Sunday, December 9, 2018

"Joyous Christmas" postcard intended for Shanesville, Pa.


This black-and-white Christmas postcard, featuring a girl dressed as an angel, was published by Max Ettlinger & Company of London and New York and printed in Germany. It was part of The Royal Series. The company was in business from 1901 to 1916, according to MetroPostcard.com.

It appears there was never a stamp on the card. This is written across the back:

Miss A.V.B. Mathias
Shanesville Pa.
from your friend

Shanesville is an unincorporated village in Earl Township, Berks County. (Another village in that township is Woodchoppertown. I'm not sure what they used to do there.) According to Find A Grave, there's a Mathias Burial Ground in Shanesville. Here's a partial description:
"On Rt. 73 traveling south from Oley before Shanesville, turn right at the fruit stand at the southeast comer of Long View. Site is located on the hill behind the back of the house at the first residence on the left back a short farm lane past the barn. House is visible from the road."
It further adds that the burial ground measures about 77 feet by 40 feet. The house mentioned was built in 1858 to be the home of Jacob and Hannah Matthias [sic?]. Not all of the gravemarkers remain.

This genealogy website (WikiTree) lists an Alice Mathias who was 27 years old in 1910 and lived in Earl Township. That's as close as I can come to finding someone who might have been the recipient of this postcard more than a century ago.

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