Grouchy's Coffee Shop • Dining Room

If you have any information about Grouchy's, please leave a comment. I haven't been able to find any information other than what is on the back of this postcard:

At Rice Lake and Ladysmith, Wisconsin. Your 24 hour host all 7 days for those who want the best.

This postcard was published by G. R. Brown Co. of Eau Claire, Wisconsin and was mailed in 1964 from Frederic, Wisconsin. It is not clear whether Grouchy's was in both Rice Lake and Ladysmith or at some unnamed location between the two towns. Rice Lake is northwest of Eau Claire and Ladysmith is northeast of Eau Claire.

Two Gun Harry's at Tucumcari

The signs on the Harry's building advertise an impressive assortment of items for the traveler—curios, coffee to go (they served Folger's exclusively), quick lunches, Coca Cola, comics, news, postcards, sandwiches, cold drinks, milk, malts, shakes, short orders, cheese & hot and cold meats, magazines, and papers.

The description on the back of this postcard is as follows:

Two Gun Harry's cafe and curio stop at the Rock Island and Southern Pacific R. R. terminal at Tucumcari, in northeast New Mexico. Also the junction of U. S. Highways 54 and 66. Gateway to the southwest.

The message on the back of the postcard is dated November 26, 1958 and is postmarked from Tucumcari:

Dear Friend,
The train stopped here for 15 min. Its cold & I'm glad I have my winter coat on. I am in the building pictured on the card.

Tucumcari, New Mexico got its start around 1901 as a rowdy railroad camp. Passenger trains started stopping in the town in 1902. Tucumcari was once nicknamed "Six-Shooter Siding." A song "Two-gun Harry from Tucumcari" by Bobby Worth was published in 1948.

Tucumcari is a popular stop for travelers along Historic Route 66. According to Roadsideamerica.com, Tucumcari is considered the best concentration of retro-Route 66 buildings on what's left of the old highway. A number of vintage motels and restaurants are still in business. An old-style curio shop, Teepee Curios, is one of the main attractions.

Rimrock City Sign

Information on the back of this Rimrock City, Texas postcard:

The huge frontiersman towers three stories in the air at the entrance of the parking area of Rimrock City. He is pointing the way to a memorable return to the Old West, where there is fun for the whole family. Highway 80, between Odessa and Midland, Texas.

Rimrock City also issued some other postcards of their attractions including the Red Garter Saloon, Gambling Casino , Main Street, and Pleasant Hill Cemetery.

There has been some recent (August 2007) reminiscing on the lubbockonline forums, topic URL. Other features mentioned include a miniature golf course, an archery range, a small zoo, and a narrow gage railroad. An accident with a "shootout" may have led to Rimrock City's demise. There may still be some old western style buildings at the site.

White Squirrels of Olney, Illinois

Olney, Illinois is one of the towns claiming to be the home of white squirrels. The City of Olney website has some history of their white squirrels. There are two hypotheses about how white squirrels came to Olney in 1902. Olney held a 100-Year White Squirrel Celebration on October 12, 2002.

About 1941, there were 800 white squirrels in Olney. Olney has a squirrel count each fall, and recently the number of white squirrels apparently has been down to the 100-120 range.

Roadsideamerica.com (your online guide to offbeat tourist attractions) has a page on the White Squirrel Wars. Five towns use albino squirrels as their claims to fame: Olney, IL; Marionville, MO; Kenton, TN; Brevard, NC; Exeter, ON. Olney is considered the loudest booster of the white squirrel towns, titling itself Home of the White Squirrels.

Pan American World Airways Clipper Flight Log

This postcard folds in half for mailing. On one side is a route map and information about a 1953 flight of the Clipper Rainbow en route from San Francisco to Honolulu. The other side has space for a mailing address and a message written aloft.

Pan American World Airways operated from 1927 until 1991. It began with a single route from Key West to Havana and was a pioneer in transocean and intercontinental flying.

Nixon's Family Restaurant

From the back of this postcard of Nixon's Family Restaurant and Bakery in Whittier, California, we learn that children were "most welcome," that the restaurant featured finer foods at sensible prices and quality cakes and pastries prepared by Nixon's own bakers.

Nixon's Family restaurant was owned by President Nixon's brother, Donald. In January 1957, Howard Hughes lent Donald Nixon $205,000 to bail out the restaurant. The restaurant went bankrupt less than a year later, and the loan was never repaid. Questions about whether this was a political favor dogged Richard Nixon during his political campaigns.

Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Nixon

Ohio Turnpike Plaza

This postcard has a nice view of an Ohio Turnpike Plaza in addition to a great close up of the signs. If you look closely, you can see a small trailer at the gas pumps on the left and a lineup of pastel-colored 1950s cars parked in front of the building.

Ground was broken for the 241 mile Ohio Turnpike on October 27, 1952. At peak construction, 10,000 workers were on the job. The construction project was completed on October 1, 1955.

The Ohio Turnpike is now part of the nation's Interstate Highway System, running east and west across Ohio between the Pennsylvania Turnpike in the east and the Indiana Toll Road in the west. It remains a toll road. The Ohio Turnpike is a primary corridor between Chicago and Pittsburgh.

The Turnpike originally had 17 interchanges, located near the most populous areas of Northern Ohio. By 2004, there were 31 access points. There are pairs of service plazas (one on each side of the turnpike) located near mile-markers 49, 76, 100, 139, 170, 197, and 237. The over 40-year-old service plazas are being reconstructed with modernized facilities on the sites of the originals.

More information:

http://www.ohioturnpike.org/history.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohio_Turnpike