The Lovely Josephine

This card was sent to Josephine from Czechoslovakia. Josephine looked very much like the child on the right when she was young, but I don't suppose this is actually a picture of her. My Slovak language skills are sadly lacking, but should a Slovak wander by, a translation would be greatly appreciated.

I know that the card was received, but I don't know if it was actually mailed like this or not. The stamp has been removed and there is no visible cancellation. It may have been included in a package instead. I'm curious, because I notice that the state is missing from the address. Maybe it didn't matter.

Kirkstone Pass, England

This postcard may not have color, but it definitely has movement. Be sure to click on it to get a closer look. It shows horse-drawn carriages descending from Kirkstone Pass in the English Lake District in the county of Cumbria. A motorcar has pulled off to the side, perhaps to get out of the way of the fast-moving carriages. The Kirkstone Inn (not visible here) stands near the summit of the pass and has been there since the 16th century. You can still rent a room here or a bunk in the dormitory and get some refreshment in the bar.

You probably won't be able to ride a horse-drawn carriage down from the Pass anymore, but many cyclists and runners enjoy the challenge both uphill and down. The ride is a steep one; in places the gradient is 25%! Although the ride down by carriage was probably fun and exciting, the ride up was known as the struggle, because horses were unable to pull the weight of the carriage with passengers, so people had to get out and walk to the top. The ride down was winding, dusty, and bumpy, and passengers were packed in tightly. The first carriage is carrying 19 passengers along with the driver. It looks as if it would have been easy to fall out.

Here's another view:

Hello! Central! Give Me 999

This amusing postcard is from around 1905.  You can tell it's earlier than 1907, because it has an undivided back, which only allows for the address on the backside. If people wanted to write messages on postcards at that time, they had to write on the picture side or not write one at all. So, you might receive a mysterious postcard with no message and be left wondering who sent it and what they intended. In 1907, U.S.  postcards were made with a divided back with space for both the address and a message. That's when the fun really started.

At the time of this postcard, there were just over three million telephones in the United States, all connected by manual telephone exchanges. (Note: Today there are over 100 million cell phone subscribers in the U.S.) Manual exchange meant that every call you made went through an operator; there were no numbers to dial yourself. If the number you were calling was in the same exchange, the operator would simply connect the lines on the switchboard. If it was in another exchange, she would have to connect with the operator at that exchange and ask her to connect the call. Long distance calls were pricey though, so you didn't want to make very many of them or stay on the line too long.  I don't know the significance of the 999 number; it's the emergency number in a lot of countries, but not in the U.S.