Antique & Vintage Postcards

Saturated linen-era color bathes the sprawling Spanish Colonial Revival estate of Joe E. Brown — the rubber-faced comedy star beloved for "Some Like It Hot" and a string of Warner Bros. hits — on a wide Beverly Hills lot framed by towering palms and a dramatic arched porte-cochère that practically shouts Hollywood glamour. Mailed from Santa Monica in March 1939 by a woman named Marie to her friend Marjorie in Washington D.C., the message on the reverse is warm and chatty: Marie mentions needing to rest instead of dashing around as she once did, plans to visit the Palisades, and promises to look up a mutual friend named Bancroft — a glimpse into the social world of middle-class women tourists navigating celebrity-saturated Southern California on the eve of World War II. The 1¢ Washington Bicentennial stamp is cleanly cancelled.