West Water Street - Elmira, New York

West Water Street in the 1930s had streetcar service, lots of shops and a new elevated railroad. It looks different today, but some of the buildings are still there.  The buildings on the right-hand side have been replaced by a park.

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Double Deck Motor Bus in Chicago

The double-deck motorbus was primarily designed to appeal to sightseers, but also as an alternative to the streetcar.  This card is from about 1917, when this was the only double-deck bus service in Chicago. A few years later there were more routes and numerous competitors. Although the height of the bus was the source of its appeal, it was also the cause of its demise, because the buses were too tall to travel under rail viaducts.

SS Königin Luise

The ocean liner SS Königin Luise was built in 1896 for the North German Lloyd line and named after Queen Louise of Prussia. The ship sailed on North Atlantic, Australian, and Far East routes.  As luck would have it, the ship was in port when World War I broke out, and there she sat. However, at the end of the war the British took possession of her as war reparations.

Now, thank goodness for Janine. I am revising this post based on her comment, because obviously I was asleep on the job. Janine asked if this was the same ship that was featured in the movie, The African Queen. The answer is yes and no. The Königin Luise  is the name of the ship that Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn planned to destroy.  Bogey and Kate's plan is unsuccessful and their boat, the African Queen, sinks, but that doesn't matter because they are in love.

The African Queen is set during WWI, which is when the Koenigin Luise was sailing, however this ship was never used in any war efforts. There was another Koenigin Luise, launched in 1913 by the Hamburg America line. Although it originally served as a passenger ferry,  is was requisitioned during WWI for the German war effort and outfitted with cannons. At the beginning of WWI, the ship was sent out to lay mines, but was chased down by the British and sunk.


I don't recognize the music on the front, do you?