(5 1/2 x 3 1/2 In) This is an original vintage AZO real photo postcard from the 1930s. It shows a view of Phoenix, "The World's Largest" Glass Bottom Boat in Catalina Island, California. "Sept. 6, 1939", is written on the back.

"Phoenix (#230667) (1931-2006), 105-foot side-wheel glass-bottom boat built in Wilmington by the Wilmington Transportation Company for service to Santa Catalina Island. Phoenix was one of the vessels commissioned by William Wrigley for construction after World War I. (Others were Princess and Blanche W.) The Phoenix was launched to replace the Emperor, which was lost in a Santa Ana windstorm in 1930. Phoenix, largest in the glass-bottom boat fleet, was built with blueprints and many of the parts from Emperor, with a viewing well so passengers could observe underwater sights. Construction cost $80,000. Phoenix skippers over the years included:

Claude Walton
Eddie Harrison
Marcelino Hernandez
Sam Hernandez
Louis Cameron
Joe Gray
Neal Salamunovich
Lorenzo Sampson

She carried passengers to view the Undersea Gardens of Lovers’ Cove, and served as a platform for sunset buffet cruises to Long Point. During the war years from 1942 through 1945, Phoenix was ‘mothballed’ in Los Angeles Harbor. After 64 years of service at the island, Phoenix was decommissioned in 1995 and sold to the Balboa Fun Zone in Newport Harbor. They, in turn, sold her to businessman, Rick Parker, who had plans of taking Phoenix 450 miles north to the coastal town of Martinez, north of San Francisco, and converting her to a dockside Cajun restaurant. She sank on the voyage to northern California on June 11, 2006." - according to Islapedia.

The postcard is in GOOD condition, wear at the edges, blunted corner tips, a few stains on the back that bleed through to front.

***Item will be packaged with care in an acid free sleeve, placed between two pieces of cardboard and shipped in a Bubble mailer.***

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Phoenix, The World's Largest Glass Bottom Boat - Catalina Island, CA - RPPC, c. 1939