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Past Cards: I’m Still Waiting For That Letter that ancer

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I like to share my collection of vintage postcards here. I have not done one of these posts in awhile and I figured it was time again (other past card posts here and here).

It seems throughout time there have been unanswered lovers and letters.

When I saw this post card, I knew I wanted to own it. It combined both of the above. This is what it says:

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“hellow Jettie

Say I would like to no the reason I havent never got my ancer from my letter
Looks like you wood ancer
do so at once
ha ha
So good By

a Friend R”

I cringe at the grammatical errors, however, the postcard was sent in 1912 from a rural Kentucky town with a population of less than a 1,000. There were probably not a great many schools to choose from and a lot of hard work to be had.

The post card makes me sad. Sometimes it makes me wonder. Did the girl respond to the boy? Did they get married? Could I send this postcard to their children? What happened to the two individuals so long ago?

I wondered so much about this postcard that I did some research into the name that the card was addressed to. It seemed curious to me that if the girl in question did not want to answer the boy, then why would she keep the post card all of those years? Why not throw the card away? If she had thrown the card away, then I never would have purchased it. And I would not have looked up the girl to find her fate.

The woman who received this postcard was eighteen when it arrived in her mailbox. Her name was Jettie. I find that I like that name.

This is what I learned about Jettie:

She never married.
She lived near a railroad.
Her family were farmers.
Her occupation is unlisted, so I assume she did not have one.
She passed away at the age of 59 in her home she shared with her sister.
She was buried in the family cemetery.
A Kentucky census listed her age as 19 in the year of 1910, but she was born in 1894, so the census was incorrect.
She was an Aquarius.

I wonder if the boy waiting for his ancer ever received one. If he did, it is obvious, it was not the one that he had been hoping for.

Did he ever marry? Did he attend Jettie’s funeral? What made Jettie keep the postcard all of those years (neither her, nor her three siblings, ever married. There has to be a story there. And I assume the possessions, including this post card, were sold or donated after the last sibling’s death by a distant relative or by the state)?

When I began researching this story, I had hoped for a better ending. One in which the boy won the girl over with a relentless stream of letters.

But maybe Jettie liked being independent. Or maybe she tossed and turned dreaming about the boy in another town as the train rumbled on the track and shook her bedpost so that it tapped against the wall in the exact rhythm of her heart. Or maybe she lost no sleep at all.

I, myself, toss and turn. And I wonder.

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Past Cards: This Is Your Little Girl

Every month, I pick one of my vintage post cards from my collection to share with you. It isn’t easy. I have a lot of them. And, I try only to buy the ones that make me laugh inside. If you missed last month’s you can find it here.

For this month, I picked a short but sweet one. It is dated Feb. 13, 1912:

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The front of the Post Card reads:

“Be The Day Rainy
Or Be The Day Fine
The Sunshine Comes With You
My Sweet Valentine”

It appears to be hand written. And, honestly, the picture appears to be hand painted. But it is raised and embellished, so I am unsure on that note.

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The back of the postcard reads:

Dear Edward this is your little girl. Isn’t she sweet.

Elizabeth

And, I know. I know I have a sick sense of humor that I find this card so funny that it brings tears to my eyes. But I just imagine Edward getting this post card and him looking at the illustration of the little girl and it just seems crazy to think he that thought that was his little girl.

And it was mailed from the same town to the same town. So, he was not someone overseas who had not seen his “little girl.”

I have to wonder what this card meant. And all of my theories point to poor Elizabeth being a bit addled in the head.

Also, this was a Valentine’s Card. Isn’t that an odd message to send on a Valentine’s card?

Over one hundred years ago, Master Edward received a Valentine’s Card with a cartoon drawing of a little girl on the front from Elizabeth.

And I have to answer Elizabeth’s question of, “Isn’t she sweet?” with a few of my own.

Elizabeth, what were your and Edward’s real names? I suspect based on the picture of your little girl that perhaps your initials really were O.O.

And, Popeye Edward, would you care for some spinach?

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Past Cards: I Want Some One To Love Me

In keeping with my flashback to the past through old postcards (you can see the previous installment here), I thought I would share another vintage postcard from my collection. It appears to be sent in June of 1927. Making the front of this postcard kind of scandalous.

I like it all ready.

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This is the front of the postcard. In the corner, you can see the sender has put a name on it. It says, “Lois.”

Lois was ScandaLois.

And I wish I could have known her! ; )

This is the back of the postcard:

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It reads:

“I guess you will sure be crazy to get this card. How did you get over the party?

From Me”

But on the top right hand corner, the sender has also put the words, “ha ha” before he/she addressed the card to “Miss Lois.” There was obviously a last name, but I blacked that out. No need to embarrass Lois any further.

So, let’s do some guessing. Shall we? It is the most fun.

These are the things we know:

In 1927 Lois went to a party. I am not thinking that the woman in the chair is actually Lois, but we should examine her further.

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She is holding an umbrella.

She liked to sit in a chair the wrong way.

In a dress.

She is holding an umbrella. I realize I all ready said this, but it bears repeating.

She looks like she is still at a party.

Or feeling the affects of a party.

And the chair is on a sheepskin rug. This, my dears, is my favorite part.

Or the umbrella.

Or the tipsy girl in the chair.

And then Lois’s world collided with “Me” and I have to wonder if she “sure was crazy to get this card.” Or if she all ready was crazy. Or if the sender was crazy. That “ha ha” inserted into the corner is kind of disturbing. Well, as is getting a card in the mail with two sentences sent from “me.” And the front of the card having an obviously demented woman with the only headline being, “I want some one to love me.” And then your name next to that line. Well, it is either a cute little joke or just plain creepy. The sender obviously wanted her to know it was a joke with the “ha ha” inscribed in the corner. But that just ends up being slightly disturbing as well.

I like it.

Did Lois ever really hold an umbrella, sitting in a chair backwards on a sheepskin rug while reading a postcard and getting over a hangover?

We will never know.

But I like to think, yes.

“ha ha”