The California poppy is a charming, delicate orange blossom that is native to the state of California. Its bright petals are visible from a distance, rising like a flame above the chaperral. The contrast of the copa de oro poppy against a clear blue sky and a verdant landscape invites you to gaze at it forever. It is simply gorgeous.

Someone by the name of Emily found the California poppy postcard a pretty souvenir to send back home to a Miss Alberta V. Hills of Sycamore, Illinois, postmarked May 11, 1909.

The girls have both gone back and I am with Mrs. Waters as she quite insisted on my coming. Needless to say I am enjoying every minute of the time. Mrs. W. and I take the Santa Fe Kite-shaped trip tomorrow.

Despite being a native Californian (which likely explains my affinity for California poppies) I was not familiar with the “Santa Fe Kite-shaped trip” before researching it for this posting.

In the late 1860s, when the Southern California land boom was in full swing, the Santa Fe train line organized a figure-eight loop through San Bernadino and Los Angeles counties. It was a scenic trip across fertile citrus groves and picturesque farming villages and city centers, a far cry from the concrete jungle of today. Trains ran regularly and served as not only sight-seeing opportunities for folks from Back East to gawk at Paradise, but also for locals to get around–shop, go to the show, get the the beach.

The San Bernadino History and Railroad Museum has a great photographic collection online.

 

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Idaho has been associated with potatoes for… well, no one is quite sure. The Idaho Potato Commission was established in 1937 to protect the integrity of the Idaho potato.

A pen-pal friend sent me this postcard from 1954 and I couldn’t resist sharing it.

It’s a tater on a tractor!