Landmark Postcards of the 1940's

I have not yet been able to find the date the Marble Hall Hotel was built. I did find an article indicating the local Rotary met there in 1920, so we know it's at least that old.

The Marble Hall Hotel stood at the corner of Third and Oak Street in Mt. Carmel, PA until 1993 when it burned.

In the next YouTube Module you may watch a video of the actual fire.

(The post card was published by R. Ramsay Mebane, Wilkes-Barre, PA)

Although the buildings are still there, the look and feel of the area has changed tremendously.

The post card is a lot more colorful and exotic than the present modernized stores. On the postcard, you see people dressed in native costumes from China and some of the men have their hair in a queue.

The postcard was published by Manhattan Post Card Publishing Co., Inc. N.Y.C.

This is a linen finish postcard from the 1940's of the Nelson House in Poughkeepsie. The hotel opened in 1870 at 28 Market Street.

Prior to Nelson House being built, this same plot was home to two predecessor hotels. The first was built in 1775.

1777-1807 Stephen Hendrickson's Inn; 1807-1876, The Forbus House; Since 1876, The Nelson House.

The hotels on this site hosted the Marquis de Lafayette, Henry Ford and members of Franklin Roosevelt's staff. Franklin Roosevelt's Hyde Park residence is nearby.

The hotel closed in 1969 and was used as administrative offices for Dutchess County. In 1986, the building was emptied and abandoned.

LEARN THE FATE OF THE NELSON

SEE THE 1895 DINNER MENU FROM THE NELSON HOUSE Use the enlarge feature to make the menu readable.

The postcard was published by The Ruben Publishing, Co., Newburgh, N.Y.

This postcard is written on back and postmarked 1948. "I already went rowing with my brothers today. It is a big and beautiful place. We have a lovely cabin."

Printed on the back is the blurb about the hotel: "Two-story Playtorium; Elaborate Stage; Outdoor Dance Pavillion; Magnificent Productions Throughout the Season. "Home of Many Happy Hours."

This postcard was published by Colourpicture Publications, Boston, MA

Beautiful night view of the George Washington bridge when it was only a single layer bridge. Dark waters of the Hudson River churn underneath as the bridge sparkles in the moonlight.

The George Washington bridge opened in 1931. The second layer was added in 1961. The postcard is from the 1940's.

This is an unused linen finish post card published by Acacia Card Company.

For more information on the George Washington Bridge:

George Washington Bridge Today

This card was published by Acacia Card Company, 285 Broadway, New York, NY

The park started operating in 1928.

These four postcards are of Rye Playland, in Rye, New York as it appeared in 1947. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1987.
They show the "Fountain and Casino";"Swimming Pool"; "Hall of Music"; and "Great Estates near Playland"

Playland has a beach on Long Island Sound as well as a pool and amusement park rides.

Currently, the park is losing money for the County of Westchester. Proposal are being solicited for ideas of what to do with it.

Interested? Read more:

Rye Playland Today

The postcards were printed by The Ruben Publishing Co. in C.T. (Curteich)Art Colortone

This is a super interesting postcard. It comes with a bag of salt from the Great Salt Lake attached. Due to the salt attached, this postcard cost 3 cents to mail in 1935 when the postage rate for a regular postcard was one cent.

The back of the postcard reads:

"Fifteen miles west of Ogden, Utah, you actually "go to sea by rail" over the famous cut-off across Great Salt Lake. Affording a unique view of this great inland area.
The cut-off extends west 102.9 miles across the northern arms of Great Salt Lake to Lucin. It was opened March 8, 1904 having cost $4,500,000 and two years of effort.
Seventy-two miles of the way the rails are laid on land and for thirty miles on rock fills and heavy trestle work.
The Great Salt Lake is more salty than any other body of water except the Dead Sea of Palestine."

The trestle was eventually replaced in the late 1950s with a parallel causeway made of concrete and stone.

With the causeway's completion, the main body of the lake was partitioned into two bodies of water, the north arm and the south arm. The causeway immediately reduced the mixing of brine between the north and south arms, changes were observed.

As all three of the major tributaries (the Bear, Weber, and Jordan Rivers) flow into the south arm, its brine became less saline than the north arm brine. The brine in the south arm became density stratified shortly after the causeway was completed, a condition in which a brine of greater density lies on the bottom of the lake, and is overlain by an upper layer of less dense brine. There are serious concerns about how this will effect marine life.

Check out the photo gallery of pictures below showing the observable difference in color of both sides of the lake.

This card was published by Deseret Book Company and is a Curteich Colortone postcard.

The back of the postcard reads: "The Municipal Auditorium mirrors its majestic splendor in the quiet waters of Rainbow Lagoon. Sheltered from the ocean by the 3800 foot semicircular Rainbow Pier, this great structure, in a charming park-like setting is one of Southern California's most popular show places. Basketball games, wrestling and boxing bouts, and tennis matches are weekly athletic events."

Elvis Presley and Judy Garland performed here.

The auditorium was built in 1932. The rainbow pier was named for it's shape rather than for color. In 1962, this area was filled in and the Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center was built. It was attached to the auditorium. The auditorium was torn down in 1975.

This postcard was published by Drown New Agency, Long Beach, Calif.