Wednesday, November 20, 2013

A Mystery to Solve



This was a Christmas card my grandfather made. He was an architect but fairly proficient in pen and ink and wood cuts too. Now I know my grandparents never left the U.S. and I am mystified at where this is. The only "place" I can find called St. Raphael is in France. For all I know it was a motel they stayed in on a trip they took across the country. My guess was it was done in the fifties. His other cards have my mother's name on it too. Anyone recognize the place or have a guess at it? 

10 comments:

Charles Gramlich said...

I don't know. Looks to me like some place you'd see in Arizona or New Mexico. We saw a place with this 'general' look close to the Grand Canyon. It was a combination hotel, restaurant and shopping mall.

Anonymous said...

I agree. I thought Southwest too.

Maybe he saw a picture of it somewhere or a postcard? Or maybe he was in New Mexico.


Jeff M.

Ron Scheer said...

Looks too "euro" to me to be Southwest. Maybe faux euro.

pattinase (abbott) said...

I wonder why he would make a card that implied they were at some place they weren't. Too late to ask any of these questions.

Anonymous said...

Sorry, Patti, the picture doesn't ring even a faint bell. But it's such an interesting mystery! Please post if/when you solve it.

sandra seamans said...

Hey Patti, I did a google search and found the very same picture at the MIT Museum Collection http://webmuseum.mit.edu/detail.php?type=related&kv=69776&t=objects

Perhaps your grandfather admired the artist and copied it?

Rick Robinson said...

Sandra has nailed it. If he wasn't there, he must just have liked the sketch enough to put it one the card.

Rick Robinson said...

That was intended to be "on the card".

Unknown said...

Ah, has Sandra (the detective) solved the mystery? Dupin and Holmes (and their descendants) would be proud!

Isn't it an intriguing exercise: getting inside the minds of our predecessors. Always a challenge. Almost never completely possible.

pattinase (abbott) said...

Well, I came home to a mystery solved! You have earned your crime writer credentials. Thanks!