This image shows a gravel road as it crosses a water connection between Upper and Lower Pine Lake in Eldora, Iowa.
There is no description on the back of this card.
The picture is not particularly scenic, but typical of postcard photographs of this era. Often photographers would attempt to document recent developments and construction projects in a park rather than the natural appearance as a way to entice tourists to visit.
This picture likely dates from the 1930s.
Category: Postcards From Another Millennium
Postcards from various decades of the 20th century.
Lower Pine Lake Dam and Bridge, Eldora, Iowa
This image shows one of the dams that form the lakes making up Pine Lake State Park in Iowa. This is obviously Lower Pine Lake dam, as it has a road passing over it, and Upper Pine Lake dam has only a trail.
There is no description on the back of this card.
The dam no longer has this appearance. Though built in 1922, it was modernized and the design significantly changed in 1991. However, the roadway remains in the same location. This image likely dates from the 1930s.
Upper Pine Lake, Eldora, Iowa
This image shows the lake nearby the previous posting, Upper Pine Lake, which is a short distance from Eldora, Iowa. It is upstream from Lower Pine Lake and also formed by a dam.
There is no description on the back of this card.
This dam for this lake was constructed in 1934 and modified in 1990. This image likely dates from the 1930s.
Pine Lake State Park Island, Eldora, Iowa
This image starts a series of older black and white photos of Pine Lake State Park, located near Eldora, Iowa.
There is no description on the back of this card. This is apparently an image of Lower Pine Lake, with a boater in the middle of the lake and another just behind, near the island. The lake was formed by a dam constructed in 1922.
This image likely dates from the 1930s.
Maisel’s Indian Trading Post, Albuquerque, New Mexico
This image shows Maisel’s Indian Trading Post in Albuquerque, New Mexico as it existed shortly after its founding in 1939.
The description states:
SHOW WINDOWS
of the most picturesque store in the Southwest.
MAISEL’S INDIAN TRADING POST
400 West Central Ave.
ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO
A large and complete collection of Indian and Mexican handicraft.
MAKERS OF GENUINE STERLING SILVER AND TURQUOISE JEWELRY.
–The trading post still stands, and has been registered as a National Historic Place. It closed for about 20 years after the founder died, and has been reopened by a grandson.
This postcard likely dates from the 1940s.
Continental Divide Trading Post, Gage, New Mexico
This image shows an early incarnation of the trading post built in Gage, New Mexico where it straddles the Continental Divide, a geological boundary which determines if water flows to the Pacific Ocean or the Gulf of Mexico.
The description states:
THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE
TRADING POST
CONTINENTAL DIVIDE
Rainfall Divides at this Point. To the West it Drains into the Pacific Ocean – to the East into the Atlantic
–This Divide is a line that passes through the entire Western Hemisphere, marking the direction of water flow in both North and South America. The trading post still exists in a new incarnation and is still owned by Bowlin.
This postcard likely dates from the 1940s.
Navajo Girls and Hogan, New Mexico
This image shows two Navajo girls and an infant swaddled on a papoose board, standing in front of a substantial hogan.
The description states:
K103–NAVAJO INDIANS AND THEIR HOGAN
These Indians and their Hogan are very typical of those seen on the Reservation today. They derive their living from cattle and sheep. Their Navajo Rugs and Navajo Silver Jewelry is very much in demand. The Hogans, the Navajo’s homes, are made either of wood or rocks in aboriginal style.
–The older style of hogan construction was essentially extinct by this time, having been replaced by significantly more substantial and geometric structures like the one shown here.
This postcard likely dates from the 1950s.
Coronado State Monument, New Mexico
This image shows a portion of the ruins that make up the Coronado State Monument, located a mile west of Bernalillo, New Mexico. It was excavated in the 1930s and opened to the public in 1940.
The description states:
A-43 — CORONADO STATE MONUMENT
WEST OF HIGHWAY U.S. 85,
BETWEEN SANTA FE AND ALBUQUERQUE,
N. M.
These ruins of ancient Kuala Pueblo, on the west bank of the Rio Grande, are said to have been the village chosen by Coronado for his headquarters from 1540 to 1542.
East, beyond the valley tower the Sandia Mts., with the summit 10,000 feet above sea level.
–This is the site of many of the best pre-Columbian murals found in the United States. This postcard dates from the 1940s.
Navajo Family and Home, New Mexico
This image shows a Navajo family posing in front of their traditional domestic building, called a hogan. They started as simple mud and stick structures and evolved in the last century into much more formal and geometric buildings.
The description states:
26 — NAVAJO INDIANS ON RESRVATION
There are approximately 40,000 Navajo Indians occupying a Reservation of about 9,000,000 acres in No. Arizona and New Mexico. They are self supporting and derive their living from marketing cattle, sheep, wool and hides.
Navajo rugs woven by the squaws are famed for their beauty and durability. Silver jewelry hand hammered from Mexican pesos by Navajo silversmiths is very much in demand an highly prized.
–The reuse of Mexican coinage for the silver it contained has been abandoned with the debasement of the coinage during the 20th century. Silver and turquoise jewelry is still widely produced along with the hand woven rugs.
This card likely dates from the 1940s.
Laguna Pueblo Baker, near Albuquerque, New Mexico
This image shows a woman baking bread using an adobe-covered stone oven. The extension to the side of the oven is likely for storing hot coals for further use.
The description states:
No. 122 — PUEBLO INDIAN WOMAN BAKING BREAD
These primitive mud or adobe ovens are still used by the Pueblo Indians. A fire is built within, then when the oven is sufficiently heated the coals are withdrawn and the bread or other food put in to bake.
— Such ovens worked by storing heat within the walls during firing, and then allowing the radiant heat to bake the food after the coals were removed. Also of note are the ladders along many of the buildings. Staircases were rare and most access to higher levels or upper stories was via such ladders.
This card likely dates from the 1940s.