There is a tragic backstory to this postcard greeting – the recipient had died in childbirth before this announcement of another birth reached her.
Mrs. Harry F. Knight lived in Keene, the pretty college town in southwest New Hampshire.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keene,_New_Hampshire
In an earlier postcard story, we saw a lovely view of an arched bridge over the Ashuelot River at Keene: “Ruth and the Boys in New Hampshire” (1930).
In September of 1912, Mrs. Knight received a postcard announcement from Bess.
The postcard was mailed from Somerville, a city northwest of Boston in east-central Massachusetts.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somerville,_Massachusetts
Founded in 1629, Somerville was originally an agricultural community.
The home of Tufts University, Somerville today is an engine of industrial and technological innovation.
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The face of the postcard displays a drawing of a stork carrying an infant in a basket, and a verse in which the sender has written in some facts about the newborn.
Thus, we learn that, “We had a visit from the stork, he came to us last night.”
The stork left “the dearest baby boy” – “Its hair is black; its eyes are blue” and he “weighs just 7 1/2 pounds.”
The postcard was copyright by G. K. Prince of Buffalo, New York.
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On the reverse Mrs. Knight is greeted as “Nettie”.
Bess, writing for her daughter, Cara, is eager to “tell you good news”.
“Summer Richard”, who I assume to be the baby, “will be two weeks old on Sunday…”
Cara has “got along finely” and “sat up a little while this forenoon.”
It appears that Nettie has a young child, too.
Bess, Cara’s mother, hopes that Mrs. Knight and her “little lass” are “doing finely.”
Bess thinks it “would be interesting” to “get our families together” and to “compare notes.”
The message was sent “with love” from “Cara Bell (by her Ma)”.
One hopes that the children continued to grow in strength and ability, that the families did manage to visit at some time, and that the correspondents exchanged postcards for many years.
There is a terrible background to this greeting; Nettie had died before she received the postcard.
RESEARCH NOTE
I have not yet found the baby boy, but here is the sad biographical sketch of Nettie Knight who received the postcard in 1912.
On September 6 of 1886, Nettie Arvilla Hastings was born in Sullivan (Cheshire County) New Hampshire.
Nettie was the daughter of Thomas Alvin Hastings (1850-1925) and Ida Permelia Hale (1857-1932)
Thomas farmed and worked in a sawmill.
Nettie was the middle child in a family of nine children, four sons and five daughters – all of whom lived to adulthood.
In August of 1904, Nettie married Harry Frank Knight (1885-1966).
The couple was married in Vermont, but lived in Cheshire County throughout their lives.
In 1908, Nettie bore a son, Ralph Hastings Knight (1908-1986).
As mentioned in the postcard message – Nettie had recently given birth to a daughter.
On January 30, 1912, Helen Marie Knight was born in Keene, NH.
Two days later, on February 1, Nettie Arvilla Knight died.
Bess must not have received the news of Nettie’s death as the postcard arrived seven months after Nettie’s burial in Greenwood Cemetery in Keene.
According to her death record, Nettie had delivered her daughter at a hospital but died there due to kidney failure – she was 26 years old.
Eighteen months later, Harry married Florence Augusta Chickering (1888- 1983), but there were no children of this marriage.
