The Locks at Lockport, New York

The message reads:

Your letter received yesterday. Will get you a job if I can. Andrew June 25, '09.

Lockport, New York is located about 18 miles from Niagara Falls. The locks at Lockport originally consisted of five locks on the Erie Canal, as shown above, built in the first half of the 19th century to try to overcome the difficulties of running barges up the 60-foot rise of the Niagara escarpment. At the time this postcard was sent, work was starting on reconstructing the locks. The message on the card probably refers to that work.

General Marquise de LaFayette declared the original locks to be one of the greatest engineering feats in the world. A new, wider set of canal locks opened in 1919. To view a fascinating history and images of the construction, click here.

When I think of Lockport, I think of its significance for shipping on the Erie Canal. I don't immediately think of the author, Joyce Carol Oates, but that's where she's from. I just finished reading her novel, Wonderland, which is set in Lockport and surrounding areas of New York. The blue tinting on the postcard would be totally appropriate for mood of this novel.The Smithsonian magazine recently featured an article by Oates about Lockport, which I highly recommend. The article gave me an entirely different perspective of the town, along with a sense of indebtedness.

Maitland Street - Bloemfontein, South Africa

This card dates from around 1910. Currently, Bloemfontein, with a population of about 370,000, is the capital and cultural center of the Free State Province (formerly the Orange Free State) in South Africa. It is also the seat of the South African Supreme Court of Appeal.


Bloemfontein is known for its flowers; it is also the birthplace of J.R.R Tolkien, author of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. Tolkien was born here in 1892, but left South Africa for England when he was three years old. He and his mother and brother had actually intended to return to South Africa after visiting relatives, but Tolkien's father died in South Africa during their visit abroad, so the rest of the family ended up staying in England. Tolkien also suffered a spider bite in Bloemfontein, which gave him a lifelong fear of spiders.

Streetcar Sunday - Auckland, New Zealand

Last Sunday we looked at streetcars (or trams) in Sydney, Australia. This week we're off to Auckland, New Zealand.
This, from Wikipedia:
Auckland City had horse trams from 1884, and the electric trams was officially opened on 17 November 1902 - public service was delayed because the motormen from Sydney, Australia, were involved in the SS Elingamite shipwreck near Three Kings Islands 9 November 1902, in which three drowned. Public service commenced a week later, on 24 November 1902, and continued to 29 December 1956. They were replaced by trolleybuses and buses. While light rail is discussed as a future option for the city, there is currently only a heritage tram service between two main MOTAT museum sites, which runs parallel to part of the Point Chevalier tram route on Great North Road, but was not part of the original system.
With services running from downtown at the Waitemata Harbour, across to Onehunga on the Manukau Harbour, meant Auckland had the worlds' only 'coast to coast' tramway system.