Antique & Vintage Postcards

A luminous nocturnal fantasy glows from this rounded-corner chrome card: Hotel Ixtapan's celebrated colored dancing fountains cascade in warm amber light around a diver's silhouette, the illuminated pool radiating electric teal into the Mexican night — a vision of luxury that made this spa resort, nestled in the mountains of the State of Mexico, one of the most talked-about escapes for well-heeled North American travelers in the 1960s. Published in the Cristacolor process by Lito Juventud of Mexico City, the card is numbered "2" in the hotel's own promotional series and promotes its 12 colored dancing fountains alongside 124 Italian mosaic murals. On the reverse, a pair of travelers — George and Marie — write enthusiastically to Dr. and Mrs. Cadys in Rochester, New York, raving about Roman-style mineral baths, 79° sunny days, and a carriage ride through the countryside, the kind of firsthand testimonial that makes mailed chrome cards so endearing to collectors.