From the beginning of the automobile age, Americans also embraced the “road trip”.

Early automobile associations were founded to promote “Good Roads” – indeed, the “Good Roads” movement is one of the most interesting populist enthusiasms of the early 20th century.

Each new highway or bridge was usually celebrated in postcard photographs; towns and cities were proud of every local sign of progress, and infrastructure improvements furthered commerce.

In September of 1935, Oren reported on the progress of his party’s road trip – writing a postcard message to Mr. and Mrs. Lafayette Lynch of Oneida, New York.

The postcard was mailed from Corvallis, Oregon, and Oren reports that “we left California (on) Monday”.

They “got into Oregon last night” and will leave for Colorado “in the morning”.

The travelers hope to reach Colorado by the end of this week, and to “start for home” next week.

We don’t know if “home” was near Oneida, the beautiful city in central New York.

The postcard sent to the Lynch family bears an illustration of “The Pacific Highway at Myrtle Creek, Oregon”.

The postcard was published by the Wesley Andrews Company of Portland, Oregon.

The Pacific Highway was planned and developed before the national system of numbered roads and highways was adopted.

By 1926, it was the longest paved highway in the world – the 1,687 miles stretched from the Canadian border to the Siskiyou Mountains of Northern California.

Oren probably drove across the bridge pictured on the postcard.

One hopes the travelers returned safely to their homes and could share exciting tales with their friends, the Lynch family.