Saturday, June 18, 2011

Saturday's postcard: Was this supposed to be a threat?



I'm filing today's postcard under "Mysteries," because I can't figure out what the note on the back means.

The postcard features a colorful beach scene from Ocean City, New Jersey. It was postmarked in Ocean City on July 13, 1963 -- 19 weeks before JFK's assassination.1

The card is addressed to "Kleffes Dept Store" at 43 Baltimore Street in Hanover, Pennsylvania. That must be a misspelling of Kleffel's, a clothing store that opened in 1949 and is still in business today.

The note on the message side of the card reads:
A vacation here is worth $500.00 to any body. BRING YOURS DOWN!

YOUR CREDITOR.
Is that supposed to be a threat? A playful plea? A motivational tool?

Or maybe it's just the 1963 equivalent of junk mail?

Any and all interpretations are welcome in the comments section below.

Footnote
1. I am not, of course, implying that this postcard had anything to do with the assassination. Just trying to give that date some context. I could have, instead, said that the card was postmarked just six days after the Double Seven Day Scuffle, but that would have held meaning for far fewer people. (It is, though, an interesting historical tidbit involving David Halberstam and Peter Arnett. It also might be the only "scuffle" to have its own Wikipedia page.)

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