Two fall-foliage-themed postcards

On this low-key autumn Saturday, here are a couple of postcards showing the splendid colors of nature.

First up is the Donegal Interchange of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, a highway that is 77 years old this month. Donegal is a borough in southwestern Pennsylvania (unrelated to the East Donegal Township, West Donegal Township and Donegal School District in Lancaster County). As the borough has a population of fewer than 150 people, the area truly is best known for and defined by its turnpike exit. Folks pretty much just pass through Donegal on their way east or west, perhaps stopping for gasoline or a bite to eat. This is also a turnpike exit travelers can use if they are heading to see Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater.

This postcard features color photography by Herbert Lanks and was published by Howard Johnson Publishing Department of Bedford, Pennsylvania. The caption on the back states:

PENNSYLVANIA TURNPIKE
"World's Greatest Highway"
DONEGAL INTERCHANGEPioneer of America's super toll roads, the Pennsylvania Turnpike spans more than one-eighth of the nation. It stretches 360 miles, from the Ohio line in the West to the shores of the Delaware River in the East. More than 150 million people have traveled over it since it was opened in 1940.

While the card was never stamped or mailed, someone wrote the following note on the back: "12-30-57 Trip to Brooklyn State Hosp., Brooklyn, N.Y."

Brooklyn State Hospital has a long, sad history dating to the middle of the 19th century. And it only had that name from 1916 from 1974. The facility was also known as Flatbush Insane Asylum, Kings County Asylum, Kings County Lunatic Asylum, Long Island State Hospital, Kingsboro State Hospital and Kingsboro Psychiatric Center over the years, according to what I came across. In its incarnation as Kingsboro Psychiatric Center, it was slated to close a few years back, but I'm not sure if that actually happened.

Hopping across The Pond, this postcard features the scenic bridge over the River Dee in Llangollen, Denbighshire, Wales. The town of about 3,600 sits near the ruins of Castell Dinas Brân. The bridge shown on the postcard dates to the 16th century, though additions were made circa 1860. The general Llangollen area is known for and supported by its sheep farming and related industries.

This postcard, never written on or mailed, was printed in Great Britain by J. Arthur Dixon Ltd.