Buildings on Postcards

Caption: "Dorwart Cottage, Landisville Camp Grounds." Sign above doorway: "Campview." Postmarked in 1916 in Landisville, Pa., and addressed to Mrs. Edward Searlis, 607 W. King St, Lancaster, Pa. (and forwarded from there to 653 State St., Albany, N.Y.). Handwritten message: "Here for a week at this cottage. With love, H. Y. Sprecher." The Landisville Camp Meeting , located in Landisville , Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, still exists today. The religious camp meeting consists of 27 acres that include 53 cottages and a tabernacle that seats 800, though I'm not sure whether the building pictured on this postcard is still standing.

Printed on the back of this linen postcard: "Lesher's Diner, Routes 11 & 15, 28 miles north of Harrisburg, 28 miles south of Sunbury, Liverpool, Penna. Breakfast, luncheon, dinner. Specializing in steaks, chops, sea-food. Home-made pastries baked in our kitchen, Have your car serviced at adjoining AMOCO Station while dining in our delightful diner. 24 hour service. Photography by James E. Hess. Pub. by Mellinger Studios, Lancaster, Penna."

Parked over at the Incredibly Boring Postcards group. Printed on the back of this postcard: "The beautiful Monroeville Shopping Center, Monroeville, Penna." The Monroeville Shopping Center, known today as the Miracle Mile Shopping Center, was situated just a couple of miles away from the location of the later Monroeville Mall , where George Romero filmed his cult horror film Dawn of the Dead .

"New Port Authority Bus Terminal, 41st Street & Eighth Avenue, Longacre 4-8484, one block from Times Square." Printed on the back of this postard: "Largest in the world, the $24,000,000 Port Authority Bus Terminal to open December 15, 1950, was built by the Port of New York Authority, the self-supporting joint agency of the states of New Jersey and New York, to relieve street traffic congestion in Manhattan and to provide a comfortable central station for 130,000 bus commuters and many thousand long distance bus travelers who daily enter and leave New York. The Port of New York Authority, 111 Eighth Avenue. N.Y. 11, N.Y." Message and name--both printed rather than handwritten--on back: "I thought you would be interested in receiving the above facts about the Port Authority Bus Terminal. With best wishes, cordially, Howard S. Cullman." See also Steve Shook's image of this postcard on Flickr, which has a linen finish that's missing on my copy: New Port Authority Bus Terminal, 1950 - Linen Postcard .

Located at the corner of Wilson and Wood Streets in Middletown, Pa., these two buildings now comprise Woodlayne Court, a 44-unit apartment complex. The building on the left formerly housed the A. S. Kreider Shoe Company ("Kreider's Shoes, Factory No. 1" is painted on the water tower) and later the Rough Wear Clothing Company. The Bayuk Cigar Company building on the right was later used by the Michael Bachman Shoe Company. Additional information and photos are available in David Ira Kagan and Edward William Sunbery, Middletown Borough (Charleston, S.C.: Arcadia, 2009), pp. 62-63.

"J. C. Ferguson, of the Eclipse Machine Co., using a Morrow Coaster Brake, alongside the Hotel Astor, New York." -------- Printed on the back: "Elmira, N.Y., June 17, 1911. To the Live Ones, When you want a brake that is made good, and has always [been] made good, try a Morrow. No change in construction in seven years. That tells the story. J. C. Ferguson." For a similar postcard advertisement, see Miss Clara Wagner with Her Motorcycle at Coenties Slip, New York .

"Miss Clara Wagner with her motorcycle at Coenties Slip, New York, using the Eclipse Coaster Brake. 30206. Photo only by A. Loeffler, Tompkinville, N.Y." -------- According to Wikipedia, " Clara Marian Wagner (1891-1961) was the first documented woman motorcyclist who became notable as an endurance racer and was sponsored by the Eclipse Machine Co., a bicycle company, for using its braking products. In 1907, Clara, aged 15 years old and the daughter of the Wagner Motorcycle Company (1901-1914) owner George Wagner from Saint Paul, Minnesota, became a member of the American Federation of Motorcyclists (FAM). Clara put the company's motorcycles on the map by achieving a perfect score in a FAM 360 mile endurance race from Chicago to Indianapolis in 1910, aged 18, but was denied the trophy because she was female." In the early twentieth century, the Eclipse Machine Company published a series of advertising postcards like this one that featured exaggeratedly large women and men with correspondingly huge motorcyles and bicycles in ordinary-sized settings at locales in and around New York City (in this case, Coenties Slip is "a historic pedestrian walkway in Lower Manhattan"). The postcards were advertisements for the various types of motorcycle and bicycle brakes that the company manufactured. For the message on the back of this postcard, see Miss Clara Wagner with Her Motorcycle at Coenties Slip, New York (Back) . For a similar postcard advertisement, see J. C. Ferguson Using a Morrow Coaster Brake at the Hotel Astor, New York .

Postcard published by Rudolph Bros., New York City, and postmarked Aug. 26, 1922. According to the Butler Volunteer Fire Department 's Web page, the Bartholdi Hose Company No. 2 was established in Butler, New Jersey, in 1908, and the postcard view of its fire engine and firehouse (above) dates to 1922 or earlier. When I checked Google Maps, I was amazed to find that the Bartholdi Hose Company , as recorded by Google in 2013 (see screen capture below), looks much the same as it did 90 years earlier!

This is a screen capture from Google Maps showing the Bartholdi Hose Company in 2013. For more information, see the postcard view of the Bartholdi Hose Company, Butler, New Jersey, ca. 1920 (below).

Printed on the back of this linen postcard: "Ponce de Leon Hotel, Roanoke, Va. Located at the intersection of Campbell Avenue and Commerce Street, within easy walking distance of business and shopping district and of theatres. Every street car and every highway route passing through the city run within two squares of the Ponce de Leon. 200 beautiful outside rooms, each with individual bath, circulating ice water, and electric fan." The Ponce de Leon building in Roanoke is still standing, was recently refurbished, and now contains apartments and condos. Not to be confused with the Ponce de Leon Hotel in St. Augustine, Florida. See Lunch Menu, Hotel Ponce de Leon, St. Augustine, Florida, Feb. 26, 1888 :

This early postcard nicely captures the hustle and bustle of trains, cars, and wagons at a railroad station in Des Moines, Iowa, during the early twentieth century. Building signs provide some additional details. Below the sign for the "Passenger Station, Chicago and North-Western Railway" is another one that indicates that the "American Express Co." was based there as well. Barely visible signs on the brick buildings on the other side of the railroad cars identify one as the factory for "Garr Scott & Co " which manufactured threshing machinery, and another--the tallest building in the distance--as the Grand Hotel.

"How is this for high? Farmers' National Bank, Pittsburgh, Pa." A postcard addressed on the other side to Blair Echard, R.R. No. 2, Duncansville, Pa., and postmarked Jan. 23, 1912. Handwritten message: "Dear Buz, We are stepping high in Pittsburgh, as you can see in this card. It is pretty cold here. Hope you are going to school every day and learning something too. Elmer." For other Pittsburgh postcards with similar illustrations, see Out for a Stroll in the Park and This Beats Walking (below).

"The Russ Bros. Modern Ice Cream Plant, Harrisburg, Pa. The home of Velvet Ice Cream." According to " Russ Bros. New Ice Cream Plant ," an article in the Ice Cream Trade Journal , March 1920, pp. 47-49, the Russ Bros. Ice Cream Company bought an old typewriter factory located at Nineteenth and Manada Streets in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and converted it into a modern manufacturing plant capable of producing up to one million gallons of ice cream in a year.

"Union Steam Fire Engine & Hose Co., No. 1, Lebanon, Pa. 123-125 S. 9th St. (near Walnut)." Printed on the back of this postcard: "24224 - Pub. by Harpel's Art Store, Lebanon, Pa. Officers. President - Geo. T. Spang. Vice-Pres. - Wm. S. Rise. Secretary - Wm. A. Spangler. Treasurer - Chas. H. Killinger. Chief Eng. - Levi Hartz. Equipment - 2nd. size Amoskeag Engine, Hose Wagon. Organized Feb. 22, 1780. Chartered as Steam Fire Engine Co., March 19, 1866." According to an article that appeared in the Lebanon Daily News on April 22, 1970, p. 19, this was one of a series of fire company postcards published by Harpel's Art Store for the thirty-third annual convention of the Pennsylvania State Firemen's Association, which was held in Lebanon on September 10 to 14, 1912. For another Lebanon fire company postcard, see Liberty Steam Fire Engine and Hose Company, No. 3, Lebanon, Pa., 1912 .

A postcard used to promote the Crosley automobile during the 1939 New York World's Fair . Also on display at the fair were various other products, including refrigerators, washing machines, stoves, and radios, that were designed and manufactured by Powel Crosley, Jr. , and the Crosley Corporation. -------- Front: The Car of Tomorrow at the World of Tomorrow. As shown at the Crosley Building at the N.Y. World's Fair. Also the amazing Freezorcold Shelvador Refrigerator, Feather Touch Electric Magnetune Radios. See the newest of the new in home appliances at popular prices. Crosley Reado, facsimile radio printing. Crosley Camera, Press Jr. model, Gas and electric ranges. Electric and gas engine washers. Electric ironers. At Crosley Dealers everywhere. Back (printed not handwritten): My feet are no longer tired after what I've seen at the Crosley Building.

"Hotel Lincoln, Chambersburg, Pa. On the Lincoln Highway, U.S. 30." Printed on back: "MWM Color-Litho 'Bursheen' Finished, made only by MWM, Aurora, Mo."

"Grand View Point Hotel. See 3 states and 7 counties. Pa., Md., W. Va, 63 mile view from Grand View--Ship Hotel on Lincoln Highway, U.S. 30, 17 miles west of Bedford, Pa., looking into 3 states and 7 counties, 80 miles east of Pittsburgh, Pa. 4A-H1905." Printed on back: "Distributed by H. Paulson, Grand View-Ship Hotel, Central City, Pa."

"Grand View Point Hotel. Approaching S.S. Grand View Point Hotel on the Lincoln Highway, 17 miles west of Bedford, Pa. Elevation 2,464 feet. 3A-H421." Printed on back: "Grand View Point Hotel at the most beautiful spot in U.S. Summit of Allegheny Mts., 17 miles west of Bedford, Pa., on Historic Lincoln Highway, overlooking 3 states and 7 counties. Elevation 2,464 feet. Distributed by H. Paulson, Grand View-Ship Hotel, Central City, Pa."