An archive of over 1,100 early 20th-century postcards from one family. One new postcard every day.
Back — Hello Kid Say but this is a fancy postal Put this up in garrett so no one can see it Your Friend Stuart Hoover 719 Exc St [?] Keokuk Iowa
Front — Julia.
Back — Mrs. Chesnut.
The Corse Statue in Burlington, Iowa commemorates Brigadier General John Murray Corse, a Burlington native who commanded troops at the Battle of Allatoona in 1864 and received the famous signal “Hold the Fort” from Sherman. He held it. The equestrian monument stands near the northern entrance to Crapo Park. Julia sent this card in September 1908 and signed only her first name on the front — “Julia.” — with a separate signature on the back identifying herself as Mrs. Chesnut.
Front — Did you ever see this place? Dear Pearl: Thanks for your card received so long ago Why don’t you write? A C.
Crapo Park in Burlington, Iowa was donated to the city by the family of Michigan Governor Henry Howland Crapo in the 1890s, developed from land along the bluffs above the Mississippi. By the time A.C. sent this card in July 1907, Crapo Park was already considered one of the finest municipal parks on the upper Mississippi — a winding drive through mature trees above the river, with pavilions, a small zoo, and Black Hawk Spring, a natural spring with a storied Sauk history. Burlington had been a prosperous railroad and manufacturing city since the Civil War, and the park was an expression of that prosperity.
Back — Arrived all ok Roy missed me but we found the place all right Have had a fine time but am all in down & out. Hiram & [illegible] are going to stay here tonight. Saw H.U. D.M. & La Harpe operator was on the train & [illegible] [illegible] on the train & went [?] with me to Dallas Pearle
The Old Methodist Church in Carthage — the earlier building replaced by the large brick structure shown in the linen-era card — represented the congregation’s first permanent home in the city. Carthage was settled in the 1830s and its Protestant congregations organized quickly; the Methodist and Presbyterian churches were among the first institutions the settlers established. Pearl sending this card from Burlington suggests she was traveling and found a card of her own neighborhood church at a store — or that someone mailed it to her while she was away.
Back — Am at Elva’s till Sat P.M. If you think I had better come home phone me after 7. Marnelle can. Got moms card last night. John D leaves for camp next week. No time for more now. Am sewing for Elva. Go back to Guys [?] Sat then home Sun. P.M. is plan now. Pearle.
The Methodist Church in Carthage, Illinois — shown here in a linen-era postcard — was a large brick building with a prominent tower that anchored the residential neighborhood where Pearl lived at 318 N. Fayette Street. Pearl sent this card herself, which suggests she was either sending it to someone who’d asked about the church, or simply documenting the neighborhood she lived in for someone far away. The church building visible here dates from the late nineteenth century and remained the center of the Methodist congregation Pearl would have known throughout her years in Carthage.
Front — Received your card I am at Marie going to help her clean house am pretty tired think I will go home Sun Ans. soon. Annie
Front — ] Mayme.
Back — 8/16/09 Had a chat with Aunt M. today. Am nearly down and out tonight. Did you hear what a time they had here this morning? Don’t forget the races. Big crowd here every day. I sent you 7 pictures of the park, and did you find one with some fellows on the porch? I stayed all night at the Hotel last night. Going home tomorrow morning. Can you read this With love Elva
Front — Love and best from aunt Susie. all well.
Back — Carthage Ill. 10-13-09 Hello Pearle. What do you know about this? Hope you will get this card safe. am glad you are having a good time only wish the weather was better. never mind the weather. Ask Harvey if he Dares me. Better not. Hallie.
The interior of the Presbyterian Church in Carthage, Illinois shows the characteristic worship space of a mainline Protestant congregation in a small county seat: pale walls, wooden pews, a central pulpit, colored glass in the windows. Hallie sent this real photo postcard from Carthage — the kind of postcard a congregation member might send to a friend who had moved away, showing what the church looked like inside. Carthage’s Presbyterian congregation was established in the early years of the town’s settlement and remained one of the city’s significant institutions.
Back — Received your letter last night had made all purchases Thursday. Do not get to work at all Saturday So nothing happened will be there either in a.m. or be on [illegible] about noon for [illegible] was well. He [?] is late and am tired so will go mail this and retire Ray
This real photo postcard of a grocery store window display in Quincy, Illinois is a small window into the retail world of early-twentieth-century commerce. The window is filled with sacks and containers — flour, possibly grain, canned goods — arranged for display in a manner that valued quantity and variety over design. Ray sent this card from Quincy with a brief note. Quincy grocery stores in this period served a large regional market, and the window display reflects the practical character of commerce in a river city that still had deep agricultural connections to its hinterland.
Front — ] mayme.
Back — ] "Better late than never" but I would have answered sooner if I’d had any cards. I haven’t as pretty a card to send as the one I rec’d from you, for that violet postal was certainly pretty. I liked it fine. Don’t you think all had a fairly good time yesterday afternoon, at least what we done kept us pretty busy. How is the Children’s Day exercises. I’ve got a job today I don’t like very well – helping Mamma pick up cherries. Ans. soon as ever. – Violet.
Pine Street in Fort Madison, looking south from this vantage, shows the kind of small-city commercial vitality that characterized river towns along the upper Mississippi in the early twentieth century. Fort Madison had grown up around an early American fort — the original Fort Madison, the first U.S. military post in what would become Iowa, was destroyed and abandoned in 1813 after repeated Sauk attacks during the War of 1812. The town that took its name later that century had no direct connection to the military installation; it simply kept the name. Five years after Violet sent this card, Walter Sheaffer would open his pen factory nearby, and Pine Street’s commercial character would begin to shift.
Back — Hello Pearl Received you card and thought I would ans. it. I went to the Ball game Sunday and had a fine time I had crowd of four of folkes here Sunday night and had a fine time and wish you was here to [?] as ever Caroline [illegible] ] Caroline.
The Lee County Courthouse in Fort Madison stands on a prominent corner downtown, its white columns visible for some distance along the approaches from the river. Fort Madison sits on a sharp bend of the Mississippi, and the view from the courthouse steps takes in a wide sweep of water. Caroline, writing from Fort Madison in autumn, doesn’t mention the courthouse — she’s writing about a ball game and promising to answer Pearl’s card. The building is background, not subject.