Postcard - Ellensburg, Washington

"Bird's-eye view of the world famous 'Rodeo City'."

1970s?

Phone photo 2274

Morty Comix # 2530

 The distribution of Morty Comix # 2530 needs some explaining.

So I'm watching this super-epic film from 1962 called How the West Was Won. I have a Random House book that was released with the movie. Picked this monograph up long ago at some sale.

As I was viewing this Space Age celebration of Manifest Destiny (the movie ends with freeway traffic and urban sprawl portrayed as a good thing), I told myself I would send the next Morty Comix to the first city uttered by any character in the story.
 

And that city turned out to be Pittsburgh. Jimmy Stewart, in the role Linus Rawlings, Mountain Man, utters, "I kinda itch to get to Pittsburgh. I ain't seen a city for a long time. I aim to whoop it up a little."

Pittsburgh. Home to the amazing Wayno. A city that has been showing the art of Maximum Traffic. and a hop and schlep from the home of one of my favorite artists of the Newave Comix era, Mike Hill.

I am not a big fan of Stewart, but there have been a few movies where I could tolerate him. The Shootist, Shenandoah, Rope. I think I like him in those since he wasn't playing his normal Jimmy Stewart character. The guy could act if the studios gave him a chance.

Since his given name was James I sought out James Street in Pittsburgh. And once again Google's street view assisted me in finding a good home for a Morty Comix. Since they produce a product using more creativity than most, I selected a trophy store as the next random art recipient.

I have a lot of ancestors on both sides who lived in, are buried in, passed through the colony/state of Pennsylvania on their generational trek out here to the West Coast. One of my ancestors was supposedly converted to the Quaker faith by Penn himself. His grandson, another forefather of mine, ran off and wed a Shawnee woman, and became a frontiersman in Virginia. So the Quaker strain in my family was short-lived.
 

Off to the Keystone State for you, little one. I've been to Philadelphia but one day I'd love to visit Pittsburgh.

Phone photo 2273

Buster contemplates my battered 40-year old paperback dictionary, wondering if the word "Catholic" is pronounced "Cat-holic," which he interprets to be a cat-crazy religious corporation full of people addicted to domestic felines. And as such he expects all those old men in Vatican City will finally give the world Pope Buster! As you can see, he is striking a dramatic pose exuding leadership and grace. Frankly, I think they should appoint him.

Postcard - Ellensburg, Washington

"Ellensburg, Washington, Rodeo City. Part of the 'New Look' in Ellensburg is this modern Banking Facility. Ellensburg is also the home of Central Washington State College."

From ca. 1969, judging by the vehicles. CWSC was renamed Central Washington University in 1977.

The Liberty Theater, that white building in the center, was the subject of Phone photo 453 a couple years back.

Phone photo 2272

Morty Comix # 2529

Morty Comix # 2529 was slipped behind a poster in a defunct phone booth in the back hallway of a restaurant in Montesano, Washington. Note the surveillance camera in the final photo. I am sure that many of my adventures in distributing Morty Comix have been recorded by these grainy little devils.

Phone photo 2271

Favorite Movie Quotes: Seconds

"He was a quiet man. I think the thing I most remember him for were his silences. It was as if he was always listening to something inside, some voice. He never talked about it so I never knew what it was. Oh, he was a good man, he lived as if he was a stranger here, I mean, he never let anything touch him. Became absorbed in things, his job, mostly. He worked hard, he became more detached. There was a look around his eyes as if he was trying to say something, I don't know what. Protest against what he'd surrendered his life to? I never knew what he wanted, and I don't think he ever knew. He fought so hard for what he'd been taught to want. And when he got it he just grew more and more confused. The silences grew longer."

Phone photo 2270

Pacific Northwest Art Deco streetlight

Abandoned Olympia Brewery in background

Tumwater, Washington

Postcard - Deception Pass, Washington

"Canoe and Deception Pass bridges. Much of the tidal waters behind the islands of North Puget Sound rush back and forth twice a day through this narrow passage. Deception Pass State Park displays scenic beauty with the help of Mount Baker visible on the horizon."

In the 1970s, which is when I'm betting this postcard was created, we always figured that out of the five volcanoes in our state Mount Baker was the most likely to explode, since it seemed to be frequently steaming and shaking. The 1980 eruption of Mt. St. Helens was a bit of a surprise, relatively speaking.

Phone photo 2269

Art Deco totem 

Tumwater, Washington

The Runner Up Thread, 1976-2012

 1976: Ford. 1980: Carter

 1980: Carter. 1984: Mondale

 1984: Mondale. 1988: Dukakis

 1988: Dukakis. 1992: Bush

 1992: Bush. 1996: Dole

 1996: Dole. 2000: Gore

 2000: Gore. 2004: Kerry

 2004: Kerry. 2008: McCain

2008: McCain. 2012: Romney

Phone photo 2268

"South Gateway to the Puget Sound Country and the Olympic Peninsula"

Tumwater, Washington

Favorite Movie Quotes: Deconstructing Harry

Voice announcing stops as an elevator descends into Hell:

"Floor 5: Subway muggers, aggressive panhandlers, and book critics. Floor 6: Right wing extremists, serial killers, lawyers who appear on television. Floor 7: The media. Sorry, that floor is all filled up. Floor 8: Escaped war criminals, TV evangelists, and the NRA. Lowest level: Everybody off."

Phone photo 2267

Deschutes River with defunct Olympia Brewing bottling plant in background

Tumwater, Washington

Postcard - Copalis Beach, Washington

"Copalis Beach, Washington. Copalis River winds gracefully through a portion of one of the finest Razor-Clam beaches in the world on its way to the Pacific Ocean-- come join the beachcombers."

Late 1970s is my guess.

Phone photo 2266

Early signs of spring. 

Olympia, Washington

Favorite Movie Quotes: Day of the Outlaw

"You want to know the future, Mr. Crane. That's wanting too much for anyone."

Phone photo 2265

"TUMWATER. Here the Deschutes River cataracts into Budd Inlet, the most southerly point where ends the old Oregon Trail, arduous route of the hardy pioneers of the West with a determined disregard with British opposition to their settlement north of the Columbia River a small band of pioneers founded here in 1846 the town of New Market the first American community established on Puget Sound. The Indian name for the cataract was Spa Kwatl but in Chinook jargon it was Tumwater, meaning throbbing water which name New Market later adopted."

In the background is the long derelict bottling plant of the Olympia Brewing Company.

Postcard - Lewiston, Idaho/Clarkston, Washington

"Straddling the Snake River and the Idaho-Washington line at the junction with the Clearwater R., Lewiston and Clarkston (beyond) are at the head of a 464 mile slackwater route to the Pacific via a $1 billion series of dams and locks on the Snake and Columbia Rivers. New grain terminals (lower center), marinas, parks, and shipping facilties are utilizing this new lake behind Lower Granite Dam 33 miles down river. The pool level is backed up the Snake R. to Asotin, Wa., (upper left). The famous annual Lewiston Roundup rodeo grounds are at the bottom of picture. Sinuous dikes line the shores."

This postcard might date as late as the early 1980s. Certainly no later than 1983. When I lived in nearby Pullman three decades ago I would visit Lewiston/Clarkston and came to regard them as the Inland Empire version of Aberdeen/Hoquiam. Televised Lewiston ads for trucks made sure to let potential customers know a free rifle would be included as a bonus with the purchase of a vehicle. I'm not kidding.  Lewiston TV in the early 1980s was a weird trip. 

One time I was a passenger on a small plane leaving from Lewiston. A live chicken was stored behind my head. As we hit turbulence over the Tri-Cities and we all thought we were going to die, the chicken was freaking out. All I could think of was, "Great. I'm biting the Big One. But do I have to do this with a chicken?"

On the other hand, Lewiston had great newspaper, with a wonderful local columnist back then. And the surrounding scenery is amazing.

The Lewiston Grade, a truly terrifying drive in the winter, complete with runaway truck ramps, is the main entrance from the north via Washington State. One time almost 30 years ago I stopped on this grade and got into a conversation with a retired mobile home tourist who exclaimed with gusto "Hot Doggies!" over something. The term stuck and I have used it ever since.

Phone photo 2264

Morty Comix # 2528

Morty Comix # 2528 was drawn on the top portion of a letter-size sheet of paper and then cut down to the size of a narrow strip. It was then rolled up into a tight coil and placed inside an empty plastic gumball bubble.

Later, at the McCleary Laundrymat, in McCleary, Washington, I noticed an opening in the metal chair frame that looked just the right size for the ball. So I dropped it in. Sounded like it made quite a journey before it landed to a stop in there.

This is the same laundrymat where Morty Comix # 2482 was deposited last December and recorded on film by Ron Austin and Louise Amandes for the Bezango WA documentary. Not too many weeks after our visit, someone plowed their car through the front doors (maybe the driver was all excited about hunting down another Morty Comix!). Obviously, the place has since been repaired.

Favorite Movie Quotes: Hour of the Gun

"Those aren't warrants you have there. Those are hunting licenses!"