Fred Boardman lived in Utica, a city on the Mohawk River at the foot of the Adirondack Mountains in central New York.

Utica became a prosperous center of trade and transportation with the completion of the Erie Canal and (later) the coming of the New York Central Railroad.

In February of 1911, Fred received a postcard greeting from a friend identified only by initials.

The friend invited “Dear Fred” to “come up Friday afternoon”.

The suggestion may have been in pursuit of entirely innocent occupations such as eating, shopping, or sight-seeing.

The illustration on the face of the postcard, however, suggests romantic or amorous adventures.

A young man, in a white shirt, and a young woman, wearing a remarkably-worked skirt, are embracing awkwardly on a hammock.

The hammock is covered by a tasseled drape which also shows elaborate decoration.

The legend, “A Boy, a Girl, and a Hammock” allows the readers to construct their own narratives from these three ingredients.

It is a postcard photograph, but I could not find any identification of the artist or publisher.

The embossed border of raised dots was popular circa 1910.

One hopes that Fred and his friend enjoyed the rendezvous-vous during the winter of 1911.