Frank Lloyd Wright's Imperial Hotel

At the turn of the century, there was an increased demand for rooms for foreign visitors to Japan. In order to meet that demand, a directive was issued to build the Imperial Hotel. Frank Lloyd Wright was hired for the project in 1916. He designed just about every aspect of the hotel, including doorknobs and carpets.

According to the architect who steals my covers every night, these are some of the significant aspects of the hotel:

1. The job was an important one for Wright because he had no work at the time. He was still recovering from the murder of his mistress Mamah Borthwick-Cheney, who had been hacked to death with a hatchet along with her two children at Wright's house at Taliesin. The murder was committed by one of Wright's servants, who had just served them lunch moments before. After that, the servant also burned down Wright's precious Taliesin house. Frank Lloyd Wright was at his office in Chicago at the time. The scandal of the affair with Borthwick-Cheney and her subsequent murder diminished Wright's appeal to prospective clients.
2.  The Imperial Hotel managed to withstand the great Kanto earthquake in 1923, which destroyed just about every other building in the vicinity.
   
3. The hotel was demolished in 1967 because the property values were so high that a two-story building simply didn't make financial sense. The center part of the building was preserved and reconstructed at the Meiji Mura Museum, an outdoor architectural museum in Inuyama.
   

Streetcar Sundays - Binghamton, NY

Imagine having your visit to town announced in the paper!  When Marion Rowley's visit was announced in 1918,  Miss Patterson sprang into action:

Aug 29, 1918.

Read the notice in this morning's paper that you were visiting in Binghamton and wanted to ask you if a man by name Albert Lull is living in Edmonton and if he is town clerk? I knew him a few years ago.  I also read the death of your father awhile ago. I remember him when he was at Troy. And did not know until then where you were living. Thought of speaking to you over the phone call me up 3634-9 or come and make a call, as I would like to meet you.

Miss Patterson 22-Cary St.

I could be wrong, but Miss Patterson sounds like a nosy meddler to me, and she didn't even express any regrets about the death of Marion's father. I hope Miss Marion Rowley avoided her.

The first streetcars started service in Binghamton in 1868, with the first electric streetcar arriving on the scene in 1887.  As in many cities, several different independent companies originally operated streetcar service in Binghamton. In 1892, the nine (!) companies that operated streetcar service in Binghamton consolidated to form the Binghamton Railroad Company.  In 1893, they had gross receipts of $99,358 and operating expenses of $57,011.  By 1896, all of the streetcars had been converted to electricity and by 1932, all of the streetcars had been replaced by buses.

Leather Postcard

Leather postcards were somewhat popular from about 1900-1910. This one was from 1907 and was sent in 1908.