Eat Your Giant Vegetables

Just five servings a day, that's all you need. Both of these cards show giant vegetables from Oregon being delivered by rail car. For some reason, Oregon has been blacked out on the first card...perhaps by a jealous Californian.

The second card is basically identical to one I posted earlier, except for the wording. I recognize those tomatoes.

The first card was sent to Mrs. F.E. Hull (Krill?) in Bandon, Oregon in 1916 from her May in Coquille, Oregon.

The message reads:

Jan 3, 1916

Dear Mrs. Hull

I got the little towel . I was tickled to death over it thanks it is beautiful. We have sold out and are moving don't know where. I will write a long letter when we get settled bye bye from May.

Here's the back of the second card, sent to Lola Cline in Union, Oregon in 1909.

The message reads:

I arrived here at 10 o'clock safe and sound. How is the baby tell him "Hello" will write to the rest of the folks soon. The folks were at the train to meet me. love to all. Tiddy.

Perkins Hotel - Portland, Oregon

There were a number of elegant hotels in Portland at the turn of the century, catering to wealth visitors. The Perkins Hotel stands out from the other hotels though. Richard Perkins was a cattle driver and owed his success to driving cattle from the Willamette Valley to Idaho. He was a native of Bristol, England, the son of a wholesale cattle dealer and butcher. When Richard Perkins built the  six-story Perkins Hotel on the NE corner of 5th and Washington streets in Portland in 1891, he honored his roots as a cattleman by placing a golden steer on the exterior above the top floor. The hotel catered to visiting cattlemen and served steaks in its restaurant across the street, but it also attracted politicians and actresses such as Sarah Bernhardt.

Mr. Perkins had financial trouble in the following years and had to sell the hotel.  The hotel was redecorated and re-opened by its new owners without the golden steer in 1908. However, when A. Everett Meyers leased the hotel in 1924, he returned the steer to its alcove. It remained there until 1957. At that point the hotel had been declared a fire hazard and the top floors were closed. The entire building was demolished in 1962. The golden steer is now stored (though not on display) at the Oregon Historical Society.

I love the message on the front of this card sent to Mrs. E. Thrall of Albany, Oregon in 1907:

Dear Mamma - All we girls are up on Council Crest. How are you? (???? T.)

At the time, Council Crest was the site of an amusement park. I'll post a card of that one of these days too.

For more on the Perkins Hotel and history of Portland, visit Vintage Portland.

Tram Tuesday - Rotterdam, Netherlands

Like many cities throughout the world, Rotterdam started out with horse-drawn streetcars in 1879. Rotterdam also had steam-powered trams, which was more of a rarity; the majority of cities went from horse-drawn streetcars to electric-powered ones. In the case of Rotterdam, the electric-powered streetcars started replacing both steam-powered and horse-drawn streetcars in 1905. Line One, shown below, was the first electric-powered car and replaced a horse-drawn service.

On both of these cards, you see the pantographs above the streetcars; that's the electric rod device that collects electric current from the overhead lines. You don't see the overhead lines themselves though. They would have been visible on the photograph, but were often erased when the photo was colorized. Sometimes the pantographs weer also erased. It made for a cleaner picture.

Line 4 below, also replaced a horse-drawn service, and was added in 1906.

There are a lot of interesting details in this picture, including the advertisement on the left, the carts, the way people are dressed, and the over-sized chair on top of the building in the middle. Here's a close-up.

You can see the letters MEUB underneath. The entire word, blocked by a chimney, is probably meubilair, which is the word for furniture in Dutch.
Here are the backs of the cards in the same order.

The message, sent in 1908, reads

Dear Madame!

Our sincere greetings from the second house on the left. Your devoted E.M. Pool

For a complete history of trams in Rotterdam, visit The Tram of Rotterdam website.