Sun-bleached cedar shingles, striped canvas awnings, and a wind-snapped American flag over unpaved boardwalk paths — this hand-colored linen-style card captures the unhurried, salt-air charm of Virginia Beach in the early 1920s, when it was still billed as "near Norfolk" rather than a destination in its own right. Albermarle Hall, a large beachfront boarding establishment, dominates the left; behind it rises the Life Saving Station, a sturdy shingled tower that once housed the crews who pulled drowning sailors from the Atlantic surf. Strolling figures in period dress — wide-brimmed hats, long skirts — give the scene a relaxed, holiday rhythm. Postmarked Virginia Beach, Va., September 7, 1926, the card was sent to a woman named Mary in Louisville, Kentucky; the sender's message, written at a jaunty angle across the left margin, mentions a long train ride and plans to try something the other party had recommended — a small, vivid fragment of a 1920s seaside holiday. Published by L.K. & Sons, Baltimore, printed by C.T. American Art Colored.