Camp Upton, N.Y.

The picture above is a real-photo card of Camp Upton, on New York's Long Island. Camp Upton isn't there anymore; in its place you will find Brookhaven National Laboratory. Camp Upton was built hastily in 1917 as an induction and training center for World War I soldiers. One of the soldiers at Camp Upton was Sergeant Irving Berlin who wrote Yip, Yip Yaphank while he was there. The commanding officer at the camp wanted to build a community center at the camp and thought that Berlin could help raise $35,000 to build it with a musical revue. The Yip, Yip Yaphank production included the famous song, Oh! How I hate to get up in the morning, and made $80,000 for the Army, which never built the community center.

The camp was deactivated after World War I, and the land was designated Upton National Forest and  reforested by the Civilian Conservation Corps. With the advent of World War II, the camp was reconstructed and put back into service. Camp Upton was then declared surplus on June 30, 1945, but it was decided that the base would not be dismantled.  Instead, it was converted into a research center for the peaceful uses of atomic power. These are all world War II era cards.

Youngstown, Ohio

Jack from Youngstown, Ohio asked me if I had any postcards from his city. I thought I didn't, but I found one after all, and here it is! You can see from the postcard that railroads played an important role in Youngstown. Not surprising, since it was a center for coal and for steel. These industries drew people from all over the world and led to a diverse ethnic distribution, including Welsh, Irish, German, Eastern Europeans, Italians, Greeks,  Syrians, Lebanese, Israelis, Latin Americans,  and Africans.

The decline of the steel industry in the 1970s meant that Youngstown had to redefine itself and diversify economically. Other cities have had to deal with similar transitions , and it's often very difficult. I hope that Jack will have something to add to this.

Lei Sellers - Honolulu, Hawaii

Never mind the leis, I'd like to have his vintage shirt, please.
There are still lei sellers at the Honolulu Airport, selling some very beautiful leis. If you're flying out of Honolulu, leave a little extra time to go to the outdoor lei sellers. It's just a quick walk outside the terminal. The quality is better and the prices are lower than what you would pay inside the airport.

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