Miss Etta Reid lived in Baltimore, the largest city in Maryland and the most important port for commerce and transportation on the Chesapeake Bay.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltimore
Miss Reid’s address is given as “Station E”, which I assume is one of the Post Office substations in the city.
In August of 1907. Etta received a repurposed advertising postcard from Eva.
The postcard was mailed from Chestertown, an historic town (founded in 1706) in Kent County on the eastern shore of Maryland.
Located on the Chester River near the Chesapeake Bay, Chestertown was a prosperous center of trade – it was one of six “Royal Ports of Entry” in the Maryland Colony.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chestertown,_Maryland
Today, Chestertown is renowned for the number of 18th century buildings preserved within the town.
Baltimore is about 76 land miles from Chestertown – a boat trip across the Chesapeake Bay is much shorter.
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The face of the postcard is a painting of the “Rock of Gibraltar”, the British possession at the foot of the Iberian Peninsula – guarding the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gibraltar
In the ancient world, Gibraltar was part of the “Pillars of Hercules” that defined the limits of classical civilization.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pillars_of_Hercules
Remnants of Neanderthal settlements have been dated to the end of the last Ice Age, and the imprint of successive conquests (Phoenician, Carthaginian, Roman, Moorish, and Spanish) can still be found on Gibraltar.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Gibraltar
The postcard was published as an advertisement for the Prudential Insurance Company of America, and was printed by that firm.
We have seen other natural wonders and historic sights featured on Prudential advertising postcards:
“The Ute Pass”, “The Delaware Water Gap”, “A Painting of Lake George”, and others.
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Because the postcard has an undivided back, Eva inscribed a brief message on the face:
“Just home, are you?” and “Hope to see you soon”.
It appears that the friends may have attended a recent event.
We know that Etta preserved the postcard in very good condition throughout her life.
One hopes the correspondents exchanged many more postcards.
RESEARCH NOTE
(There are gaps in the genealogical information for Etta Reid, but this account is listed on one of the most-consulted genealogical data sites.)
On November 22 in 1882, Etta Elizabeth Reid was born in Accomac, Virginia.
She was the daughter of George T. Reid (1838 -deceased) and Anna Elizabeth ____ (1838-deceased).
(George and Anna were married in 1870, but the records are not extant.)
By 1900, the family is living in Baltimore, and the records are more complete.
Etta was the fifth child, and the fourth daughter of her parents.
Sadly, there are no adult records of her older siblings -although this might be due to incomplete documentation.
Of the three daughters that were born after Etta, all lived past their 75th year.
https://www.familysearch.org/en/tree/person/details/GSCQ-V11
Sometime around 1908, Etta married Charles E. Lenderking (1876-1959).
The couple lived in Baltimore where they raised a family of two sons and one daughter.
All of the children reached their 80th year.
After the death of Charles in Baltimore (at age 83), Etta remained in the city until her death in November of 1976.
Etta died near her 94th birthday and is buried in Baltimore’s Loudon Park Cemetery, as is Charles.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/127766524/etta-e-lenderking
