Postcards – vintage Miami Beach

I have quite a few postcards of Vintage Miami Beach up on ebay right now, and would like to show you three of my favorites.

Pancoast Lake – Surfside & Wofford Hotels, Miami Beach, FL

Pancoast Lake-Surfside & Wofford Hotels Miami Beach FL – Wooden boats!

I love the coloring of the sky, reflections on the water and the wooden boats! Makes you want to take a cruise.

The next card is

1934 Surfside – Breakers – Wofford – Roney Plaza Hotel

I love the birds-eye view, showing the beach, jetties, and Lake Pancoast

Everglades Cabana Club and Pool – Miami Beach

Can’t you imagine the gossip and partying that would go on here while basking in the sun???

I’m back! New Postcards on ebay

I’m back -

Been busy with listing stuff for ebay and spending time with my family.

Check out this postcard, Ebay item #150267220782 (click HERE to go see the listing)

Aqua Cabana Club - The Raleigh Hotel - Miami Beach, Florida

Isn’t this a stunning card? I love looking at these and imagining myself sitting in the shade at poolside with a book. It is fun researching and finding out about the location; who built it, when, and what happened there. (Esther Williams filmed a movie here!!!)

The hotel has been completely refurbished and from the pictures on the hotel website they honored the original design. The pool is even more stunning than it looks here in the postcard, if you can believe that! One of the travel websites gave a great tip that you can purchase a pool pass for the day and enjoy this amazing area without the expense of staying in the exclusive hotel. I did find that the pool is used for fashion shows so I would make sure if it was available for hotel guests before scheduling a stay. Imagine the disappointment on finding you were not allowed full use of the pool, cabanas, and beach due to someone with more money renting the setting for a period. Yuk.

I found out in the research:

Frommers had this to say about the hotel:
“Upon entering the lobby of this oceanfront Art Deco hotel, you will feel like you’ve stepped back into the 1940s. Polished wood, original terrazzo floors, and an intimate martini bar add to the fabulous atmosphere that’s favored by fashion photographers and production crews, for whom the hotel’s fleur-de-lis pool is the favorite subject. In fact, one look at the pool and you’ll expect Esther Williams to splash up in a dramatic, aquatic plié.”

Travel Intelligence website had this to say:
“The Raleigh was designed by L. Murray Dixon, one of the most prolific and acclaimed architects of South Beach’s historic Art Deco District. It remains one of the significant buildings from the formative years of Miami Beach. With its regal facade, impressive interiors, and lagoon-sized pool heralded as a “jewel” of modernist design, The Raleigh bestows a commanding presence on one of the most beautiful beaches in the world.”

During research for other cards I read about the renovation of many of the classic hotels in Miami Beach and often the pool and outside dining areas are sacrificed to enlarge and enhance the other guest areas. Not so here! Definitely a place to see!

This pool has been voted “America’s most beautiful pool”. I can believe that!

Postcard – 1937 Art Deco US Post Office-Miami Beach Florida

1937 Art Deco US Post Office-Miami Beach, Florida

Ebay Item 150256899536 (or click here)

I’m having fun collecting and then selling postcards on ebay, and learning about the history and architecture of the different scenes. The card I’m talking about today is especially fascinating. It is different from other post offices that look like the same design done over and over again.

This is what I wrote for ebay:

The Post Office is located at Washington and 13th St. Built in 1937 the building has fewer decorative details and a more somber look than what we normally associate with Art Deco and is known as “Depression Moderne.” Inside WPA muralist Charles Hardman painted a three-panel mural of Ponce de Leon’s invasion of Florida. The ceiling fixture that looks like the sun, and there is a fountain. All in a US Post Office!

I was doing a little more research on the post office for this blog post and found there is a Post Mark Collectors Club on the internet and they not only collect the postmarks from different post offices, but visit and take a photo and learn about the history of the location. Click here for the page for Florida. A couple of the pictures show murals in other locations.

and an OOPS for me…also found this quote

“Often mistaken for WPA art, post office murals were actually executed by artists working for the Section of Fine Arts. Commonly known as “the Section,” it was established in 1934 and administered by the Procurement Division of the Treasury Department. Headed by Edward Bruce, a former lawyer, businessman, and artist, the Section’s main function was to select art of high quality to decorate public buildings if the funding was available. By providing decoration in public buildings, the art was made accessible to all people.” from “Articles from EnRoute : Off The Wall: New Deal Post Office Murals” by Patricia Raynor

So I have been corrected – it isn’t “WPA art”

The Alabama Dept of Archives and History reveals that each post office received a budget of $650-$750 to cover all the costs – materials, installation, and finally photos of the finished art.