"World's Most Unusual Drugstore"

"The famous talking Mermaids, one of the most different and outstanding of the many attractions at the World's Most Unusual Drug Store--Daily bring fun and merriment to thousands of visitors to Webb's City in St. Petersburg, Florida - DON'T MISS THIS UNUSUAL FEATURE"

...unusual indeed! The mermaid thing might not have caught on, but James Earl "Doc" Webb's idea of an Express Line for "10 items or less" did!

From Desert to Oasis

Uncle Sam hitching a ride on the Bacardi bat to get away from the "dry" U.S.A. The document pinned to Florida is undoubtedly the 18th Amendment to our Constitution. One of my (many) personal favorites...the postcard, not the amendment!

At Your Beck and Call!

Harry Watson Hackney was born in New Jersey and opened his first restaurant on the Boardwalk in 1912. Destined for greatness, Hackney's had enough business to remain open year-round by the later 1920s. Pretty remarkable for what was once a seasonal destination. It was known as America's Largest Sea Food Restaurant, taking up an entire city block. With a seating capacity of 3,200, Hackney's was once the star of the New Jersey surf! 

Horseshoe Club, Las Vegas, Nevada

When atomic bombs were cool :\  A "Shini-Color" chrome postcard by Colourpicture, Boston. I'm not sure what to say about this one except I'm glad I wasn't there!...at the blast site not the Horseshoe Club!

Too Much!

Two different takes on drinking beer!

A couple of drinking themed cards from Theodore Eismann

(Theochrome 1908-1914) New York, NY and Leipzig, Saxony

Love his trademark!

These 2 look like they're from the movie "Reefer Madness"!

Let Them Eat Cake!

I would have loved to have seen this cake in person. The postcard doesn't really give you a feel for the size of this beast! Here is a little bit of info regarding Bill Baker:

Mr. Baker has been called the World’s Greatest Cake Decorator. Baker's style of decorating is a lost art today. He created personalized birthday and Christmas cakes for presidents such as Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover and Franklin D. Roosevelt.

His greatest achievement was a cake named “Wonder of Treasure Island” (weighing 1,000 pounds), which was presented at the 1939 San Francisco World’s Fair. It featured a replica of Treasure Island, the 19 California Missions, the Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco Bay. A near life-size picture of this masterpiece along with several other pictures of Baker’s creations and the stories behind them are displayed in the Ojai bakery today.

One Cool Car!

One cool pedal-car that is. An awful lot of design elements going on at once here. Even though the card is a divided back, I assume the blank "text-block" on the front is for writing a message too.

Glacier Lodge, Big Pine, California

I tried to improve the look of this postcard, but the fact that the card is of low quality and my Photoshop skills are suspect, this is as good as it gets! Glacier Lodge is located in California's Sierra Nevada Mountains above Big Pine. The original lodge (1930's) you see in the picture is gone but "Glacier Lodge. the jewel of the Sierras" is still in business.

The "handwriting" on this card is part of the card itself. Perry did not personally write the message, but my grandfather Lewis Perry Ferguson did leave me this postcard!...and my middle name!. Sadly I never did get to see Glacier Lodge in person.

EAT-DRINK-SMOKE-REST

EAT-DRINK-SMOKE-REST...Rinse and Repeat??

Back of card reads:

"A clean inviting camp located on U.S. 20 - 2 miles east of Fremont, Ohio. 15 attractive cottages with hot and cold soft water, community kitchen, play ground and plenty of camping space" - Geo J. Hilt, Prop.

Couldn't find out much about the camp, but did turn up a little history on George John Hilt, courtesy of findagrave.com...

"George attended country grade school and then went into the livery and dray business in Fremont, Ohio. He pioneered the motel business, expanding his cabins along Route 6 from three to approximately eighteen, which were maintained along with a restaurant and gas station until shortly before his death. This was the Fremont Tourist Camp and is said to have been the first motel between Cleveland and Detroit."