Sunday, March 20, 2016

Postcard of Harrisburg (with a minor mystery) mailed in 1922


This old postcard, which is a bit rough in spots, features the "Masonic Temple and West State Street from Capitol steps, Harrisburg, Pa." It would be fun to do a compare-and-contrast with a modern photograph, but I can't find any current images taken from a similar perspective. (Help is always gladly accepted.)

A modern photograph would not show the Dauphin County Veteran's Memorial Obelisk, the 110-foot tribute to Union Civil War soldiers that can be seen in the distance at the center of this postcard. In 1960, it was moved from its original location to Third and Division streets, in uptown Harrisburg.

As for the back of the card, it was postmarked on August 23, 1922, in Harrisburg, and mailed to Miss Alice Parsons in Cliftondale, Massaschusetts (a neighborhood within the town of Saugus.)

I can decipher most of the message. It states:

"8-22-22.
How is Winfield? Don't get married before I get back. I want to attend the wedding. Wish I was in [?] at the beach.
Reg."

I can't decipher the location where Reg (or is it Peg?) wishes he/she was. Here's a look at it...


Thoughts?

2 comments:

  1. Probably "Lynn" as in Lynn, Massachusetts, which is "home to two beaches, Lynn Beach and King's Beach," according to Wikipedia.

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  2. Here's a modern photo from the same angle. Copy it before it disappears from Pinterest:

    https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/49/a2/f7/49a2f7d46ee6f503cc33f95e013dd805.jpg

    True to your word, the obelisk is not in evidence.

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