Friday, January 24, 2025

Postcard: Addison, Pennsylvania, a chicken, a mystery and french pickles

Here's a postcard of modest West Main Street in Addison, Pennsylvania, that's postmarked September 1913. I first wrote about Addison in 2020, and I think I have at least one more old postcard of the tiny borough somewhere. Maybe I'll get to that one in 2030, but (way) sooner would be nice! I do love old Pennsylvania postcards. Especially those that were mailed.

Zooming in a bit on West Main Street, it appears that the traffic consists of a man and a chicken. 
This postcard was mailed to Miss Mary J. Augustine of Stauffer, Pennsylvania. Or is it Stouffer? This one is a mystery, because I'm not seeing Stauffer/Stouffer on any list of historical Pennsylvania place names or unincorporated communities. The closest I could initially guess is that it's Stoufferstown, in Franklin County, which is named after Abraham Stouffer. But that didn't seem like a great fit. So I did a little more sleuthing.

Mary J. Augustine appears to have lived in Addison at some point, before moving away to the mystery location. This postcard was sent to Mary in care of William Bliss. I found the following in the digitized text of the November 10, 1904, edition of the Mount Pleasant Journal: "A broken front axle compelled William Bliss, of near Stauffer, to leave his buggy on South Church street Saturday evening." The Mount Pleasant Journal was a publication in Westmoreland County. So Stauffer's somewhere in that county, though it's no longer a place anyone refers to by that name, it seems.

The cursive message on the card states:
Read your card was glad to hear you was better [Can't deciper] still alright I canned more tomatoes today have 27 qt now have beans nearly all picked & french pickles made have not hear from Dr. today [Can't decipher]
According to Wikipedia, "Cornichons, or baby pickles, are tart French pickles made from gherkins pickled in vinegar and tarragon." So that's a thing I learned today.

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