On May 27, 1910, a traveler named Stan Rentzi sent this postcard of the original Peabody Hotel to a friend in Vermont. “My dear girl,” he wrote, “this is where I hang my hat while I’m here. It’s a larger hotel than the Gayoso, and very pretty.”
In the early 1900s, penny postcards —that’s all it cost to mail them — were the easiest way to tell your friends and family where you were staying, what you were doing, and invariably telling them, “Wish you were here.” Millions of these cards, often hand-colored, kept readers amused and informed, and on these pages, we present a few cards from the Lauderdale Collection that showcase some of the sights visitors — and residents alike — enjoyed in the Bluff City.
Most of what you see here is still standing today, though the Gayoso Hotel — described by “Mary H” in 1910 as “one of the popular hotels and cafés of Memphis” — is now apartments. What she told a friend in Emporia, Kansas, is rather intriguing: “The people here are all pleasure seekers and if they have a dollar, get all the luxury they can.” Is that a compliment? Anyway, she continues, “Have met some lovely people, am enjoying myself immensely, and still playing cards every night.”
In 1908, “Alice and Bud” chose a colorful postcard of the Cossitt Library to tell friends in Washington, D.C., that “we have reached this Southern city and plan to be here about three weeks.” Constructed in 1893, the sandstone castle was considered one of our city’s most beautiful buildings. The authors of Memphis: An Architectural Guide considered it “a structure of great power and dignity.” When it was replaced in 1958 with something more modern, those same authors said, “The loss of no old building in Memphis is more regrettable than the Cossitt Library.” At least we have the postcard.
“I am fine and dandy and having a swell time,” writes “Annie” to a friend, Miss Stella Wirschum in Murfreesboro, Illinois, using a blue pencil. “There sure are some really swell kids here.” The year is smudged on the postmark, but judging from the vehicles on Union Avenue — two buggies and one automobile, with pedestrians strolling across the street without concern for the traffic — the card dates from the early 1900s. Erected in 1909, the Scottish Rite Cathedral has changed very little, both inside and out, for more than a century.
“Uncle John” took the time to type a message on the back of this 1909 postcard mailed to Edith Winkler in Holdenville, Oklahoma. “Laying our concrete today, and 661 [apparently his address] will be a fine old spot when it gets spruced up. Aunt Willie joins in love to you.” We presume he paid for the work from his Tennessee Trust savings, since he indicated “a good place to put your money” on the face of the card. The building today is now home to Hu. Hotel.
“Ira” also thought it was okay to write on the front of the 1910 card mailed to a friend in Folsomdale, Kentucky. In pencil, he scribbled, “Della, grandma said for you to take care of Grandpa’s back.” The card shows a nighttime view of Main Street, with just a few horse-and-buggies along the curb.
“George” told Mr. T.H. Jackson in Marion, Kentucky, “I am getting along fine. Memphis is a good town.” This 1910 card shows a rare automobile, parked on North Main outside one of our city’s oldest family-owned establishments, the Dinstuhl’s candy emporium. Electric signs were beginning to lure customers to businesses Downtown. Across the street, the Palace Theatre offered shows for just 5 cents.
Postcard companies were never reliable sources for historians. It’s highly unlikely anybody in Memphis ever witnessed such a giant, gold-plated, four-stack steamer “just leaving town.” (The metal ship is actually clipped to the card.) Even so, in 1911, “Pop” selected this unusual card to mail to Miss Ruth Hirshfield in Shelburn, Indiana, adding a penciled message: “Arived her all OK am going on this evening will write more when we get time.”
Throughout the 1900s, Overton Park was a popular subject for postcards. This old card shows the Japanese Garden, one of this city’s most distinctive attractions until it was demolished after the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. In 1924, a young fellow named James Conway wrote a quick message to a friend in Batesville, Arkansas: “I wish you were here to play with me. Have been swimming twice, and had a fine time.”
The sender of this card, mailed in 1910 to a friend in Union City, Tennessee, took advantage of the empty sky over Court Square to let his friend know, “We got this card to send from Memphis, but were just too busy. Had a great time here and everything, M.C.” The Lincoln-American Tower, erected 14 years later, now stands across the park from the D.T. Porter Building, and the trees are much taller, but it’s possible M.C. would recognize the same scene today.
ALL POSTCARDS COURTESY VANCE LAUDERDALE COLLECTION
