2116 UNITED STATES (California) - The Old Mill in Busch Gardens, Pasadena

In nowadays, Busch Gardens is the name of two amusement parks, located in Tampa, Florida, and in  Williamsburg, Virginia. There were also previously Busch Gardens parks in Pasadena, California (1905-1937), Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California (1964-1979) and Houston, Texas (1971-1973).. These parks were initially developed as marketing vehicles for Anheuser-Busch, a brewing company founded and based in St. Louis, Missouri.

In 1904, Adolphus Busch, co-founder of Anheuser-Busch, bought a home on the Orange Grove  Millionaire's Row in Pasadena, which he dubbed Ivy Hall for its lush ivy coating (the building didn't survived). He took advantage of the area’s mild climate and established the first Busch Gardens in 1906. When Busch died (1913) in his native Germany, his wife offered the property to the city as a park, but the city refused. As a result, Developers bought and sub-divided the property, building a neighborhood of homes.

Memories of the first Busch Gardens in Pasadena have nearly vanished, however, many original features survive most now hidden on private property. Among these are the icon of the gardens, the Old Mill (initially built as a playhouse for the Busch's daughter), which looks today much as it did in that old postcard painting, though the mill building's been expanded a bit in the front and back, to accommodate the families that have lived there since the gardens closed.

About the stamps
The first stamp, depicting the Brother Jonathan locomotive (the World’s fastest locomotive for a number of years, used in New York from 1832 to 1877), is part of the series Railway Locomotives, issued October 1st, 1987.

The last two stamps are part of series that feature 10 still frames from the 1965 TV special A Charlie Brown Christmas, issued on October 1st, 2015 to celebrate the show’s 50th anniversary. The stamps were designed by art director Antonio Alcalá.
• 01
• 02 - It's on the postcard 2258
• 03 - It's on the postcard 2258
• 04
• 05 - It's on the postcard 2116
• 06 - It's on the postcard 2116

• 07 - It's on the postcard 2250
• 08 - It's on the postcard 2250
• 09
• 10 - It's on the postcard 2258

References
A visit to the original Busch Gardens, by Robert Niles - Theme Park Insider

Sender: Cynthia / ydnic (postcrossing) US-3698666
Sent from Chicago (Illinois / United States), on 12.11.2015
Published by The Acmegraph Co., Chicago (1908-1918)