It was in the Postcards
BY GARY HERRON
First appeared in Route 66 New Mexico magazine (Vol. 30, No. 4)
I’m a project guy, a hobby kind of guy.
I’m basically a baseball hobbyist with a few other pursuits: Groucho Marx, the Old West, and railroads and my “newest” pursuit: collecting postcards of Albuquerque motels that once lined Route 66—basically Central Avenue and a few on Fourth Street NW—and arranging them in a binder matching what travelers would have seen entering the Duke City from the east and proceeding west.
Combing research with searches on eBay and via postcard sellers, I have managed to find about 70 one-time address of motels along Central Avenue, plus a handful still on North Fourth that also beckoned overnighters.
I’ve been putting them in a binder, which, when opened, takes “travelers” from the easternmost stretches of Route 66 entering the Duke City through the west end. Where I don’t have postcards, I’ve inserted 4x6 cards containing information on the motel’s name(s) and its address, so when I finally track down a postcard, there’s a spot awaiting it. It may not be a collection matching that of
Nancy Tucker, but I’m proud of it. (She can’t match my baseball collection!) According to “Roadside Signs and Advertisements,” by Joe Sonderman, back in 1955, Central Ave. was filled with 98 motels… and Route 66 originally entered Albuquerque (I knew that) on Fourth Street, where 19 tourist courts were prior to the 1937 alignment of Route 66 over Central Ave.
Another reference for those interested in the old motel industry is Sonderman’s “Route 66 in New Mexico” (Arcadia Press), which has 44 (!!) pages in its chapter, “Route 66 Through Albuquerque” and a lot of photos of the motels and postcards.
I’m not necessarily seeking “gem-mint” postcards, because condition isn’t the utmost factor. I like the ones that were sent, and reading the message on the back, not to mention seeing the postmark commemorating the date they were sent. Those short messages tell their loved ones, family members and/or friends what they were seeing here in “the desert,” or in Taos and Santa Fe, for example, or how the weather was hot and how much they liked the (long-gone) depot—and the longer-gone historic Alvarado Hotel.
Many of the motels looked similar: L-shaped or three sides of a square, with the open side facing Central Avenue. In addition to those called motels, others were known as lodges and courts, even a motor inn. Most of the motels were happy to see their guests grab a few of their postcards and mail them off—practically free advertising from (hopefully) happy guests. The postcards show the motel on the front, with the address and, typically, amenities and the owners’ names on the back. A telephone number was also there, such as the ALpine 5-8756 for the Tropicana Lodge, 8814 Central SE.
I’m basically a baseball hobbyist with a few other pursuits: Groucho Marx, the Old West, and railroads and my “newest” pursuit: collecting postcards of Albuquerque motels that once lined Route 66—basically Central Avenue and a few on Fourth Street NW—and arranging them in a binder matching what travelers would have seen entering the Duke City from the east and proceeding west.
Combing research with searches on eBay and via postcard sellers, I have managed to find about 70 one-time address of motels along Central Avenue, plus a handful still on North Fourth that also beckoned overnighters.
I’ve been putting them in a binder, which, when opened, takes “travelers” from the easternmost stretches of Route 66 entering the Duke City through the west end. Where I don’t have postcards, I’ve inserted 4x6 cards containing information on the motel’s name(s) and its address, so when I finally track down a postcard, there’s a spot awaiting it. It may not be a collection matching that of
Nancy Tucker, but I’m proud of it. (She can’t match my baseball collection!) According to “Roadside Signs and Advertisements,” by Joe Sonderman, back in 1955, Central Ave. was filled with 98 motels… and Route 66 originally entered Albuquerque (I knew that) on Fourth Street, where 19 tourist courts were prior to the 1937 alignment of Route 66 over Central Ave.
Another reference for those interested in the old motel industry is Sonderman’s “Route 66 in New Mexico” (Arcadia Press), which has 44 (!!) pages in its chapter, “Route 66 Through Albuquerque” and a lot of photos of the motels and postcards.
I’m not necessarily seeking “gem-mint” postcards, because condition isn’t the utmost factor. I like the ones that were sent, and reading the message on the back, not to mention seeing the postmark commemorating the date they were sent. Those short messages tell their loved ones, family members and/or friends what they were seeing here in “the desert,” or in Taos and Santa Fe, for example, or how the weather was hot and how much they liked the (long-gone) depot—and the longer-gone historic Alvarado Hotel.
Many of the motels looked similar: L-shaped or three sides of a square, with the open side facing Central Avenue. In addition to those called motels, others were known as lodges and courts, even a motor inn. Most of the motels were happy to see their guests grab a few of their postcards and mail them off—practically free advertising from (hopefully) happy guests. The postcards show the motel on the front, with the address and, typically, amenities and the owners’ names on the back. A telephone number was also there, such as the ALpine 5-8756 for the Tropicana Lodge, 8814 Central SE.
Two shots of the Tewa Lodge, as it still looks today, at 5715 Central NE—and you can still book a night in it.
Speaking of amenities, how about these found at Pueblo Bonito Court: “with or without kitchenettes. Air conditioned & Automatic floor furnaces. Tile baths. Custom-built Franciscan Furniture. Enclosed heated garages. Adjoining golf course and bathing beach. Good cafes nearby. Even a “sunken garden” at La Hacienda.
When we travel, we send postcards to a few people, chronicling our adventures, but I’m not sure how many people still do that. It’s harder and harder to find cool postcards, and in the hotel/motel chains out there today, they aren’t spending money to print free postcards.
Yeah, Tom Bodett will leave the light on, but try to convince him to make postcards available!
My first foray into New Mexico was back in March 1973, and after two more trips—later in ’73 and again in ’74 with my fiancée, to see if she liked it as much—we moved to Albuquerque’s South Valley in June 1975. It took us a while to learn the city’s layout, but we soon found out the quadrants and that made it easy: Find out what quadrant you were looking for, and 75 percent of the rest of the city was eliminated. Arriving in our two-vehicle caravan—me in our 1975 orange Dodge van, pulling a U-Haul trailer, and with three cats inside the van, and my then-wife, driving her Ford Pinto.
We pulled off Central near Wyoming NE, and registered at the Piñon Motel—and spent a few nights there, till we found a home to rent on Hooper SW. Imagine my satisfaction when I obtained a Piñon Motel postcard for my growing collection.
Those 1975 memories are gone, but not my admiration and enjoyment of Route 66’s history. On many Saturday mornings, I enjoy a short walk on Central from San Pedro to the entrance of the state fairgrounds, where hundreds of folks head almost every weekend of the year for the giant flea market there.
The majority of those old motels are long gone, and also long-gone seem to be the postcards that bore their photos and address and, if you’re lucky enough to find one, a message from someone in the Duke City a half-century or more ago, informing loved ones or friends how hot it was.
When we travel, we send postcards to a few people, chronicling our adventures, but I’m not sure how many people still do that. It’s harder and harder to find cool postcards, and in the hotel/motel chains out there today, they aren’t spending money to print free postcards.
Yeah, Tom Bodett will leave the light on, but try to convince him to make postcards available!
My first foray into New Mexico was back in March 1973, and after two more trips—later in ’73 and again in ’74 with my fiancée, to see if she liked it as much—we moved to Albuquerque’s South Valley in June 1975. It took us a while to learn the city’s layout, but we soon found out the quadrants and that made it easy: Find out what quadrant you were looking for, and 75 percent of the rest of the city was eliminated. Arriving in our two-vehicle caravan—me in our 1975 orange Dodge van, pulling a U-Haul trailer, and with three cats inside the van, and my then-wife, driving her Ford Pinto.
We pulled off Central near Wyoming NE, and registered at the Piñon Motel—and spent a few nights there, till we found a home to rent on Hooper SW. Imagine my satisfaction when I obtained a Piñon Motel postcard for my growing collection.
Those 1975 memories are gone, but not my admiration and enjoyment of Route 66’s history. On many Saturday mornings, I enjoy a short walk on Central from San Pedro to the entrance of the state fairgrounds, where hundreds of folks head almost every weekend of the year for the giant flea market there.
The majority of those old motels are long gone, and also long-gone seem to be the postcards that bore their photos and address and, if you’re lucky enough to find one, a message from someone in the Duke City a half-century or more ago, informing loved ones or friends how hot it was.
The Tower Court, 2210 Central SW, had 16 comfortable units and 14 car ports… was run by S.L. Lafond, and this postcard not only termed it “Your Home Away From Home” but also said it was “Duncan Hines Recommended.”
