little fishing village along the water, not far from here.  The fishermen were very successful, hauling in lots of abalone, squid, and fish. Their success, the value of the land, and anti-Chinese sentiments made them a natural target. In 1906, their village burned down, and they were then evicted by the landholder. Although there is no record of how the fire started, Pacific Grove residents stood by and cheered as the fire erupted. At least 170 Chinese were displaced by the fire.

The festival is a fun event. I would probably enjoy it more if I didn't relate it to the actual history - and the Feast of Lanterns play, a reenactment of the "Legend of the Blue Willow" is a little cringeworthy, with  Caucasians dressed up as Asians, and plenty of stereotypes.  In recent years Pacific Grove has also made efforts to officially commemorate the fire and the people who were displaced by it, including walking tours of the former village site.

Rabbit and Girl

I suspect that girl and rabbit both hopped off in a hurry as soon as the picture was taken.
Francis C. Swain operated a portrait studio in Monterey, California from 1906 to 1917. Unfortunately, there's no name or any other information on the back.

No rabbits, but plenty of magic over at Sepia Saturday this week..

San Francisco Earthquake

Today if we turn on the television or read the news on the internet, we'll see up-to-date information on the terrible destruction of the earthquake in Japan. In 1906 the earthquake that struck San Francisco  registered approximately 7.9 on the Richter scale, much less than the recent earthquake in Japan. Yet it left the city in ruins, as much from the ensuing fire as from the earthquake itself.  An estimated 3,000 people were killed and nearly two thirds of the city's residents were left homeless.  Instead of the internet and television, the destruction of this earthquake was documented in newspapers and with postcards.

Wait a minute...is that dog lifting its leg?

Although these photos and many other postcard photos of the San Francisco earthquake were very dark and grainy, the National Museum of American History recently uncovered some real color photos from the aftermath of the earthquake. They look a bit like Polaroids from the 1970s. Pretty amazing. For pictures of many different colors, put on a hard hat and make your way over to Sepia Saturday.

Great Wall Architecture

Trying to be helpful, I suggested that the architect who steals my covers might want to emulate these fine examples. It seems he's a little stubborn and not open to new ideas.

Amazingly, the Great Wall is still standing.  It looks much the same in the street view, but it was closed in 2010.  Here's a link to the street view and to a photo on Flickr with commentary on the restaurant.

I think it's fair to say that the Sands is in a separate category from the other two. I'm adding some extra information, inspired by Howard's question in the comments below.
The Sands was designed by Architect Wayne McAllister and built in 1952.  In its heyday, it was the place to be.  It was the place where Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr.,  Joey Bishop, and Peter Lawford first appeared on stage together.  At one point,  the Sands was owned by Howard Hughes.  By 1996, despite the addition of a large tower, it had lost its appeal and was imploded and demolished.  The Venetian was built in the same location after the Sands was demolished. It looks like this now. Makes the Sands look kind of quaint in comparison.

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Here are the backs of these cards, in case you want to go see them in person.