Miss Ida Stockfish lived in Brooklyn, the most populous borough of New York City.
Between 1910 and 1920, the population of Brooklyn grew from 1.6 million to more than 2 million.
At the turn of the 20th century, Brooklyn was an industrial powerhouse and a center of ship-building and Navy operations.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooklyn
On September 21 of 1910, Ida received a postcard from Mama.
The postcard was mailed from Hamburg, the second-largest German city and a center of industry and trade for more a thousand years.
Founded on the Jutland Peninsula, where the Elbe River meets a long estuary of the North Sea.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamburg
Hamburg was one of the chief cities of the medieval Hanseatic League – an international compact of Guilds and Market Towns that established and protected free trade across northern Europe.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanseatic_League
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The face of the postcard is a drawing of the “Elbebrucke”, one of many bridges that cross two branches of the Elbe River and connect to river islands.
This structure is the “Neue Elbebrucke”, constructed with remarkable curved (lenticular) girders between 1884 and 1887.
Between 1886 and 1888, the stunning Neo-Gothic towers were built upon the piers.
The structure was significantly altered through the 20th century – a train platform and tram line was added.
In 1959, when the bridge lanes were widened, the colorful towers were removed -although the bridge remains in use today.
The postcard was printed and published by “Dr. Trenkler Co.” of Hamburg.
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On the reverse, Mama greets “Dear Ida” and acknowledges receipt of a letter.
There follows a discussion of money that Ida sent to Mama.
It appears that Ida requested some goods from Germany as Mama notes, “I have to go out this afternoon and get something for you.”
One hopes that Mama found some suitable items and that Ida was pleased to receive them when Mama returned safely home.
