Sweet 16 - Grit and Oyster Shells

It's hard to read, but on the front of the card, written in glitter, is the inscription: Compliments of F. L. Jennings. Why someone who sold cholera cure, lice killer, and poultry panacea would produce a card with a beautiful young lady on it is a little puzzling to me, but what is the appropriate card for products like that?

Streetcar Sunday - Los Angeles

We think of Los Angeles as being centered around freeways and automobiles, but it wasn't always that way. The early streetcars, known as the Yellow Cars, carried passengers in L.A.'s dense downtown area and to the surrounding neighborhoods. The Los Angeles Electric Railway operated from 1901 until 1963 on narrow gauge, 3.5 foot tracks.  There were 20 lines and 1,250 streetcars. There were also 'Red Cars", operated by Pacific Electric. Often people would take trips that used both systems. By 1963, the streetcars had all been replaced by diesel buses.

Mostly, I am astonished by the number of people crowding the sidewalks.

Birthday Greetings to J. Wheeler Smith

I have no idea who J. Wheeler Smith was, but he received this card for his 90th birthday in 1910. Born in 1820,  J. Wheeler Smith might have been considered too old to fight in the Civil War. Imagine that. He probably died before the first World War.  His life experience was so different from mine, yet I hold this card of his in my hand. This really sums up my fascination with old postcards.

Here's the unedited message:

Please except hearty congratulations and best wishes  for this your 90th birthday. Hope you will see many more. Just recd. your kind letter.  You certainly are a wonder to me, so smart for one of your years. With all good wishes I am sincerely

Mrs. J.H. Prentice.