The Ship Cafe, Venice, California

Venice California holds a special place in my collection and in my heart. I grew up in  West Los Angeles and graduated from Venice High School. As an adult, I lived in Ocean Park (beach town between Santa Monica and Venice) for over 20 years. I still have friends and family in the neighborhood. While I never got to see the Cabrillo (or many other Venice treasures from the past), these postcards make me feel like I have.

The Ship Cafe, built in 1905 alongside the Abbot Kinney pier, was the "in" spot to find some of this "action." Named the "Cabrillo," the combination hotel-restaurant was fashioned after a Spanish galleon and served up high-priced cuisine in the main dining room, or in private salons on the second deck. The staff were uniformed like sixteenth-century naval officers

The Ship was available for private functions, which many of Hollywood's rising stars preferred, and the mayhem that attended New Year's Eve made for headline copy. It was at the Ship that Valentino had his heels cooled by movie queen Nazimova, who called him a "pimp" and a "gigolo" at a private party she was throwing for coworkers at Metro Goldwyn Mayer. And it was Buster Keaton who, pestered by autograph hounds, jumped out of one of the restaurant's portholes in a faked escape attempt, only to find twice as many fans when he returned.

On the Sunday night of January 11, 1920, before Prohibition took effect, an estimated 100,000 revelers jammed the seaside resort of Venice, closing off all available avenues into the town. Tables at the Ship Cafe went for $300, and doors were closed at 10 p.m. after capacity had long since been reached.

But the Cabrillo's heyday was before the Depression, and it slipped into obscurity, eventually to be razed in October 1946. 

By the M. K. & T.

Another transportation card!

I'm not sure which I like the most!...the front or the back!

Royal Blue Line Motor Tours - Boston

"We should be pleased to have satisfied patrons recommend our service to their friends at home"

I love transportation cards! Trains, planes, cars, ships, you name it! This card is one of my fav's not only because of it's topic, but because I think it's a beautiful card!...and after all, beauty IS in the eye of the beholder!

Steamship Eastland and Chicago River

I've run across another Eastland Steamer postcard that I've added to my collection. The Eastland was a steamer that has quite a history. This card was printed in Germany by the Hugh C. Leighton Co. (1906-1909)  of Portland, Maine. If you haven't seen my Eastland page, here's the link"

http://postcardsetcetera.blogspot.com/p/ss-eastland.html

Angels Flight, Los Angeles, California

The original Angels Flight Railway location, with tracks connecting Hill Street and Olive Street in downtown Los Angeles, operated from 1901 until it was closed in 1969, when its site was cleared for redevelopment. The entire railway was dismantled and put into storage (SEE!, we don't destroy all that is old in L.A!) The second Angels Flight location opened nearby to the south in 1996. It was re-closed in 2001, after a fatal accident, and took nine years to commence operations again, on March 15, 2010. Some more info and nice pictures at: http://www.picturetrail.com/sfx/album/view/23044083

Found these original tickets in a shoe-box at a postcard show.

This linen is postmarked July 16, 1951

The photo below is NOT a postcard, but it is a neat perspective of what was then and what is now. Photo is from the L.A.Times photo archieve, "Framework"

http://framework.latimes.com/2011/01/07/angels-flights-first-opening/#/0

Mogambo, 1953

Ava Gardner

co-starring Clark Gable

in MGM's,

MOGAMBO

There are a few of things that I think are cool about this 1953 card besides Ava Gardner in a leopard skin outfit. One is that the card is addressed to E.J Mannix. Mr. Mannix was a producer at MGM, eventually working his way up to general manager and vice-president of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. He allegedly had connections to gangs and the underworld; gossip purported that he murdered his first wife (in a make-believe high speed car crash) in 1937 He was also rumored to be complicit in cover-ups involving the deaths of film producer Paul Bern and Superman actor George Reeves, with whom his second wife Toni Mannix had a long open affair. Mannix was never formally charged as Reeves' death was ruled a suicide (as was Bern's), and no credible evidence has ever been cited to confirm the rumors. However, the 2006 film Hollywoodland (in which he was portrayed by Bob Hoskins) speculates on three theories, one of which is that one or both of the Mannix's might have caused Reeves' death. Another "cool" thing on the card is the reference to the "Showmanship Company". This is a  the name that Howard Hughes's RKO Radio Pictures studio had started calling itself. Howard and Ava were romantically involved in the late 40's and early 50's. Last but not least is the comment in the bottom left corner of the back of the card. "May be used for swapping & mailing" I'm not sure why that needed to be said...

Freedom, Defense, Recovery!

Sounds just like election year 2012!