My wife's grandmother recently passed away, and as part of cleaning out her apartment my father-in-law wanted to share with me his mom's collection of these postcards. There were about a hundred of them, all stacked together in a shoebox. Some had dates on them for when they were made (the oldest was from 1931 or '33, can't remember), others didn't.

I remember thinking how beautiful they were, how neatly the pages folded up and were clasped by the tab on the front. Inside, the descriptions of the places were as idyllic as the drawings--I have never been to Sioux City, Iowa, but the postcard certainly was persuasive!

It gave me a feeling similar to looking at the liner notes for vinyl albums--it truly felt like a quality keepsake, and I can understand why Gramma kept them rather than sent them.

Too bad that first post card showed niagara falls - Ew. It is the antithesis of the open road spirit

I imagine the point is that most people have to drive to Niagara Falls to see it, hence hitting the road to get there. And along the way, from almost all directions, there are plenty of other interesting spots to visit too.

It’s actually amazing (both); when you walk out to the tip of the Horseshoe Falls, you are at the end of the road.

Can you elaborate on why you feel that way?

niagara, NY is an s-show of touristy crap. Your ripley's believe it or not, etc.. like another Gatlinburg type of thing.

It is the prime example of how to ruin a world-level nature scenic destination via privatization, greedy, and commercialism.

Oh. I don't see how being a tourist trap is antithetical to the "open road spirit". Did you just go there recently and want to crap on it because you saw the name? I've been to both sides and found them both pretty touristy, myself.