The image shows a cluster of tall saguaro cacti standing against a warm orange and yellow sky, with smaller cacti and scrub in the foreground. Saguaros grow only in the Sonoran Desert, and their tall columns and arms make them a familiar emblem of southern Arizona and the Southwest. Susie Smith wrote the card while waiting at South Pacific Station (likely the Southern Pacific station) in Los Angeles in September 1940, after a hard trip through New Mexico and Arizona.
Postcard Details
Message · English, in pen
South Pacific Station
Los Angeles 9-PM 9/1940
Arrived here at 2 PM
and have to wait
until 11-15 PM for
our train. Will reach
home tomorrow morning
The trip through N.M.
& Arizona was very
hard. And we are
pretty well worn out.
Had a friend meet
us here & made it
pleasanter. Hope you
are all well"
"Susie Smith
PostmarkedSouthern Pacific R.R. Co., Martinez, August 9, 1957
White border; linen texture; light surface spotting and possible vertical crease.
Postmark: S P O / 1940 / TR. CLK. 8.9.57 (black circular railway post office cancel; outer ring partially legible). Divided-back "Phostint" card by Detroit Publishing Co. for Fred Harvey; white border on front; 2c red Washington stamp; message written in pen. Light edge wear and creasing.
Cite this card
Saguaro cacti in desert, Arizona, 1940, postcard, c. 1940. PostalPast Collection. https://postalpast.com/postcard/saguaro-cacti-in-desert-arizona-1940. Accessed November 2, 2026.
