Palm trees in the California desert, circa 1940
- Subjects
- Forests & TreesMountains & Hills
- Card type
- Linen
About this postcard
A desert landscape with three tall fan palms standing in the foreground, their trunks hung with skirts of dried fronds, with a scattered grove of smaller palms and low brush behind them and barren hills and mountains under a blue, cloud-flecked sky. The card's own caption calls these trees "Natives of the California Desert," a reference to the native fan palm (Washingtonia filifera), the only palm indigenous to the southwestern United States and a signature sight of desert oases in the Coachella Valley and around Palm Springs. The linen-textured stock and Curt Teich numbering date the printing to the late 1930s–1940s, when desert scenery was a popular tourist subject.
Postcard Details
No address detected
Postcard record
| Publisher | Western Publishing & Novelty Co. |
|---|---|
| Series | 4A-H952 |
| Condition | Very good |
| Place depicted | California, CA |
| Publisher | Western Publishing & Novelty Co., Los Angeles, CA |
| Place sent from | Mrs Eunice Schultz, R. 1. Box 159, Cecil, WI |
| Notes | Linen (crosshatch) texture with a cream border; printed caption at top right and publisher/series marks at bottom; slight edge wear and a small nick at top center. No postmark (unused card, no stamp). Divided-back linen-era card with cream border; sender's return address written in pencil on the message side and dated Sept 8 1945. Light edge wear, faint creasing. |
Cite this card
Palm trees in the California desert, circa 1940, postcard, c. 1930. PostalPast Collection. https://postalpast.com/postcard/palm-trees-in-the-california-desert-circa-1940. Accessed October 24, 2026.