Cottbus, Germany

This card is a bit of a mystery. Walter Kahl sent this from Cottbus to Francis H. Sweet, Company E 15th Infantry in the Philippines in 1913. Cottbus is a city in northern Germany, located about 78 miles southeast of Berlin. The card has the stamp on the front, which was fairly typical in France, but unusual in Germany.

The message itself is also unusual.  Well, actually there isn't a message, just a name and address and "Hedwig" below that. Hedwig is a female name in German. So, whether it's a code name of some kind or another way of relaying a message, I can't say for sure. In any case, the card has many date stamps, starting with the cancellation date on October 3rd, 1913 and ending with a received stamp of November 14th, 1913. There are several other handwritten notations on the card.  It's all very mysterious.

Logging Camp Cookhouse

This looks like a logging camp kitchen to me. Although there's quite a bit of detail, I'd love to see more. This is not the clearest picture, but the perspective is very interesting.

Here are a few close-ups. You can see another person in the background bending over something.

And boxes of biscuit flour on the shelf...

Here's the back of the card. The stamp box imprint indicates that the card was printed between 1905 and 1920.  Too bad there weren't any tales of life at the camp written on the back. Her's a link to another logging camp cookhouse image.

Happy New Year, Herr Stoltz

Adolf Stoltz moved from Markirch, Germany to Lawrence, Massachusetts. Markirch became part of France after World War I, but by then Herr Stoltz had been in Massachusetts for a number of years.
This is a card wishing Herr Stoltz a Happy New year. It was postmarked on Christmas Day, 1910.

And here's the back of the card.

The handwriting is not so tidy, and it's that awful old German script, but I was able to make some of it:

Dear Friend I wish you a Happy New Year...We received your package with joy. Thank you for that....Greetings from Schweigert Henri.