Antique & Vintage Postcards

Sun-drenched and serene, the Motel Garberville's Spanish Colonial Revival cottages bask in the summer warmth of California's Humboldt County redwood belt — a lone guest reclines in a camp chair beside a white stucco archway while companions lounge beneath a blue umbrella across the courtyard, the red-tiled rooflines and mature trees conjuring a roadside retreat that was the last word in mid-century motor-court luxury along the legendary Redwood Highway (US-101). Garberville was the gateway to the Avenue of the Giants, and this 22-cottage property marketed hard to the steelhead-fishing crowd as well as redwood tourists; the lithograph was produced by San Francisco's Stecher-Traung, whose rich colour work defined California postcard aesthetics from the 1940s through the 1960s.