Tram Tuesday - Berlin, Germany

As you can see, this gentleman is balancing the tram on his head. And yet he looks so nonchalant.

It's a shame that someone removed the stamp. It wasn't likely worth much anyway, and the postcard loses something important in the process, not just the stamp, but the cancellation date. We can make a pretty accurate guess though based on the cancellation message, which urges people to join the Reichluftschutzbund, the State Air Protection Corps., which was formed in 1933.

The Berlin tram system was (and is) extensive. It was one of the earliest tram systems, with the first public line opening in 1847. Most of the lines that ended up on the western side of the city after World War II were replaced with bus routes, but the East Berlin system remained largely intact.



The message on the back of the card reads:

I'm having a very nice time in Berlin and wish it could last forever. With best regards Edith Flemming

Edith could not have foreseen the horrors of World War II, just around the corner. She could not have known that this part of Berlin would become East Berlin and that the remains of the palace would be demolished in 1951. She would not have wanted to stay forever though, that is certain.

Juarez, Mexico

Was Juarez a dangerous city back in 1911? Probably not like it is today. The street scene looks very peaceful with the horse-drawn carriages and the shaded booths.

The message on the the card to Elnor (Eleanor?) Moss of Minneapolis reads:

Dear Elnor

As I have just come in from the 30 Mill station and had a few nickels in saved from the rations and found a few cards.

Yours truly

W.J.L.

I'm not sure what 30 Mill station might have been. Any ideas?

Milo and Maude

Maude sent this card to Milo, with an information-rich message about rubbers, cuffs, and watches. I like messages like this that transcend the usual "I am well. Hope you are well too. Please write soon." Thank you, Maude!

Here's the front of the card - very bucolic.

Here's the back of the card, which is really more interesting.

Maude Pope sent this card to Milo L. Mack in 1909.  I love messages like this, and I think I would have liked Maude if I had met her:

Dear friend Milo - I will send you a card did you catch the car last night you forgot your rubbers- did you tell your mother I wouldn't let you come home. Well Milo - I took your cuff buttons down, and they said they couldn't exchange them now but they would have changed them if I had brought them in before Xmas: so I had them marked. I was awful sorry I couldn't change them and get a watch fob, but I couldn't so you can save them to look at anyway. I had a letter from Charlie and he wants me to come up but I am not going so will say Good Night from your true friend Maude

I have just wound my watch

So, who were Maude and Milo? I thought of posting this card about a year ago and couldn't find anything, so I left it alone. I read it again this week and thought I'd check one more time. If it hadn't been for an obituary, I would have been in the same place as last year. The obituary I found was for Elizabeth J. Seeloff Eaton, born May 5, 1918. Sadly, she died just last week, on December 28, 2011. She was the daughter of Milo Lee Mack and Maude Pope Mack. Although I was sad to hear about Elizabeth's death, I was somehow elated to hear that Maude and Milo married and had children. True friend, indeed! The card was sent in 1909, so sometime between then and about 1914 they got married. They had a son named Milo Jr. in 1915 and the daughter, Elizabeth, in 1918.

The 1920 Census shows John employed as a shoe packer in a shoe factory. That also brings a smile to my face. The address on the card was Lestershire, New York, a village that no longer exists, since it was renamed Johnson City in 1916. Johnson City (near Binghamton, New York) was the home of the Endicott Johnson Shoe Factory, reported by many to be a great place to work. Not only that, but Milo worked there at the same time as my mother-in-law's parents. They may well have known each other.
Check out this earlier post on the Endicott Johnson Shoe Factory.