1906 Downtown view of Rochester Indiana

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The postcard of the day is a great 1906 view of the busy downtown area of Rochester Indiana on Main Street looking North and showing two sides of the Square with all the stores and businesses. This card was published in 1906, mailed in April 1907 but there are no automobiles visible so it is probably closer to a 1900 image. The 1910 census shows a population of 3,364 and the current population is listed as 5,969. A larger image is available in the Indiana Postcards section of the Moody's Postcards website.

Dining & Dancing in the Roosevelt Hotel Blue Room

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Before the days of television, one of the favorite pastimes of couples was a night out on the town for a great meal and dancing. One of the great hotels that catered to that crowd was the Roosevelt Hotel in New Orleans Louisiana with their beautiful "Blue Room". The back of the card says "The South's Finest Dinner and Supper Dancing Room. Music by the Nation's outstanding dance bands. Superb floor show twice nightly presenting outstanding entertainment. One look at the marble columns, stage, dance floor and beautiful decorations and you get the feeling this was THE place to be. A larger image is available in the Louisiana Postcards section of our website, Moody's Postcards.
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Postcards with National Banks

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There was a time, long ago, when banks prided themselves on the image of their building which was intended to instill confidence in the public that the institution was "rock solid". The postcard for today is a good example of a bank building which left no doubt that the bank was not only safe but well capitalized. The image below is of the new home of the West Branch National Bank of Williamsport Pennsylvania and could easily be mistaken for a cathedral. The back of the circa 1912 postcard shows the bank was organized in 1835, had capital and surplus of $1,775,000 and assets of more than $5,000,000. During this time, national banks were chartered by the U.S. Government who assigned a charter number and even printed currency with the charter number and the name and location of the bank on it. Many of these banks went broke during the depression but the currency, referred to as National Bank notes, are still redeemable at face value at any banking institution. Many collectors of National Bank Notes collect national bank postcards to match the notes in their collections. If you happen to run across one of these bank notes, take it to a collector and they will pay you more than face value for it and if you have a postcard on the bank, he might be interested in that also. A better image of the postcard below is available in the Pennsylvania postcard section of our website, Moody's Postcards.

Lake Pontchartrain Beach Amusement Park

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Amusement parks are very popular on postcards and we have all heard of the BIG ones but it is the smaller, less known, ones that are always a great find. The postcard for today is a 1940s aerial view which gives you a great perspective on the size and, in this case, popularity of the Pontchartrain Beach Amusement Park in New Orleans Louisiana. There is a huge boardwalk along the edge of the salt water lake, a large beach between the two piers with lots of swimmers in the water, two large parking lots which are full of cars and a very impressive roller coaster. Keep an eye out for these postcards which are highly sought after. There is a better image in the Louisiana postcard section of our website, Moody's Postcards.

Nelson County Court House in Bardstown Kentucky

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Here is another postcard I noticed while adding it to Moody's Postcards that I would like to share with you. Court Houses are a popular subject and there are lots of beautiful old courthouses shown on postcards. This postcard was published in 1916 and the style is different from most of the courthouses with this one almost looking like a church. Never the less, it is a striking building with a great entrance. I hope you will enjoy it and you can see a larger view of it in my Kentucky postcards.

1908 Mexican food in San Antonio Texas

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I ran across this postcard yesterday when I was adding items to Moody's Postcards and was really impressed with the image. While San Antonio Texas has LOTS of different postcards, you should take your time and look through all the common ones for the diamonds in the rough that are overlooked by many. The postcard title, "Mexican Chili Stands" is the tip off that this one is different. In the background is the huge beautiful post office and on the right is an advertisement for " 'Lion Brand' collars, They are 4 ply. 15 cents-two for 25 cents". Below that is a delivery wagon with a sign on the side that says "Henry C. Rips, Moving Packing Shipping,Vacuum Carpet Cleaning". But best of all in the center foreground are the Mexican chili stands, benches and eating tables set with white table cloths, glasses turned upside down, and large candle lamps (7 on the first table) for light during the night. Behind each of the 3 large "U" shaped tables is a vendor with a table on 2 saw horses where the food is prepared. The printed description on the back says "For the sake of olden times the Mexicans are still allowed to set up their tables and camp stoves on the Plazas and serve their native dishes in the open air; Chili Con Carne, Tamales, Enchiladas, Chili Verde, Frijoles and Tortillas, etc. As the day dawns and the lamps show dimmer, these hotel keepers put out their fires and folding their tables 'silently steal away' until another night." This postcard is listed in TEXAS section of Moody's Postcards.

Mechanical Postcards

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Mechanical postcards fall under the broader category of novelty postcards and are highly desirable. Not only do they incorporate various mechanical mechanisms but they usually are of high printing quality as these were originally sold at premium prices. The postcard below is an example of a rotating wheel postcard with the red, white and blue colors on the wheel rotate to give the turkey's tail a lively look. You can see other mechanical postcards at Moody's Postcards.