This is a postcard sent to my Great-Grandpa Phil by his cousin, James, on February 25 of either 1908 or 1909; the postmark isn’t clear. (Also, somebody did a poor job of filching the stamp.) What’s odd is that it’s postmarked at Helen, Pennsylvania. James lived in Dawson, Pennsylvania, about 10 miles from Phil, but he mailed it from Helen, which was only about two miles away. James and Phil were both pre-teens at the time; James and family might have been visiting friends. I don’t recall any that any relatives lived in the very tiny hamlet of Helen.
James writes: “Dear Philip: I rec’d your card. Glad to hear from you. Mamma (Phil’s Aunt Kate) will answer your card you sent her soon. Good-by, James.”
Over at Girls Go Postal! today, I posted another of Phil’s cards, a postcard sent to him by my great-great-great-grandmother. Check it out, then take a look at the other folks celebrating Postcard Friendship Friday today!
From Sheila:
I love the picture of the two boxers! You don’t so often see such masculine illustrations (I don’t anyway), but it could be that many collectors are women.
From Bob of Holland:
The cards on both your blogs are fine, Chris, but I prefer this illustration. I like the big heads – in the cartoon style of the daily papers of the day, I guess How formal your granpa’s nephew was writing, but his choice for this card to respond was great.
From postcardy:
That’s a fun card for two boys to send to each other.
From viridian:
Yes, seems like a card for two boys corresponding. Happy PFF!
From Snap:
Love the boxers. Looks just like a postcard one young boy would send another!
From Margo:
Is all that red blood? Clearly for the boys who didn’t want to come close to all that prissy stuff. Great card!
From Chris Overstreet:
That’s funny; I never saw it as blood until you mentioned the possibility. I think it just means that one of them is about to hit the bricks. :)
From Evelyn Yvonne Theriault:
So much for conflict resolution!
I’m toying with whether to show this card to my Grade 5 boys!!!
Evelyn in Montreal
From Weng:
I love the picture, its so cute.
From HereBeDragons:
How cute is that postcard? I love the older ones. A little slice of life from way back.