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Aqua Clara Motel now called the Casa Linda Motel
1770 N Fort Harrison
Clearwater, FL

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Hasn't changed much!:)

That first one looks like it's a 22nd series Custom.

The original sign was way cooler!

"Apropos of nothing, this postcard looks hand colored."

It probably was. In those days itinerant photographers used to travel around, taking pictures of stores and businesses. They would develop the pictures in their hotel or motel bathroom, put them in frames and try to sell them to the business or store owner.

They found if they could show a picture they got plenty of sales, if they offered to take a picture they got very few.

Even so, many customers refused to buy. Even at a reduced price, without the frame. They had to throw away a lot of photographs. For this reason they always took black and white shots (cheaper) and offered hand colored pictures for an extra charge.

This also explains the bold colors in these old pictures. The customer paid extra for color and expected to get his money's worth.

A similar business involved hiring an airplane and photographing farms from the air. I have 2 such photographs on my wall right now, of farms owned by relatives many years ago.

Frank Lloyd Wright should also go down in history as America's lousiest architect in my book.

For a start every house he designed was like a penitentiary inside, and he never made a roof that didn't leak.

If that wasn't enough if one of his buildings was appropriate to its surroundings and use, it was a pure accident.

Anyone who finds themselves in the vicinity of Pittsburgh should check out Fallingwater (the Kaufmann House), which is only about an hour away, in the Laurel Highlands.

I had the pleasure of touring it about 25 years ago, and although I'm not a student of architecture, I found it fascinating and well-matched to its setting.

Falling Water ha ha ha. What a putz. He had 40 acres with a stream to locate a house on so what did he do? Put the house RIGHT ON TOP of the stream.

If he had any damn sense he would know a wet basement is a bad thing.

I also understand the cantilevered foundation started to crack almost as soon as the house was finished and has been an ongoing headache ever since.

The Johnson's Wax building is another beaut. The office workers had to keep pots and wastebaskets handy to catch the water every time it rained. The glass roof was supposed to resemble lily pads. What a swell idea. Now tell me what lily pads have to do with the wax business. Did this bird ever stop to think what the client's needs were or just whatever nutty idea crossed his foggy mind?

I just stopped at Fallingwater on my way to the Packard meet at Gettysburg. I was facinated and was glad I took the time out of the trip for a few hours. Any of us can find fault with anything but the fact is that this man accomplished a lot. Is the house perfect? no, is it my style? no. Did I appreciate what he accomplished there , absolutely. Most of us,(myself included) dream, talk and never DO much in our lives that matters or lasts. The love of our beloved Packards and leaving them in a better condition from when we got them helps us leave a little for future generations. Almost every building in the country from the White House to the Capitol building have had to have structural repair but we still can appreciate them.

A Frank Lloyd Wright house is like an elephant, fun to look at but I would hate to own one and would REALLY hate to live inside one.