This postcard was mailed January 22, 1950, to Mr. and Mrs. W. Hileman of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. It is unclear which sender of the car, Bob or Mary, is the Hileman's child. Bob and Mary were driving to Miami and stopped for the night just outside of Brunswick, Georgia, from where this card was mailed. The message reads:
Dear Mom & Dad ---
Drove on past Savanna (sic) to Brunswick S.C. Sat night. Had a wonderful room at motor court, just a few miles outside of Brunswick. About 450 miles to go today (Sun) Will be in Miami around 6 this evening. Having a swell time
Love
Bob & Mary
The city of Myrtle Beach is relatively new, having been incorporated March 12, 1938. While its status as a resort spans back another fifty years, Myrtle Beach saw its popularity as a beach destination grow concurrently with the rate of automobile ownership in the United States. Driftwood-by-the-Sea, appearing on this postcard originally printed in 1940, is a prime example of this growth. Although World War II would dampen enthusiasm for travel, just a few years later the family road trip would once again dominate tourism.
Driftwood-on-the-Sea is as old as the city. In the early 1930s, Homer and L'Nora Misenheimer opened the inn which continues to be family-owned. The original buildings are gone, however, having been replaced by more modern condo buildings. It is unclear if Hurricane Hazel, which struck on October 15, 1954, is the reason for the replacement of the inn. Today, the resort retains a variation on the name, Driftwood at the Boardwalk.
Homer Lee Misenheimer was born January 20, 1888, in Rockwell, Rowan County, North Carolina, the son of William Reid Misenheimer and Sarah Lucetta Jane Miller. L'Nora Foutz was born June 24, 1892, in North Carolina, the daughter of James Columbus and Julia A. Foutz. The Misenheimers moved to South Carolina after 1930--the census that year places the family in Salisbury, North Carolina, north of Charlotte. Their daughter Evelyn married Luke Ward, who took over the Driftwood. In 1954 L'Nora became the second woman elected to the Myrtle Beach town council. Homer died March 10, 1959, in Salisbury, and L'Nora followed February 15, 1971, in Myrtle Beach. Both, along with their daughter, are buried at Ocean Woods Memorial Cemetery.
Sources:
City of Myrtle Beach about page
Homer Lee Misenheimer and L'Nora Foutz Misenheimer at Findagrave.com.
McMilan, Susan Hoffer. Myrtle Beach and Conway in Vintage Postcards. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2001.
Stokes, Barbara F. Myrtle Beach: A History. 1900-1980. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press, 2007.
United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 (Family Search)
Dear Mom & Dad ---
Drove on past Savanna (sic) to Brunswick S.C. Sat night. Had a wonderful room at motor court, just a few miles outside of Brunswick. About 450 miles to go today (Sun) Will be in Miami around 6 this evening. Having a swell time
Love
Bob & Mary
The city of Myrtle Beach is relatively new, having been incorporated March 12, 1938. While its status as a resort spans back another fifty years, Myrtle Beach saw its popularity as a beach destination grow concurrently with the rate of automobile ownership in the United States. Driftwood-by-the-Sea, appearing on this postcard originally printed in 1940, is a prime example of this growth. Although World War II would dampen enthusiasm for travel, just a few years later the family road trip would once again dominate tourism.
Driftwood-on-the-Sea is as old as the city. In the early 1930s, Homer and L'Nora Misenheimer opened the inn which continues to be family-owned. The original buildings are gone, however, having been replaced by more modern condo buildings. It is unclear if Hurricane Hazel, which struck on October 15, 1954, is the reason for the replacement of the inn. Today, the resort retains a variation on the name, Driftwood at the Boardwalk.
Homer Lee Misenheimer was born January 20, 1888, in Rockwell, Rowan County, North Carolina, the son of William Reid Misenheimer and Sarah Lucetta Jane Miller. L'Nora Foutz was born June 24, 1892, in North Carolina, the daughter of James Columbus and Julia A. Foutz. The Misenheimers moved to South Carolina after 1930--the census that year places the family in Salisbury, North Carolina, north of Charlotte. Their daughter Evelyn married Luke Ward, who took over the Driftwood. In 1954 L'Nora became the second woman elected to the Myrtle Beach town council. Homer died March 10, 1959, in Salisbury, and L'Nora followed February 15, 1971, in Myrtle Beach. Both, along with their daughter, are buried at Ocean Woods Memorial Cemetery.
Sources:
City of Myrtle Beach about page
Homer Lee Misenheimer and L'Nora Foutz Misenheimer at Findagrave.com.
McMilan, Susan Hoffer. Myrtle Beach and Conway in Vintage Postcards. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2001.
Stokes, Barbara F. Myrtle Beach: A History. 1900-1980. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press, 2007.
United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 (Family Search)