Monument Valley, UT.
El Paseo and pier, Redondo Beach, CA.
Badlands, SD.
Fontana Dam, Fontana Village, NC.
Dinosaur Quarry Visitor Center, UT.
Blackbear Park, NC.
Wawona tunnel tree, Yosemite National Park, CA.
Ghost Town, Caldwell, ID.
Four Corners Monument.
White Sands National Monument, NM.
Pagoda, Reading, PA.
Same ’59 Ford convert in the 2 NC pics.
Lot’s of Studes considering their relative rarity at the time.
Bumpers were flimsy then, look at that fairly new ’62 Belvy wagon in NM.
Seeing these cars out West is a reminder that Studebaker had an assembly plant in Vernon, CA from 1938 to 1956.
For my first sport car I had a choice of a baby blue Sprite and a British Racing Green one. I chose poorly. Good part was I learned how to fix British sport cars.
My first (and only) sports car was a ’59 Sprite. I spotted it in the back of a dark garage one day after school. Bought it for $200 and got it going without too much trouble. It had been resprayed in beer-bottle brown and was pretty clapped out. Still a thrill!
But could you get 4 people in it?
Great collection of Americana! Keep them coming! I also noticed all the Studebakers. I like that Chevy wagon conversion of sky viewing and looking inside the Sequoia.
There’s a great picture of the Tunnel Tree on Wikipedia with a Renault Dauphine going through, which makes the tree look even bigger. The tree fell down in 1969; the big hole certainly didn’t help its integrity.
That picture of the ’57 Chevy Two-Ten Touring Wagon (ok, I just made up that model name) has been featured here before.
I don’t recall if there was a discussion at the time regarding it having two license plates, but I do recall there being a time when tractor trailers had multiple tags plastered all over them, seemingly from every state in which they operated. What I don’t recall is cars needing the same treatment. Perhaps this big Sequoia is on the California/Nevada or California/Oregon border and needs both license plates for the touring operation.
* edit: I see by the caption that this was in Yosemite. That’s California only. My bad… Still, why two plates?
Idiots in NC just before their children were killed by the mama bear…..
Nice postcards, all of these .
Four Corners was still like that in the 1980’s, it’s all ruined now .
-Nate
Some 60 people have been killed by black bears since 1900. The odds of getting killed by a dog, bees or lightning are vastly greater.
Unfortunately these black bears were fully acculturated to begging for handouts, and were essentially tame. This was just par for the course back then, and was a common site in certain parks.
I don’t know what it is with people and bears. Oh, look, it is Yogi and Boo-Boo. Let’s walk up, say hello, and have our picture taken. Same happens with buffalo at Yellowstone although I can’t think of a buffalo character. I do like it when the buffalo throws the intruder up in the air. Catch!
When I was 8 years old and my younger sister was 5, we all went down to Skyline Drive in the Grecian Green 2 door ’68 Impala Custom. (Every Story has a Car 😉)
For my little sister, it was, “Oh look, Gentle Ben!”
My dad was grilling us up some steaks for lunch, which presumably attracted this black bear to the picnic area.
Dad said to Mom, “Quick! Get the kids into the car!”, while he proceeded to throw the steaks at the bear to distract it. My sister (an avid animal lover to this day) wanted to pet the bear. We all knew better… We still know better…
FFWD to just a few years ago, while living on a farm in WV, she rescued a black bear cub that had been abandoned. She bottle fed it, and had the darn thing as a pet until it was just to big and wandered off (thankfully). Some things never change.
We did it in “68”, in my aunt/uncles “65 Lemans”! Was soo cool, white bucket seats, auto on the floor.
Did it again in “90”, in m own car “88 Caravelle”.
(aunt came too))
Did the “Front Royal VA- “Bear something’, turn off a bit southwest of “Warrenton”.
Weather was waay better on the “90”, excursion.
Yup. Viewing the bears in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (which we simply called “The Smokies”) was a regular childhood trip for me. So that pic certainly brings back memories.
It does amaze me that people took such a casual attitude to black bears back then. I know that they’re the least dangerous of bears…although it’s all kind of relative. We have regular visits by black bears where I live now, and in general, it’s considered good practice to just leave them alone and keep your distance.
Trying to pet them in a parking lot is not considered good practice.
Interestingly, about 15 years ago and old hippie living in the woods of southeast BC managed to “tame” a couple of dozen bears. Apparently this came to light when the RCMP busted him for running a marijauna grow op on his property. It transpired that he was going through 6 or 7 40 lb bags of dog food a day feeding them. It was a big news story for a couple of days, with the claim he was using them to “guard” his grow op!
He ended up beating the charges due to some “creative” investigation work by the RCs, but it caused a big problem for the conservation officer dealing with a pack of bears acclimatized to human contact and food. Didn’t end well for many of the bears.
I shudder when I see these old photos of people feeding wildlife in parks back in the day. Thankfully, such behaviour today in places like Yellowstone is illegal and strictly enforced.
Lots of interesting shots here, it would be interesting to see what these places look like today!
It’s more fun when the bear is bigger than the car:
Too cool! “Barney Bear” is telling them where to park.
Bear isn’t a big one per se, as that TR3a isn’t exactly tall. But still fun to see. RE the Bugeye, I wonder what the other 2 were driving in the pic. 3 in a Spitfire is doable for a few hours, but a Bugeye…oof. My dog and I drove often from Austin, TX to my parents at Hilton Head, SC straight through, about 22 hours for 1200 miles. But to do it with another human, hmmmm.
I love the open top strecvh chevy wagon, I love to own one
Thinking it that “Pagoda”, thing was going today; someone would be running their “suv” over the edge of the parking lot . ((at least two times a year))
Looks like they have replaced the wood fence with a low stone wall, but otherwise it looks very similar.
Same red, “Ford”, convert in both “NC” pics?? “Blackbear Park” is calling my name!!
How did 4 adults fit into a ’59 Austin–Healey “Bugeye” (“Frogeye,” across The Pond) Sprite⁉️
😅🤣
I was wondering the same thing. 🤣
That’s the photographer’s car… 🙂
I haven’t been to any of those locations in the postcards but I am thinking that you can’t get that close to any of them any longer.
It would be very cool to see current pictures from the same viewpoints. Very nice series, Rich.
Redondo Beach pier area, including the street, look surprisingly similar today.
I think that open-top wagon at Yosemite is fantastic. I’ve found a number of photos of 1957 Chevy Wagon Stageway conversions, but not one just like that in that the Stageway ones all have solid roofs.
That would probably be quite a valuable car if it still existed.
I drove my Corvette through the tree in Yosemite in 1962
Looks like Ford automobiles were quite common in the fifties . Some Chevrolets as well!
I live near the Pagoda. The grounds are soon going to be renovated. The Pagoda itself looks pretty much the same.