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No publisher’s mark exists on this card postmarked Feb. 18, 1938, which shows the Sni-A-Bar Gardens in Kansas City, Mo.
Originally, outside the city limits of Kansas City in unincorporated Jackson County, the gardens were a top destination spot for those in search of higher-end dining and dancing entertainment.
The description on the back states: “Sni-A-Bar Gardens brings to the junction of two of Kansas City’s most beautiful suburban drives the atmosphere of an old English Inn.
Located at No. 40 Hiway and Blue Ridge Boulevard, three miles east of the city limits is the largest and best appointed dinner dance place in the central west.”
The name “Sni-A-Bar” was originally given to a creek in eastern Jackson County. The term “sni” is of French origin meaning “slough” or small creek. The name came from a French frontiersman named Abar who was charting a course on the Missouri River in the early 1800s.
He began to follow the small creek, originally believing it would wind back to the Missouri. It didn’t. Subsequently, the creek or “sni” was named for Abar, and the name has held to this day.
Later in the 1830s, the Sni-A-Bar townships were organized around the creek, encompassing parts of eastern Blue Springs and Grain Valley.
Michael Bushnell
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