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What is interesting about postcards is the history that dates back more than 150 years. In 1840, postcards were already being developed with the direct ancestor considered to be simply envelopes with pictures on them. Although these envelopes were often printed with comics, Valentines, or music on them, thousands of patriotic pictures appeared on these U.S. envelopes during the Civil War.

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Four years later, in 1869, the first postal card was suggested by Dr. Emanuel Herrmann, an Austrian technical professor. It was also accepted by the Hungarian government the same year. The following year, a historical card and the first of the regularly printed cards, appeared throughout Europe. The earliest known exposition card in the U.S. appeared in 1873, a card that showed the Inter-State Industrial Exposition building in Chicago. The marks for mailing on the card depicted the bust of Liberty and a circle with the postage amount of one cent.

It wasn’t until the Columbian Exposition in 1893 that these cards were sold for souvenir purposes, and the “Golden Age” of postcards followed as millions were sold and used.

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Another important part of the postcard history is that previous to 1901, writing on postcards was limited to the front part of the postcard, what we recognize today as the picture. When other countries began to permit writing on the back of the postcard, the U.S. finally consented, and in 1907, senders could write on the back, but only on the left side, as the right side was reserved for the address of the receiver. During this time, it cost one cent to send a postcard domestically and two cents overseas.

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Postcards have been printed on leather, wood, plastic, and even fine silk. We send postcards to highlight our travels, to make the receiver laugh, and even to remember history. Even though the increase in postal rates has jumped to $0.23 today, postcard popularity can be seen in every kiosk and souvenir shop around the world. With varying costs from $0.20 to more than $1, postcards are a great way to send home well wishes or become a keepsake of a memorable time in one’s life.

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Because there would be no more gold currency issued in the U.S., the Philadelphia Mint melted down the 1933 run of Gold Double Eagles and converted them to gold bullion bars over the next four years. During The Great Depression, it also became illegal for private citizens to own gold coins, preventing the hoarding of gold currency during desperate times.

Israel Switt, from Philadelphia, came into possession of several of the coins. Switt offered some of his 1933 Double Eagles to some of the most prominent coin dealers and collectors of the day. Although he claimed that the coins were not bought from an employee from the Mint, no one knows how they came into his possession.

Since 1933, the government has had a long pursuit, chasing the Double Eagle coins that they believe illegally left the Mint; having never been issued. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jacqueline Romero argued that documents from the Philadelphia Mint and the Secret Service investigation of the 1940’s showed that no 1933 Double Eagles ever legally left the Mint. And, she said, every single coin that has been found could be traced to Switt.

From 1933 to 1943, only nine 1933 Double Eagles were found; either seized or turned in voluntary.

Today, many people still believe that more 1933 Double Eagles are in existence outside of the Mint. Although reports say that roughly 500,000 were cast in 1933, no one knows exactly how many are unaccounted for, making the more than 70 years the governement has spent looking for these coins beg the question, why spend so much time and money hunting down coins that long ago were melted down to bullion?

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form” – Geoffrey O’Brien

The mixtape really began in the 1980s but was truly perfected in the 90s. It began with waiting by the radio for your favorite song to come on and trying desperately to perfect hitting the record/play button, quietly and simultaneously, without recording the DJ’s voice. This was very difficult as the DJ would always talk over the beginning of the song. Those of us with old boomboxes had to have full silence while recording otherwise it would pick up every noise in the room.

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Eventually, the stereo with a tape deck and cd player became a feature in every household, but most cars didn’t have cd players yet – so you made a mixtape. The sticky title bars that were placed on side A and side B, let you know exactly what kind of compilation this was: Road trip, usually personal favorites to play with the sound of the long, and lonely road, with the occasional jams that provoked everyone in the car to roll down the windows, sing as loud as they could, and play air guitar in the backseat. Then there were the vacation mixes, maybe a little more worldly, even some instrumental. Sometimes there were morning mixes for that drive to work – songs that said “wake up, and don’t worry, you won’t work at Waffle House forever”.

Then there were the party mixes, the mix for the one you love, and the break up mix. The party mix usually featured the most popular and fun songs at the time – since you probably couldn’t afford every artist’s cd, you may have had to borrow it from a friend, or they would make you a mixtape to combine with your mixtape – which could only be done if you had a double tape deck.

 The romantic mixes usually required the most thought because you were really  trying to express your feelings to that special person. The character of Rob  Gordon in  High fidelity said it best:

 ”To me, making a tape is like writing a letter — there’s a lot of erasing and        rethinking and starting again. A good compilation tape, like breaking up, is       hard to do. You’ve got to kick off with a corker, to hold the attention (I started   with “Got to Get You Off My Mind”, but then realized that she might not get  any  further than track one, side one if I delivered what she wanted straightaway, so I buried it in the middle of side two), and then you’ve got to up it a notch, or cool it a notch, and you can’t have white music and black music together, unless the white music sounds like black music, and you can’t have two tracks by the same artist side by side, unless you’ve done the whole thing in pairs and…oh, there are loads of rules.” (Image)

 If you were a true mix enthusiast, you knew exactly how you wanted the tape to  flow. Usually, you would pull out all of your cds, plug the headphones into the  stereo and replay certain songs just to make sure they fit. Then you would make  a list of songs and put them in the most emotionally, effective order. You had to  time it out right too, otherwise you would have a ton of dead air at the end of a  side, or a song would cut off at the when the tape ran out. When the mix was  finished, it was labled, usually something fairly clever if it was for  someone  else, or simply what mood the tape represented.

Nowadays, since we are able to quickly skip through songs digitally it doesn’t matter as much what order you put it in, which takes a little something away from the whole idea. If you still have a tape player and some old mixtapes that haven’t worn out yet, play a few and more than likely those memories will come back to life.

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Established in 1926, Route 66 ran from Chicago through the midwest to California and was crossed time and time again by the mysterious traveler, the American family, and the young adventurer. When the road was replace by the Interstate Highway System in 1985 the whole country was sad and disappointed to see such a historical staple of American history ripped apart.

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The road brought business to many small filling stations, motels, and diners –  and served as the refuge and path for many people traveling west during the  Great Depression. When the freeways began taking over it greatly affected  economic development and caused existing businesses to go under.

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Route 66  was also the road to escape and the road that took the dreamers of  the small  towns in the midwest to the glamorous west coast, where dreams  really did  come true. They didn’t need a map, they just followed Route 66 until  they  reached the Pacific, where they could wash away the past and start anew.

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The hit song, “Route 66″, first made famous by Nat King Cole told all Americans to “get your kicks on route sixty-six” – the road has been a part of pop culture ever since and considered the ultimate road trip. A portion of the road taken from Oklahoma is preserved in the National Museum of American History.

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Back in the 60s and 70s, before Americans had dozens of hotel chains to choose from, motels had their own charm. These days we associate motels with horror movies, no room service, and sometimes creepy, unwelcome guests. Most motels weren’t chains but independent and had it’s own look to it. Families headed to a vacation spot didn’t plan ahead or make reservations, they stopped at the nearest motel with vacancy, usually in the middle of the night and had no real expectations of the place other than to sleep.

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The motels with swimming pools were something special and sometimes even the locals would come around for a dip to cool off. In those days, only one or two people ran the whole place: they did the cleaning, maintenance, and ran the front desk. You also didn’t have to be 21 to get a room like so many states now, so prom night was probably their busiest night of the year.

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The Southwind motel didn’t have a swimming pool but it did have charm and that neon sign, which we inherited and have never had to repair since 1998. Nowadays, most motels are a chain and they all look the same, but the service is better and you can enjoy more than just a good night sleep, it really is a home away from home.

Fort Knox is known for it’s impeccable security, hence the saying: “as secure as Fort Knox.” The area is so secure, in fact, that there are only two documented visits: one by FDR in 1943 and one by Congress in 1974. Since the vault has not been visited by officials for so many years, conspiracies began to emerge. Some wondered if the gold was fake, or if the vault was simply empty, and others wondered if the vault was really being used to cover up something else.

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With the ongoing recession people have become more concerned with whether or not we really have gold in the vault – for the last few years conspiracies have formed around the issue of gold alone, that it may become a currency. This would explain the onslaught of gold trade and the reasoning behind the executive order. In an interview last week (see video) Rep. Ron Paul, who has questioned the value of gold for years, asked Fed Chairman, Ben Bernanke if gold is money. Bernanke, at first was speechless, then said that the collection and protection of gold is due to tradition.

Treasury inspector general, Eric M. Thorson, was granted full access to the depository after a hearing held on June 23 enforced an independent audit of all the gold. Thorson, the first non-employee to enter the depository since 1974, said that all 147.3 million ounces of gold was accounted for.

Still from the 1956 Around the World in Eighty Days.

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Hardly a more entertaining story could be found than Jules Verne’s Around the World in Eighty Days. Of course, now we could go around the world one hundred times in eighty days, but at the time it was a feat to be seen. With the advent of a railway through India made traveling around the world in eighty days, relatively, possible. The classic story takes the reader on a tour of opium, indirect racism and just a good time. This insight to the English colonies in a more fictional way, complete with characters who live there, made the world seem not so far away for those who’d never see it.

There is no reason to not ride in style.

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But to travel in the nineteenth century required work, planning and money on an almost unimaginable scale. Vacation wasn’t a week in Bermuda; it was four months in France and a week visit to Italy. People would have to put their very lives on halt, endure weeks aboard a passenger ship and go without mail; it’s easy to see that traveling was for the wealthy. While abroad it wasn’t uncommon to reside in an expensive and lavish hotel or boarding house, but most had their very own houses for the exact purpose of staying their for a summer every ten years. And every assortment of souvenir would be brought aback to display above the fire place.

Actually 221b Baker Street. Is that Mr. Rathbone in the back?

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Now that traveling is much more common, the admiration of the traveler has long gone. Travel is a necessary thing for business, family and recreation. Vacation spots are much more accessible and with the need for month long vacations gone so has the need for second homes which has thus created a need for hotels. Now dotting every corner of the Earth,  hotels are the haven for travelers, vacationers and business people alike, conforming to everyone’s needs.