King Tower One-Stop - Tama, Iowa

Gas, Food, Lodging AND a Garage! Just a neat looking linen in my book!

Good News!/Bad News!

The Good: King Tower Cafe is now open for business again!

The Bad: King Tower Cafe has 1-star on Yelp!

Old Pigeon Ranch, New Mexico

I have to admit that when I looked at this card, my first thought was, "Where are the old pigeons?" Well I did a little homework and found that Frenchman Alexander Valle built Pigeon Ranch in the early 1820's. The ranch got its name because of the "pigeon-English" (broken-English) that Valle spoke. The ranch became a very important site along the Santa Fe Trail, serving as a stagecoach stop, U.S. Post Office and a trading post. In March of 1862, Pigeon Ranch and the surrounding area was the site of the biggest and bloodiest battle of the Civil War in the Southwest.

In 1924, Thomas "Tommie" Greer bought the Pigeon Ranch and turned it into a tourist attraction. Greer, being the "showman" that he was, claimed that the well on the ranch was "the oldest in the U.S.", a claim that is unfounded. He added trained bears (looks safe to me!) to the ranch to try to lure even more tourists.

By the 1940's the Tommie and his bears were gone. Today all that's left of the ranch is one building that sits precariously close to New Mexico's Hwy 50.

"Feathers" & "Dusty"

Always thought that this was such a interesting and perhaps noble travel adventure story...but according to this old newspaper clipping, I guess "Feathers" and "Dusty" weren't as noble (or as honest!) at paying their bills

The Los Angeles Herald - February 3, 1909

Toliver Dirigible Airship, San Diego, California

"The wonders of this ship are almost beyond any description. Few people in San Diego realize the wonders that have been accomplished during the last few months in the construction of the Toliver airship...When this ship makes its initial flight in May it will make a showing that will startle the whole world"

-newspaper advertisement for the Toliver Aerial Navigation Co, April 5, 1911.

Interesting note: In May of 2010, the world's largest airship landed in San Diego after setting a distance record. That airship is 4 feet shorter than Toliver's. Check out the lower right hand corner of the card to get a feel for the size of the "monster flying machine"....Toliver himself perhaps?

Short story HERE about Toliver and his life...not a happy ending! 

Cherokee Marksman

Is it my imagination or did the Asheville Post Card Company out of North Carolina produce some of  the most politically-incorrect (by today's standards) postcards of the linen era?...BTW, nice job on the skin tone...NOT!

Hope you all are enjoying your 4th of July Holiday!

Air Mail - Postal Cards - 1st Day of Issue

They're a postcard, they've got airplanes and they're postmarked 1st day of Issue! It's a trifecta for me!