Signs of Hope

Margaret Whitney sent this lovely card to her friend Sara in the hospital.
These days there's more distance between the signs of hope. You could wait a long time for a real letter. When's the last time you received one?

Hotel Hermitage - New York

This hotel could hardly look more drab and uninviting, except for the advertisement painted on the side of the building promising single rooms for $1.50 and double rooms for $2.50. For less than $250, you could have rented the entire hotel for your private party. Another interesting and typical feature of this postcard is that the surrounding buildings are obscured. In black-and-white photographs this may have seemed necessary to guide the viewer's eye to the intended focus. Still, I don't think it makes the hotel appear in the best light. I think we need some bright colors here.

Although there is no date on this card, the grayed out marquis on the neighboring movie theater is screening A Woman Rebels, starring Katherine Hepburn, a film that came out in 1936.

Union Terminal - Cincinnati, Ohio

The Union Terminal was built in 1933 and declared an historic landmark in 1977. It was renovated and reopened as the Cincinnati Museum Center in 1990. I haven't seen the exterior of the building, but the pictures I have seen are striking, and it has been named one of the top 50 architecturally significant buildings in the United States. Although the terminal is still there, the concourse area you see on the card was demolished in the early 1970s.  This may have been the impetus to declare the terminal an historic landmark. The 20-foot glass mosaics on the walls were moved to the airport.

The architect who steals my covers just returned from the annual Frank Lloyd Wright conference, which was held in Cincinnati this year.  He visited the terminal and brought me back this lovely souvenir - a pair of Union Terminal socks! Not only are they stylish and comfy, but I think I may be the only one on my block with a pair.

Here's the back of the postcard:

The message to John J. Marshall reads:

Johnny:

Sorry I didn't get to say so 'long but hear I am in the terminal building at Cincinnati (what a joint you ought to see it) and headed for Fort Knox.

JM

Time 4:30 P.S. Get Ida's address and say hello

You can find out more about the history of the Union Terminal here.