Saturday, August 16, 2014

Tea Room Postcard #33 - Big Tree Inn Tea Room (Geneseo, N.Y.)

Don't you just love seeing those old cars parked in front of the Big Tree Inn in Geneseo, N.Y.? When I first found this circa 1957 postcard online, I wasn't sure whether or not I believed there was a tea room here, but then upon closer inspection I could see that at the far left the sign reads "Tea Room." There's actually a word above the "Tea Room" sign, but I can't read it.

The back of the card tells us that the inn was "Built in 1833, A Famous Old Landmark of the Genesee Valley." Unlike many of my old tea room postcards, which appear to have been mailed as souvenirs from a trip, this one seems more like a diary entry: "Ate dinner here to night - Thursday Aug 19 - 1957 6.30 PM 'Thursday night' Lima N.Y. (Sheenan? Is that what it says?)" In pencil in the lower right corner, it reads, "Friday 12 noon ate Lunch in Itiata, N.Y." Do you think the person meant "Ithaca," N.Y. instead? For some reason, I am thinking that perhaps a man made these notes while he stayed at the inn and ate at the tea room while he was away from home on business. Do you agree? Or do you have a theory of your own?

7 comments:

  1. Wow, you found another awesome card. Yes - those old cars are so neat.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Love seeing old cars! Maybe he was using the postcard as a little journal/reminder of his visits. I enjoy keeping records of our fun escapes!

    ReplyDelete
  3. It looks like the tearoom was a wing to the house and not so much part of the house. I would love this.

    ReplyDelete
  4. This looks like a neat tea room! Love seeing the old cars - they bring back memories.

    I'm enjoying your postcards.
    Hope you have a nice weekend, Joanie

    ReplyDelete
  5. I thought it might be Sherman too.

    ReplyDelete
  6. The Big Tree Inn is about 20 minutes away from me - I was taken there for lunch during a job interview at SUNY Geneseo but sadly there has never been a tea room that I can remember.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks so much for taking time to leave a comment! It makes my day to hear from readers!