National Library Week

Celebrate National Library Week (April 8-14th) by visiting your local library.
If you live in Rome, New York, you can go to the Jervis Library, built in 1895.

If you live in Norwich, New York you can go to the Guernsey Memorial Library, although the building shown here was demolished in the 1967. The new library looks pretty nice too.

You can also go visit the mammoth Milwaukee Library.

Here are the backs of the cards in the same order. I think they're all clear enough to read as is.

 The first card was sent to Miss Persis Davis in Los Angeles. The second one was sent to Alma Tarbox in Harford Mills, new York. I have quite a few cards to and from the Tarbox family.

The last one was sent to Mr. C.P. Robb in Winona, Minnesota.

Carving My Name

Oh, I hope she doesn't get caught.

Auburn Prison

This view of the Auburn Prison looks nicer than any of my college dorms, and I lived in some pretty nice ones. I wouldn't be surprised if there's a swimming pool out back. If the food's good too, this could be a pleasant place to spend the summer.

The card was written in 1912 with the following message:

Auburn, NY

8.-9.1912

I am having a nice time

Clarence is coming up to morrow we will stay unti Monday. I am encloseing a few views that I thought would interest you.

From Katie Tarbox
I have a number of cards from various Tarbox family members. It's a great name.

Oh, I just found another card of the Auburn prison. This one shows the inner courtyard. I don't see a pool, but I know it must be somewhere.

And there's more.  Did you know that the Auburn prison was the first facility to use the striped black and white prison uniforms? It was also the first prison to introduce the electric chair. The "Auburn System" was copied by many other prisons; it included hard labor and solitary confinement. I guess this wasn't the summer camp I imagined. Cayuga Museum director, Eileen McHugh has just published a history of the prison entitled Auburn Correctional Facility. You can read more about it here.

Streetcar Sundays - Cortland, NY

Cortland, NY is 31 miles from Syracuse and has a population of about 18,500 today. The picture on this card is from around 1906. You can see the streetcar in the distance. The streetcar system in Cortland was discontinued in 1931.
The sender has written a message on the front of the cards that says:

I am feeling quite good this morning.

am coming home.

There were a number of people with the last name of Tarbox in Cortland and Harford Mills. I tried to find out more about H.E. Tarbox, but it would take more research. It's a wonderful last name.