Time to RUN AWAY FROM HOME: Part 3

Choice number 3 in our Run Away Adventure!

So far we've tried plane and ship. If those didn't strike your fancy, how about the train; specifically the Sunset Limited on the old Southern Pacific Line?

I rode the line several times, but it was always at night so I saw very little. Only once did I have a private room which was quite nice, though amazingly small. It was sufficient for me with a convertible couch, toilet, and sink. I was sick at the time, so I really didn't get to take advantage of much of anything.

Now, sadly, there was no real dining car when I rode the train. It was a snack car with a microwave. I sat up for hours one night eating microwave popcorn and talking to a friend while others sat at a nearby table playing cards. Elegant dining with great service it was not. But then, we're going back in time so the heck with how it is today.

(SOURCE: National Geographic, November, 1954)

What I really love about this ad are the illustrations; wonderful 1950s modern.

Click on any image to see it larger.

Sadly, as in yesterday's vintage ad, people of color were always relegated to service positions, never as patrons. Jarring to the eye now, it's actually good these ads exist to remind people of our history. Though the railroads offered good jobs for African-Americans, it's heartbreaking to think that they were relegated to only certain positions. People today need to remember how far we've come and how, without vigilance, we could slip back to the old days.

And now, how about taking the train even farther back in time. I give you 1937.

CATCHING A RIDE around Westwood Village

I'm almost convinced this is fake. Westwood Village with light traffic? Nah, never happened. For those who don't know anything about Westwood just say that it's a college town; UCLA to be exact. Don't think pretty little leafy college town. Think hustle and bustle and a parking nightmare not far from the 405, aka the San Diego Freeway, that for a very long time after it was initially built didn't actually go to San Diego. But there was a little falafel stand in Westwood I would like to be at right now.




Click either image to see it larger.

If you click to see the image larger you'll find some in-house handy work putting in company signage. You'll find Standard Supreme, a pretty fancy gas station, on the left. There is also signage for Sears and Bank of America. I just love the way old cards have odd little handiwork they figured nobody would ever notice as not being actually in the photo.

I'd really like to know where the outdoor skating rink was.

LET'S EAT OUT: Part 5...Farmers Market Los Angeles

In all the years I lived in Los Angeles I never once went to the Farmers Market. I drove by it a lot and ate up the street at Canters, but for some reason I didn't go to the Market. Sad really. I'd been there in the 1950s and '60s and have fond memories.

This card and souvenir booklet date back to most likely the 1940s or early '50s. I believe they probably belonged to my maternal grandmother who made at least 4 trips west during her life.

I'll let the booklet give you their version of the history. If you need more you can go to the Farmers Market official web site. Or try the book Los Angeles's Original Farmers Market by David Hamlin.

Cover art was done by Alex Perez. Alas, I cannot find anything about him.

The photos were taken by Herbert Bruce Cross. No bio information about him either, but you can Google his name and find many shots, mostly architectural.

And if you've a keen eye you'll notice something the same, but not really.

Click on any image to see it larger.

SNICKER OR RIP-SNORT, it's still barely funny

Do they still make post cards like these? I call them "snicker" cards because really about the best I can do when seeing them is snicker. I worry about people who find them thigh slapping tears running down their face funny. Nope. The best I can do is snicker or, if it catches me in the right moment, perhaps a light rip-snort.

The printing of these is sort of strange. The first says it's from the "Western Publishing & Novelty Co." located in Los Angeles. The second is from the "Asheville Post Card Company" located in Asheville, N.C. Drawn by the same person? I don't know. The lettering certainly looks the same, but that was probably put on later. Neither could be considered particularly good art. The face of the woman on the first card is incredibly bad, not that the back end on the other looks much better.

What I find most confusing is how similar the cards are and yet by different companies. But then we get down to the little almost insignificant logo. Each card has a different logo, but each features the letter "M". The first logo indicates the card was printed by the Metropolitan Lithograph Company that was located in Everett, Massachusetts. Is the second card also by them with a different logo which also featured an "M"?

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery then who the heck was copying? Which "ass" card came first? And why were "ass" cards popular? Okay, sorry if I offended by referring to them as "ass" cards, but "donkey" or "burro" would have made the punch lines fall flat...on their ummmmmm...keister.

Oh no, I suppose this is a category. I will need to collect more. Then again, maybe not. Two is enough.