Where Wheat Grows and Oil Flows

Uncirculated

Printed by Curteich, 1942

Postcard Caption:

Greetings from Enid Oklahoma | "Where Wheat Grows and Oil Flows"

E – Hiland Tower

N – Bass Building

I – Broadway Tower

D – Downtown Historic Distric

Here's the Broadway Tower today (via Google maps):

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Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Broadway Tower was once the tallest structure in Enid. Built in 1931 as a hotel, it now houses shops and offices.

My mother, dad, and aunt went to Philips University in Enid, Oklahoma. I don't think I ever visited the town while I lived in Oklahoma, which is surprising in retrospect.

To Be a Good Soldier

Postmarked 24 September 1951

Fort George G. Meade, Maryland

Postcard Caption:

1139: - For Meade Heights, Fort Meade, MD.

Postcard Message:

Sept 23, 1951 / Hello. / Well I arrived here 12:30 P.M. 15th. I finished processing on the 17th. Since 17th I served the Cod-- and Officers, and had one day of carpentering. They say to be a good soldier you have to learn to do everything I hope Marlene is getting along good in high school. I wish I was back in school now. So long. "Dave."

Fort Meade remains an active military base providing support to 90 partner agencies as well as military personnel and dependents. I wonder if they still have carpentry.

I Am Certainly Ashamed

Postmarked 23 September 1913
Dallas, Texas

Published by S.H. Kress

Message:

Dearest Aunt Mat - / I am certainly ashamed of myself for not writting [sic] sooner. Have been working hard ever since I returned - Eva got back to --- OK. ---

Union Station History

The view today:


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Hungry Horse Dam

Uncirculated
Published by Keenan News Agency
Printed by Curteich (IC-H1532)

Postcard Message:

504-THE MIGHTY HUNGRY HORSE DAM 

THE FOURTH LARGEST AND THIRD HIGHEST 

CONCRETE DAM IN THE WORLD, IN 

THE THIRD LARGEST STATE IN THE UNION

MONTANA

If the concrete used in this dam were equally divided between every man, woman, and child in the United States, each would receive an 80 pound chunk.

Hungry Horse Dam / Photo courtesy the U.S. Department of the Interior

Unlike most dams built to provide irrigation water, Hungry Horse Dam was created to store water to increase hydroelectric production from the Columbia River. Because of the brutal winters in the area, construction shut down during cold weather, and the dam took five years to built. When it was completed in 1953, Harry S. Truman turned the switch to begin the plant's operation.

For more information, visit the National Park Service website's Hungry Horse Dam - Montana page.

Quite Changed from the Town I Used to Know

Postmarked 10 September 1907

Chickasaw, Oklahoma

Postcard Caption:

FRONT: Cotton Compressor & Yards, Ardmore, Okla.

Postcard Message:

9/9/'07 / I've been here about ten days. School opened today I'm teaching in the 1st ward. Ardmore looks fine and is quite changed from the town I used to know / yours / Joy(?)

The World's Greatest Banana Port

Uncirculated

Published by New Orleans News Co.

Postcard Caption:

Front: Unloading Bananas, New Orleans, La. - 60

Back: At New Orleans, the world's greatest banana port, more than 700 ships arrive each year loaded with 25,000 to 50,000 bunches of this popular fruit. At the banana wharves, the individual bunches are carried from the hold of the ship to the door of the refrigerator car on mechanical conveyors.

New Orleans is no longer the world's greatest banana port; it is not even the busiest port for bananas in the United States. In the Gulf region, Gulfport has taken over the reigns, but Chester/Wilmington, Delaware, and Los Angeles are also ports accepting large numbers of bananas.

I picked this postcard since today is Labor Day in the United States, a day to honor the social and economic contributions of America's workers.

Main Banana Import Ports, 2011