Hazard's Glory Years

Pretty as a post card. Those words perfectly describe the quality and beauty of many picture post cards that we see on those rotating racks at Fouts Drug, Hazard Drug, and other businesses in town. I remember the first time I discovered that these scenes were not from a movie, but from my very own town. It was as if we were famous. They don't just put anybody on a post card, do they? I thought that was reserved for Niagara Falls, Miami Beach or the Kentucky Derby. But Hazard, Kentucky?

I remember how proud I felt when I realized that the scenes that were displayed before me were my home. The colors were magnificent. At the time, it seemed that the only people who could produce such a perfect picture were the apparent magicians who made these post cards. My pictures never looked that, neither did yours. Not only did they produce scenic views of places I had taken for granted, they provided a history lesson of our town that couldn't be found in any school book. There were early photos of Main Street in Hazard, scenes of the first train in Perry County, and historic buildings that proudly overlooked the town. And we can buy these wonderful images for just a few cents? How can that be? What better way to say hello to a distant friend than with a postcard from Hazard. Even if I never purchase one, I'll be back tomorrow to give the rack a spin and look at these great images again.