Streetcar Sunday - Copenhagen, Denmark

This is not a very clear picture, but since it shows a double-deck tram I couldn't resist it. The message on the back of the card is amusing too.

Tram service in Copenhagen ended in 1972, after operating for 109 years. Some of the tram cars were then shipped off to Egypt where they were put to use in Alexandria. Years later, the Danish Tramway Society managed to bring two of them back for the tram museum.

The message on the card reads:

We walked down here yesterday. It is a beautiful town. I like it so much, shall be sorry to leave it. I do not find it very cold, the air is quite different to England so invigorating. I feel quite "buxom" already. The customs seem so very strange, but shall get used to them. Am writing a long letter, so shall close this with fond love. B.S.

Well, there's the trade-off of a postcard vs. a letter. You get a nice picture on the front, but the message often raises more questions than it answers. What exactly are those strange customs?

Beer in Munich

These cards show two of Munich's oldest breweries. The Hofbräuhaus is the most famous and the one tourists are most likely to visit, though they no longer arrive by horse-drawn carriage.  It was founded by the Duke of Bavaria in 1589.

It's still there and looks very much the same today.

The message on the card to Mr C. Solomon Jr. (with postage due) reads:

Munich , Sept 1, 1908

This is the place to get the best beer in the world. Have had one for you. Are having a fine time. We are leaving today for Heidelberg. Am getting quite a vocabulary in German.

A.T.C.

The second postcard is from the Löwenbräu cellar which is across the street from the Löwenbräu brewery.  It was built in 1883, but sustained some pretty severe damage during World War II, so it's a little smaller now than what's shown on the postcard.

I like the buildings, and the beer is fine, but I personally would choose many smaller beer-serving establishments in Munich over these. The Hofbräuhaus, in particular, is a big noisy cavern, and both it and the Löwenbräu cellar lack the Gemütlichkeit that I find appealing in those smaller establishments.

I did attend a fun reunion event at the Löwenbräu cellar a few years ago though. Since I took this picture, I am not in it, although I promise I was there and dressed up.  To give you a realistic depiction, I've added myself in a somewhat more casual fashion, propped up in an empty beer glass. No formal group portraits were taken, and I'm not sure why.

Although there are no tales of drunken debauchery here, you may find some on the other Sepia Saturday posts.

B. T. Babbitt's Soap

Benjamin Talbot Babbitt was born in Westmoreland, New York in 1809 and became a very successful businessman. He is best known for his soap, but for a long time he also controlled the baking soda market, and sold baking yeast. Although Babbitt was somewhat of an entrepreneurial genius, he fell victim to an embezzlement scam by some of his employees. It is also rumored that he was the inspiration for Sinclair Lewis' novel Babbitt, about vulgar and ignorant businessman. When B.T. Babbitt died in 1889, he left an estate valued at $5 million.