Tuesday, February 9, 2016

New Hampshire and deep thoughts on the inevitability of nothingness*


As our nation turns its eyes to today's New Hampshire Primary (is Morris running again?), here's a vintage postcard from The Granite State. I can't determine specifically when it was published based on the information on the back, but a fair guess is the early 1960s.

The numbered map highlights such attractions as the Flume Gorge, the Old Man of the Mountain (gone since 2003), the Whaleback Lighthouse, the Mount Washington Auto Road, Mount Chocorua, and the Mount Cranmore Skimobile (dismantled in 1989).

Nothing lasts forever. The Old Man has fallen, the Skimobile is gone and, some day, the Whaleback Lighthouse, which was erected 187 years ago, in 1829, will scatter as dust and Mount Chocorua will erode to nothingness.

In researching this post, I also came across a used-book store, Homestead Bookshop, that closed last April in Marlborough, New Hampshire.

Mountains, mechanical wonders, books, glossy postcards, presidential candidates ... they're all just fleeting. Ephemeral.

But I digress...
* * *

This postcard was never used. For the record, publishing information on the back includes:

  • NC475B in the lower left.
  • "Published by Bromley & Company, Inc., Boston, Mass. 02210"
  • Mike Roberts, Berkeley 94710
  • "C30346" in the stamp box
* * *
Note
*This blog post title was supposed to be "New Hampshire postcard and deep thoughts on the inevitability of nothingness," but I think my slip-up actually works quite well, all things considered. Weird post, I know.

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