Motel Monday: Niagara Falls, Ontario

This week's Motel Monday spotlights some of the motels on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. The Falls are such an enormous tourist destination that it is/was inevitable that there would be need to be quite a few places to stay. These 12 places represent a good cross section of the lodging choices in Niagara Falls, Ontario.

Oakes Drive Motel and Restaurant

Tip Top Motel

Canadiana Inn Motel and Restaurant

Adolph B. Rice Studio Collection

A description from the Library of Virginia Archives:
The Adolph B. Rice Studio Collection constitutes a unique photographic record of life in Richmond, Virginia from 1949 to 1961. The collection consists of more than 16,000 4 x 5 inch film negatives from the commercial studio of Adolph B. Rice.

Adolph B. Rice Sr. (1909-1960) opened his first photo studio in Richmond in 1949. The studio remained on North Auburn Avenue until it ceased operation in 1961. Rice was an active member of the Virginia Professional Photographer Association and the Virginia Press Photographers Association. With a reputation for quality commercial work, his clients included businesses, industry, and state and local government. Photo assignments ranged from studio portraits, to aerial views to advertising shots for local department stores. After his death in 1960, the studio was owned and operated by his son Adolph B. Rice, Jr. (1937-1974). The collection was later donated to the Library of Virginia.

These just represent some of the images in the collection. Clicking on the images will take you to the flickr stream featuring a description/information.

Fizzies Store Display

Fundo Colorforms Store Display

Valentine Dance

Easter Bunny

Lowes of Richmond

Smiley's Motor Sales, Inc.

Nurse

Campbell's Fruit Soups Display

Listerine Store Display

Puss 'n Boot Store Display

Underwood Typewriter Display

Jack and Giant

Beauty and the Beast

Harvey Hudson

Boy's Bicycle

Doll

Clown

This Is Roller Skating

This is an instructional booklet entitled "This is Roller Skating" produced in the late 60s/early 70s. It's full of handy-dandy tips on how to roller skate like a champion. The cover appears to have been run over by a roller skate, so it appears someone learned some skating skills!

See all the pages (and skate) after the jump.

Wish You Were Hear: Home of the Indians

Mailed from Cleveland, Ohio to Mrs. Anna H. Burns of Los Angeles 12, California on April 20, 1959:

This is the home of the Indians but we won't have time to see them. Looking forward to June 14th. Hope we will have a chance to come up this way again when you are here. Love to both - Teya (?)

Madonna Inn - San Luis Obispo, California

The Madonna Inn is a hotel in San Luis Obispo, California. According to their website, "the first 12 rooms were completed December 24, 1958, and were given complementary for that night’s stay, to a very surprised group of travelers. An additional 28 rooms were quickly built, making a total of 40 rooms available to travelers.

Demand for public areas to handle the rooms encouraged us in April 1960 to start construction of the main inn, which was to eventually consists of the wine cellar, bakery, coffee shop, dining room, the cocktail lounge, banquet rooms, ladies’ boutique, men’s gift shop, and the gourmet shop.

One hundred ten unique rooms now exist, each decorated differently to suit many individual tastes...rock rooms, waterfall showers, rock fireplaces, European fixtures, and fine furnishings to name a few."

These postcards are by no mean the complete collection. These are just the ones I could find. I would really like to thank Ryan a.k.a It's Better Than Bad for the majority of these postcards. The only ones from my collection are marked with an asterisk. See all the postcards after the cut.

Madonna Inn - San Luis Obispo, California*

Night View

Full View of the Madonna Inn

Lobby of the Madonna Inn

Coffee Shop Counter

The Red Shell Game

This is a 4 page pamphlet given out in 1948 to stem the "RED TIDE". It was distributed on "Freedom Day" in September of 1948 in Chicago, Illinois. Due to the success of that (whatever that means) it is highly recommended that it be distributed throughout Gary, Indiana.

Wish You Were Hear: Dance Masters of America

The Fontainebleu - Miami Beach, Florida

Mailed from Miami Beach, Florida to Debbie Bolecz of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania on August 2, 1963:

GREETINGS!
Here for the convention of DANCE MASTERS OF AMERICA. - It's the greatest! Fondly, Miss Jeanne

Wish You Were Hear: Step Lively

Sheraton-Kimball Hotel - Springfield, Massachusetts

Mailed from Springfield, Massachusetts to Miss Candace Kimmburgh of Pawtucket, Rhode Island on April 13, 1956:

Dear Candace:
Hope you are well. I am in a big city. Autos go fast here. When in traffic you have to step lively to cross the street. See you soon "Uncle"Bill" Spoerer

Educational Films #6: Are You Popular? (1947)

This is volume 6 in the "How to Live Your Life" series brought to you by PieShopsU. In this film, you will learn "to become popular with lots of people, and have close friends, too."

The original uploader describes it pretty well:

While the intent would seem rather simple and straightforward, this movie is actually about enforcing social norms and condemning promiscuity:

"Ginny thinks she has the key to popularity: parking in cars with the boys at night. When Jerry brags about taking Ginny out, he learns that she dates ALL the boys, and he feels less important. What about Ginny? Does that make her really popular? ... No, girls who park in cars are not really popular. Not even with the boys they park with."

Adventure Along the Trans-Canada Highway

Have you ever wanted to see Canada along the Trans-Canada Highway? Did you ever want to see what that great Highway was like in 1961? This 1961 brochure put out by the Canadian Government Travel Bureau of Ottawa, Canada will help you achieve that goal. See all 34 pages after the jump.

Motel Monday: Salt Lake City

This week's Motel Monday takes a trip to Salt Lake City, Utah. Salt Lake City has quite a few tourist destinations for the traveler. The Great Salt Lake, the Mormon Temple / Temple Square, and the Eagle Gate Monument are just a few of the things tourists of today and yesterday could see. These 12 motels feature a variety of designs but manage to keep it from being too gaudy or colorful, in keeping with the aesthetic of Salt Lake City. See all twelve postcards after the jump.

Romney Motor Lodge

Hotel Utah Motor Lodge

Continental Motel

Wish You Were Hear: Shaving and Changing Socks

Mailed from Boise, Idaho to Mrs. Frank Vermilya of Mount Holly, New Jersey on August 24, 1953:

Dearest Darling Thelma,
We arrived here at 8 to-night and have a small lay-over. I just finished shaving and changing socks. I am always thinking of you sweetheart. I miss you something awful.
I'll always love you
Fran

Blossomtime 1959

Here we have a program from Blossomtime 1959. Blossomtime is an annual Festival that takes place in Southwest Michigan. Here's a little background from the Blossomtime Festival website:

In 1923, a local fruit processor, Fred L. Granger, and the Reverend Joshua O. Randall conceived the idea of a floral parade to promote the expanding local business .They secured assistance from the St. Joseph Chamber of Commerce, the Rotary Club and the Exchange Club. Initially, the publicity consisted of the circulation of a decorated truck around Chicago's "loop" inviting people to come to southwest Michigan. The first Grand Floral Parade was held on a Wednesday afternoon. The second parade was held on May 14, 1924. It included 30 floats, two marching bands and hundreds of private automobiles, which made a tour of the new "Blossom lanes" of southwest Michigan.

Also in 1924, Catherine Burrell of Benton Harbor was chosen by newspaper ballots to reign as the first Blossomtime Queen. In subsequent years communities began to hold their own contests selecting queens to represent them in a collective pageant for the title of Miss Blossomtime.

The festival temporarily ceased in 1943 with the advent of World War II. In 1951 the St. Joseph and Benton Harbor Chamber of Commerce created Blossomtime, Inc., a non-profit organization of some 75 members governed by a board of directors. The first post-war parade in 1952 attracted approximately 105,000 spectators who viewed 56 units.

The Blossomtime Festival is still going strong. This year's events will take place on March 14th. You can catch a glimpse of the official 1959 program and festivities after the jump.

Out With The Old - In With The New

A mother and daughter stand in front of the old family car, a 1955 Cadillac, on their lawn in Wilmette, Illinois during the Fall of 1964.

The mother returns in the Spring of 1965 to pose with the new family car. The new car is a 1965 Pontiac.

Wish You Were Hear: We Are Have a Gay Time

Alex Johnson Hotel - Rapid City, South Dakota

Mailed from Rapid City, South Dakota to Miss Blenda Olson of Salina, Kansas on August 21, 1954:

Dear Aunt Blenda-

We are have a gay time. You should be here with us. You would like it. This is the hotel we are staying in. I'll see you at home.
All My Love,
Elan

Easy-to-make Gifts...for the Small Budget

Here we have a brochure produced sometime in the 1950s(?) by Johnson's Wax of Racine, Wisconsin. It's full of all sorts of ideas about what to make for people if you are on a limited budget. Every single idea features wax of some sort. Strange.

See all 16 pages after the jump.

Snake River Valley Schoolmasters In Concert - February 18, 1949 - Payette, Idaho

This a leaflet/program for the Snake River Valley Schoolmasters Present Association Band and Choral Groups in Concert in the Payette High School Auditorium in Payette, Idaho on February 18, 1949. I don't much about this specific concert. I just found the program and noticed that it was the 62nd anniversary and here we are.

The Life and Times of Marjorie Casper: The Hollywood Paladium

Here we have a souvenir photo of Marjorie and some unidentified friends at the Hollywood Paladium in Hollywood, California. My guess is that this photo was taken sometime in 1943. Marjorie is the woman on the far left.