Berthoud Pass Inn Postcard CB-B44
Brief Description
This postcard by Harold Sanborn shows the Berthoud Pass Inn during the mid-1920s.
Info
- Date: Circa Winter 1925–1926
- Photographer: Harold Sanborn
- Medium: Postcard
- Size: 3 3/8" x 5 3/8"
- ID: CB-B44
- Acquisition Date: June 2024
- Repository: Coloradotopia Archives
Scanned by Coloradotopia.
Image use restricted.
Image Dating Comments
The inn was built in 1925, and this was the same year that Sanborn started numbering his postcards, with B-1 being the first in the sequence from the Berthoud Pass area. The image for B-44 likely would have been captured during the winter of 1925–’26.
Sanborn was known to reproduce postcards for 10+ years if they were selling well, so the 1929 postmark indicates that lots of people were buying this postcard, and that Sanborn was reproducing this one for several years after the image was captured.
Backside
Full Scan
Comments & Discussion
This is a real photo postcard, so it was developed just like a real photograph. Some came out better than others. This one was not one of the best, and the “B-44” label is barely visible.
This postcard contributes to the dating timeline by helping establish that the railing above the lower set of stairs was not yet in place during the winter of 1925–’26. This info can help to date other images in the future.
The back of the postcard reads:
Arrived here on Monday morning.
Can’t go very fast because of the mountains.
Air is very rare and the water in radiators boils over very easily.
Condition, Aging & Authenticity: There is heavy browning due to aging around the edges on the backside. There is little or no scratching of the front surface. It is somewhere between a glossy surface and a matte surface at this point.
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