Roy's Postcards

Postcard from 1986/12/25

Sat, 20 Mar 2010 00:00:13 GMT

Inscription:

From Frances for Christmas, 1986

Postcard back:

SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA
Beautiful Santa Monica Beach from Palisades Park. © Photo by James Blank

See also: la

Postcard from 1983/07/27

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 00:00:12 GMT

Inscription:

(LEONARD) I went with Daddy to Thrifty's to buy him some medicine. We also got an ice cream cone and this postcard. Then we went to a fish store and we bought some fishies. We bought 2 gold comets.

See also: leonard

Postcard from 1983/07/03

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 00:00:16 GMT

Inscription:

(LEONARD) We had fun in Colorado. We went to Rico, Telluride, Dolores, Cortez and Mesa Verde.
We cooked out several times and had a real good time. I like the blimp on this postcard.

Leonard's comments:

None of these are places I would choose to go on vacation, possibly because of this very vacation. The blimp is in the lower right ("Helium") and it's not bad.

See also: colorado

Postcard from 1983/04/02

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 00:00:21 GMT

Inscription:

Leonard, Mario and I went to the Natural History Museum and saw "Alice in Wonderland" and the[n] we went on a Dinosaur egg hunt and Leonard found an egg with a dinosaur in it. Then we went to the museum and saw the animated triceratops, and No. American Mammals including the Beaver diorama.

Leonard's comments:

It was pretty common for us to see Disney animations at the theater in the side entrance of the Natural History Museum--I remember seeing "The Wind in the Willows" and "The Fox and the Hound" there as well (there are also postcards for both of those, I believe). Why they showed those movies there is anyone's guess. Since it was in LA, it's possible Disney owned 25% of the museum.

See also: lacmnh

Postcard from 1983/01/22

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 00:00:13 GMT

Inscription:

(LEONARD) I went to the Art Museum with Daddy and we saw lots of clocks made by Louis Cartier. Last time we went, we saw this Bust of George Washington.

Leonard's comments:

I'd like to get another look at those clocks now that I'm not three years old.

See also: lacma

Postcard from 1985/04/21

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 00:00:24 GMT

Inscription:

Dearest Frances,
A postcard of some of the sites and sights you love. Do take care and I will see you soon. I love you -
Roy.

Postcard back:

UNIQUE ARCHITECTURAL TRIUMPHS OF COLORFUL LOS ANGELES
The "sites" - sounds and smells of the gustatorial delights of Los Angeles are a great attraction for visitors to the unusual southern California culture. Photos by David L. Clark

Leonard's comments:

He's not being sarcastic. My mother loved goofy buildings shaped like the things sold in the buildings, of which there were a good number in LA. We used to go to a hot dog stand shaped like a giant hot dog, and I don't think it was even the one shown in this postcard.
Update: Never mind, another postcard says it was Pink's, which is colorful in its own right but is not shaped like a hot dog.

See also: la best-of

Postcard from 1984/06/06

Sun, 14 Mar 2010 00:00:15 GMT

Inscription:

We stopped by the Indian Store on our way back from Bryce Canyon and Cannonville. They had lots of Indian crafts and tourist things.

Postcard back:

RED CANYON INDIAN STORE
located on highway 12
the gateway to Bryce Canyon National Park
P.O. BOX 717
Panguitch, Utah 84759
one of the largest selections of Hand Made Indian
arts and crafts in the west.

See also: utah

Postcard from 1983/11/18

Sat, 13 Mar 2010 00:00:15 GMT

Inscription:

A rainy night and lots of sick children. I ran out to Thrifty Drug Store to buy some medicine for Leonard. He and Susanna both have the flu.

See also: la susanna

Postcard from 1983/11/05

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 00:00:19 GMT

Inscription:

Albertasaurus was a new dinosaur to me, but I quite enjoyed the Dinosaur at the National Museum of Natural History - my only regret was that Leonard could not be here.

Postcard front:

Postcard back:

Two Late Cretaceous Dinosaurs Confronting Each Other Over Lunch

Leonard's comments:

I like the title of this postcard, which paints this rather unconvincing diorama as the prologue to future clashes between Hollywood agents and producers.
This scan seemed dark so I increased the brightness and contrast a bit. I've done almost 450 postcards and this is the first one that needed that kind of touch-up work.

See also: dinosaurs leonard

Postcard from 1983/11/05

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:00:15 GMT

Inscription:

Today, while Ken Howard and I were walking down the Mall in Washington, DC, I spied this triceratops sitting (standing) out on the lawn. He appeared most friendly since children were climbing on him.

Postcard back:

Uncle Beazley, a life-size fiberglass model of a Triceratops, was made by Louis Paul Jonas for a special television program (1967) called "The Enormous Egg;" in that same year the Sinclair Oil Company donated the model to the Smithsonian, and Mr. Beazley has been a popular attraction on the Mall ever since.
Photograph by Dane A. Penland, Office of Printing and Photographic Services, Smithsonian Institution.

Leonard's comments:

The statue may have been made for a TV special, but "The Enormous Egg" was originally a book, and I remember it being really good. It was fun to read, kind of cynical, and featured a kid who didn't have to go to school because he had a research project. It doesn't make sense on its own terms, though--if a chicken gave birth to an evolutionary throwback it would be a theropod, not a saurichian like Triceratops.
I climbed on Uncle Beazley on my first trip to DC. The statue has since been moved to the National Zoo, and you can't climb on it anymore.

See also: dinosaurs smithsonian best-of

Postcard from 1983/01/22

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:00:14 GMT

Inscription:

(LEONARD) I got a ~~taryda~~teradactyl at the Page Museum. I went with Daddy and we saw a dinosaur movie. I pulled the sticks that are stuck in the tar. we saw this wolf and some bones of wolves.

Leonard's comments:

If you ever go to the Page Museum at the La Brea Tar Pits, I highly recommend the sticks that are stuck in the tar.

See also: labrea

Postcard from 1984/06/07

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:00:12 GMT

Inscription:

On our way to Salt Lake City from Glendale, Utah, we stopped by Big Rock Candy Mountain. It is sure a lot of different colors.

Leonard's comments:

I know this visit made quite an impression on me, but only because of the memories I have of my second visit, when I was in my late teens. I was mainly interested in seeing how the place had changed, but the experience overwrote all my original memories, so I don't know.
Note the DIY postmark stamp. I thought this was a rip-off of the "Passport to Your National Parks" stamps, but that program wasn't introduced until 1986.

See also: utah

Postcard from 1985/05/17

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 00:00:25 GMT

Inscription:

Dear Leonard,
I bought this postcard for you when I was in Hawaii. Someday, we may see an active volcano. Take care of our girls.
I love you.
Daddy

Postcard back:

Halemaumau Eruption of 1967, lasting for 22 hours, subsides, then burst forth in fiery fury.

Leonard's comments:

Not a lot to say about this postcard so I'll point out another of the Post Office's weird cancellations with a message: "Fall in love with stamp collecting." You'd like that, wouldn't you.

See also: hawaii

Postcard from 1986/01/25

Sun, 07 Mar 2010 00:00:15 GMT

Inscription:

We went on a whale watch and we saw a whale do this. We saw lots of whales.

Leonard's comments:

Awesome.

See also: leonard animals

Postcard from 1983/09/16

Sat, 06 Mar 2010 00:00:16 GMT

Inscription:

(LEONARD) Mommy, Daddy and I went to the Hollywood Bowl. We saw fireworks. We heard lovely music by the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra.

Leonard's comments:

Note my attempt to draw the mysterious postcard face--or maybe four of them in a row.

See also: la face

Postcard from 1985/04/07

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 00:00:10 GMT

Inscription:

(LEONARD) We are in Utah and having a good time. We went to Brigham City on Friday and ate at the Idle Isle with Jonathan, Sharon, Jill and the twins. Yesterday Daddy took me and Susanna to see the Salt Lake City Temple and the new Church Museum. Then we had a picnic at Liberty Park with all my cousins. We had a real good time.

Leonard's comments:

Is that safe? Looks like exactly what I wouldn't want to happen when I was skiing.

See also: utah

Postcard from 1983/07/12

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 00:00:13 GMT

Inscription:

(LEONARD) We went to the Dinosaur Gardens today and saw this awesome Tyrannosaurus Rex. I stood under it while Daddy took my picture.

Postcard back:

The largest and among the most highly evolved of all the meat-eating (carnivorous) dinosaurs. Standing 18 to 20 feet tall and reaching a length of 50 feet, it had dagger-like teeth over six inches in length.

See also: dinosaurs utah

Postcard from 1983/11/05

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 00:00:14 GMT

Inscription:

This evening before returning to the Dulles Marriott I walked down and viewed the White House all aglow in its elegance.

See also: dc

Postcard from 1986/01/01

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 00:00:11 GMT

Inscription:

This is Los Angeles, my home. I have spent time this morning writing letters to my children. Then I drove downtown to Terminal Annex to mail them, but to attempt to get a Jan. 1 postmark.

Leonard's comments:

BREATH TAKING ARIAL VIEW of downtown Los Angeles, showing all the new magnificent high rise structures.

See also: la

Postcard from 1983/11/29

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 00:00:22 GMT

Inscription:

LA Hilton - I am attending a Capacity management Seminar by BGS Systems this morning. Richard & Nathan Oman are visiting for a couple days. I am taking sightseeing this ~~afternoon~~ evening. I found this beautiful postcard in the Tobacco Shop here. I rode the Wilshire bus down at ~~lunch~~ noon. I'll ride it back to M.A.P. then catch it home this evening all for $1.50. Not a bad deal.

See also: la