Main Street South from 8th, Kansas City, Mo. is the title of the 1908 postcard, published in color by the Southwest News Co. of Kansas City and made in Leipzig, Germany. Six big streetcars are pictured, bringing shoppers downtown in an era that predated the Country Club Plaza and other suburban shopping centers. Downtown merchants supplied all the buyers' needs. Big store-front awnings and horse-drawn buggies with their tops down indicate a warm summer day. Ladies with long skirts brushing the sidewalks wear shirtwaists, but are without coats. Tom Keene cigars are advertised on a sign high above the street. The tall four-story red brick building at the left side of the card has painted signs on each floor advertising Furniture & Carpets. The 1908 city directory identifies the establishment as The Economy Furniture & Carpet Co., Abram Miller, President; Anna M. Arnheim, Secretary. The building partly seen at the right side of the card is Vaughan's old Diamond Building. This wedge shaped structure faced the Junction where several street car lines came together at 9th Main and Delaware streets. At the time the Junction was reputed to be Kansas City's busiest intersection. Today this area is marked by a 30-foot high monument, Muse of the Missouri. It was presented to the city by Mr. and Mrs. James Kemper Sr., in honor of their son, Lt. David W. Kemper, who was killed in action in Italy during World War II. The card, furnished by Mrs. J. Meyer, was mailed Aug. 13, 1908, to Miss Josephine Benks, 1351 Quindaro Blvd., Kansas City, Kansas. Kansas City Times, January 17, 1986.
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