West Memphis, Arkansas, is a bustling town. Shops and businesses line Broadway, surely one of the widest streets in the Mid-South. Hotels and motels and restaurants and shops are scattered here and there, catering to tourists who come to the "Natural State" for its, well, its natural attractions, or to place wagers at Southland Park Gaming and Racing. And not too far away, obviously, is the Mississippi River itself.
But the advertising company that produced this old postcard (it's not dated) obviously decided to try a different approach. Forget all the usual enticements that might beckon visitors. Instead (they must have thought) let's lure people to our community by showing a farmboy (or is it a girl? — it's hard to tell) pumping water from an old well, to feed a herd of cows. In the distance, a farmhouse.
"Greetings from West Memphis"? Where, exactly, is West Memphis in this lovely image? What were they thinking?
I wonder how many people got this postcard in the mail and thought, "Wow, let's pack up the car and go there RIGHT NOW.
Nice clumps of flowers, though, don't you think?
