I have spent the Labor Day weekend so far cleaning house instead of catching up on season 2 of Revenge, or reading a favorite romance novel over again (for the fourth time) out on my patio. Yes, cleaning house; a thankless job with an endless loop. It is therefore appropriate that I came across the first of two postcard messages.
Vintage Easter postcard – Fairy Drives Cracked Egg Chariot Pulled By Chicks
“Will write you a letter later. I am in a hurry. am going to wash & scrub to-day. I guess we’re not going to have any summer.”
I wonder why the sender was in a hurry? It could be as simple as wanting to get the “wash & scrub” over with as soon as possible. I can certainly sympathize with the lack of summer comment. Today was a beautiful day – sunny, no rain, low 70s, and non-humid for once. I’ll give you 3 guesses why I spent not a minute outside enjoying it, and the first two don’t count.
On to my second antique postcard message to Miss Fannie Brand of Iowa…
1910 Antique New Year Postcard – Overflowing Lucky Coins, Mushrooms, Horseshoes.
“I hope you are not living on starvation rations any longer and that you can talk loudly and long whether you do or not. Hoping this will prove the best of New Years.”
The phrase “starvation rations” caught my eye. I plugged the phrase into bing. I learned “rationing”, and “making do” weren’t new concepts to the 1940s. Rationing also occurred in the first decade of the 20th century. With the lead-up to World War 1, food was being diverted to feed soldiers. Immigration to the US was on the rise. Let us hope Fannie was no longer on starvation rations when she received the above antique postcard.
Both postcard messages did without something – freedom to enjoy summer or leisure time in the first message, and food in the second message. How sad.
Remember When Postcards Blog 