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Pensacola, Florida, circa 1910. "Hotel Escambia." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
Another reason for white trunks was insect control. Insects that might prove harmful to the tree by entering at the trunk (such as a colony of carpenter ants or termites) would be easily seen by birds and picked off the tree, hopefully before any damage was done. I don't know how effective or even necessary this was, as it is rarely seen today.
It's whitewash, actually, and Googling turns up the info that it was done to minimize "sun-scald."
mysterious and spooky. Admit it -- you looked at this and the "Addams Family" theme popped into your head.
I've never seen a fire escape quite like this one. Guests on the upper front and right floor can crawl out the dormer windows, down the very steep roof to the edge, grab hold of the roof pipe fence and hopefully can carefully walk to the front second floor fire escape. Apparently there is another escape on the left side of roof as well. Brave souls.
Tell us again why we used to see white paint on tree trunks?
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