Last Century at Marienbad

Marienbad was a popular spa resort in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.  The name of Marienbad was bestowed in 1808, and it became a destination by 1818.  Eventually, it became a posh resort, attracting the likes of King Edward, Goethe, Mahler, Rudyard Kipling,  Kaiser Franz Josef I, Kafka, Mark Twain, Sigmund Freud, Wagner, Chopin, Czar Nicholas, Nietzsche, and Thomas Edison. At that time, Marienbad was located in Austria. Now it is located in the Czech Republic and is known as Mariánské Lázně.

O.K., so what did people do in Marienbad? They came to be cured of all sorts of ailments and to rest, sometimes for months on end. There were various springs with different curative properties. They drank the waters, which were sulphurous, they urinated (because the waters were diuretic), they went for walks, they took mineral baths, they ate well, they relaxed, and they socialized.

The Cafe Egerländer was one popular place to enjoy scenery of the Bohemian forest, as well as good company and good food. Here's a view of Marienbad from the cafe.

Here is the back of the second card:

The message on the card , addressed to Hon. E.M. Cullen, No. 1 Park Place in Albany, New York, reads:

This is a general view of Marienbad. Already the Dr. thinks I am much better. I hope all is well with you.  Much love

H.G.

June 9th

I'm not sure when the card was sent, but it looks like maybe 1911. Anyway, forget about Marienbad, what's really interesting here is the identity of the recipient.

Thanks to the internet, the New York Times archives, and my snoopy nature, I can tell you that E.M. Cullen led an eventful life. He was born in Brooklyn in 1843 and graduated from Columbia University at 17.  He then went to Troy, New York to study civil engineering, but while he was there the Civil War broke out! He immediately enlisted, and at the age of 19 became commander of the 96th Regiment, New York State volunteers. After that, he served as Brigadier General for the State of New York and then Assistant District Attorney for Kings County. He was serving on the Supreme Bench of the Second Judicial District when New York's Governor, Teddy Roosevelt asked him to serve as a Supreme Court Justice for the State of New York in 1900. Like I said, forget about Marienbad.

Waikiki Beach - Honolulu, Hawaii

Here we have the Moana Hotel in Waikiki, circa 1956. It was the first hotel to be built in Waikiki, opening its doors in 1901.

And there it is again, circa 1967:

 There was a building boom in Honolulu starting in about 1955 when plans were finalized to build a 12,000 foot runway at the airport, allowing passenger jets to bring more visitors to Hawaii.  After all, those visitors would need hotel rooms and places to shop. There was so much construction in the following years that people used to joke that Hawaii's state bird was the construction crane.

If you'd like to see some additional views of Waikiki Beach in the 1950s, take a look at Tattered and Lost Vernacular Photography.

Here are the backs of the cards in the same order as above;

Streetcar Sunday - Vienna, Austria

This is a relatively long post, because I have three cards from the same sender featuring trams in Vienna. I couldn't bear to post just one.
The first card was sent in 1904. I can't make out the name of the sender, but it was sent to Leopoldine Miller, who lived a block away from Central Park near Madison Avenue in New York City.

You can see the notation at the top of the card that continues with a dotted line to a building at the bottom of the card. The notation says: Stations of the underground 
And, if you look along the quay, you can see where the trains run under the street. The underground, known as the Wiener Stadtbahn, was built between 1894 and 1901. Since the trains were steam powered, a shortage of coal during World War I forced the system to close temporarily. It was reopened with electric trains after the war. Starting in 1976, the system was integrated with Vienna's new subway system. Many of the early Art Nouveau stations designed by Otto Wagner are preserved as landmarks.

There's plenty of action above ground too, with streetcars, horse-drawn carriages, and lots of pedestrians.  You may also notice that at this time left-hand drive was still in effect. Here is the back of the card:

The next card was also sent to Loepoldine Miller by the same sender in 1907 (?)

Vienna has a long history of streetcar service, starting with horse-drawn cars in 1865. The first steam-powered trams were added in 1883, followed by electric trams in 1897.  Although passengers preferred the electric trams over horse- and steam-powered ones, there were still a few steam-powered lines as late as 1922.

On all of these cards you can see that the front and back platforms of the cars were not glassed in; they were still built on the model of horse-drawn cars, where the conductor would need to be able to control the horses from the platform.  To reverse direction, the horses were simply detached from one side of the car and brought to the other - for that reason, both front and back platforms had to be open. By 1910, the electric cars had glass on all sides, providing much better protection from weather.

Here's the back of the card:

And finally, the last card was sent to Mr. Frank Miller in 1908 at the same address, shows the south train station. Originally, the underground Wiener Stadtbahn was supposed to connect to this station too, but the planned line was never built. Still, you can see that it was a hub for streetcars, trains, and horse-drawn carriages.

Here's the back of the card:

The message reads:

2/10/1908

Dear Frank,

Before leaving for Prague, where _____ is staying for a couple of weeks,  I thank you for the pretty card with the elephant's head. Nature is producing often very curious objects and even subjects. No doubt you enjoyed some fine holydays. Hearty greetings to you and your people from truly yours ____

If you're in Vienna, you may want to plan a trip to the Vienna Tram Museum, which displays 100 original vehicles, including  a horse tram built in 1868.