Postcards old and new

Suzie Harrison

Laguna was created to be on a postcard and has lived up to its

calling. Postcards are such a tradition of the city that there is

even a “Postcards from Laguna” public art mural competition underway.

Contenders can find inspiration in the bound volumes of historical

postcards at the Laguna Beach public library.

Artists will compete to have their work displayed as one of four

murals. The images should be derived from the artist’s vision of

Laguna’s past, present or future. The winners will be furnished with

a 7- by 5-foot canvas to make their larger-than-life postcard.

“Because Laguna Beach is a picture-postcard town, a beautiful

resort ... that’s why we have postcards,” artist Mike Tauber said.

“Because a lot of our public art competitions have benches,

sculptures, banners and palettes we needed to fill the gap for

established painters.”

Tauber explained that the palettes are up only during the holiday

season, the banners during the summer -- while the postcards will be

displayed year round.

The library gives visitors an amazing look back through Laguna’s

timeline as well as provides a useful tool to those who want to learn

about Laguna’s history.

“The library has the collection and has been storing and

cataloging it for the Historical Society,” Tauber said.

He said the collection at the library can be used to point out the

changes in art as well as architecture and landscape.

A visitor to the collection can view cards like “The Art Gallery,”

now the Laguna Art Museum. On a postcard dated Sept. 24, 1952 a

description of the gallery read, “The Art Gallery of Laguna Beach on

Coast Boulevard at Cliff Drive stands as a real monument to Laguna

Beach artists. Only contemporary paintings of Southern California and

the local art colony are exhibited.”

The sender wrote a note to her friend back home in San Francisco

that said, “We do like this little town with the quaint shops.”

Nearby are pictures of the Festival of Arts and Pageant of the

Masters dated in the 1960s that are flashbacks to a different time.

One postcard showed a picture of Main Beach on which someone drew

an arrow to where they were staying and wrote, “Here is our cottage

just about 50 feet from the ocean.” The card was dated 1906.

The ‘50s had its own flavor with pin-up-girl type art. A 1950

postcard for the White House Cafe and Cocktail Lounge had a caption

that read, “Laguna Beach, Calif. -- Where Living’s an Art.”

To find out more about the postcard competition, which deadlines

June 16, call 497-0722 or go online to www.lagunabeachcity.net.

Laguna Beach’s postcard collection, the vast bound volumes, can be

found in the reference section of the library at 363 Glenneyre St.