Tuesday, December 20, 2016

Christmas postcard mailed to Mattoon, Wisconsin, in 1910


This is hardly an exciting Christmas postcard, but it was mailed 106 years ago — when William Howard Taft was president and Henry Fonda, Greta Garbo and Howard Hughes were all 5 years old — so that should count for something interesting, right?

The postcard was mailed with a one-cent stamp to Miss Ethel Pollock of the tiny village of Mattoon, Wisconsin. I think I found the obituary for Ethel; there's an Ethel Mabel Wood (née Pollock) who lived in Wisconsin from 1903 to 1988.

The postmark on the card is December 21, 1910. The note states:
A merry Xmas Ethel
How are you, anaway [sic]. We are all fine, very happy and busy as well. Now Ethel write me all the news, I get loneson [sic] once in a while for all of you. A merry Xmas to you all.
With love Mrs. Patzer

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Because that's all I have from this postcard, I'll tack on a little bonus. Here's an image from the Matchbloc Instagram account, which very specifically exists for the purpose of "revelling in the graphics of Eastern Bloc matchbox labels." And so, of course, I follow them.

1 comment:

  1. Hello Chris,
    I sent you an email but maybe got lost in your spam. The postcard above was sent to my Grandmas cousin, Ethel Arabelle Pollock Ethel had never married and lived her entire life in the Mattoon area. The woman, Mrs Patzer, must have been a friend that lived here also at one time. Ethel was born 18 Dec 1890 and died 16 Jan 1954 and buried in Woodlawn Cemetery near Mattoon.

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