This week, we’re going on a short trip through the USA with a handful of postcards from my collection. As always, feel free to subscribe below if you’d like to get the weekly digest!
And now, onward!
A postcard from the early 1900s of a Bethel, Vermont, train station. This building is still standing and located on Main Street in Bethel, VT. It’s now the home of a bar, and the owners seem to have kept much of the original character of the old place. A rail line still travels by the door, so if you want some choo-choo with your drink, you just might get it.
There are records for the Bethel, VT train station that go back as far as 1875, when it was part of the Central Vermont Railroad Company. Much of its surroundings have changed considerably since then with most of the original buildings gone or unrecognizable.
A palm-lined drive in Everglades National Park, Florida, number 291 in a series. This linen-textured postcard features someone taking a scenic drive through the Everglades, which certainly looks like a pretty place to be—when the temperature isn’t skyrocketing, anyway. That car looks like she’s from the mid-to-late 1940s, but I can’t for the life of me figure out what she is. I used to see cars like that all the time at car shows. Comment below if you figure it out.
Everglades National Park is still a thing, by the way, with over 1.5 million acres of wetlands and a shitload of wildlife. The park was established in 1947, which means this postcard couldn’t be any earlier than that regardless of what other sources might say. The more you know!
I apologize in advance to folks that are scared of snakes. This next one is slithery.
This postcard of a double-headed rattler (and a single-headed cousin) is also from Florida. Allegedly. Animals with two heads are bicephalic. It’s a genetic anomaly that pops up multiple times in the animal kingdom (ho ho ho), and among humans, in much the same way that twins are created! Cool, eh?
Bicephalic snakes are one of the most common types of two-headed animal. Unfortunately, they don’t survive for very long in the wild, but have proven to live full lives in captivity—one such snake lived for over 20 years. There are always exceptions.
Hair Pin Turn, Mohawk Trail, Mass., is another linen-textured postcard. This location is accessible today, though the scenery has changed somewhat—the Golden Eagle Restaurant in the background is now located behind a nearby rock cut.
Why, you ask?
After 44 years without trouble, two major big rig accidents took place that destroyed the restaurant and forced the rebuild. The first accident took place in 1958, the second one took place 4 months later.
Although you’re less likely now to get taken out by a truck while eating, it’s still a kinda dangerous roadway—especially when the fog rolls in.
That’s all for this week. See you next week with another batch of free vintage images!
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