Hugh Winslow at West Point

This is from a big envelope of military photos formerly belonging to Hugh Whitaker Winslow. Many of the snapshots are from his early days at the United States Military Academy at West Point. Hugh was born in Montana in 1897, and graduated from West Point in 1920. There are also later pictures of him in Japan after World War II.

Here's a handsome portrait of Hugh taken in Fort Collins, Colorado where his family lived.

Here are some of the snapshots from West Point.

Hugh on the left

This  young lady may be a girlfriend or she may be Hugh's sister Irene.

These snapshots below appear to be from some initiation rituals or pranks of some kind. I don't think Hugh is in any of these pictures. The first one looks like nude cadets are being doused with a bucket of water.

Here's Hugh in Japan. His description on the back of the photo:
Dinner given to officers of the 64th Filed Artillery by the Mayor of Mishima a dinner at Yamida Hotel in Nagaoka Hotel 16 Nov 45. Do I look sufficiently bored?
Japanese children peeking in from rear.

The last photo shows Colonel Winslow in Hairo, Japan in 1952. Winslow married and had two children, Elizabeth and Hugh Jr. He died in 1982. Sadly, things did not turn out very well for daughter Elizabeth. More on Hugh and family on Wednesday.

For an interesting read, you may also want to look at the post on Hugh Winslow at a website called Passport Land, hosted by a collector of old passports.

More Motels For You

If you're still not sure where you might like to go this summer, here are a few more suggestions.
I recommend the Downtowner Motel in Memphis, Tennessee for the consistent and classic decorating scheme with warm hues carried throughout, and effective lighting and a appropriately-sized painting on the wall. Smokers will be glad to see that the room is well supplied with ashtrays. Sorry, no wi-fi.

The Floritona in Daytona Beach claims to be on the world's most famous beach, so why are people sunbathing in the grass with a view of the parking lot (even if they are nice cars)? I don't know, but it might be worth it for you to go there and find out.

These two motels, in Sharpsburg, North Carolina and Ashland, Virginia, seem similar enough to be interchangeable. It may just depend on whether you prefer yellow or pink bedspreads.

Here are the backs of the first two cards.

Tram Tuesday - Lynchburg, Virginia

Lynchburg, Virginia has a rich and colorful history. Back in 1757, it was just a ferry crossing from Lynch's Landing across the James river. The ferry service was provided by 17-year-old John Lynch, who a few decades later petitioned the Virginia General Assembly for a town charter. Years later, the city was spared from any severe damage during the Civil War because General Jubal Early ran empty train cars through the area to make it look as if reinforcements were coming into Lynchburg.

In 1880, fifteen years after the end of the Civil War, the first horse-drawn streetcars started operation in Lynchburg. Streetcars didn't last as long in Lynchburg as they did in many other American cities though; they were gone by 1941.

The message on the back of the card appears to have been written in 1911.

 

 

The message reads:

Arrived here about 7;30 and hope to leave tomorrow. Feel well and hope you are to

Here are a couple of before-and-after views of Lynchburg, courtesy of Kipp Teague, Lynchburg resident and generous host of a Retroweb, which features many old and new views of Lynchburg.

Source

Source

Hotel Weyanoke - Farmville, Virginia

I have a postcard and stationery from the 'best hotel within 50 miles' in Farmville, Virginia. It doesn't seem to exist anymore, but I don't think it burned down...because it was advertised as fireproof.

Quantico, Virginia

There's a lot to look at here - a grill, a cafe, rooms to rent, drug stores, great cars.  I'm not sure which street this is, but the cross street is C Street. I wanted to show you a current view for contrast, but it looks like this is one of the few places that the Google street view truck hasn't visited. Maybe it's because the city is surrounded by a military base.
The back of the card is not so much a message as a notation.

On the left it says:

Souvenir of Gemma and Wilfred Lavoie from Quantico, Virginia 10 Dec 1952.

On the right it says:

Charles Lindbergh crossed the Atlantic for the first time in 1927.

Lindbergh was so badly misspelled that I had trouble making out what it was at first, and it has nothing to do with this postcard as far as I can tell.  Maybe it's a cold war spy message.

Streetcar Sundays - Norfolk, VA

 

The City of Norfolk, Virginia had a population of about 46,600 in 1900 and 67,450 in 1910. When this picture was taken (presumably around 1907), the City of Norfolk had been running streetcars for over 35 years. As in many cities, the earliest Norfolk streetcars were pulled by horses. However, in 1872, an epidemic put almost all of the Norfolk streetcar horses out of commission. Workers were hired to pull the streetcars until the horses could return to duty.

By the mid 1890s, horse-drawn streetcars were replaced with electric ones. In 1902, the New York Times reported on a critical streetcar workers' strike in Norfolk. Streetcars were obviously an important part of  city life at that time. However, in the 1920s buses began to replace streetcar routes. Streetcars in Norfolk were slowly phased out, with the last car, No. 407, making its final run on July 10, 1948. The car was packed with passengers, who ripped off souvenirs, including light fixtures and advertising placards. They also ripped out seats, broke windows, and eventually caused such a commotion that the riot squad had to be called.

Norfolk is currently re-introducing the streetcar, although the sleek new cars manufactured by Siemens look nothing like the old ones. Still, to commemorate the historic streetcars, the first car will be named after the last one, No. 407.

The message on the card reads:

More than half the population here are negroes

Arrived at Norfolk noon today

Jim

Sun. June 2, 1907