Miss Violet Hoffman lived in York New Salem, a borough in York County of south-central Pennsylvania.

Although founded as “New Salem”, another community in Pennsylvania (Fayette County) also bears this name’

Since 1874, the USPS has recognized “York New Salem” as the local mailing address.

The borough, southwest of the city of York, had a population of 276 in 1920.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Salem,_Pennsylvania

In September of 1918, Violet received a romantic postcard from Ray.

Ray mailed the postcard from Wytheville, a town and county seat of Wythe County in the panhandle of southwest Virginia.

The town was established in 1790, and became a center of transportation and commerce in this portion of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Today, several important highways (including US Route 81) intersect at Wytheville.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wytheville,_Virginia

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The face of the postcard is a drawing of a well-dressed young couple

The woman, in a red dress with a low-cut neckline, is embraced by a young man standing behind her.

The young man wears a suit and tie; his shoes are far more dainty and polished than the typical footwear of the previous decade.

A printed caption captures the ardent vow of the man:

“Well, perhaps you’re not the first girl I ever kissed, but I’ll swear you’re the last!”

There is no publisher’s mark, nor an identification of an artist.

The postcard was printed in the United States.

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On the reverse, we learn that Ray is in transit, although his destination is not identified.

The penciled inscription appears hastily written and is not easy to read.

Ray greets, “Dear Violet”, and reports, “going thru Va. 9:30 Friday morning.”

He adds, “Don’t worry, we are all well and happy”.

The message concludes on a cheerful note:

“Some day things will come alright”.

Ray signs as “Yours, with love”.

It is possible that Ray was off to war; he could not have known (as we do) that the Great War ended only two months later.

One hopes that he returned safely from his travels and that Violet found him to be a faithful lover.