[PRCo] Retail post cards showing trolleys

[Bob Rathke]

In the 1950's and 60's, Pittsburgh drug stores and 5&10's had racks full =
of post cards of local scenes.  Although they depicted scenes of general =
interest, many of them included trolleys in the view.  I have close to =
20 such post cards, and one of the better trolley views is attached.  =
It's a low-res scan, and I couldn't completely descreen it.

The card (not copyrighted) is probably from 1956 - I see a couple of GM =
autos that look like 1956 models, and the Yellow Cabs are the old model =
Checker taxis that ran in Pittsburgh until 1958.  Also note the Airlines =
Transportation Company (a subsidiary of Yellow Cab) buses that ran from =
downtown hotels to the airport.

The caption reads: "William Penn Hotel, Grant Street entrance, =
Pittsburgh, Penna., one of the world's largest air conditioned hotels, =
showing part of the gigantic U.S. Steel Building in the background."

The "U.S. Steel Building" is the original one at 525 William Penn Place, =
built in 1952.  In the late 1950's, the William Penn Hotel had 1,600 =
guest rooms, but over the years that number was more than halved as =
smaller rooms were combined to make larger guest rooms, and other rooms =
were converted to rental office space.

Bob 3/20/04


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