CATCHING A RIDE around town in Schenectady

If you read the copy on the front of this card you'll see that I've still vaguely got my bridge theme going. I mean, really vague. Was the photographer standing on the R.R. Bridge? Was he or she concerned about an oncoming train as he or she yelled to the people in the street below, "Okay, everyone stop and smile. Well, you don't need to smile, but please stop moving!" Or was this the final shot this photographer every took?




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I quite like the treatment of "Post Card" on the back. I also love the signage on the buildings.

CATCHING A RIDE around town in Detroit

I'm going to make things easy on myself for a little while. After posts about bridges, both rural and urban, I'm going to show you street scenes from long ago which feature some form of transportation. I'm not going to be digging deep to provide information about any of the cities or streets. We're just going to step back in time and look at what urban congestion looked like long ago.

Let's start off in Detroit at the "Church and Y. M. C. A. Buliding." Yes, you read that right. "Buliding" is how it is spelled on the front of this card. Who got fired over that mistake? The printer or the proofreader? How many were printed before someone said, "Ummmmm...excuse me. I know I've only got a 6th grade education, but I think the word buliding is wrong."


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Now, lest you believe that is the only typo, I can say with glee, "You're wrong!" Take a look at the back copy for what probably clinched the whole firing episode.


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STREETCARS in Elmira, New York, 1939

Each Sunday, Christine, at The Daily Postcard, posts a card showing streetcars. So today I thought I'd surprise her with one I just found in a box of streetcars in Elmira, N.Y. The card was mailed on August 11, 1939 from a grandma to Miss Inez Heffron, who was about to turn 6 years old.

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The card was published by the The Ruben Publishing Company in Newburgh, N.Y. Not finding anything online about the company. And I know nothing about Elmira or the streetcars.

What I do know about this card is that many of the people are fake. Fake folks. There are a few people who were actually in the photo, but the majority of them were drawn with funny little pointy legs. You might have to look at it larger to get the full effect. Unless perhaps there were people in Elmira in 1939 that looked like this. Nah, didn't think so.

Click on image to see it larger.