Mrs. Eliza Bartholomew lived in Malaga, an unincorporated community in Gloucester County of southwest New Jersey.
Malaga is about 32 miles southeast of Philadelphia, PA.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaga,_New_Jersey
(The postcard was addressed to Licklerville, but the town was corrected to “Malaga” by the post office.
“Licklerville” does not exist – it may be a mistaken reference to Sicklerville which is a community near Malaga in Gloucester County, NJ.)
In December of 1915, Eliza received a very-ornate Christmas postcard from her grandchildren, Joe and Dollie.
Joe and Dollie mailed the postcard from Perth Amboy, a city on the Raritan Bay in east-central New Jersey.
This area was settled by Scotch immigrants in 1683.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perth_Amboy,_New_Jersey
The face of the postcard is a very ornate (“busy”) and embossed drawing in a style that was falling out of favor in 1915.
A robin perches atop a large bell; the bell is surrounded by sprigs of holly.
Across the band of the bell is a verse about “Dear old Christmas”.
The patterned background is interrupted with the words, “A Merry Xmas” etched in frost.
Below the bell, in ornate script, is written, “Dec 25th”.
On the reverse, the grandchildren have written, “Much love to Grandma from Joe and Dollie”.
It seems that Grandma was delighted by the postcard as it was preserved in very good condition for more than a century.
One hopes that Joe and Dollie, and all the members of the family enjoyed a marvelous Christmas.
