Arkive – In The Mail – North Park (1987)

In this unsent postcard, we see a North Park scene taken from the Magnolia Cafe terrace (later Bourbon Street).

Without a postcard, we need to do a little detective work to establish the year that the photo was taken. The easiest way to do that is to identify things in the photograph and establish a timeframe.

• The wraparound arcade exists around the Flying Machine, this was destroyed in the Grand National fire of 2004.
• The Cableway is operating, its last season was 2000
• The Monster is operating, its last season was 1995
• The Fun House can be seen, it was destroyed by fire in 1991
• The Reel has been replaced by the Rainbow (look closely) which operated from 1987 until 1990 that provides a period between those two dates.
• However, all that is unnecessary if you spot The Hot Ice Show (1987) poster on the billboard in the centre of the path

It is, therefore, 1987.