Sorry, I was detained for a bit in Forest City

No, I wasn't actually detained in Forest City by a throng of adoring women. I've just been dealing, like everyone else, with the holidays (safely) and the horror novel that is 2020, and I was looking for something silly to get back into the Papergreat swing.¹

This postcard was never mailed and no publisher is listed, so I can only guess what decade it dates to. Straw hats for men began to surge into popularity late in the 19th century, so this could really be from just about any time early in the 20th century. The back of the card is "split," allowing for both correspondence and an address, so that would put it after March 1907, when the U.S. postal regulations changed.

And what Forest City is this? There are four significant places called Forest City in the United States: in Pennsylvania, Florida, North Carolina and Iowa. Additionally, very small "Forest City" locations exist in Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Missouri, Minnesota and South Dakota. "The Forest City" is a famous historical nickname for Cleveland. But it's also been used for other cities, including Atlanta. So we can only speculate which place this postcard is referring to.

On the back, in cursive, someone has written just this: "Would ent mind being a lad like this." (Interesting linguistic use of "ent" there!) 

Dreary footnote

1. For posterity, and to keep up the practice of documenting "signs of the times" headlines throughout this COVID-19 year on Papergreat, here is a collection of some I came across this morning:

• Covid Fighters Run Out of Weapons With Virus Spreading in Homes
• Sun-Belt Return Targets Miami, Phoenix and Las Vegas 
• CASES, HOSPITALIZATIONS HIT HIGH... DEATHS SET RECORD, AGAIN...
• Doctors Ration Intensive Care 
• Vaccine Side Effects Risk Sidelining Health Workers While Cases Surge
• California to be locked down for 3 WEEKS 
• BUST: Food Pantries Reach 'Crisis Level' 
• BREAKING: For the first time, CDC advises everyone to wear masks indoors when not at home
• U.S. added just 245,000 jobs in November, a worrisome sign
• Pandemic is pushing America’s 911 system to ‘breaking point,’ ambulance operators say
• Employers start preparing for the coronavirus vaccine with a question: Can we require it?
• Report: Center City retail is being decimated by the pandemic. ‘It’s horrible.’
• Biden says he will ask Americans to wear masks for 100 days as cases surge in Pa. and nationally; Philly airport coronavirus testing to open
• Pa. reports 11,000 new cases of COVID-19 in one day, and asks public to help protect hospitals from filling

THESE PEOPLE ARE NOT SOCIAL DISTANCING!