"Tunnel Vision"

In spite of the Turnpike Commission dubbing the new road "The World's Greatest Highway", the Turnpike was popularly known as the "Tunnel Highway". Many souvenirs promoted the original stretch's seven tunnels through Pennsylvania's Appalachian Mountains. These tunnels, from east to west, bored through Blue Mountain, Kittatinny Mountain, Tuscarora Mountain, Sideling Hill, Ray's Hill, Allegheny Mountain, and Laurel Hill.

Above: The Bankhead Tunnel runs underneath the Mobile River in Alabama. The tunnel was built in sections and floated to the proper positions, then sunk. Each section was sunk next to the previous section and joined underwater. Only passenger cars and pickup trucks are still allowed to travel through the tunnel, as it is very narrow.

Construction of the Liberty Tunnels began in 1919. The boring of the 5889 foot tubes was completed in 1922. When the Liberty Tunnels were opened to traffic in 1924, they were considered an engineering marvel. The nearly two-mile span was the longest tunnel in the country at that time.

It's Wonderful at the Whitcomb!

This card makes me feel good! I don’t know if it’s the bright colors, the cartoonish figures or seeing all of the fun that one could have there, but it makes me smile!

The Whitcomb opened its doors to an elite and admiring crowd on May 3, 1928 when the "roaring twenties" were still roaring, and Americans, many of them rich, albeit only on paper, were enjoying unprecedented prosperity. 

 Not surprisingly, the Whitcomb became a gathering place for an A-list of celebrities, among them Joe DiMaggio, Eleanor Roosevelt among others.

 Unfortunately, a combination of factors, including the Depression, WWII and the end of steamship passenger service in the latter part of the 1940s, caused the hotel to hit a downward spiral from which it never fully recovered.

 Beset by hard times, the Whitcomb closed its doors as a hotel for good in November, 1966. The Whitcomb was reopened after extensive renovations as a retirement residence on March 15, 1973. 

Picnic of the Bear and the Nymph

I'm rarely at a loss for  words, but I can't figure this one out!

Fourche River Lumber Company, Arkansas, 1906

The saw mill was built in 1900 on the banks of the Fourche and in 1902 the Fourche River Lumber Company was in operation. Residents emboldened by the power of the mills petitioned to change the name from Esau to Bigelow (N.P. Bigelow was the president of Fourche Lumber) in 1914.

The mills heyday ended with the closure of the Fourche River Lumber Company in 1921.  Hundreds of families were suddenly left with no source of income and were forced to move to new lumber camps. Today, Bigelow has few commercial businesses and a much smaller population (pop.329) than that of the turn of the century.

Sloppy Joe's, Havana, Cuba

I love the design on this card. The ships sailing to Habana (Habana on the front and Havana on the back) from all points N. S, E and W!

Sloppy Joe's was a Havana bar in the 30's. The bar got this name because the place in principle was a mess and the sandwich served there was made of "ropa vieja", Spanish for old clothes (shredded flank steak in a tomato based sauce). The sandwich was known as a Sloppy Joe and it was also served in many variants, in several parts of the world. 

One of the frequent patrons was Ernest Hemingway. The tourists that visited Havana during that time, mostly North Americans, preferred two places: Sloppy Joe's Bar, and the beautiful race horse track of Havana controlled by Meyer Lansky's mafia.

In 1959, after the Cuban revolution, the mythical Sloppy Joe' s Bar was closed and abandoned.

The Pipe of Peace

This card was in a postcard album I purchased many years ago. The album belonged to the family of U.S. Ambassador to Austria-Hungary, Richard C. Kerens. I'm not sure what the reference to "The Judge" is. It's handwritten on the card and perhaps is an inside joke between the two parties. Kerens served from 1909 to 1913 under President Taft. The card is postmarked in 1908, the year that Austria-Hungry annexed Bosnia-Herzegovina, a move that led to much unrest and eventually the assassination of the Archduke Ferdinand in 1914. World War I started 4 months later.

Interesting side note: There was a short-lived (1992-1993) TV series produced by George Lucas, "The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles". In one episode called "Vienna, November 1908" an actor portrays Ambassador Kerens.

SS Catalina

Continuing with  the nautical theme...

The S.S. Catalina was built in 1924, and for 51 years served passengers crossing the San Pedro Channel between Los Angeles Harbor and Avalon, California. During that time, she carried 25 million people, reportedly more than any other ocean-going ship in history. During World War II, as a troop transport in San Francisco Bay, she broke records by ferrying 820,199 men, more than any other U.S. Army Transport.

On September 14, 1975 the S.S. Catalina completed her 9,807th crossing, and it would be her last. At 7:30 pm, she tied up to her San Pedro berth and the Captain rang down "Finished with Engines" for the final time.

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Sadly, after many attempts to save her, the S.S. Catalina Steamship Fund became inactive and she sat for years in the harbor at Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico. In 1997, water began seeping in through the propeller shaft. The ship began to sink slowly by the stern (photo below). Finally in 2009, what was left of the S.S. Catalina was cut up for scrap...no way to treat a lady :\