Friday, May 1, 2009

Postcard Friendship Friday #13

Happy Postcard Friendship Friday! Today's postcard shows the Carillon, an oceanfront hotel on Miami Beach. The description reads: Miami's largest and most luxurious hotel. Fully air conditioned - 620 elegant rooms, each with 21" TV, radio, and circulating ice water - 750 foot private beach - 2 pools and gardened Cabana Club - Complete Convention facilities. The hotel was built in the early 50's





The Carillon Today - the complex of newly renovated buildings is shown in the far right of the picture






The Carillon is South Florida's newest all suite spa hotel and covers a spectrum of lifestyles and wellness pursuits.

Hotel Amenities :

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750 linear feet of unspoiled beach

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70,000-square-foot Wellness Spa with 54 treatment areas

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Four outdoor pools, Atlantic Spa and The Cabana

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Canyon Ranch Grill – oceanfront restaurant with indoor and outdoor seating offering award-winning, nutritionally balanced gourmet cuisine

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Carillon Café for casual dining, offering creative cuisine, a tasting room and fine wines

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Tranquil Palm Grove with cocktail terrace seating

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Canyon Ranch Living Essentials® boutique

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Intimate and relaxing gathering spaces (Conservatory, Library and more)

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Aquavana™ – an oasis of thermal therapies including state-of-the-art hot and cold experiences

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Unparalleled fitness center, including two-story cardio studio with unobstructed ocean view, weight machines, free weights and eeZz's juice bar

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Daily fitness activities, wellness presentations and classes (yoga, Pilates, tai chi, indoor cycling and many more)

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Two-story, indoor rock-climbing wall with ocean view

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Full-time physicians and wellness practitioners offering integrative medical consultations

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Concierge and 24-hour doorman
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Room rates are 250.00 to 700.00 per night
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The card is postmarked January 20, 1953, and the message reads:
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Sunday
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Dear Bud,
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We have not heard from you here as yet and hope it is only because you are busy.
We are enjoying every minute of it here though we are doing none of the things we planned. We can't seem to stir ourselves away from the sun, although it's pretty snappy.
Much love - Mother and Dad
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The Back Story: At first I thought they had not heard from their son because of the usual activities that take place when Mother and Dad are relentlessly baking themselves in the Florida sun : party, party, party, with lawn chars on the roof, beer bottles everywhere and dishes piled in the kitchen and bathroom sinks.
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However...
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The card was mailed to Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester New York, which is a teaching hospital that shares it's acreage with the University of Rochester. A bit of dabbling on the Internet indicates that their son was more than likely very busy and behaving himself. He was in medical school and went on to become a doctor. A betrothal notice appeared in the New York Times in the early 60's.
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1953
Dwight D. Eisenhower succeeded Harry S. Truman on the very day the card was postmarked: January 20th 1953. Peter Pan opened on Broadway February 5th. Jonas Saulk announced his polo vaccine in March. Ian Fleming published his first James Bond novel in April. In May, Jackie Cochran became the first woman to break the sound barrier in an F-86 Sabrejet. Queen Elizabeth II's coronation took place June 2nd - it was televised, and I recall watching it. The Korean War ended in July. The Kinsey Report, documenting American's sexual habits was published in August. REM sleep was discovered in September. Earl Warren was appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in October. Authorities at the British Natural History Museum announced that the skull of the Piltdown Man, one of the most famous fossil skulls in the world, is a hoax in November, and December saw the first issue of Playboy and the first color TV went on sale at $1,175.00
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For more Postcard Friday Fun, Visit Marie, our Hostess with the Mostess Postesscards


16 comments:

Marie Reed said...

Wow!!! That's amazing that you found him online! Great detective work Musey:) Thank goodness they have an indoor physician .. after all of that indoor rock climbing and nutritional gourmet food I might just have a heart attack. I think I'll stick with ordering a pizza and sitting on the couch! Wanna come over?

Paul van Yperen said...

You did a great detective job! I loved the card and your post, but Miami: mwah.

Sreisaat said...

With wide range of amenities and activities to choose from, I don't think I'll be able to go out of the hotel at all. Why go out when you have it all there? But for $700/night a pop? Whew!

Happy PFF, MuseSwings!

Postcards Crossing

Pearl said...

Terrific "Retro" postcard... Enjoyed reading about how things were in '53... how nice that they didn't need to have a zip code with the address to get mail properly delivered!
Happy May Day!

~blessings~
Pearl

Beth Niquette said...

Wow! Beautiful postcards and such fascinating history. What fun! Thank you and Happy PFF!

Müge Tekil said...

I like very much to read the back stories of your postcards. You are a talented detective. The Carillon Hotel looks a wonderful place both in 1953 and today. I would like to have the chance to spend my holidays there :-)

Have a Happy May Day!

Daryl said...

Nice detective work ...

Martha@A Sense of Humor is Essential said...

Great post, you are quite the detective.

Mandala Michelle said...

I love that I get to meet such great people and catch a few history lessons in the process. Lots of great info!

Aimee said...

Great post, I'm sure glad TVs have come down in price since then!

Sparky said...

That was a great post.

A TV was over $1,000 dollars!! Wow, I think it would have been cheaper just to buy a new home in 1953.

Hay, I'm with Marie on the 'health' food! I want pizza. I'm on my way, would you turn up the oven please? [lol] :o)

Robin said...

What the heck is "circulating ice water"?
Well, whatever it is, the Carillon looks to be a very wonderful stay then and now.
Love the card and your post.
Happy May Day......hope your day has been beautiful.

mel said...

What a brilliant postcard!! And such in-depth detective work...very cool post.

And about the photo on my postcard - I chose them because the recipient mentioned Russian as one of her languages....close enough for a connection for me!!!

~brightest blessings~

Girl Tornado said...

The Carillon sounds like a wonderful place to hide for a weekend. Lovely. And I also loved your detective work re: the postcard, how interesting!

Margo said...

that is so amazing how you can find some of the people from your postcards. Where do you get them? A lot of the postcards I have written to my mother from my grandparents always say something about how "we haven't heard from you...." I thought it sounded kind of passive aggressive, but now I think it was really just a way of communicating a fact from the days when people weren't so wired. Fascinating post!

Evelyn Yvonne Theriault said...

I love this type of postcard - transports me back to the "modern" era of the early sixties.