The first episode of Dear Folks: Letters Home from the Navy is now published and available on directories immediately for subscribers (it may take a day or two to appear for non-subscribers)
As promised, below is a scan of Dad's first letter so you can try your hand at deciphering his cursive. If you have any trouble, blame it on Kenny Hill shaking the bed.
I love the graphics on the New Kenmark Hotel logo - here's the version from the envelope. So period western! I'm not sure what style to call it (the cowboy and steer kind of throw me off - no pun intended), but a more graphics-savvy friend suggested Art Deco or Streamline Moderne. If you have other suggestions, please leave them in the comments section.
The Kenmark Hotel a 5 story brick Building, was built at the corner of 17th and Welton in 1910. It was designed by Frank E. Edbrooke, the 'dean' of Denver architecture, and known as the Kaiserhof hotel until WWI. The Kenmark was demolished in 1995, to the dismay of local preservationists. ONE * BLOCK * FROM * EVERYTHING * IMPORTANT!
I couldn't find a lot of news about what the New Kenmark Hotel was like in 1955 but I did find this amazing sale listing for a 1940s menu from Violet's Ken Grill at the Kenmark Hotel (supervised by Mother Prather), where you could buy a caviar sandwich for fifty cents and enjoy it in air conditioned splendor. I couldn't tell if chicken fried steak was on the Ken Grill menu. It's not lost on me that there's a whole lot of Ken happening at Dad's first stop on his way to the Navy.
Thanks for listening and reading!
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