My Old Kentucky Home

The story goes that Stephen Collins Foster was visiting the former home of his cousin, Judge Rowan, in Bardstown, Kentucky in the 1850s and was inspired to write the lyrics to the song, My Old Kentucky Home. That story is now thought to be apocryphal, but it doesn't matter because by then Judge Rowan's house had been declared a State shrine, and the song was designated the official state song of Kentucky.

Here's the original song:

By 1986, Kentucky had a black legislator, Carl Hines, who objected to the word 'darky' and successfully sponsored a bill to change the word to 'people."

I looked at this card and imagined Foster sitting by the rustic hearth composing the lyrics.

I guess I was reading the caption on this card too literally, because then I saw this postcard and had to revise my image to a better-dressed Stephen Collins, sitting in the elegant parlor and sipping a mint julep while he wrote the lyrics. Whatever the case, the song is also the official song of the Kentucky Derby and is played at college football and basketball game in Kentucky. It's part of the state's heritage.

I have many cards that show the exterior of Judge Rowan's house. Here's one of them.

And here's the back of the first card, sent to Leona Cowles in Olympia, Washington. The message reads:

Thanks a lot for the nice card. I do hope you like this one. Yes I will be glad to have a greeting card from Seattle or San Francisco as I do not have any for either place. But I do have one from Pittsburgh PA. Please come again.

Norman Inman 719 Ashland Ave Louisville Ky

Building Around the River

Many cities are built on or across rivers. It's always interesting to see how various cities deal with the river and making it part of the city.

Often, industrial and warehouse districts were located along the riverfront, making it a fairly unappealing place. Freeways were also often located along the riverbank, which meant that residents could not reach the riverfront, but could only look at it from afar. Although it's a difficult process to undo, many cities decided to reclaim their riverfront property for waterfront parks and commercial uses.

And then there's Columbus, Ohio. Are there other cities like this? There was a big flood in Columbus, Ohio in 1913. After that, city leaders decided to widen the river and build retaining walls, based on a recommendation from the Army Corps of Engineers. During the building boom of the 1920s, the Civic Center was built on both sides of the river. It strikes me as very unusual and ahead of its time.

Hearst Newspapers Free Postcard Supplement

If you subscribed or bought a Hearst Sunday newspaper on December 27, 1903, you would have received this free postcard supplement. Then you could have cut them apart and mailed them off to friends and relatives telling them how much you loved the Christmas gifts they sent you.

They were printed on regular paper, not card stock, but the postal service was so gentle back then that I'm sure they arrived in good shape. I have more of these from 1903 and 1904, but Hearst made them as late as 1907. Here's the back side of the cards.

Vibrant Downtown - Louisville, Kentucky

I had to post this card in response to a comment last week that downtown Louisville has always been a dead zone.  Well, certainly not in the 1940s.

The card is from about 1942, based on one of the movies being shown at the theater on the right. The Wife Takes a Flyer was released in 1942, and starred Franchot Tone.  The other movie showing in the same theater may have been This Way Please, starring Betty Grable.  It was released in 1937, and may have been the lesser attraction of a double feature. It looks like there was another theater right next to this one, and then there's the Rialto Theater down the street. The Rialto was built in 1921, with a white marble staircase and Italian Renaissance facade. It was torn down in 1969. The Theater on the right is probably the Kentucky Theater, which is still standing, with the turret from the Palace Theater farther down on the right. There were a number of other theaters within the surrounding blocks. There was obviously lots of other activity downtown too.

Louisville, Kentucky

Here's an oddity. This postcard was probably printed in about 1915, but it shows a street scene from 1850.  It really does look as if a very early photograph was used as the basis for the card, which was then colored and embellished. I've never seen anything quite like it.

There is still a Galt House in Louisville. It is the official hotel of the Kentucky Derby and is now a 25-story building with 1,300 rooms.  I don't think it's in exactly the same location either. it looks like it may have migrated across the street.

Here's the back of the card:

Camp Zachary Taylor, Kentucky

Camp Zachary Taylor was opened in 1917 as a training camp for U.S. soldiers for WWI. it closed in 1920.  Camp Taylor is a now the name of a residential neighborhood in the same part of Louisville. Some of the original buildings remain and some of the bungalows and Cape Cod houses were built from the dismantled military buildings.
The Camp Zachary Taylor Historical Society has lots of additional information on the history of the camp.