Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Tracy's Girl

Slowly but surely I am piecing together the few details of Tracy Graham's life through the postcard evidence.  I have various collections of postcards sent to and from particular people, but no one has piqued my interest like Tracy Graham.  Occasionally they are standard greetings, but more often they are playful jabs, inside jokes, and just plain fun.

Here's a perfect example.


 I have not been able to find much about Tracy from the internet, but this card from 1909 solves one more puzzle. I knew that he got married and that his wife's name was Liz, but there was no indication of her last name, because the later cards are just addressed to Mrs. Tracy Graham.  This card is addressed to Miss Elizabeth Mable by a sender who added some notations to the front of the card - crossing out the word hubby and replacing it with Tracy. The sender also added Cooperstown on the front, so presumably they made a trip there.

Here's the back of the card.


The message reads:
Say Liz:
I would like to have had a snap shot of you people, when you was tumbled out into the road at William Dodd's milk house.  H. Ha.  J.B.A

If you haven't read the previous Tracy Graham posts, click here or on Tracy Graham down below in the list of topics.

8 comments:

  1. Hallo Christine,
    ich hab mich wahnsinnig gefreut als ich deine tolle Postkarte aus Hawaii gekommen haben.
    Wow Hawaii, wie cool.
    Der Flug war ja wirklich ein Schnäppchen und wenn du dann auch noch bei deiner Ma wohnen kannst, ist das besonders toll.
    Und zu guter letzt gibt es auch noch Bier auf Hawaii, was will man mehr.
    Vielen Dank auf jeden Fall, das war eine tolle überaschung.
    Alles liebe
    Janine

    ReplyDelete
  2. What a funny card. I love the vintage postcards that have messages on them. Little peeks into someone's life.

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a splendid card that is. And what a detective you are.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I second what H.Ha.J.B.A said:) The postcard is cute, but ... the affair in front of the milk house sounds like it could have qualifed for America's Funniest Videos...
    As much research as you, Christine, why don't you collaborate on a cozy mystery with me? I need a partner in crime!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'm interested in the black man leaning against the column in the background, it seems to be a stereotype that suggests he is either 'lazy' or a 'hustler' (the white clothes...). The fact that he is located right between the couple's outstretched arms is peculiar too.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I like "vacationist" as a job description; maybe "vacationism" can be turned into a curriculum (e. g., Vacationism 101, 102, . . ., Advanced Vacationism, Critical Vacationism, etc.) Don't laugh. The idea could be coming to an educational bureaucracy near you.

    Anonymous, I half-agree the depiction of the black guy seems to have him as a pickpocket, maybe posing as a faux redcap. But the white folks are comedic and stereotyped, too. Jack/Youngstown

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hey Trishia, I'm up for it! Besides, i need a break from being a Vacationista.

    ReplyDelete