rest up

A BUTCHER'S #88

A BUTCHER’S hook/look (Cockney rhyming slang)

a relaxed issue

Off duty - neatly tucked into the window alcove is a very relaxed statue, having a break.

siesta ©Steve Butcher 2025

Dixie stopover

Amongst my more recent postcard acquisitions, coincidentally there were two Dixie postcards - Motel and Hotel. Both great cards and real insights into another time, so here they are.

stopover at the Dixie

I really like these single story motel postcards - it’s something about the appeal of the banal, especially those with the bedroom insert bonus - minimal and functional.

a stay at HOTEL DIXIE

In Times Square, New York - 700 attractive outside rooms, each with private bath and radio. ‘outside rooms’ - what exactly does this mean? a window, a balcony? I’ve looked into it and it seems it means that the room has ‘direct exterior access from an exterior corridor’ (like a motel many floors up, maybe?) - I think.

The place to be

‘For Your Enjoyment THE TERRACE ROOM AND CIRCLE BAR for delicious food and beverages. THE PLANTATION ROOM for dinner, dancing and entertainment.’ I mean, just look at this place. Hotels like this have had another life, when coming to New York was entering another world.

meanwhile, down under

Not in Australia, but what is really surprising is that there used to be a fully operational bus station beneath the 700 room hotel. Buses were arriving and leaving the ground floor at the rate of 40 an hour, up to 350 a day in summer - nothing beats a bit of diesel fuel wafting up from below! I started wondering how this could work on a physical level - how could this amount of buses move around in there? Answer: inside there was a 35ft turntable with twelve loading bays - incredible.

quick turnaround

Buses arriving at the terminal would drive onto the turntable, which would then rotate to the proper slip. Drivers pulled forward into the slip, letting passengers get on and off at the widest part of the loading platform, while buses leaving the terminal would reverse onto the turntable, which would rotate toward the exit ramp - smooth!

back on the beach

Pin-up postcards are their own genre - and there are some that are on another level. How can I not include this beauty?

resting easy, as you can see

tail end

Stuck in the city? there’s always time for an afternoon nap

I guess sleeping on the job is OK, right? ©SteveButcher2011