In 1911, Mark McGill was 18 or 19 years old and working for the Hershey Chocolate Company.
Around the company founded by Milton Hershey was a charming “company town” – featuring modern housing, a trolley system, a vocational school, a theater, and amusement park subsidized by the company.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hershey,_Pennsylvania
We have seen other postcard stories related to Mark McGill (1892-1972).
Mark was born in Jonestown, a borough of Lebanon County in central Pennsylvania.
At his workplace in December, Mark received a Christmas postcard.
The face of the postcard is an evocative bit of original postcard art.
A solitary figure and his dog pass a frozen stream.
The wintry landscape is softly lighted -as by the weak sun of the solstice.
In the grey sky, the printed greeting appears -“A Merry Christmas”.
On the reverse, Mark is greeted as “Darling little brother”.
The writer sends “all the good wishes possible” a “Merry Christmas Greeting”, and “many happy, prosperous New Years”.
There seems to be an illness in the family, possibly her husband, and this is the reason the writer has not “written to all before”.
The letter is signed, “Your loving sister Florence”.
“Florence” is Florence Morrison McGill, married to Francis Andrew McGill (brother to Mark).
Florence is a sister-in-law to Mark, but clearly bound to him by affection.
The postcard was mailed from Oil City, PA where Florence lived for most of her life.
Oil City, located on the Allegheny River in Venango County of northwest Pennsylvania, was prominent in the initial development of the petroleum industry.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_City,_Pennsylvania
(Florence lived in Oi City most of her life – she died near Oil City in 1953 at the age of 75.)
From other postcards, we know that Mark did not remain in Hershey; he had addresses in Washington DC and in Montgomey County, PA during his career.
Mark is buried in Zion Lutheran Cemetery in his hometown of Jonestown, PA.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonestown,_Lebanon_County,_Pennsylvania
