Postcard: After Sundown at Avalon

"At night myriad lights reflecting on the bay, music across the water, rustling palm trees, and the murmur of the waves on the white sands makes Avalon one of the most romantically beautiful spots of the world."

This little beauty is one of the scores I found at this weekend's Vintage Paper Fair here in San Francisco. I've never been to Catalina, but it's always fascinated me and I've always longed to for a visit. This postcard shows the idyllic island as it was in the early part of the 20th Century, probably right when the Catalina Casino was built, circa 1929. Since Southern California doesn't usually have too much winter weather, I thought this was the perfect image for this time of year. It's sort of a distillation of the California dream, don't you think?