Recently I purchased a post card for my collection. It was to be a duplicate, but I wanted it all
the same because I liked the card and the written message on it. The card is labeled Harbor Boat “Mark Twain”, St. Louis, Mo. and has a picture of that
boat in the early 1900’s.
“Miss Ella” had sent it to a young fellow (based on the use
of the title “Master” in the address), perhaps a neighbor's son or a favored student, for speculation sake. On the front she had written,
“How would you like to ride on this boat?”.
The card is dated 1908, and what red-blooded young man of that time
would not want to ride on a steamboat?
Perhaps he even dreamed of piloting steamboats just like the boat’s
namesake, Mark Twain, had done. At any
rate it is a card and message that can easily promote a bit of pleasant
daydreaming.
Now, to the rest of the story. I recorded the card in my database and noted
that it was postmarked September 26, 1908.
When I filed the card, I pulled out the duplicate card I had purchased
previously and looked it over. It too
had a message on the front, “Love from Uncle Charlie & Aunt Ella”. Then, on the back I saw that it was
postmarked September 25, 1908. Both
cards were postmarked from St. Louis. The
writing on the two cards is similar but does not look exactly alike. Still, it’s quite possible that one was
written by Charlie and the other by Ella.
There is solid ground to conclude that these two cards were
sent by the same couple just one day apart in September of 1908. I had purchased the first in March, 2007, and
now in January, 2015 had come into possession of the other. Perhaps Charlie and Ella sent even more of
that same card while on that trip to St. Louis, and eventually they too will
find their way here. Good times. Good times.
