The Chinatown neighborhood of Los Angeles, California developed in the late 19th century. However, it was demolished to make way for Union Station, so the area had to be re-established. It wasn't until 1938 when the "new" Chinatown commercial district opened. This vintage postcard features the Forbidden Palace restaurant and a souvenir store, with the Wishing Well garden in the foreground. And they all still exist! This view is from Mei Ling Way looking northeast along Gin Ling Way. The Hong Building is the one at the right with the elaborate roof structure.
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Check out this postcard of downtown Jacksonville, Florida at Postcardigans!
Marineland oceanarium opened in 1938 just south of St. Augustine, Florida. The Marine Studios were designed to serve as a underwater motion picture studio. The aquarium operates today as a part of the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta and is celebrating its 80th anniversary in 2018. Here are a selection of the Marineland postcards available through Postcardigans.
From here on, the Spit and Argue Club became a fixture on the Long Beach piers. Crowds of up to 1,500 people watched the action, and some even took part. In the 1930s the city of Long Beach attempted to control the perception of the group, renaming it the University by the Sea--a pretentious name that did not stick--and creating formal rules of engagement. A platform was built on Rainbow Pier, and each participant had ten minutes to speak or, in the case of one regular, play the flute. A moral code was enforced, with no swimwear allowed (at a beach, nonetheless) and profanity and alcohol prohibited.
The event continued after World War II, but the rise of communism and the Red Scare led to less cordial arguments. As noted in a 2010 historical article on the club in the Los Angeles Times, A 1949 petition signed by 299 people demanded that the Long Beach City Council shut down Spit 'n' Argue because they said it was an anti-American organization whose rhetoric was inflamed "by four psychopaths, two religious fanatics and a crackpot." The council refused.
The American Legion contended that the club was full of communists while another organization claimed it to be infiltrated by the KKK. The Rainbow Pier platform was demolished in 1953, though the club was eventually allowed to meet again on the pier itself.
But the golden days of the Spit and Argue Club were long gone. Television and radio became preferred mediums of entertainment, and the number of Spit and Argue Club participants and spectators declined. Older members passed away. The club was forced from the piers onto a designated area on the beach, but later development made the site all but impossible to access. By 1970 the club was all but gone. In an article in the Long Beach Independent Press-Telegram, Selah Brickman lamented, So many things are gone. So many of our old members. The people walking around the pier. The breakers, the sound of them. In 1902, a teacher, I came from Live in the Russian Ukraine to get away from the Czar, to find freedom and free speech. Here, yes, they are here! “But our members are old now. When the wind blows, they get cold. They stay home. No, no one chews tobacco any more. No one spits, here at our club. On sunny days, we still talk of everything. A few of us. But the old times have gone.
The city shut down the Spit and Argue Club in 1972, thus ending an interesting and dynamic part of Long Beach's history.
Sources:
"Before They Could Spout Off on the Airwaves, Folks Debated (and Spit) in the Open Air," Los Angeles Times, February 7, 2010, http://articles.latimes.com/2010/feb/07/local/la-me-then7-2010feb07. Long Beach Independent Press-Telegram, June 7, 1970, http://kenjonesfishing.com/2017/11/the-spit-%E2%80%98n%E2%80%99-argue-club-at-the-pier-%E2%80%94/. Grace Lutheran Church in St. Petersburg, Flodia was designed by architect John Randal McDonald and was dedicated in 1961. A native of Milwaukee, McDonald studied fine art at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and architecture at Yale University. McDonald was heavily influenced by the work of Frank Lloyd Wright, whose Taliesin studio was located in southwestern Wisconsin. The form of modernist architecture practiced by McDonald has been referred to as "organic modernism." He operated offices in Wisconsin and later Florida. Most of McDonald's early work was residential architecture, but after his move to Florida he expanded his work to civic and institutional projects such as Grace Lutheran Church. McDonald's design for Grace Lutheran Church incorporated natural materials including such woods as African mahogany and California redwood and stone locally sourced from Bradenton, Florida. The design of the church evokes the prow of a ship, with the largest wing rising 74 feet from a reflecting pool, and symbolizes "man's rising above ignorance." Sources: "Symbolism Predominates in Church Architecture," St. Petersburg Times, March 4, 1961. "John Randal McDonald," Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Randal_McDonald. Fun fact: I have a bachelor's degree in architecture and a master's degree in history, with a concentration in public history. Public history? What's that, you may ask? Not only am I trained in scholarly history--writing long articles and reports filled with footnotes (oh, how I love footnotes!) and overly technical terminology--but I also have studied how to present historical information for public consumption. I took classes in digital media, museum studies, and (my absolute favorite) historic preservation. My post-graduate career is my consulting business, SVM Historical Consulting--seriously, check it out! I love talking about old buildings and their historic context! So many postcards feature buildings that no longer exist. That makes me sad, primarily because many of these buildings were demolished due to the mid-century architectural idea that "new is good, old is bad" as well as the poorly-considered urban renewal policies of the 1960s. Now, while we may mourn the loss of these buildings, we also have to remember that structures are designed and built by humans, and we're not perfect. Sometimes, poor design and construction techniques led to the rapid deterioration of these buildings, which over time needed to be removed for safety purposes. Also, preservation of these older structures is not cheap, and organizations that may own these properties simply cannot afford to maintain them. This makes the practice of historic preservation both difficult and interesting. As my historic preservation professor was fond to say, historic preservation is not the preservation of history but the management of change. And sometimes, the management of change means that old buildings come down. With those factors in mind, here are some postcards of buildings and structures which, if were still in existence today, would be historic properties: Crewe Methodist Church, Crewe, Virginia This postcard (listed here in my Etsy shop) prompted my writing of this blog post. The small town of Crewe was founded in 1888 as the location for engine repair shops for the Norfolk & Western Railroad (today Norfolk Southern), which carried coal from the western mountain mines east to the port at Norfolk. The repair shops diminished in importance as the railroad switched from steam to diesel, but the yard is still in operation today. The town's first Methodist Church was organized the same year as the town's founding. A Gothic Revival structure was built in 1907 on the corner of Carolina Avenue and Powell Street to house the congregation. In 1980 a new sanctuary was built on Georgia Avenue, and the old building was abandoned. After years of neglect, the 1907 structure was demolished.
Santa Barbara High School, Santa Barbara, California Some buildings are lost not because people chose to demolish them, but rather were the victims of Mother Nature. Such is the case of Santa Barbara High School. The 1925 earthquake, which had its epicenter just off the coast at Santa Barbara, killed 13 people and caused millions of dollars in damage. According to the Santa Barbara Historical Museum, "eighty-five percent of the commercial buildings downtown were destroyed or badly damaged." Although the school was founded in 1875, this iteration of the high school was constructed in 1901 at the corner of Anapamu and De la Vina streets. Architect John Kremple of Los Angeles designed the three-story stone structure, which melded the Spanish-influenced architecture of the area with the contemporary Richardsonian Romanesque style. Within twenty years, however, the booming town had outgrown the facility, and a new high school opened in 1924 at Anapamu and Quartentina streets. The new high school received minimal damage is today is a local and state landmark. As for the former high school, the damage from the earthquake was too great, and the structure was demolished. This postcard is also available in my Etsy shop. For more reading:
Crewe Methodist Church, Crewe, Virginia: Crewe, Virginia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crewe,_Virginia; Valerie N. Birch, Alison S. Blanton, and Mary A. Zirkle, Historical Architectural Survey of Nottoway County (May 1996), 53. Grand Circus Park, Detroit, Michigan: Grand Circus Park Historic District, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Circus_Park_Historic_District. Santa Barbara High School, Santa Barbara, California: Santa Barbara Conservancy, Stone Architecture in Santa Barbara (Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2009): 19-21. The Wardner family were prominent members of the Windsor, Vermont community throughout the nineteenth century. This postcard depicts the family farm near the town and probably refers to Henry Steele Wardner (1867-1935). Henry Steele Wardner was born July 8, 1867 in Windsor. He was educated at St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire, and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard College in 1888. Continuing at Harvard Law School, Henry graduated with a Bachelor of Laws degree in 1891 and was admitted to the New York State Bar the following year. After working two years in the office of the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Henry opened a private practice in New York City. In 1914 he married widow Lillian Millard Darrach. While permanently residing in New York, Henry kept his family home in Windsor and was active in Vermont organizations. As the Vermont Journal eulogized in 1935, "Vermont interests held a very large place in his affections." An amateur historian, he authored The Birthplace of Vermont: A History of Windsor to 1871 in 1927. He is also indebted for saving records for the years 1769-1785 for the town of Windsor, which he found under a woodpile in the basement of the town hall. A breeder of horses, Henry served as the first president of the Morgan Horse Club. A collection of pamphlets and photographs pertaining to the club is held by the Vermont Historical Society. Henry also promoted forest preservation and was a proponent of the creation of the Green Mountain National Forest in the late 1920s. He died in New York City of pneumonia on March 5, 1935 and was buried three days later at Ascutney Cemetery in Windsor. He and his wife had no children, and I am unsure of who inherited the property. Henry was descended from Johann Phillip Wardner, who emigrated from southwest Germany in the 1700s and eventually settled in Reading, Vermont on what is now referred to as Wardner Hill. Son Frederic moved to Windsor in 1800 with his wife Rebecca Waldo Wardner and children (seven of whom are Abigail, Polly, Calvin, Luther, Allen, Shubael, and James). Son Allen Wardner became a notable citizen of Windsor. Allen was born on December 13, 1796 in Alstead, New Hampshire. He attended West Point for one year, after which he returned to Windsor to partner in a mercantile business with a Dr. Green. After Dr. Green retired, Allen brought his brother Shubael into the firm, which was renamed A. & S. Wardner. Allen served as director of Old Bank of Windsor and president of Ascutney National Bank. He represented Windsor twice in the Vermont House of Representatives and was appointed State Treasurer in 1837, an office he held for one year. Allen married Minerva Bingham in 1814, and they had twelve children (George, Henry, Helen, Helen Minerva, Charles, Charlotte Pettes, Edward Allen, Ann Elizabeth, William, Maria Louisa, Caroline Crane, and Martha). After Minerva's death in 1841, Allen retired from his business affairs, handing them over to son Henry. Henry Wardner was born in Windsor on February 10, 1817. He worked in his father's mercantile store, and later joined the Ascutney National Bank. There he became acquainted with Caroline Paine Steele, daughter of the bank's cashier. They married in 1866 and had three children (Henry Steele, Susan Ellen, and Allen). He later assumed the position of cashier, which he held even after taking over the bank from his father. He retired in 1883 and moved to Springfield, Massachusetts with his family. He died of complications from a stroke on February 15, 1891, shortly after his seventy-fourth birthday. Sources:
Lewis Cass Aldrich and Frank R. Holmes, eds., History of Windsor County, Vermont (Syracuse, NY: D. Mason & Co., 1891): 917-920 (Allen Wardner). Allen Wardner, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allen_Wardner. "Biographical Sketch," Henry Steele Wardner (1867-1935) Morgan Horse Collection, 1893-1917, Vermont Historical Society, Barre, VT. Henry Wardner, https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi/page/gr/search.ancestry.com/Browse/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=156435539. The Vermont Journal, March 7, 1935. Postcards have traditionally been used as an advertising tool for businesses, tourist attractions, and other organizations. During the New Deal infrastructure boom of the 1930s, numerous postcards of both old and new civic buildings were published. So here is a selection of library postcards from various cities across the country.
Check out the slideshow below for some more library postcards. I picked up the above photograph of a young boy at an estate sale last year near Baton Rouge, Louisiana. My immediate thought was “blog post potential!” I went to college in Ruston, the town named in the bottom right of the card, so that certainly piqued my interest. But who was the Davis? And why was there a swastika at the bottom?
I have several ship postcards available for sale over on Postcardigans @ Etsy. Lord Viking This circa 1960s postcard features the Lord Viking at dock at Bay City, Michigan, on Lake Huron. The cargo ship was built in 1960 in Dremman, Norway. Between 1962 and early 1968, she served as a time charter for Canadian Pacific. In 1969 the ship was renamed the Concordia Loud, and the following year was sold to Maydon Shipping Company in Panama and renamed the Horizon. She was sold again in 1980 to Nifely Shipping Company of Greece, then in 1984 to Armour Line Offshore in Panama and renamed Cargo King. The last known whereabouts of the cargo ship was in 1985 in Gadani Beach, Pakistan, where she was dismantled.[1] SS Matsonia This vintage postcard, circulated in 1959, features the luxury ocean liner SS Matsonia of Matson Cruise Lines. She was completed in April 1932 as the SS Monterey and was the third of Matson's "White Fleet" operating between California and Hawaii, New Zealand, Fiji, Australia, and other exotic Pacific ports. During World War II, the ship was used to transport troops in not only the Pacific but also in the Atlantic to the United Kingdom, Morocco, and Panama. She also was involved in combat on a voyage to Liverpool to Gibraltar and Naples, Italy, in October 1943. Following the war, SS Monterey was taken to Alameda, California, to be refitted, but the project budget ran out, and she sat unused for many years. Matson repurchased her from the U.S. government and renamed the ship the SS Matsonia, relaunching her in 1957. However, within six years, profits from their trans-Pacific tourism market dropped, and Matson anchored her in San Francisco Bay. However, negative public opinion of Matson's sale of their popular SS Lurline convinced the company to relaunch SS Matsonia under the Lurline name in 1963. By the end of the decade, ship travel had decreased to the point that Matson discontinued their passenger service, and the liner was sold to Chandris Lines. Chandris refitted the liner, renamed SS Britanis. She operated under this name until late 1996. Two years later, Britanis was sold to AG Belofin Investments and renamed Belofin-1. In 2000, the former luxury ocean liner sank off the coast of South Africa near Cape Town.[2] SS Stella Maris This 1950s vintage postcard features the steamship SS Stella Maris, a cruise liner for Greek-owned Sun Lines. The Stella Maris was built in 1943 as the frigate HMS Guildford Castle before being renamed the HMS Hespeler of the Royal Canadian Navy. Following World War II, she was sold and refitted as the SS Chilcotin. Sun Lines bought her in 1958 and christened her SS Stella Maris. She was sold again in 1965, and destroyed by fire the following year.[3] References [1] "LORD VIKING - IMO 5212189," Shipspotting.com, http://www.shipspotting.com/gallery/photo.php?lid=1906798, accessed May 3, 2016; Photo comment by bno, ShipsNostalgia.com, http://www.shipsnostalgia.com/gallery/comshow.php?page=230&totalrows=575234, accessed May 3, 2016. [2] "SS Monterey," Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Monterey, accessed May 3, 2016. [3] "MV Stella Maris I," SSMaritime.com, http://www.ssmaritime.com/SS-Stella-Maris-I.htm, accessed May 3, 2016. |