Carbon Canyon Historical Artifact #32: A 1940s La Vida Mineral Springs Café real photo postcard

This is a 1940s real photo postcard of the La Vida Mineral Springs Café, located between the bath house and the motel, and which was the last surviving element of the resort, the structure being torn down in the early 2000s.  Click on the image for a larger view in a separate window.

This is another great old item connected to the La Vida Mineral Springs, which operated over many decades on the Brea side of Carbon Canyon.

The view is taken from Carbon Canyon Road looking north toward the café.  Note the double entrance doors at the left side just behind the first car on the left.  In fact, the five cars pictured here are one of the ways to date the image, given that these are pretty clearly 1940s-era vehicles.

To the left are several eucalyptus trees and identifying the location of the café is quite easy, because a couple of these trees are still standing, having survived (if scorched) the 2008 fires.  In fact, the cafe building continued on for years and even outlasted the rest of the complex, only being torn down about a decade or so years ago.

The postcard is unuused, but does have an EKC stamp box on the reverse.  The initials stand for "Eastman Kodak Company and the range of use for this kind of box is 1930-1950, which, of course, corresponds with the dating as determined by the automobiles in the parking lot in front of the café.

Today, there are still the remains of a red-tinted sidewalk that runs in this area and which crossed in front of the establishment from the bath house, which was off-camera left, to the motel, which was off to the right on the other side of the creek, which was crossed by a footbridge.

In fact, the next two installments of this series will show real photo postcards that cover the approach to and part of the motel building.