Wednesday, June 5, 2013

#19: Stay at Haley's Colonial Court (Postcard Blogathon 2013)



Title: Haley's Colonial Court, 163 San Marco Ave. (U.S. 1 & A1A), St. Augustine, Florida, VA 9-9392
Publisher: MARS Motel Supply, Jacksonville, Florida
Year: Not listed.
Used: No.

Comments: The caption information on the back of this unused postcard repeats the address and also touts that Haley's is "exclusive but not expensive." ... I'm a big fan of 1950s and 1960s U.S. hotel and motel cards, from that post-war time when Americans took to their automobiles and fanned out across the country's new highways. One group's version of the American Dream was to make a living by running these freshly scrubbed mom-and-pop motels that sprang up along the interstates. Their colorful postcard-advertisements spoke to their hope and optimism. Some of those motels surely did fine business for a generation before being wiped out by hotel chains, their own decay and the gradual end of the American cross-country vacation.



I'm guessing this place didn't make it for long. Not when a Google search for "Haley's Colonial Court" only brings up three results. ... Here is a June 2012 post on more hopeful motels from this era. ... And here's a September 2011 post that includes some photographs of what happens to the hotels and motels that don't stand the test of time.

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Papergreat's Chris Otto is spending June 5, 2013, blogging as many vintage postcards as possible. It's "The Fast and Furious" (and hopefully also "The Fun") for ephemera lovers and deltiologists. Read all of the posts starting here.

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