Mrs. Gunn's Diary: Jan. 11, 1942

A friend visits from Alabama; Churchill swamped with gifts from North American fans

“This is a cold day and we are wondering if it will snow,” Mrs. Gunn wrote in her diary. That night a friend from Montgomery, Alabama arrived. I am guessing she came by train, as the Southern Crescent’s route from New Orleans to New York included a stop in Montgomery. If so, the vintage postcard above shows Union Station in Washington, where they met her train. “It certainly was good to see her again,” she wrote.

Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was being swamped with gifts from adoring North Americans. The White House sent them to the British Embassy, which allowed a press inspection of the gifts that had been piled in its halls.

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The caption on the back of the postcard, offered on eBay, said the station was built at a cost of $18 million “and is the finest railway station in the world.” The Amtrak Crescent today follows the same route, once daily north and south.