This vintage real photo postcard features a little boy sitting in a goat cart while the rest of his family is beside him, sitting in a donkey cart. The entire family are posing for a souvenir photograph while visiting Happy Hollow, located in Hot Springs, Arkansas. The city of Hot Springs is located in the Ouachita Mountains and has several natural hot springs in the area. Beginning in the 1830’s, Hot Springs became a resort offering many spas. Hot Springs was the place to go for relaxation, fun, and good health. The photo seen on this postcard was taken by N. E. McLeod at his Wild West & Rustic Photography Studio in Happy Hollow. The internet’s Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture informs us that Happy Hollow was another name for McLeod’s Amusement Park. This site was one of Hot Spring’s most popular tourist attractions from the late 1800 until the 1940’s. It’s location was at the head of Fountain Street, just off of Central Avenue and north of Hot Springs Mountain. Happy Hollow was owned and operated by photographer Norman McLeod from the time of its founding (1888) through 1908. McLeod was born on a farm in Georgia . At the age of 19 he moved to Live Oak, Florida where he learned the photography business. He then attended college in Athens, Georgia. He started Happy Hollow as a photography studio and gradually developed it into an amusement park complex which included a zoo. In 1908 he sold the property. The park became known for taking humorous photos of it’s guests. Props included an old bathtub, a burro, and painted scenery which included a jailhouse and a gigantic angry bear. McLeod and Happy Hollow were nationally known. McLeod evidenced much skill in taking this image. The photograph is clear and well-balanced. An added asset is that he was photographing an attractive family. This postcard has an AZO stamp box that dates the postcard between 1904 and 1918. SOLD
This vintage real photo postcard features a lovely young woman smiling for the camera at the Eckler photo studio in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Eckler’s name is embossed on the right side of the bottom border of the postcard. The city of Hot Springs is located in the Ouachita Mountains and has several natural hot springs in the area. Beginning in the 1830’s, Hot Springs became a resort offering many spas. Hot Springs was the place to go for relaxation, fun, and good health. It is likely that the woman in this photograph is a visitor to the spa town. If so, she would come to the photographer for a photograph to serve as souvenir of her trip. The woman is wearing a dress that suggests that, in my opinion, informality and relaxation. Her hat is quite unusual and interesting. It looks like a slab of bacon. It seems appropriate to wear such a hat in the Razorback state. Ernest Eckler was one of Hot Springs’s most renowned photographers. He operated a studio there for 49 years (1897-1946). He was from Missouri but moved to Hot Springs in the late 1890’s. He moved to Hot Springs because he was a tuberculosis patient seeking medical benefits from the springs. Eckler was a college graduate but while in Hot Springs he discovered the field of photography and learned enough to take a job with the Missouri Pacific Railroad as a photographer. He took mostly scenic shots to be used for advertising purposes. In 1897, he purchased a studio in Hot Springs. As a studio photographer he focussed on photographing individuals and families. He was a prolific wedding photographer. This postcard has an AZO stamp box that dates between 1924 and 1949. 
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