This postcard story has a Research Note about the recipient.
Miss Carrie Imler lived in Imlerville, now the census-designated place of “Imler” in Bedford County of south-central Pennsylvania.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imler,_Pennsylvania
The original post office was called “Imler Valley” (1881 -1895) and then “Imler” after 1895.
The use of “Imlerville” was a holdover of the colloquial place name of the small community about 13 miles north of the county seat, Bedford.
In February of 1907, Carrie received an art postcard from Artie.
Artie mailed the postcard from Osterburg, a small unincorporated community about three miles south of Imler.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osterburg,_Pennsylvania
Osterburg produced lumber and dairy products that were transported to Bedford.
Carrie could have taken the once daily train on a branch line of the Pennsylvania Railroad from Imler to Osterburg.
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We saw another postcard related to Osterburg: “The Dance in Osterburg“.
The face of the postcard is a lovely painting of a winter landscape in the pale light of the late afternoon.
At the edge of a woods, a lonely cabin and barn stand in the distance.
There are no human figures in the scene; some animal tracks are the only signs of life.
The setting sun casts pink and orange streaks in the sky and colored shadows on the snowy ground.
In the lower right, there is an artist’s signature – the umlaut suggests a German provenance.
The postcard was printed in Germany and published by the Rotograph Company of New York city.
https://rotographproject.blogspot.com/2012/02/brief-history.html
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Because there is no place for a message on the reverse, Artie inscribed a few lines on the face.
(The original image is scanned below).
Artie begins, “Hello, Carrie”.
He suggests, “Come down some Saturday.”
It seems that Carrie may have sent a postcard to Artie as he concludes his message – “Your card was fine”.
One hopes that Carrie was able to make a Saturday visit to Osterburg and that the friends exchanged many more postcards.
RESEARCH NOTE
On August 28, 1890, Caroline L. Imler was born in Bedford, PA.
Caroline was the daughter of David Irvine Imler (1856-1890) and Margaret L. Shaffer (1863-1921).
It is sad to recognize that Caroline never met her father who died six months before her birth.
Caroline had one older brother, David Irvin Imler (1889-1954).
https://www.familysearch.org/en/tree/person/details/KH3T-H8Y
In December of 1917, Caroline married William Blackburn (1877-1961) at New Paris in Bedford County.
Caroline was 27 years old; the groom was 40.
The couple had two sons and one daughter, all of whom lived more than 75 years.
(The daughter, born in 1928, became a noted artist and died in Osterburg in 2022 at the age of 94.)
Caroline and William were living in the town of Bedford by 1930.
After William’s death in 1961, Caroline lived as a widow in Bedford County for 24 years.
Caroline died in September of 1985 at the age of 95.
She and William are buried in Messiah Lutheran Cemetery in Dutch Corners of Bedford Township.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/100437965/carrie-l-blackburn
