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Offered for sale is a postally used vintage postcard bearing a readable cancellation from Maggie, North Carolina, in Haywood County. The Maggie post office operated under that name from 1904 until 1974, when the postal identity became Maggie Valley.
The circular cancellation reads:
MAGGIE, N.C.
JUL 12
ZIP CODE 28751
The exact year is partially obscured by the attached stamp and cancellation ink. Based upon the five-cent George Washington stamp and the style of the postcard, this appears to be a late-1960s or early-1970s usage. No exact year is claimed.
The name “Maggie” is especially interesting from a postal-history perspective because it represents the earlier postal designation of the famous western North Carolina mountain community now known as Maggie Valley. The Maggie post office operated from 1904 through 1974, while the Maggie Valley designation began in 1974 and continues today.
This postcard was therefore mailed during the final years in which the local post office still used the simpler “Maggie, N.C.” town name.
The picture side advertises the Holiday Inn South at 2100 Market Street in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The multi-view design shows the motel exterior, the iconic Holiday Inn “Great Sign,” and two interior views of the Red Coals Restaurant and Trophy Lounge.
The upper exterior view includes the motel’s roadside architecture, covered entrance, parked automobiles, and rooftop Red Coals Restaurant sign. The interior views show colorful mid-century restaurant and lounge décor, including red upholstered seating, round dining tables, chandeliers, wall decorations, bar stools, counter seating, and other period furnishings.
The postcard caption identifies the property as:
HOLIDAY INN SOUTH
2100 MARKET STREET
CHATTANOOGA, TENNESSEE
The printed description states that the motel was conveniently located minutes from downtown Chattanooga at the intersection of South Market Street and the Freeway Interchange. It advertises a coffee house, Red Coals Restaurant, and Trophy Lounge.
The card also displays an early Holiday Inn Great Sign logo featuring the familiar starburst, roadside sign, and “The Nation’s Innkeeper” slogan. Holiday Inn’s elaborate neon Great Signs became icons of postwar American automobile travel and roadside motel culture.
The reverse identifies the image as a Curt Teich “Curtichcolor” 3-D Natural Color Reproduction. Curt Teich was one of the most important American postcard printers and produced a vast number of twentieth-century roadside, motel, restaurant, civic, and travel views.
The postcard contains an extensive handwritten message written in blue ink. It retains its original blue five-cent George Washington stamp, which is tied to the card by the Maggie, North Carolina circular cancellation and killer bars.
This card offers strong crossover interest among collectors of Maggie Valley and Haywood County postal history, North Carolina postmarks, Chattanooga history, Holiday Inn memorabilia, roadside architecture, motel postcards, restaurant advertising, and mid-century travel ephemera.
This is the original postcard shown in the photographs. It is not a reproduction.
POSTAL-HISTORY DETAILS:
Origin: Maggie, North Carolina
County: Haywood County
Cancellation: Maggie, N.C. circular date stamp
Postmark date: July 12
Exact year: Partially obscured and not stated with certainty
Postmark era: Late 1960s or early 1970s
ZIP Code in cancellation: 28751
Maggie post office operating dates: 1904–1974
Successor postal name: Maggie Valley
Maggie Valley postal designation: 1974 to present
Postage denomination: Five cents
Stamp subject: George Washington
Stamp color: Blue
Stamp present: Yes
Cancellation present: Yes
Postal use: Genuine mailed postcard
Correspondence: Handwritten personal message in blue ink
ITEM SPECIFICS:
Type: Postal-history advertising postcard
Postmark town: Maggie
State of origin: North Carolina
County of origin: Haywood County
Country: United States
Post office status: Former postal name or discontinued designation
Postal-history connection: Pre-1974 Maggie Valley postal identity
Postmark date: July 12
Approximate mailing period: Late 1960s to early 1970s
Pictured property: Holiday Inn South
Street address: 2100 Market Street
Pictured city: Chattanooga
Pictured state: Tennessee
Motel chain: Holiday Inn
Restaurant: Red Coals Restaurant
Additional business: Coffee House
Lounge: Trophy Lounge
Primary subject: Motel, restaurant, and lounge
Additional subjects: Roadside sign, automobiles, mid-century interiors, dining room, bar, stools, tables, chandeliers, and motel architecture
Postcard format: Multi-view advertising postcard
Image style: Color photographic reproduction
Printer: Curt Teich Company
Printing process: Curtichcolor 3-D Natural Color Reproduction
Logo: Holiday Inn Great Sign
Slogan: The Nation’s Innkeeper
Telephone number printed on card: AM 5-0551
Area code printed on card: 615
Stamp: Five-cent George Washington issue
Postally used: Yes
Addressed: Yes
Correspondence present: Yes
Original or reproduction: Original vintage postcard
Quantity: One postcard
HISTORICAL CONTEXT:
Maggie is the earlier postal name associated with present-day Maggie Valley in Haywood County, western North Carolina. The Maggie post office operated from 1904 until 1974. In 1974, the Maggie designation was discontinued and the Maggie Valley postal name began.
A postcard canceled “Maggie, N.C.” therefore represents the community before its postal transition to Maggie Valley. This provides a defined collecting period and makes the cancellation more historically interesting than an ordinary modern Maggie Valley postmark.
Maggie Valley became widely known as a mountain resort and tourist community near the Great Smoky Mountains, Blue Ridge Parkway, Cherokee, and Waynesville. The town’s tourism history also complements the Holiday Inn travel subject shown on the card.
Holiday Inn was founded in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1952 and became one of the most recognizable names in postwar American automobile travel. Its enormous neon Great Sign was created to attract motorists and became a familiar sight along highways throughout the United States.
This Chattanooga Holiday Inn view preserves the chain’s distinctive roadside branding as well as the vivid red restaurant and lounge interiors associated with mid-century motel hospitality.
This vintage postcard is in fair to good mailed condition with visible signs of age, postal handling, writing, and storage.
The card has light to moderate corner and edge wear, including bumped and softened corners, small bends, rubbing, and minor edge discoloration. There is a noticeable bend or crease near the upper-right corner and additional light handling creases elsewhere.
The picture side retains generally strong color and considerable image detail. The motel exterior, automobiles, Holiday Inn sign, dining rooms, tables, chairs, counter, and interior decorations remain readily visible.
There are several vertical and horizontal surface lines, scratches, rubs, and marks across the picture side. A dark vertical line or mark passes through part of the interior image. Additional scattered spotting and surface wear are present.
The reverse exhibits age toning, yellow spotting, scattered stains, postal ink, handwriting, and several dark smudges or marks, particularly toward the lower portion. The extensive blue-ink correspondence overlaps portions of the printed advertising text.
The Maggie cancellation is readable, although the exact year is covered or indistinct. “Maggie,” “N.C.,” “Jul 12,” and ZIP Code 28751 are visible.
The original five-cent George Washington stamp remains attached. It has normal cancellation ink and postal wear.
The postcard has not been cleaned, pressed, repaired, erased, or otherwise altered.
Please examine all supplied photographs carefully. The photographs form an essential part of the condition description and show the exact postcard the buyer will receive.
COLLECTING INTEREST:
Maggie, North Carolina postal history
Maggie Valley postal history
Haywood County postmarks
North Carolina town cancellations
Discontinued postal names
Holiday Inn postcards
Holiday Inn Great Sign memorabilia
Chattanooga motel history
Market Street businesses
Red Coals Restaurant
Trophy Lounge
Mid-century restaurant interiors
Roadside Americana
American motel architecture
Curt Teich postcards
Postwar automobile tourism
Five-cent Washington stamps
