Greetings from Raleigh, N.C. y’all! This week Flashback Friday takes a look at downtown Raleigh as it appeared in the late 1960s — before we got big.

This week’s card was postmarked on March 9, 1973.

Aerial view of Raleigh, N.C., looking north down Fayetteville Street. State Capitol building in background, Memorial Auditorium in foreground.

Umm, postcard publisher, the ‘State Capitol building in background’ is hidden under the big ‘R’!

Dear Family,
Just a line. The trip was wonderful. I enjoyed it so very much. Everyone I talked to was so nice. We were on time all the way. It was a beautiful day. It was raining a little when we got to Raleigh. Didn’t have to wait for luggage or anything.
Love, Miss Huppert
P.S. Will write to Jane & Jim.

I’m a little confused by Miss Huppert’s message to her ‘family’ back in Wisconsin. Was she traveling from Wisconsin and heading south to Raleigh, or did her trip begin south of Raleigh (Florida?) and she was heading back home to Wisconsin? And what was Miss Huppert’s mode of transport? Flying, I’d guess, as she was ‘on time all the way’ and ‘didn’t have to wait for luggage or anything’. Maybe she was driving. Go figure.

The aerial view depicted in this week’s photochrome postcard was probably taken in 1970 or so, as it shows the S. Salisbury St. extension after it had already been cut through South St. west of Memorial Auditorium.

The postcard below from the Flashback Friday collection shows the same view taken just a year or two before. The Salisbury cut is fresh and unpaved.

Now, compare these postcard views with the 1946 aerial view seen here. Many of the buildings in the 1946 photo had disappeared from the cityscape by the late 1960s. What a difference 25 years makes!

State Archives of North Carolina photo

Flashback Friday Quiz — Can you identify the complex of buildings seen to the west of Memorial Auditorium in 1946? The Salisbury St. extension plowed right through there in 1969.

Our Flashback Friday ‘Lusterchrome’ postcard this week was published by the Raleigh News Agency, and was printed by Tichnor Brothers, Inc. of Boston, MA.

Tichnor Brothers, Inc. (1912-1987) Boston, MA

A major publisher and printer of a wide variety of postcards types. Their view-cards were produced on a national level.

Their photochomes went under the trade name Lusterchrome. They also produced an early Tichnor Gloss series in offset lithography that was so heavily retouched they floated somewhere between being artist drawn and being a photograph. The company was sold in 1987 to Paper Majic.

“Flashback Friday” is a weekly feature of Goodnight, Raleigh! in which we showcase vintage postcards depicting our historic capital city. We hope you enjoy this week end treat!