Santa Barbara, California - 1920's

These views of Santa Barbara are published by W.W. Osborne of Santa Barbara. The cards were manufactured by the Albertype Co. of Brooklyn, New York. When the divided back postcard were authorized, the Albertype company created a line down the back of their cards with the words "Post Cards of Quality"...and I couldn't agree more! These cards also label "Hand-Colored" on them. The coloring on these cards (and the other cards of theirs that I have) is done with subtlety. Unlike many colored cards that tend to be bold and garish.

Santa Barbara 's first and only eight-story building was designed by A.B. Rosenthal and constructed by Charles Urton and opened April 9, 1924. Urton had never attempted a steel high-rise before, so he sent away for a series of "how-to" books to assist him in completing the project. After the earthquake of 1925 did almost no damage to the new structure, Urton proudly hung a banner from the top floor of the building proclaiming: "Built by Charles M. Urton, Builder." The Granada has been completely restored and is home to the Santa Barbara Center for the Performing Arts.

New York Zoological Park

A few more cards (by popular demand) from my NYZP collection. Not particularly valuable cards but I've always liked the way they looked.

The caption says "Handling Python"...Whose handling who?

Why wouldn't they create a mountain habitat for mountain goats as opposed to having them climb on a log cabin?...maybe they're actually Cabin Goats?

Weighing a Baby Orang - New York Zoological Park

This organization is more commonly referred to as the Bronx Zoo which opened in 1899. They published a great many postcards of zoo animals through a variety of printers. The Rotogravure Company printed a fine collotype card set for them in black & white and with color tints though their name does not appear on these cards. The Detroit Publishing Company also produced sets for them. 

Kenneth Wright - Commercial Art

Another advertising RPPC from the 1950's. Although I am usually successful in googling people and places for additional information, I was not able to find this Kenneth Wright. I love how the drawing looks so much better than the real one!

The General Chef

Ran across another advertising RPPC. Costing around $259.00 in 1951 this little space-saver may be the strangest "major" kitchen appliance I've ever seen.  Found one online today for $250!

Greetings from Worcester, Massachusetts

I got these divided back cards in an old postcard album containing over 50 different views of Worcester, Massachusetts. All of the cards are published by Tichnor Bros out of Boston except for the "Greetings" card which was published by J.I. Williams of Worcester.

Hill's Barber Shop, Los Angeles

Looking more like "Sweeney Todd" than your average barber, owner Jeff T. Hill poses for his RPPC advertising his trade! I'm guessing late 40's, early 50's. The only RPPC I've run across with the photographer in the picture...do you see him in the mirror?

The Hollywood Bowl

The Bowl officially opened on July 11, 1922 on the site of a natural amphitheater formerly known as the Daisy Dell. The "bowl" refers to the shape of the concave hillside the amphitheater is carved into.

In the early 20's an architect was contracted to regrade the Bowl, providing permanent seating. These improvements did provide increased capacity (the all-time record for attendance was set in 1936, when 26,410 people crowded into the Bowl), but were otherwise disappointing, as the regrading noticeably degraded the natural acoustics

For the 1927 season, Lloyd Wright (son of Frank) built a pyramidal shell, with a vaguely Southwestern look, out of left-over lumber from a production of Robin Hood. This was generally regarded as the best shell the Bowl ever had from an acoustic standpoint; unfortunately, its appearance was deemed too avant-garde, and it was demolished at the end of the season. 

For the 1929 season, the Allied Architects built the shell that stood until 2003, using a transite skin over a metal frame. Its acoustics, though not nearly as good as those of the Lloyd Wright shells, were deemed satisfactory at first, and its clean lines and white, almost-semicircular arches were copied for music shells elsewhere

While I don’t have an up-to-date postcard of the Bowl, 

I “borrowed” this photo to show what it looks like today.

Happy New Year!

The cat made me think it looks more like a Halloween...

but it's the only card HNY's card I could find!