Your Affliction

The front of this card is not very interesting, but the message is, even if it is all about afflictions.

Mrs. L. Darling of Middlesex, N.Y. wrote this card in August 1909. The message reads:

Middlesex 24'/09

Dear Miss Sprague

I heard you had not been well & hope this will find you fully recovered my health is quite good. Mr Darling is not as well  & am worried about him & hope he will soon be better I read of your Fathers Death I sympathize with you in your affliction. have you had your vacation, come + see us. Do you want to take the magazine again for Dora remember us to Dora + Grace I would like to see you all Write Soon. Sincerely your friend Mrs. L. Darling.

The casual mention of the father's death strikes me as odd, but I've seen it on other postcards of the era.

Here's the front of the card.

Tram Tuesday - Belfast, Northern Ireland

Belfast, Northern Ireland had horse-drawn trams in 1872, but by 1905 (about the time this photo was taken), they had changed to electric power. These trams did have overhead wires, but you can't see them because the people who colored the cards often erased whatever they could of the wires for aesthetic reasons. I don't think anyone ever thought to erase horses from the earlier photos.

Here's a closer view of the trams.

The card was sent to Master Alexander Seavey of Eugene, Oregon in 1910. Little Alexander would have been just over two years old at the time. He was born into an Oregon family with pioneer roots. His father, James Walter, was a hops farmer who married Bessie Kelly. Bessie's father John came from Dublin, Ireland, so the aunt who wrote this card may have been a relative of his.

The message is very sweet:

Belfast Ireland

April 5 -1910

My Dear little Boy -

Tell Mamma that Aunt Trey (Tray?) got her letter yesterday and will write her next Sunday. I was so glad to hear  all the nice things about you and so happy to hear in her other letter that you could say my name -  Don't forget it, please - It is just four months today since I saw you last. I stole upstairs and you were asleep in your little bed. How do you like the looks of these two-story cars? Not so much as your own new "chu-chu" car I know. Wish you bring it over to take me riding. Kiss Mamma, Papa, Aunt Kate, Elizabeth, W___, Aunt Ida for me, and tell everyone to compliment you.

Lots of love from Aunt Trey

Doing the Wash

I hope you're not celebrating Labor Day by doing laundry. If you are, at least you can take comfort in knowing how much easier it is today than it was at the turn of the century. And this lady thought she was fortunate to have a hand-cranked wringer.

Doing laundry isn't really newsworthy today, but I guess back in 1909 and 1912 it was a big enough job that it was worth writing home about.

These cards were sent in June and July, so I imagine the clothes were hung on the clothesline and came back smelling of sunshine. I hang laundry out in the summer too, but I would miss the convenience of a dryer in the winter.

The first card was sent to Mrs. Claude Light of Harpursville, New York in 1909. According to the 1910 Census, Claude (27) was a milk inspector for Borden Milk. His wife Nina, was 19 at the time.

The message reads:

We arrived home soon after eight. B.G. was surprised. Suppose you are canning. I washed today. I asked father how he was feeling today and he said he didn't know. Mother G. invited me up to dinner today. Write soon Lovingly M.

The second card was sent to Mr. Derrick Osro Steere of McDonough, New York in 1912. According to the 1880 Census, Derrick Steere, a dairy farmer,  was born in 1855. The sender, his daughter Nora, was born in 1879. The message (with very little punctuation) reads:

June 3, 1912

Hallo Father

I send this wishing you a happy birthday and many more to come we age well F' has got to Point I have washed I have got five turkeys is all when does yours come off I will write more and send to marrow so you will have all the news

your daughter Nora

Here are the other sides of the cards. Grace Lester must have had the first one glued in an album.