To: Mr. and Mrs. Harry Gilwar(?). From: Selena and Harry, 1951
Dear Harry,
Split Rock Lodge is a glorious place. You ought to try it for a vacation. How are all five(?).
Lots of love,
Selena and Henry
In 1951, the United States was embroiled in the, perhaps lesser ‘known,’ Korean War. Which, of course is an extension of the Cold War. Harry Truman was President, and the world had officially entered into the nuclear age. On March 29, Ethel and Julius Rosenberg were convicted of espionage, The King and I opened on Broadway, and All About Eve won best motion picture at the Academy Awards.
In July, 4,000 whites in Cicero, Illinois attacked an apartment building because it housed a single black family, sparking the Cicero Race Riot. July also sees the release of Salinger’s A Catcher in the Rye, as well as Disney’s Alice in Wonderland.
So when Henry and Selena took their vacation to Split Rock in August of 1951 the writhing ferment of change was coming to the United States, but it was creeping slowly, and wasn’t here quite yet. At least not for people who had the privilege of going to the Poconos on vacation. For them, it was likely a peaceful retreat from the tumult of the late 40’s.
Split Rock Lodge is settled in the Poconos mountains in Pennsylvania. Built in 1941, it was opened as a vacation destination in 1946. Though the original lodge burned down in a fire in the 1970’s, it was rebuilt and remains as a vacation destination for families. However, it must have been grand in the 50’s. Brand new construction, hiking trails to explore, fresh, crisp air. It’s no wonder Henry called it a “glorious place.”
By the 1950’s most postcards transition from imparting critical family information to displaying the trappings of luxury. In a world where social media didn’t exist, how could people show off their glorious vacations to their friends? POSTCARDS! And that’s exactly what Selena and Henry are doing. Showing off. I don’t blame them, I post pictures of my vacations on social media, too.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find Mr. and Mrs. Harry Gilwar(?). I suspect it’s because I’m not entirely sure of the last name. It’s too bad, especially because it’s recent enough that I thought I’d get an obituary and maybe some pictures. Ah well, that’s the way it works sometimes.
On the back of the postcard you can see that it’s a “genuine photo” postcard. I don’t know enough about real photo postcards to know if this is a reproduction, or if it’s an actual picture of Henry. However, people did have the option of turning their pictures into postcards and sending them in the mail (sort of like our Christmas cards from Costco ahahha). I like to think that this image is our friend Henry staring at us from the past and urging us to get outdoors and try Split Rock as a vacation. I’m sure it will be glorious.
Hipstory 