Miss Peggy Cook lived in Trenton, the capital city on the Delaware River in west-central New Jersey.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trenton,_New_Jersey
We have seen other postcards related to Peggy, who later married into the Wallace family of Princeton, NJ:
“The Bear Will Eat You Up” (1939); “Charlotte Sends the Lutheran Church” (1928).
In July of 1923, Peggy received a postcard from “Fluff”.
The postcard was mailed from Los Angeles, but the message indicates that the writer was on a cruise ship.
Los Angeles was in a period of exponential growth at this time – the completion of aqueducts ensured sufficient water for new development and there were jobs in the oil industry and other production plants.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles
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The face of the postcard is a photograph of “Hermosas Casuchas, Balboa, Zona del Canal”.
An English translation is provided below the scene, “Beautiful Cottages, Balboa, Canal Zone”.
We see here a paved street lined with small homes that are covered with flowering vines and surrounded by gardens.
In 1903, the United States took over the completion of the Panama Canal and, by a treaty with the government of Panama, occupied a “Canal Zone” extending about five miles on either side of the Canal.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panama_Canal
Vasco Nunex de Balboa, the Spanish conquistador (and pirate) who was the first European to cross Central America from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, is the namesake of the small city in the Canal Zone.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balboa,_Panama
Control of the Panama Canal and the Canal Zone was returned to Panama in 1979.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panama_Canal_Zone
The postcard photograph was published by I. L. Maduro, Jr. at Cathedral Square in Panama City.
https://www.choosepanama.com/blog/plaza-de-la-catedral-in-panama-city-panama
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On the reverse, Fluff greets “Dear Peggy” and reports “we are having a wonderful time”.
We know that this is a cruise, as Fluff exclaims, “There is a peachy crowd on board and we dance every night”.
Some travelers made a special impression; “You really should see the Spanish Consul. He’s adorable”.
The message closes with “Love”, but we do not know if Fluff is continuing on the cruise, returning by ship to the east coast, or pursuing some other itinerary.
One hopes that she sent Peggy many more postcards related to her adventures.




