Monthly Archives: June 2015

Car on Highway 35 near Pepin, Wisconsin

This is another image of state Highway 35 near Pepin, Wisconsin. The highway passes through the town along the Mississippi shoreline.
There is no description on the back of the card.
There are a lot of objects stacked in the fields on either side of the highway and in the background behind the car. These appear to be corn stacks, which are bundles of corn stalks gathered into a standing stack for further processing. This shows the picture was taken in late summer or early fall during the corn harvest.
The car in the picture indicates this image is from the 1930s.

Highway 35 Near Pepin, Wisconsin

This image shows a pair of automobiles approaching from around a curve of Highway 35 in Wisconsin, near the town of Pepin.
There is no description on the back of the card.
Pepin, Wisconsin is a small town on Lake Pepin, which is a part of the Mississippi River and forms the border between Wisconsin and Minnesota along the lake.
The style of cars in the picture indicate it is likely from the 1930s.

Natural History Museum, San Diego, Calfornia

This image shows the front entrance to the San Diego Natural History Museum, located in Balboa Park in the middle of the city.

Security Lithograph Co., San Francisco, Calif.


The description states:
332 – NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM, BALBOA PARK, SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA
Balboa Park has been the scene of two international expositions and is the cultural and recreational center of the city. The great halls of the Natural History Museum house displays of the flora and fauna of the San Diego region.
The museum has expanded to more than double the original floorspace, although this is not obvious from photos because half of the building was left as a facade for decades after it opened. Its increased size has allowed the museum to host traveling exhibits like the Dead Sea Scrolls.
This postcard was used and is dated 20 July 1955.

Desert Scene

This postcard is an artwork with poetry and commentary illustrating some of the clichés of the desert as they were understood in the mid-20th Century.

C.T. Art-Colortone, Western Publishing and Novelty Co., Los Angeles, Calif.


There is no description on the back of this card. There is handwriting there, and it appears to list the titles of several popular songs of the time, the most obvious being “I Found a Million Dollar Baby”, which was published in 1931 and first performed by Fanny Bryce, then recorded by many others, including Bing Crosby, also in 1931. This indicates the card likely dates from the 1930s.

Harvey House and Park, Needles, California

This image shows the so-called Harvey House in Needles, California. In fact, it was named the El Garces Hotel, and was also a restaurant and train depot for the Santa Fe railroad. It was built in 1908.

Harvey House and Park, Needles, California B9679


There is no description on the back of the card.
The building still stands, though the train depot is long closed it still functions as a transit center for the city of Needles. The automobiles shown indicate this image is from the 1940s.

Golden Canyon, Funeral Mountains, Death Valley, California

This image shows the so-called Golden Canyon of the Funeral Mountain range in Death Valley, California. The canyon name may be an alternate description of the north end of Death Valley, as the Funeral Mountains form the northern border of the valley.

Frasher’s Fotos, Pomona, Calif.


There is no description on the back of the card. The Death Valley National Park is not a true valley. Instead, it is a graben, or a block of land that has been lowered by tectonic activity between two other rising blocks. It became famous for it’s borax mines which provided soap and laundry powder to the U.S. consumer in the middle of the 20th century.
The lonely automobile shown in the image indicates the card likely dates from the 1930s.

Joshua Tree, California

This image shows an ancient Joshua Tree plant. Its age is indicated by the thickness of the trunk and the multitude of ‘arms’ or branches that have grown from it over the decades. 
There is no description on the back of the card.
These are part of the yucca genus, and flower most often when there is sufficient rain. Their branches develop after flowering.
This image likely dates from the 1940s.

Desert Scene with Joshua Tree, California

This image shows the typical desert areas of Southeastern California, known generally as the Mohave desert.

Natural Color by Mike Roberts, Berkeley 2, Calif.


The description on the back of the card states:
DESERT LANDSCAPE
Colorful jagged mountains, arid wastelands, and the grotesque desert Joshua tree form a typical scene on the desert, now crossed in comfort on smooth, paved highways which connect one cool green oasis to another.
–The description refers to the US Highways, and later Interstate Highways, which facilitated safe travel across these otherwise uninhabited and inhospitable areas. Even today there are large uninhabited desert regions, many of which are state and national parks.
This card likely dates from the 1950s.

Devils Finger Cactus, California

This image shows the rare and beautiful blossom of the desert finger cactus, apparently more commonly known today as the Lady Finger Cactus, common in the desert areas northeastern Mexico and the Rio Grande Valley.

Selithco True Color from Ektachrome


There is no description on the back of the card. The colors of the flower can vary somewhat but the shape and pattern of flower and colors is consistent.
This card likely dates from the 1950s.

Donner Monument, Donner Lake, California

This image shows the large memorial erected to the Donner Party, a group of emigrants from Illinois who were trapped by snow and forced into cannibalism to survive.

A Mike Roberts Color Production, Berkeley 2, Calif.


The description states:
C875 – DONNER MONUMENT
DONNER LAKE, CALIFORNIA
Near the eastern end of Donner Lake, this monument marks the location where the Donner Party was snowbound during the winter of 1846-47. Of the 81 persons in the party, few survived that terrible winter.
–More recent research has determined that there were 87 people in the party, and 48 survived.
This card likely dates from the 1950s.