|
Wanna read the latest
from Clever Magazine? |
||
|
|
||
|
The Virtual Postcard Tour continues...as most of you know by now, I've been a postcard collector for years. Just recently I went thru my collection and tossed out about half of them, but no worries, I still have hundreds and hundreds left. Recently I purchased a postcard book that I've been coveting for several years. It's called Boring Postcards USA. It's a picture book of postcards that are by far some of the ugliest cards I've ever seen. It's very amusing. So I decided to go through my collection and pull out my ugly ducklings, too bad I had already culled most of the ugliest ones in the earlier purge. However, I was able to find a few gems. I limited my search to older cards, the 3x5 size, produced in the 1950s or before. So here, for your amusement, are the winners. |
||
 We'll begin with my home town, San Jose, CA. This is an architectural mock-up of the recently vacated San Jose Hospital, a definite contender. This isn't even the real building. I feel a snore coming on. |
||
 Before we leave California, let me share this ugly photo of Calistoga, which is a charming small town in the Napa Valley. Honestly, it really is prettier than this card indicates. If a person didn't know better, you might think the photographer was more interested in photographing yellow lines than beauty or composition. |
||
 This is Hoover Dam, located somewhere between Nevada and Arizona, depending on how you figure things. Mostly, this is a photo of cement with an American flag in the foreground. IMHO, dams are necessary, but ugly. |
||
 This card is titled: Canopy Hall, Cave of the Winds, Manitou, Colo. Apparently, it's a tourist attraction. I've been in a few caves, they are creepy places that are not terribly attractive. This one illustrates my point. This very old postcard is just weird, right? |
||
 This is a postcard the Pike's Peak Auto Highway. It's a very old postcard that was created specifically to marvel at road construction. If you could see the cars, you might be able to tell just how old -- maybe 1920s, when people first started making serious road trips. Unfortunately, in 2007 I'm having a hard time appreciating the beautify of highways in general. Again, to me they are necessary, but ugly. And of course, we could argue whether Pike's Peak Highway is even necessary. Maybe over half of my Boring Postcards book features highways, overpasses and those motels you'll find along highway exits. All fairly ugly, right? |
||
 This card is titled Hugenot House, New London, Conn. Maybe this is a pretty little cottage in a lovely old New England town, but the photographer sure didn't do it justice. The house is overgrown by what looks like dying ivy, and is surrounded by a very unattractive amount of pavement. What is there to love about this postcard? |
||
 Maybe I have a thing against pavement, but good grief this is ugly. It's an aerial view of the Grant Park Concourse, in Chicago. There is a fountain in the background. Too bad the photographer didn't get a little closer to the water. They might call it a concourse, but it looks like an empty parking lot to me, and let's face it, parking lots are simply UGLY. |
||
 BANG! This card might have been created to promote Illinois, but as far as I'm concerned, it's a real turn-off. I don't think guns and rifles are all that friendly. And lucky for those Canada Geese in the background, this particular hunter's rifle is pointed into the sky while they tip-toe right past him. Tee-hee.
|
||
|
Home
| Contributors
to Clever Magazine | Writers' Guidelines © No portion of Clever Magazine may be copied or reprinted without express consent of the editor. |
