Oh You Peach!

The sender of this card was probably dreaming of sunny weather and peaches, because it certainly wasn't a reality in March 1912 in Fort Covington, New York. Although the card is addressed to Bessie Belair of Hodensburg, New York, I have a feeling it's supposed to be Ogdensburg. Note: After Rob's comment below, I realize it was probably Hogansburg, New York, a mere 11 miles from Fort Covington in an area close to the Canada border.  In any case, being that far north, you can imagine that they might have heavy snow in March.

This card also brings to mind the work of a postman back then. They were part postman and part detective. To some degree it's still true today. But, imagine, before the advent of zip codes, mailmen often needed to know all of the residents of a town and where they lived, because the entire address consisted of a name and the city and state. Mailmen also needed to decipher difficult handwriting and misspellings.

The message on the back (as much as I can decipher) reads:

Dear Bessie

I have been no place sence not to your mothers or any place the roads are so bad and so much snow I would like to go to your mother I have not seen any of Leo's folk or any of them sence. If the road get better I will try and go before he begans work.  _____ hope you are all well

Asbestos Letter

Oh, the mystery! Miss Gillita Workman traveled to Europe, where she received postcards care of various pensions and care of Cook and Sons. At home she received cards care of Bullocks, where she worked in the Book Department. Perhaps she had no fixed address. As far as I can tell she never married. The 1930 Census lists her as a boarder at an address in Glendale, California, with an occupation of saleslady in a bookshop.

The front of the card shows a very nice view of Spokane, Washington with building signs and streetcars.

The back of the card, sent in 1920, has a message from Honore Rusner (?) that reads:

Dear Workie

Have oodles to tell you, but must put it in an asbestos letter - when I can.

My address is 

2105 W. Pacific

however and I am

the same.

Honore Rusner

Note: Although I assumed that 'asbestos letter' referred to something to be kept secret, WJY commented below that it is actually archaic slang for a sexually-themed love letter. Presumably asbestos could contain the fire within. WJY also suggests that this may have been a lesbian relationship. The handwriting does look feminine, and although Honoré can be either a man's or a woman's name, it is more often masculine.

Although I have a few postcards addressed to Gillita, I don't have the asbestos letter.

Salty Souvenir from Saltair

Here's another card that might not make it through the mail if it were sent today. It has a little cloth bag of salt attached as a souvenir from the Great Salt Lake.

There's some very faded printing on the bag that says Great Salt Lake. The postcard photo shows people disembarking from open-air curtained train cars, with the first Saltair Pavilion in the background. The pavilion was built in 1893 and burned down in 1925. A replacement was built, but it also suffered from fire damage in 1931 and then burned down completely in 1970. Although a third pavilion was built, it was plagued by various problems, including unpredictable water levels. In a good year you might be on the edge of the water, but the next year might be a different story.

You can see by the back of the card that moisture has wicked out some of the salt.

Here's a close up of the text on the back.

The Salt Lake is also a valuable habitat for birds. Here's an earlier post on bathing at Saltair.