"The Golden West" The California Coast

Isn't this a beautiful postcard? It depicts a gorgeous sunset somewhere along the Southern California coast. This vintage linen postcard was manufactured by Longshaw Card Co., Los Angeles, California.

When my grandparents and their family emigrated from Brazil to the United States in 1952, they settled in sunny Southern California. I wonder if they bought this postcard not too long after they arrived.

Typed description from back of postcard:

Nowhere in the world will more spectacular sunsets be seen than on the southern coast of California. The vivid hues and the changing colors make the "Golden West" truly named.

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© 2014 Copyright by Jana Last, All Rights Reserved

Almond Blossoms In California

This vintage postcard from my grandparents' collection was manufactured by the Longshaw Card Company of Los Angeles, California. Unfortunately, I don't know the date this beautiful postcard was published.

Transcription from back of postcard:

In the romantic beauty of acres of blossoming orchards 17,000 tons of almonds are produced yearly in California.

I did a little research to see how many almonds are produced in California today. I found some interesting statistics. According to an article in the Los Angeles Times dated January 12, 2014, 82% of the world's almonds are produced in California. Also, the article stated that according to the Almond Board of California, 1.88 billion pounds of almonds were harvested in California in 2013. That's a lot of almonds!

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© 2014 Copyright by Jana Last, All Rights Reserved

California's Golden Oranges And Waxlike Blossoms

This vintage postcard from my grandparents' collection was manufactured by the Longshaw Card Company of Los Angeles, California. I don't know the exact publication date of this postcard, but I found it on ebay.com, and on that website it says the postcard is from the 1940s.

Transcription from back of postcard:

Oranges are 58% of California's total fruit crop. Between 35 and 40 million boxes are produced in this state every year. The Naval orange (seedless) is a native of California and is highly prized for its fine flavor.

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© 2013 Copyright by Jana Last

Home of Bing Crosby, Toluca Lake, North Hollywood, California

How fun is this vintage postcard!? I'm so glad my grandparents included it in their collection.

This linen postcard was manufactured by the Longshaw Card Co. of Los Angeles, California. Unfortunately, I don't know exactly when it was manufactured. According to the Postcard Collectors' Reference Guide by Postcardy.com, linen postcards were produced from 1933 until the early 1950s. So, this information at least gives us a rough estimate of when this postcard was produced.

The Los Angeles Times' website posted a photo gallery of this famous home. If you'd like to see these photos, click HERE.

Can you believe it's already December? Of course, that means Christmas is just around the corner. Yay! One of our family's favorite Christmas movies is White Christmas, which stars Bing Crosby. In this movie, Bing Crosby sings the Irving Berlin song "White Christmas."

And so, for your listening pleasure, please enjoy listening to this recording of Bing Crosby singing "White Christmas."

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© 2013 Copyright by Jana Last

Ocotillo In Bloom On The Desert

This vintage postcard was manufactured by the Longshaw Card Company of Los Angeles, California. I'm not sure what year this postcard was created. After doing research online, I've seen it dated sometime in the 1930s or the mid-20th century.

Transcription from back of postcard:

Ocotillo (candlewood), one of the oddest desert shrubs, is not a cactus despite its thorny "canes" which form the tall stems of this scarlet-tipped plant. The bark contains resin, gum and wax, and burns fiercely giving off intensely black smoke. The Cahuilla Indians eat both flowers and seeds.

Here is a photo of the Ocotillo plant.

Ocotillo Plant in Phoenix, Arizona
Wikipedia - No Copyright

This photo (below) shows a close-up of one of the Ocotillo flowers. See the bee hovering above it?

Ocotillo Flower
Wikimedia Commons
Photo by Jeff Dean

To learn more about this plant, click HERE.

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© 2013 Copyright by Jana Last