This postcard, sent in 1940, bears this printed message on the back:
Dear Sir: Have you a tract of 5 to 10 acres on a main highway near your city that you can lease if you can see $50.00 or more per day rolling in? “GOPHER GOLF” will do the trick and two weeks good play will return your investment. “GOPHER GOLF” is the hottest thing a real estate broker ever had offered him. It is not “miniature golf” rather it has about the same relation to golf that softball has to baseball. “GOPHER GOLF” is new, it’s fascinating. Be first in your community to cash in on this money maker. Write or wire, at once, for details and exclusive franchise offer. G.B. Lorraine, 510-511 Law Bldg. Richmond, Va.
George Bernard Lorraine was a Richmond real estate broker and amateur historian/photographer who specialized in the farms, estates and plantations of eastern Virginia. His collection of photographs, taken between 1925 and 1970, is today a valuable resource for architects and historians, and is housed at the Library of Virginia. Lorraine’s Gopher Golf apparently never caught on, but has survived, in name at least, as a computer game and a lawn game at children’s parties.
So interesting. I’m from Virginia, very cool to see this relic from my home state. How did you find out the history behind the postcard and “Gopher Golf”?
Via Google, although I couldn’t find as much as I would have liked.
Thanks for the response! Well keep it up, the blog is really cute & interesting. Thanks for sharing