Miss Stella Harnish lived on a Rural Delivery Route outside the historic city of Lancaster, PA.

This area of southeast Pennsylvania supported extensive agricultural activity.

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

In December of 1936, Stella received a postcard from Anna Moyer.

The postcard was stamped at a Lancaster post office, so we may assume that Anna lived close to her friend.

Stella’s mail is addressed “in care of Jacob T. Harnish”, so we might infer that she is living with her parents or other relatives and that she may be a schoolgirl.

The face of the postcard is framed by a green border.

A medallion drawing of a rural church beside a snow-covered stream is adorned with sprigs of holly and a pair of silver bells.

Most of the face is devoted to a printed invocation for Christmas and the New Year.

Beneath the heading, “Hearty Christmas Greetings”, we read:

“May gladness, peace, good will on earth,

And everything that is of worth,

Be yours today and light with cheer

Your Christmas Season and New Year.”

At the bottom of the face, we see the angelic proclamation to shepherds, as recorded in the Gospel of Saint Luke:

“Glory to God in the highest, and peace, good will toward men.”

I do not recognize the publisher’s logo on the reverse of the postcard- it may be the “Gospel Trumpet Company” a publisher of religious literature in Anderson, Indiana.

The Gospel Trumpet Company was associated with the Church of God.

https://omeka.anderson.edu/exhibits/show/periodicals/chog-periodicals/gospel-trumpet

On the reverse, Anna repeats the hopeful thoughts in her own hand – “Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year”.

Stella seems to have been pleased by the Christmas greeting as she preserved the postcard in very good condition throughout her life.

One hopes that she and Anna, and all their family and friends, enjoyed a blessed Christmas.