Roy's Postcards: 1984/10/27

Inscription:

As the museums closed today I headed for the Old Post Office where I found many more shops open than last year. It was a nice source of Christmas present[s], trip momentos and "Bag of Tricks" items.

Postcard back:

Completed in 1899, the Old Post Office is the Capital's oldest federal building, in height second only to the Washington Monument. It houses the famous Ditchley Bells, a gift to the U.S. from England.

A new glass dome elevator rises to the top of the tower, where a panoramic view of Washington can be seen.

The Old Post Office was slated for demolition in 1934 but was saved by an intense campaign of a cnational preservationist group led by the late Nancy Hanks.

Today the Old Post Office Pavillion is a special place for shopping and dining as well as a Performing Arts Center.

Leonard's comments:

The "Bag of Tricks" was a bag of inexpensive things to keep the kids entertained on long car trips. We'd get one or two things out of the bag each travelling day. I don't remember any of the things in the Bag, except one, a fabulous book of "amazing facts" essays. Each essay took up exactly one oversized page, presumably for ease of Xeroxing and handing out to a class, and had a goofy cartoon that offered a more humorous take on the topic of the essay. Good stuff. I don't remember any of the essays but presumably the things in that book are now my unquestioned assumptions.

Anyway, Bag of Tricks, an excellent idea for car trips if the kids don't have their own handheld computers.

See also: dc

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