“A Poet’s Home for Aunt Charlotte” – Chatham, NJ (1939)

Mrs. C. Williamson (Charlotte) lived in Chatham, a town and a township in Morris County of northeast New Jersey.

Today, the area retains much of the charm of the English Village that was first established there in 1710.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chatham,_New_Jersey

In June of 1939, Mrs. Williamson received a postcard from her niece, Zoe, and another person who may be “Regina”.

The signature is faded and indistinct – this postcard may be from two nieces.

The postcard was mailed from Albany (presumably, the capital of New York State).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albany,_New_York

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The face of the postcard is a photograph of the “Wm. Cullen Bryant House, Built 1759”.

The title adds, “Great Barrington, Mass., in the Berkshires.”

“The Berkshires” is the name given to ridges of the Appalachian Mountains that extend through western Massachusetts and Connecticut.

Further north, in the states of Vermont and New Hampshire, the same ranges are identified as the “Green Mountains” and the “White Mountains”.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berkshires

Great Barrington is a town, composed of several villages, in Berkshire County of south-west Massachusetts.

Originally an agricultural village, the coming of the railroad in the late 19th century transformed Great Barrington into a resort of the “Gilded Age”.

Today, it remains a center of summer recreation and winter sports.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Barrington,_Massachusetts

The postcard was published by C. W. Hughes & Co. of Mechanicville, NY.

The coloration was done by “C. T. American Art Colored”; I believe that this is a photograph (circa 1910) that has been re-published in color.

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William Cullen Bryant (1794-1878), one of the literary giants of the 19th century, is not well-recognized today.

The son of a country physician, Bryant studied law in Massachusetts, unable to afford the tuition at Yale.

After several years of work as a local lawyer, Bryant pursued a life in literature.

Bryant become a noted publisher of two newspapers in New York City (The “New York Review” and the “New York Evening Post”, and began publishing the romantic and popular poems that made him famous.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Cullen_Bryant

At the time of his death, millions of students knew “Thanatopsis“ and “To a Waterfowl” – his most famous works.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thanatopsis

The home pictured on the postcard, was the residence of Bryant as a young lawyer.

This structure was moved in the early 20th century to the grounds of The Berkshire Inn, a resort hotel.

After the resort was destroyed by fire in 1966, the Bryant House (which survived) was preserved as a museum.

https://www.nytimes.com/1966/01/09/archives/end-of-road-for-old-berkshire-resort-hotel.html

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On the reverse, the writers address “Dear Aunt Charlotte”.

The message begins with a challenge, and a retreat: “you can’t imagine (or maybe you can) all the beautiful old home you can see traveling through the New England States.”

Alarmingly, the travelers report, “We almost drove up on someone’s lawn looking at a couple old and especially adorable ones.”

It seems the sightseers are returning home, as they conclude the message, “See you soon”.

One hopes that no lawns were damaged in the trip, that Aunt Charlotte received the returning pair, and that many more postcards were exchanged between the relatives.

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