John F. Kennedy Space Center, N.A.S.A.

JOHN F. KENNEDY SPACE CENTER N.A.S.A.

The original 7 Astronauts selected by NASA.  From left to right, Navy Lt. Comm. Malcolm Scott Carpenter, Air Force Capt. Leroy Cooper, Jr. Marine Lt. Col. John Glenn, Jr., Air Force Captain Virgil Grissom, Navy Lt. Comm. Walter Schira, Jr., Navy Lt. Comm. Alan Shepard, Jr., Air Force Major Donald Slayton.

postmarked March 29, 1968 Evanston, Ill.

Bob-

Just wanted to say "hi" -

Love,

John

Robert A, Strain

The Maytag Company

Oakbrook North

700 Harger Road

Oakbrook, Illinois

Bob Strain passed away in 2008.  (Coincidentally that same year, a different Robert Strain took over as director for NASA's Goddard Space Center.)  Bob did indeed work for the Maytag Corporation, retiring after 35 years.  After reading his obituary, I've decided against using any Maytag Repairman jokes- the man lived a full and happy life, well after his career at Maytag was over.  

As far as the original seven Mercury astronauts pictured on the front of this card, many are still with us:

Malcolm Scott Carpenter was the pilot of the second U.S. orbital flight, and is currently retired with his third wife, Barbara Curtin.

Leroy Cooper, Jr. , also known as Gordon Cooper, flew the last Mercury mission.  He passed away in 2004, still steadfast in his belief in UFOs and the government conspiracy to hide their existence.  

John Glenn, Jr.,  was the pilot of the first U.S. orbital space flight, and famously became the oldest human in space on board the Space Shuttle in 1998.  The former Congressman is retired and living with his wife in Ohio.

Virgil Grissom, the pilot of the second U.S. suborbital spaceflight was killed the year before this postcard was sent in the Apollo 1 fire. 

Walter Schira, Jr.,  the only astronaut in the Mercury group to receive an Emmy for the live television feed inside his Apollo mission.  After his retirement, he became a spokesman for Actifed, which kept his famous cold at bay during his mission.   Wally Schirra died in 2007.

  

Alan Shepard, Jr., pilot of the first Mercury flight passed away in 1998.

Donald "Deke" Slayton went on to found a company in Houston that launched the first private vehicle into space, the Conestoga.  He passed away from a brain tumor in 1993.

The links go to their official NASA biographies, but there is much more of their story (as well as Bob Strain's story) to tell on this little post.  Check it out, and go visit the Kennedy Space Center to learn about the rich history that went down in central Florida.

JFK Space Center, Vehicle Assembly Building

Postmarked March 27, 1968 Evanston, Ill.

Hi-

We went on this bus tour of Cape Kennedy on Friday.  We went into this biggest building in the world & we also saw the Saturn V rocket to be launched in April.

JOHN F. KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLORIDA NASA

NASA's Vehicle Assembly Bldg. (VAB) 525 ft. tall, occupying 8 acres of land, world's largest building in volume, where Apollo- Saturn Space Vehicles are assembled and prepared for lunar launch.

Andy Strain

583 Brookside Rd.

Barrington, Illinois 60010

With the recent scrub and retry on Tuesday of the SpaceX Dragon launch vehicle, I thought we'd travel over to the space coast for these next two cards, from the same sender, John.  You may notice that John refers to a Cape Kennedy, which is the name given to Cape Canaveral shortly after the President's assassination.  Since the Canaveral name had been established since the time of Ponce deLeon, many Floridans on the Space Coast objected, and finally got the state of Florida to restore the Canaveral name in 1973.  The Kennedy name is still memorialized in the title of the launch center and tourist attraction, of course.  

The Vehicle Assembly Building, built in 1966, was originally built to assemble the Saturn rockets for the Apollo missions.  It's one and half times the height of the Statue of Liberty, and contains nearly twice the volume as the Pentagon.  It was the tallest building in Florida until the Wells Fargo (Modis/Independent Life) Tower was built in Jacksonville in 1974.  

The 3 bedroom, 2.25 bathroom house in Barrington was built in 1962, and was sold in 2000.  Andy never owned the house, since he was most likely a child when he received this card.  Today, he is the chair of the Tahoe Transportation District Board of Directors in Lake Tahoe, California.  I'll update this post if he replies to my email.  

Angebilt Hotel Skyline Across Beautiful Lake Eola

postmarked January 22, 1954, Orlando, Fla.

arrived 10 P.M. Tuesday night.  Left Newark Airport 6P.M. and was here in 4 hrs.  Did not stop until we reached Orlando.  Some speed Flew 20 thousand feet.  

Do write.  

Love, Marion

Very warm.

Mrs. Frank L Mason

70 Chestnut Street

West Haven, Conn

Hopefully Marion is not on amphetamines, and is talking about her flight.  If you were flying from Orlando to Newark today, the 938 mile journey would take you a little over 2 hours, averaging a flight speed of 434 mph.  So think of how much progress has been made, from jet airliners that fly around 35,000 feet, all to save two lousy hours!

I thought the recipient's name was "Mason," but Google corrected me with the right spelling.  The recipient is Mrs. Frank Nason, and she is a graduate of Wellesley College in 1882, with a Bachelor of Science.  Marion probably knew her best as Thalia Painter.  Frank Nason was a mining engineer, and they had at least one son, Alexis, who died fighting for the Canadians in World War I.  According to his commanding officer, Private Nason was killed while leading his men in the attack on a machine gun post.

A View of Lake Eola Bandshell and Downtown Orlando

A view of the Lake Eola Bandshell and downtown Orlando, Florida.

postmarked February 25, 1984, Orlando FL

Dear Marion and Fred

Little cool today- 75 degrees.  Went shopping in Altamonte Mall.  After lunch at "Denny's" in Longwood.  Bought a steak for supper Saturday and a roast for Sunday.  Will be coming home as planned 3/11/84.  Miss you both- nice to get back home.  Wrote most all of my cards.  See you next week.  Hope Fred feels better.

Love, Betty

Mr. and Mrs. Fredrick Blokland

218 Bullard Street

Holden, Mass. 01520

Here's a great view of downtown Orlando with a few less high rise condos and one less Suntrust Center, which was built 4 years after this postcard was sent.  According to Wikipedia, Denny's had expanded into all 50 states in 1981, almost 30 years after its 1953 California beginnings, so Betty's air-quotes around Denny's may actually denote the newfound Florida presence of the restaurant chain.  Altamonte Mall had been open for ten years, so I guess Betty didn't feel the need to introduce the concept to the Bloklands.  

Speaking of the Bloklands, Frederick and Marion Blokland bought the property at 218 Bullard in 1951, where they live until Frederick's death from cardiac arrest in 1989.  Shortly thereafter, Marion moved to Lake Orion, Michigan, where she still is today at the age of 93.  They had at least one son, Frederick, Jr. who still lives in the town of Holden, so perhaps we'll be able to find out who Betty was!

(Big thanks to the Worcester County Reigstry of Deeds, who has a great public records search!) 

Hotel Lucerne, Orlando, Florida

Orlando is the seventh city of Florida and the largest inland city in the State.  It is the county seat of Orange County and located in the very heart of Florida's brick highway system, the heart of the citrus belt, and the heart of the lake region of central Florida.

postmarked January 18, 1956

Hotel Lucerne Box 1793

Wednesday. Jan. 18.

You are not sick are you?  I hope not- but I've missed hearing from you.  

Guests are arriving in full numbers now tho it is not too warm here.  What is the news in Beverly?  Mildred Horne writes that she plans to come to Florida later this spring.  

Mabel? Hicks

Mrs. Robert O. Small

70 Dane St.

Beverly, Mass

Ms. Hicks is a doomsayer!  Great numbers of snowbirds!  Run!

A closer and later view of the Hotel Lucerne, which was fairly large for the burgeoning city of Orlando.  

Beverly, Massachusetts is an historic resort and manufacturing town of about 40,000 people today.  It is one of two cities that claim to be the birthplace of the U.S. Navy.  The tidy white house at 70 Dane St is still there, just blocks from Mackerel Cove.  Robert O. Small, an 1896 graduate of Bowdoin University, and served as Deputy Commissioner of the Massachusetts Board of Education, as well as the Beverly Library Trustees Board.  

So it's weird that there aren't property records in Essex County, or a mention of his wife.  Or Mabel Hicks.  

Lake Lucerne, Orlando, Fla.

postmarked November 30, 1905, Winter Park, Fla

Dear I.,

How are you this Thanksgiving Day?

PAC

Miss Ida Hawkins

East Greenwich, Rhode Island

A lovely photograph of how Lake Lucerne appeared over a hundred years ago.  You can see the Historic Inn on the other side of the lake, unobstructed by the Spessard L. Holland East-West Expressway.

East Greenwich, Rhode Island is a town of about 13,000 people today.  It was a waterfront town with a prominent mill built by one of the early developers of steam mill technology, Charles Tillinghast James.  It turns out that Ida Hawkins was his niece.

According to her gravestone in Glenwood Cemetery,  Miss Ida Hawkins was born in 1873.  She attended the East Greenwich Academy, a prominent boarding school, graduating in 1893, then went on to Brown University complete her Bachelor's in education at  in 1897.  She was 32 when she received this card, which would be well after she started her career in teaching at an undetermined high school and before she was married to Alexander Morrison.  After a long life of teaching, she passed away in 1944 at the age of 71.  

Let's hope she was well on this Thanksgiving Day, whoever P.A.C. was. 

Sanibel Island Causeway, Sanibel Island, Florida

postmarked January 26, 1967, Fort Lauderdale, Fla


1/26/67


Have you run out of ink.  Hope you are well and find things you like on T.V.  Remember Jeopardy on 21 at 12:00 to 12:30.


Halls & Mother plan to come on Sunday for a visit.  Don't know how they'll like trailer life.  Mother will stay longer.  Must get busy.


Love Margaret & C.A.


Mr. and Mrs H.W. McConnell
R.D. 2
Sharpsville, Pa 16150


Happy Mother's Day, everyone!  I thought I'd take a break from the Orlando postcards to bring you the best postcard dialogue I've seen yet.  There's no credible search results for an H.W. McConnell in Sharpsville, PA, so just enjoy the T.V. advice from "Trailer Life."

Main Office First Federal Savings and Loan Association, Orlando, Florida

Main Office

First Federal Savings and Loan Association

Orlando, Florida

Our new main office building located at the corner of Magnolia and Church will offer the ultimate in Savings and Loan Facilities.

First Federal Branch Offices are located in Dixie Village, College Park and Apopka.

This is where we have our house mtg. and savings.

Undated, and most likely sent with other postcards in a long ago lost envelope, this postcard shows a fairly intact street corner of downtown Orlando.  In fact, I drive by this building every time I come downtown on my street parking search from Dixie Village (which is what SoDo used to be called.)   The buildings tenants have changed, but this edifice and attached parking garage, built sometime in the mid 1960's, are still vibrant centers of commerce.  First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Orlando, known as "The First," was a casualty of the Savings and Loan scandals that brought many thefts, like the 57 year old institution, to their knees.  

Through sheer coincidence, I know where the College Park branch was located.  I have a small collection of artifacts from Orlando's past, and I just happened to pick up a small glass tray emblazoned with a sketch of the old building, which still stands today.   In fact, if you have a Chase (or most recently a Washington Mutual) account, you may have been to this place at 2424 Edgewater Drive:

Rodeway Inn, Orlando, Florida

Rodeway Inn

5827 Caravan Court

Orlando, Florida 32805

Phone (305) 851-8300

Dining Room + Coffee Shop + Cocktail Lounge + Children's Playground + Meeting Facilities

Nine miles from the main entrance at Disney World

At I-4 and Florida 435.  First interchange south of the Florida Turnpike.

Hi This is where I am staying.  Spent the day at Disney World.  Still don't believe some of it.  See you soon.

Love,

Helen

Mary Rhodes E. Baker

33 Auburn St.

Framingham, Mass. 01701

This Rodeway Inn became a Days Inn sometime in the 1990's, but it's still around in all of its budget motel glory.  Florida Highway 435 is known to Orlando residents as Kirkman Rd, the major artery leading folks to Universal Studios Orlando, Valencia College's West Campus and the communities of Orlo Vista and Pine Hills.  This 1973 postcard was long before Universal Studios, so you can notice the seemingly unending stretch of orange groves behind the motel beyond the interstate.  

The town of Framingham, Massachusetts is If Mary Rhodes Baker lived in the squat apartment buildings that Google maps shows, then her former residence is still standing.  

The Hotel Fort Gatlin, Orlando, Florida

postmarked May 19, 1946, Saint Petersburg, Fla.

Having a nice trip.  Should like to hear from you.  

B. Napier

Box 5141

New Orleans, 15

La, U.S.A.

Mrs.  Dorris Bremner

Vernon Street

Halifax, Nova Scotia

Canada

The Hotel Fort Gatlin was a place where guests could enjoy the famous "golden fried chicken" dinner as well as a comfortable stay in the mid-century City Beautiful.  Our writer must have been so full that he/she forgot to write to Mrs. Bremner until arriving in St. Petersburg, which before I-4 was a half day trip.  The building along Orange Avenue was bought and demolished in 1965 by the Orlando Sentinel who was expanding their operations.  

Doris Bremner was probably born in 1910, and may have been related to the family owned Bremner's Plumbing and Heating of Halifax, Nova Scotia.  The town of about 400,000 was amalgamated into a regional government in 1995.  

Crescent Court, 1721 N. Mills St., Orlando, Florida

Recommended by AAA

CRESCENT COURT

1721 N. Mills St.- on route 17-192

Orlando, Florida

32 Rooms - Air Conditioned _ Electric Heat _ Wall-to-Wall Carpets _ Room Phones

Free Television - Swimming Pool

Phone GArden 2-4482

postmarked February 4, 1960.

Here since last Thursday.  Rain most of the time.

Love, Florence

Mrs. Herbert Bruce

98 Willow Road

Nahant, Mass.

This motel, one of many dotting U.S. 17-92 and other major highways through Orlando, provided a place for weary travelers driving on the pre-Interstate routes through Florida.  (You can find many still in existence on the Orange Blossom Trail, such as the Parliament House.)  Most of these motels had similar construction- a long building divided into small rooms with a courtyard and perhaps a pool out front.  Crescent Court was torn down in the 1990's to make room for the Orlando Immunology Center.

Nahent, Massachusetts is a small town of about 3,000 people in the northern part of the state.  The hues at 98 Willow Ave sits on Dorothy Cove, an inlet of Massachusetts Bay.  Herbert Bruce was listed in the "Who's Who on the Northern Shore of Massachusetts Bay- 1916."  It looks as if Herbert Bruce's wife was named Mildred Bruce, and they had at least one son, Herbert, Jr. who granted the property to someone in 1997.  Mildred was listed as deceased.  What a friend of a fairly prominent family in Massachusetts was doing in an Orlando motel for an entire week is unknown.  At least she had free television.

Central Avenue, Looking West from Court House, Orlando, Fla.

postmarked February 10, 1922

2/9/22

In the centre of the city there is an open space where the men play croquet, cards, pitch quoits or just sit around all hours of the day.  It certainly looks strange.  There are three fairly good sized banks here, but I don't know how good they are.  Remember me to Mrs. Congdon.

Madeline

Mr. W. H. Congdon

Oak Lawn

Rhode Island

Madeline gives us a report on the daily activities of 1922 Orlandans, and of course the quality of the area banks.  It certainly is strange for our writer to choose the pitching of quoits (similar to horseshoes but with a ring) and the area banks to W.H. Congdon, who was a poultry judge and Treasurer of the Rhode Island Poultry Association in 1893.  

This view was most likely taken from the intersection of Court Street and Central Avenue, looking west as the card describes.  The gabled structure is the Benevolent and Protective Order of the Elks lodge, with unknown retail shops and the San Juan Hotel in the background.  None of these buildings survive today, with the exception of what must be the Yowell-Duckworth building on the south side of the street.  

American Legion Building, Orlando, Florida, The City Beautiful

postmarked November 7, 1925

November 6, 1925

We reached this city today.  It is dreadful warm here.  They are going without coats.  I have to put my lightweight coat on as soon as I got here.  We have just come from the Phillips Theatre.  It has a musical comedy.  We are staying at the Hotel Satsuma. 

Mother

Mrs. Harry Davie

10 Fort Street

East Norwalk, Conneticut 

The American Legion has had a presence in Orlando since 1919, when Mayor Beardall (who has a senior center named after him) commanded Post 19's formation.  The American Legion has been leasing a building near Trotter's Park off Lee Road for decades, and I can't seem to find any mention of this building still existing in Orlando, which in my opinion is a shame.  

When I read about Mother seeing a musical comedy at the Phillips Theatre in Orlando, I went to the Sandborn Fire Insurance Company Maps from 1919.  (If you don't know what Sandborn maps are, go here.)   The Phillips Theatre was started by Braxton Beacham, who built the Angebilt Hotel and Beacham Theatre, both of which are still standing.  As is the Phillips Theatre.  

Built in 1916 on the rubble of Orlando's first bank, it operated as the Philips Theatre until 1929 when it was renamed the Ritz Theatre.  The Ritz stayed open for five years, eventually becoming the department store W.T. Grants which closed in 1970.  Eventually, the theatre space became Janie Lane's Sunset Strip, and Bar Orlando until 2009, when SAK Comedy Lab returned the space to its musical comedic glory.  

Hows that for history hitting close to home?  All from a small house that may still stand in East Norwalk, Connecticut, one of the state's first colonial settlements.  

Lake Lucerne, Orlando, Fla.

Postmarked March 14, 1907, Jacksonville, Fla.

Mrs. Philip DeLeon?

East Greenwich, Rhode Island

East Greenwich, Rhode Island is a community in Rhode Island of about 13,000.  Founded around 1686, the town has the the highest per capita income in the state.  It's hard to make out the name of the recipient, so records for her are scant.

This card is the first of many featuring my new hometown.  I'll see if I can augment these posts with some present day photos, so you can see how time has treated buildings like the Historic Inn at Lake Lucerne seen in the distance on this card.

Cocoanut Palm in Miami, Fla.

Millboro, Mass. September 7, 1962

Sept. 5 ‘62

Hello Carrie,

We are up here for a short while.  Hope you get a chance to come see us.

Love,

The Lincolns

Miss Carrie L. Dudley

693 Hill St.

Whitinsville, Mass


I hope they got the chance to come see the Lincolns too!

Whitinsville, Massachusetts is an unincorporated village on the Mumford River, primarily known as a mill town throughout it's history.  The house where Miss Dudley lived cannot be seen on GoogleStreetView, but the address is on a winding Hill Street just outside the Historic District.  The SSDI lists a Carrie Dudley passing in 1980, but the Worcester County Land Deeds Registry shows two land transfer records from 1977 and 1978 for two properties with different addresses, one on Hill St.  It also shows she was unmarried at the time of transfer, which likely means she had no children.

As far as the ubiquitous (in south Florida) Cocoanut Palm,  it may not be a native plant.  Since its seeds can float and disperse for long periods, it's very likely to have naturally migrated to Florida where it can be seen as far north at Stuart on the east coast and Punta Gorda on the west.  There's a Monty Python joke in here somewhere...

Band Concert in Bayfront Park, Miami, Florida

Bayfront Park, famed as a showplace of tropical landscaping, is on the shore of Bay Biscayne, along the southern terminus of Biscayne Boulevard.  From conveniently placed benches under palm trees, one may gaze across Biscayne Bay, while enjoying daily free band concerts.

Miami, Fla. February 14, 1941

Dear Olga:-

I am down here for a while to get away from the cold.  It is just lovely now.

Anna Rorke?

Mrs. Olga Minor

174 Wentworth Ave.

Edgewood, R. I.

Yet another postcard from Bayfront Park, which I detailed in yesterday's post.  Here's a great essay if you wish to know more about the park.

I've also detailed Edgewood, Rhode Island in an earlier post.  The suburb of Cranston is home to many beautiful old houses, and Mrs. Minor's house at 174 Wentworth is no exception.  Zillow lists the property, built in 1920, sold in 2006, but the Providence County Property Appraisers website lists no records.  Nor are there any records for an Olga Minor is the SSDI.  Strange.  

Biscayne Boulevard and Bayfront Park, Miami, Florida

Bay Front Park completed in 1928 at ta cost of $2,500,000.  It is a haven of dense tropical foliage and blooming plants with many varieties of palms.  Almost the entire area, 62 acres, is reclaimed land.  It has a band shell where, throughout the year, concerts draw large crowds.  Beautiful Biscayne Boulevard starts at this point.

Miami Beach, Fla., March 8, 1937

3/6/37

Hello girls,

Having a swell time.  Wish you all could be here with us.  Its very hot here today.

Love, Helen

Misses Tillie, Anna and Evelyn

300 W. Madison St.

Baltimore, Md.

Helen’s having such a swell time that she forgot to get this card to the post office for two whole days!

SInce there are no surnames on this very old postcard, it's hard to find the identity of the sender or the recipients, who if they were children in 1936, could possibly still be living today.  The property at 300 W. Madison St. is across from the Maryland General Hospital, and could possibly be one of the two older buildings, but Baltimore County online records do not go back that far.  Plus, if the buildings were apartments, rather than single family structures, there would be no rental records accessible from my laptop.    

However, Bayfront Park is still around, and its Klipsch Amphitheater (which is the second replacement for the original structure) has hosted concerts by Manu Chau, Gloria Estefan, and the annual Miami JazzFest in November.  The entire park was renamed in the 1980's for Mildred and Claude Pepper, the long tenured Democratic congressman from south Florida.  

Federal Building and Post Office, Miami, Florida

Miami, Fla February 4, 1950

Sat.  

Dear Emma,

We came down here yesterday.  Martin & I drove down, stayed Tues.  It’s a long drive & I was tired when we arrived.  Its real warm here like our summers up home.  It’s a busy city and I am afraid too much traffic to suit me. 

Sincerely,

Ruth Burke

Miss Emma L. Ruth

E. Front St.

Lititz, Lanc. Co.

Pa.


Lititz, Pennsylvania was founded as a Moravian Church settlement in 1756 by Count Nicolas von Zizendorf, a figure in the renewal of the church in the 18th century.   Lititz has about 9,000 people today, so one would think it would be fairly easy to find an obituary for Ms. Emma Ruth, or some other record.    However, the state of Pennsylvania lists an old nursing license for Ruth Burke, so she would have been an excellent choice to make the pre-Interstate drive from Pennsylvania to Miami.

The Federal Courthouse pictured on the card was built in 1931.  Located at 300 Northeast 1st Avenue, the now named David Dwyer Federal Courthouse is still the largest limestone building in south Florida.  The Post Office left the building in 1976, but it is still used for Federal courts and offices.  If you're in Miami, follow Ruth Burke and check out the Mediterranean Revival building!

My 1985 Delta Airlines Flight

postmarked Tampa, FL August 6, 1985

Delta Air Lines

The wide-bodied Lockheed L-1011 Tristar, a 302-passenger airplane powered by three Rolls-Royce RB211-22B engines, has a cruising speed of over 500 miles per hour and a range of over 2475 statute miles.  Three pilots and nine flight attendants make up the TriStar crew.

Dear Mr. Vierday,

We hope you enjoyed your first trip by air.  It has been a pleasure to have you aboard Delta for your first flight and we hope to see you on many other Delta flights in the future.

Delta Air Lines

Mr. Darren Vierday

7910 N. Orleans

Tampa, FL 33604

So yes, Delta Airlines sent me this card after my first trip on an airplane.  I was 12 years old, and flew up to Nashville, TN to spend a month with my cousins who lived in Lynnville, TN about an hour south.  I wore a suit and tie, as I still do when going some place where I need to wear a suit.  I had a full meal with real silverware, and sat about three rows in front of the smoking section.   I remember looking out the window and feeling simultaneously very small observing my city from the air and very big embarking on what would be the first of many flights in my life.  

The house at 7910 N. Orleans still stands.  It was built in 1976 by Roy Vierday (my father) and sold in 2002.  Since then, it has been remodeled and painted, looking nothing like the house where I packed for my first airline trip. 

Ironically, I never flew Delta again.  This was not a conscious choice, it just worked out that way.  As a coincidence, my mother just flew from Nashville on a Delta flight, so their postcard did inspire some brand loyalty.  

Entrance to the Clubhouse, Hialeah Race Course, Hialeah, Fla.

The beautiful Royal Palm Driveway to the Club House at Hialeah Race Course is familiar to thousands of visitors all of the year.

Miami Beach, Fla July 16, 1952

Have thought about you so many times since we are here staying over on the Beach for several days.

Alice and Albert W.

Mrs. C. K. Kettering

Annville, Penna.


It seems very likely that C.K. Kettering is related to the people that started Kettering Corner in this small Pennsylvania town of about 4,000 people.  Kettering Corner is an historic ice cream parlor that seems to cater to the students of Lebanon Valley College, also located in the town.  It's family owned, so we'll see if they can shed any light on C.K. Kettering or Alice and Albert.  

Scene on Island Waterway between Palm Beach and Miami, Fla.

Palm Beach, Fla, December 15, 1942

Dear Feverfew:-

Greetings from Florida once more- guess it will be for the last season until the war is over so we must make the most of it.  We are at Trailer Garden, W. Palm Beach for the winter and like it here.  Friendly people and a very pretty small camp.  Husband’s sister and her husband are at Lake Worth, seven miles from here, I a home so we shall be with them at Christmas as usual.  We go there for Sun. dinner usually, the only driving we do.  I can if weather is right, walk to shopping center about 1 ½ miles.  The open beach is probably ½ mile further across Lake Worth. 

Best Wishes,

Wanderer

Mrs. Etta Briggs

Pratt St.

Halifax, Mass.


Wistful musings about the war being over from a tin can tourist.  With gas rationing during the war, visitors to Florida found their journeys limited, if they could travel to Florida at all.  The Trailer Garden may still exist, given the rough directions that our Wanderer provides us.  

Etta Briggs was born in 1877 and died at the age of 91 in Halifax, Massachusetts.  The town of 7,000 people has a historical commission, so I have contacted them to shed any more light on Ms. Briggs and perhaps her mysterious "wanderer."

Beautiful Hialeah Race Course, Hialeah, Florida

A rear view of Hialeah Race Course Grandstand, a familiar sight to thouasands of tourists.

Jupiter, Fla., January 29, 1949

I am having a grand time.  Have a good sun tan already.  We also catch a lot of fish.

Marion, Dora send regards. 

Rose

Mrs. Louis Niegel?

756 Irving P.Red. 13

Chicago, Ill.

After seeing the misspelling of “already,” I read the last line as “Me also catch a lot of fish.”

The Walking Ring and Clubhouse at Gulfstream Park, Hallandale, Florida

Miami, Fla.  February 20, 1954

Dear Patch-  Have just sent cards to my other furry friends (your Va. Cousins)  tried to find appropriate cards, so even though you’re a bit  young to follow the horses, thought those trees might interest you- or do you still prefer the rugs?

Master “Patches” Miller

c/o Ruth Ann Miller

R.D. #3

Lebanon, Penna.

The question that troubles me is the identity of “Patches.”  I’m guessing that “Patches” is an animal of some sort, and the sender of this postcard has transcended into full dementia, believing that this animal is truly interested in playing the horses over urinating on trees and carpets, unlike her other furry friends in Virginia. 

Lebanon, PA is a town of about 25,000 people today.  Ruth Ann Miller is a fairly common name, so a precise record of her living (or her death) in Lebanon is hard to pinpoint.  R.D. #3 is a curious abbreviation, and looking it up on Google Maps points to a Home Depot just outside of town.

Looking Across Pancoast Lake, Miami Beach, Florida

One finds a colony of hundreds of modern Hotels and Apartments designed with all the comforts for the Beach visitors, winter and summer, on a very narrow strip of land between the Atlantic Ocean Pancoast Lake and between 25^th and 44^th Streets.

Miami Beach February 27, 1950

Had dinner with Julia and Malcolm today- They were very pleasant

Took us sailing in 36 ft. auxiliary- Hugh was sick so I just called and said hello.  Nan was out- couldn’t get her on the phone- got transported by chauffeur Swastika is a beautiful house

Peggy and Fairfax were there with 2 kids-

Very pleasant in all.

Verado Beach tomorrow.

Love

Mr. and Mrs. G. W. Cassidy

162 Grace Rd.

Babylon, New York

A colony of Importantly-Capitalized Hotels and Apartments!  Where Julia and Malcolm live!  Ohm they are so pleasant.  A 36 foot auxillary was either a boat, or a lost German army division, secretly laying in wait within Miami Beach.  No sign of a house or any establishment in Miami Beach called “Swastika,” which seems highly unlikely to find just 5 years after World War II.  Varado Beach tomorrow, Washington, DC next week!

Seriously, there was a "Swastika House" in Miami, and it was named after the Indian symbol of the Sun.   Industry magnate and Florida land boom profiteer William John Matheson built the house in the early 20th century, and passed it onto his son, Malcom.  There is also a Swastika Park subdivision in Miami, built in 1917, most likely by Mr. Matheson.  Malcolm Matheson demolished the house at 3645 Ingraham Highway in the 1970's,  but the tony subdivision in Coconut Grove still retains the name.

The house on Grace Road in Babylon, New York doesn't exist.  Neither does a Grace Road in Babylon.  The city of over 200,000 people doesn't seem to have an online record of a G.W. Cassidy, which is strange if the sender knew so many of Miami society folks.

UPDATE: Business Section St. Cloud

Hey everyone,

I thought I'd repost this postcard so you could compare it to the present day (as of April 2012) look of the business section of St. Cloud.

As you can see, not much has changed in the last 51 years at the intersection of New York Avenue and 10th Street.  The St. Cloud Hotel, on the right side of 10th street is still standing, although it doesn't seem like it's currently open for business.  Down on the left side of the street, there's one that is.  Also, the bank building on the right side, just past the clock is now a thrift store, one of many in the business district.  If you visit, you can eat at Crescent's Coffee and Tea  or the Cobblestone Cafe, which is attached to the old St. Cloud Hotel.