Miss Virginia Myer lived in Durhamville, a hamlet in Oneida County of central New York.
In the 19th century, Durhamvile was a center of barge construction and repair for the Erie Canal.
Later, Durhamville boasted a large glass works factory.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durhamville,_New_York
In February of 1922, Virginia received a postcard Valentine from Julia Sterling.
Julia mailed the postcard from Canastota, a village (now within the town of Lenox) in Madison County of central New York.
Located on the Erie Canal, between the canal stops of Rome and Syracuse, Canastota was a vibrant center of trade and transportation during the mid—19th century.
Durhamville is about 6 miles northeast of Canastota.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canastota,_New_York
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The face of the postcard has an elaborate border that resembles lace.
In the center, a large heart-shaped medallion frames a drawing of a young man and a young woman in winter attire.
The man wears a tall top hat; the woman sports a large muff and a hat with a plume.
A printed message declares, “Valentine Greetings”.
The quality of the printing is very high – the fine detail of the lace is rendered with very little smudging or blurring.
(I did make some digital repairs to areas that had errant black marks from the mail bag.)
The pretty postcard was published by the Whitney Company – which was the largest producer of Valentines in the United States during the late 19th century.
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On the reverse, Julia inscribes her name without any further comment.
It seems that Virginia was pleased by the Valentine as she preserved it in very good condition throughout her life.
One hopes that Julia and Virginia enjoyed a happy Valentine’s Day, and that the two friends maintained a postcard correspondence for many years.
