Does This Fish Make Me Look Fat?

Oh mon Dieu, this baby is already concerned with the size of her thighs. Here is another of the many French fish postcards I bought from French Kissed, each one more charming than the next. In case you didn't catch the first one, you can click here for an explanation of the April Fish. This card is typical of the French April 1 cards in that it says "Guess who sent you this."

Holman's - Pacific Grove, California

Holman's was one of those classic small-town department stores with local roots. John Steinbeck bought his pencils here and mentioned the store in his novel, Cannery Row. At one time it was the largest department store between San Francisco and Los Angeles. Many similar stores around the country have now been taken over by Macy's. The Holman's building is still standing in Pacific Grove, and although it is no longer Holman's Department Store, it is also not a Macy's. There is a Macy's store just a few miles away, so that conversion remains unlikely.

The current owner of the building leases it as an antique mall. The building was up for sale recently, and, in fact, the listing is still posted online, although the owner claims it is no longer for sale. The developer who owns the building has been trying for years to build a hotel there; he is currently moving forward with the city on a feasibility study for a hotel, including examination of water issues.

A friend of mine used to like to play in Holman's store in her adolescent years. She would ride up the elevator with a friend and they would slide down the banisters and then ride up the elevator  again to repeat the whole process. Finally one day they were confronted by a gentleman who asked them to stop playing around. My friend, in typical adolescent fashion, said, "Who do you think you are...Mr. Holman!" It turned out it was Mr. Holman.

Here's another view, with Holman's on the left at the end of the street:

Save That Boy!

One thing in particular strikes me about this card, sent in 1943. It's the boy in the second row on the very left. His pants are pulled up high by suspenders. He looks like a skinny farm boy, who has fed the chickens, milked the cows, and is now being sent off to war. His family misses him already. I want to send him back home, but it's decades too late.
The message on this card reads:

This is what I looked like 4 months ago.

Love, Charles