King’s Tropical Inn

King’s Tropical Inn stood at 5935 Washington Blvd in the 1920s and 1930s. It was known for its chicken dinners but, as you can see on this promotional postcard, they also served squab. The squab was a dish that I regularly came across when researching menus of the era so eventually, I looked it up. Ugh! No wonder we don’t see it much anymore. Squab is the meat from young domestic pigeon and is widely described as tasting like dark chicken

Mike Lyman's Grill - Los Angeles, California

Mike Lyman's Grill (there were two locations, in Hollywood and Downtown, and Lyman also ran the Flight Deck restaurant at what was then the Los Angeles Municipal Airport), but a menu from the place, also dating from 1935, proves an astonishing document. To begin with, some 25 varieties of fish and shellfish were offered, including Coos Bay, Blue Point and Olympia oysters, English sole, striped bass, Catalina sand dabs, imported Irish salt mackerel and a dish called fried barracuda Maitre d'Hotel. 

UPDATE: Turns out I own a Mike Lyman's ashtray!

The Denver Zephyrs

The Denver Zephyr was a streamlined passenger train operated by the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad between Chicago and Denver. It operated from 1936 to 1973. The Denver Zephyr continued operating after the Burlington Northern Railroad merger in 1970. BN conveyed the train to Amtrak in 1971; Amtrak would merge it with the Chicago–Oakland San Francisco Zephyr and drop the name in 1973.

**UPDATE** The photo below (not a postcard) was sent to me by reader inquiring about another post and saw the Denver Zephyr card. She was kind enough to send me a scan of a great family photo taken sometime between 1934 and 1936 next to the Mark Twain Zephyr. On the back of the photo is written "Maiden Zephyr". From what I could find out, the first service trip from Hannibal to St. Louis was on Sunday October 27th, 1935. There was a ceremonial event on October 25th and normal service on October 28th. So somewhere in that timeline is when the picture was taken...BTW, the Mark Twain Zephyr is for sale!

More on the Mark Twain Zephyr here:  http://www.railmerchants.net/mt-zephyr.htm

Santa Catalina Island, California - North End of Avalon Bay

This unused Mitchell postcard above, shows the untarnished Avalon Bay in the late teens or early twenties. It is at this location that the famous Casino Ballroom was built in 1929.

1923 Great Kantō Earthquake

I found this unused Japanese postcard while going through my box of "yet-to-be-sorted" cards. I don't have many foreign cards in my collection but thought this one to be interesting. Some background below regarding the quake.

This earthquake devastated Tokyo, the port city of Yokohama, and the surrounding prefectures of Chiba, Kanagawa, and Shizuoka, and caused widespread damage throughout the Kantō region. Its force was so great in Kamakura, over 60 km (37 mi) from the epicenter; it moved the Great Buddha statue, which weighs about 93 short tons (84,000 kg), almost two feet. Estimated casualties totaled about 142,800 deaths, including about 40,000 who went missing and were presumed dead.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1923_Great_Kant%C5%8D_earthquake

Groton Monument - Groton, Connecticut

This undivided back postcard was published by the Hugh C. Leighton Company in Portland, Maine. Printed in Germany most likely between 1901 and 1907..

The Groton Monument, sometimes called the Fort Griswold Monument, is a granite monument in Groton, Connecticut. It is dedicated to the defenders who fell during the Battle of Groton Heights on September 6, 1781. 

The Battle of Groton Heights (also known as the Battle of Fort Griswold, and occasionally called the Fort Griswold massacre) was a battle of the American Revolutionary War fought on September 6, 1781, between a small Connecticut militia force led by Lieutenant Colonel William Ledyard and the more numerous British forces led by Brigadier General Benedict Arnold and Lieutenant Colonel Edmund Eyre.

S.S. North American - The Georgian Bay Line - Chicago

SS North American was a Great Lakes steamboat built by the Great Lakes Engineering Works at Ecorse, Michigan in 1913 for the Chicago, Duluth & Georgian Bay Transit Company. The vessel was launched on January 16, 1913 and was the oldest of two sister ships, the newer one being the SS South American.

While the North American was on the North Atlantic being towed to Piney Point, she unexpectedly sank on September 4, 1967. The location was 25 miles (40 km) northeast from Nantucket Light, where the bottom is at 400 feet (120 m). The wreck still remains at this location.

I suspect that this unused chrome postcard is from the late 50's, early 60's.