Ida May Bard lived in Columbia, the beautiful town sitting above the Susquehanna River in southern Pennsylvania.

Since the early 19th century, the Pennsylvania Canal system, then the Pennsylvania and the Reading Railroads, made Columbia an important center of commerce and transportation.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia,_Pennsylvania

At the beginning of a New Year near 1910, Ida received a charming New Year’s Day postcard.

The face of the postcard features an illustration of a rural church in winter -the scene is framed by a branch of holly.

Beneath the scene, a brightly-colored medal is inscribed “January 1”,

A legend announces, “My New Year Greeting”.

Like many well-made postcards of this era, this one was printed in Germany.

On the reverse, we read, “Wishing you a Happy New Year, from Uncle Jacob”.

The postcard was not mailed, which might mean that Uncle Jacob lived nearby.

It seems that Ida was pleased by the greeting as it was preserved in very good condition for more than a century.

One hopes that Uncle Jacob and his niece, Ida May, were happy and prosperous in the 20th century.

RESEARCH NOTE

Ida Mae Bard (1900-1982)

On January 3. 1900, Ida Nae Bard was born in Lancaster County

She was the daughter of Jacob Hougendobler Bard (1850-1937) and Catherine H. Brenner (1858-1942)

The youngest of 7 children, Ida May had  3 brothers and 3 sisters

Ida Mae would have been about 10 years old when she received the New Year greeting.

Ida Mae lived in Lancaster County, PA  throughout her life.

She never married.

Ida Mae died in Lancaster in 1982, aged 82 years.