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VINTAGE AMAZING FINDS 8 VINTAGE CALIFORNIA POSTCARDS GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE | YOSEMITE | SACRAMENTO | SAN DIEGO | SANTA BARBARA
Historic Landmarks • Classic Architecture • Scenic California • Vintage Americana
Discover California\'s Golden Age of Travel
Travel back in time with this wonderful collection of EIGHT ORIGINAL VINTAGE CALIFORNIA POSTCARDS featuring celebrated landmarks, magnificent architecture, historic hotels, coastal scenery, and the breathtaking natural beauty of Yosemite National Park.
These postcards capture an earlier California, when travelers explored the Golden State by automobile, admired newly constructed bridges, visited elegant downtown hotels, and collected colorful picture postcards as souvenirs of their adventures.
Included are eight different views, ranging from the famous Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge to the California State Capitol, Sacramento\'s historic Elks Club, the El Cortez Hotel, Santa Barbara\'s picturesque beachfront, and Yosemite\'s spectacular waterfalls.
All 8 postcards pictured are included in this sale.
COLLECTOR HIGHLIGHTS
Eight vintage postcards • California landmarks • Historic buildings • Golden Gate and Bay Bridges • Yosemite waterfalls • Vintage automobiles • Conoco TOURaide advertising • Interesting publisher imprints • Unposted backs
The Complete 8-Postcard CollectionPOSTCARD 1 — Santa Barbara, California: Vintage Beach Scene
A beautifully hand-colored postcard showing a palm-lined Santa Barbara beachfront, with period automobiles, visitors enjoying the sandy beach, a manicured lawn, the Pacific Ocean, and distant coastal scenery.
The vintage motorcars parked along the beachfront make this an especially appealing image for collectors of early automobile travel, California resort towns, and seaside tourism.
Publisher details: Published by Osborne\'s, Santa Barbara, California. The reverse reads \"HAND-COLORED POST CARD\" and includes the Albertype Co., Brooklyn, New York, imprint.
POSTCARD 2 — California State Capitol, Sacramento: Daytime View
Captioned \"STATE CAPITOL, SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA — 543.\"
This colorful view features the magnificent Capitol dome rising above lush trees, palm plantings, colorful flower beds, a decorative fountain, and the American flag.
The California State Capitol is one of the state\'s most significant architectural and governmental landmarks.
Publisher details: W. C. Spangler News Agency, Sacramento, California. Natural Color Postcard produced by E. C. Kropp Co., Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Card number 11983.
The reverse includes printed historical commentary describing the building\'s architectural style and the murals of California artist Arthur F. Mathews.
POSTCARD 3 — California State Capitol at Night, Sacramento
Captioned \"WEST VIEW OF STATE CAPITOL AT NIGHT, SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA — 542.\"
A dramatic nighttime color view of the illuminated Capitol, with its glowing dome, decorative fountain, mature trees, and colorful landscaped grounds.
The contrast between the dark blue evening sky and illuminated architecture makes this an especially attractive postcard.
Publisher details: W. C. Spangler News Agency and E. C. Kropp Co. Card number 11961.
The reverse includes a historical description of Sacramento\'s founding and its selection as California\'s permanent state capital in 1854.
POSTCARD 4 — San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge and Skyline
A sweeping color view of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge stretching across the water, with the San Francisco skyline in the background and a vessel passing beneath the bridge.
Opened in 1936, the Bay Bridge transformed transportation between San Francisco and the East Bay and remains a remarkable example of twentieth-century engineering.
Reverse caption: \"C442 — BAY BRIDGE AND SAN FRANCISCO SKYLINE.\"
Publisher details: Color-Kard, Kodachrome reproduction by Mike Roberts Studios, Berkeley, California.
The reverse includes printed commentary about the ferries that once handled much of the traffic across San Francisco Bay and the bridge\'s role in connecting the region.
POSTCARD 5 — Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, California
A striking black-and-white view of the world-famous Golden Gate Bridge, showing its soaring suspension towers, cables, roadway, and the dramatic surrounding shoreline.
Opened in 1937, the Golden Gate Bridge became one of America\'s most celebrated engineering accomplishments and one of California\'s most recognizable landmarks.
Special collector feature: The reverse includes a vintage CONOCO TOURaide promotional message:
\"P.S. We are seeing all the sights traveling with a Conoco TOURaide. It\'s wonderful! Your Mileage Merchant at his Conoco Station will tell you how to get one.\"
This advertising connection adds interest for collectors of petroleum memorabilia, Conoco gasoline advertising, vintage road maps, and early American automobile tourism.
POSTCARD 6 — Historic Elks Club, Sacramento, California
Captioned \"64 — ELKS CLUB, SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA.\"
A colorful vertical postcard featuring Sacramento\'s imposing historic Elks Club building, with its distinctive multistory facade, ornate architectural detailing, rooftop cupola, American flag, and street-level commercial spaces.
The building is a fascinating reminder of the prominent role fraternal organizations played in American civic and social life.
Publisher details: Published by W. C. Spangler News Agency, Sacramento, California. Marked \"METROCRAFT EVERETT MASS\" and numbered 49301.
The reverse identifies the building as the home of Sacramento\'s Elks Club.
POSTCARD 7 — Historic El Cortez Hotel, San Diego, California
An atmospheric black-and-white postcard showing the grand El Cortez Hotel in San Diego, with its impressive multistory architecture, decorative entrance, and vintage automobiles parked along the street.
The El Cortez is an important part of San Diego\'s architectural and hospitality history, representing an era of elegant urban hotels and expanding California tourism.
Printed front caption:
\"EL CORTEZ HOTEL, SAN DIEGO, CALIF.\"
\"MANAGEMENT FRANK CUMMINGS, JR.\"
Reverse details: The postcard identifies the property as owned and operated by Grant Terrace Building Co., with R. T. Robinson, Jr., listed as president.
The decorative postcard reverse also includes a one-cent stamp box, adding period character to this historic hotel collectible.
POSTCARD 8 — Four Great Waterfalls, Yosemite Valley, California
A colorful multiview postcard captioned \"FOUR GREAT WATERFALLS, YOSEMITE VALLEY, CALIFORNIA.\"
Four separate illustrated scenes celebrate Yosemite National Park\'s spectacular waterfalls:
- Bridalveil Fall — A graceful waterfall plunging from Yosemite\'s granite cliffs.
- Yosemite Falls — One of North America\'s most celebrated waterfalls, descending in a series of dramatic drops.
- Vernal Fall — A powerful waterfall framed by rugged rocks and forested scenery.
- Nevada Fall — A magnificent cascade set amid Yosemite\'s dramatic mountain landscape.
The postcard is marked Y-148A.
Publisher details: Pacific Novelty Co., San Francisco and Los Angeles.
The reverse includes printed descriptions of the four waterfalls and their reported heights, providing an additional historical detail for Yosemite and national park collectors.
Why This Collection Is Special
Rather than eight ordinary scenic views, this collection brings together several distinct areas of California collecting:
- Historic California cities and landmarks
- San Francisco bridge construction and transportation history
- Yosemite National Park and waterfall imagery
- Sacramento government buildings and fraternal architecture
- Historic San Diego hotels and hospitality
- Early Santa Barbara beach tourism and automobiles
- Vintage Conoco gasoline and travel advertising
- Early and mid-twentieth-century postcard publishing
The combination makes this lot a wonderful addition to a California postcard collection, a regional history archive, or a nostalgic Americana display.
Item DetailsItemVintage California Postcard LotQuantity8 Different PostcardsStateCalifornia, USALocationsSan Francisco, Sacramento, San Diego, Santa Barbara, YosemitePostcard TypesPrinted Color, Hand-Colored, Black & WhitePostal UseAppear Unposted / UnusedEraVintage, primarily early to mid-20th century styleConditionVintage Pre-Owned — See PhotosVintage Condition — Please Read
All eight postcards are vintage originals and appear unposted, with no handwritten correspondence, postage stamps, or postal cancellations visible in the supplied photographs.
They display varying degrees of normal vintage age and handling characteristics, which may include light corner wear, edge wear, surface marks, minor creases, and age-related toning. Some postcards show more visible wear than others.
These are not being represented as mint or professionally graded.
Please carefully examine all photographs, including the front and reverse of each postcard, as they are an important part of the condition description.
You will receive the exact 8 vintage California postcards pictured — no substitutions.
Shipping & Customer Service
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These vintage paper collectibles will be carefully protected with rigid support and packaged to help prevent bending and damage during shipment.
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