Los Angeles Trust and Saving Bank

A particularity well designed and attractive postcard showing the interior and exterior of the Los Angeles Trust and Savings Bank circa 1920. LAT&SB was built in 1911 and still stands today as high-priced condos.

Camp Strongheart - Lake Tomahawk, Wisconsin

Postmarked July 1942,  Lake Tomahawk, Wisconsin.

Couldn't find out much about Camp Strongheart except that they were a boys camp featured in Life Magazine in 1956...and that they owned a nice 1940 Ford Woody!

Bekins Van and Storage - 1911

Bekins Van Lines was founded in 1891 in Sioux City, Iowa, by two young Dutch immigrant brothers, Martin and John Bekins. Martin moved west four years later, first to Omaha, Neb., and then Los Angeles.

In its heyday the Bekins Co. owned more than 100 storage buildings in 14 states. In an attempt to streamline its operations in the face of stiff competition, Bekins began selling off its real estate in the early 1980s. By 1983, when purchased by Minstar Inc. of Minneapolis, Minn., Bekins' stock of warehouses had been reduced to 55.

Auditorium - Largest Concrete Building in the World - Los Angeles, California

After doing a little research I discovered that the building was just known as the "Auditorium" until the Los Angeles Philharmonic moved there in the early 1920's. As it pertained to buildings, the title of "World's Largest" or "World's Tallest" was a moving target through the early part of the century. In typical Los Angeles style, there is a parking lot now in the Auditoriums former location.

If you're interested in the history of concrete, and who isn't?  👀  You can go here:

http://www.auburn.edu/academic/architecture/bsc/classes/bsc314/timeline/timeline.htm

Dining in Manhattan (circa1948)

A couple of linen postcards touting their establishments (and owner's faces) in NYC.

 On the back: 

"Your visit to New York is not complete until you dine at the beautiful Toffenetti Restaurant.

Dempsey's was located on Broadway between 49th and 50th Streets.

On the back: 

"May I Play Host and Say "Hello" To You in My Restaurant Where Food and Friendliness are Knockouts". 

RPPCs with A Musical Theme

All 3 of the cards shown below were 

published in the 50's by the Los Angeles Photo Post Card Company.

Toenniges Instrument Repair was established in 1953 by instrument maker Paul Toenniges. The shop, now called Benning Violin, houses the talents of three recognized master violin makers: Toenniges' daughter, Nancy Benning, her husband Hans Benning and Eric Benning, a preeminent third-generation violinmaker and luthier who has become widely known for his antiqued reproductions of famous Italian-made master violins from the 16th century.

Founded in 1946 by Lowell C. Kiesel, as the L. C. Kiesel Company (now the Carvin Musical Instrument Co.).  He started by manufacturing aftermarket pickups for steel guitars, then began making a few models of basic lap steel guitars.  In 1949, the name was changed to Carvin (from his two eldest sons, Carson and Gavin; coincidentally, Carson Kiesel was born June 4, 1946 - the same year the Kiesel Company was founded).  Therefore, any instrument or amplifier with a Kiesel badge on it can be dated from 1946-1949; unfortunately, more specific dating is nearly impossible, although there are some clues based on the logos.

Here is a link to the Carvin Museum which houses some of Kiesel's works of art:

www.carvinmuseum.com/playersgallery/kiesel.html

The Pennino Music Co. was founded by Jeanette Pennino Banoczi and husband Jack Banoczi in Los Angeles some time after the end of WWII; It later moved to Westminster California. The were primarily a distributor but they did register their own brands and distribute them. On the back of this card is "special" on Circus Band Harmonicas...10 cents each! I'll take a dollars worth!

Italian Swiss Colony - Asti, California - 1950's

In 1880, California viticulture was rising in prominence. For Andrea Sbarboro, an Italian-American businessman, a winery seemed a natural fit for his Italian countrymen who were looking for work. He formed a new association chartered to fund an agricultural investment. Membership would be limited to Italians, but given the closeness of the Ticinesi both culturally and linguistically, Swiss were also allowed to join. He would name his venture the Italian-Swiss Agricultural Colony.

Sbarboro was an Italian immigrant who had arrived in San Francisco in 1850 at the age of 13. He started in the grocery business but later shifted his activities to local loan associations. He would famously found the Italian-American Bank, which merged in 1927 with A. P. Giannini’s Bank of Italy to become the Bank of America.

This card is from a black & white photo that has been tinted. You can tell since some things in the photo are still "shades-of-gray". Weird!...nobody's tasting wine!

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When Asti was founded more than 125 years ago as Italian Swiss Colony, the goal was to create a thriving community that revolved around wine. For a while, that plan worked – at one point in the 1960s, the winery was the No. 2 tourist attraction in the state, second only to Disneyland.

Amid an evolving wine business and a string of ownership changes, the Asti Winery shut its doors to the public in the late 1980s and essentially became an industrial wine factory.