A Trip through the “Thousand Islands” – Alexandria Bay, NY (1932)

The “Thousand Islands” is an archipelago of islands (about fifty miles in length) that lie between the United States and Canada, – where the outflow of Lake Ontario flows into the St. Lawrence River.

Early French explorers named the phenomena, “Mille Iles”, and the name persisted in English.

There are more than a thousand outcroppings of rock, and the Wiki reports the criteria for being named an “island””

“The islands range in size from over 40 square miles (100 km2) to smaller islands occupied by a single residence, or uninhabited outcroppings of rocks. To count as one of the Thousand Islands, emergent land within the river channel must have at least one square foot (0.093 m2) of land above water level year-round, and support at least two living trees.”

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

In September of 1932, Mr. and Mrs. Otto Wolff were residing in Cleveland, Ohio.

The Wolffs received a postcard from travelers through the Thousand Islands.

A reader of the postcard stories, who is also a genealogist, has discovered that Otto was a German immigrant who arrived in the US in 1924.

Otto was married to Meta, and he worked as a boilermaker.

The postcard was mailed from Alexandria Bay, a picturesque village on the St. Lawrence River in northwest New York State.

In the early 20th century, Alexandria Bay was a fashionable resort and boasted a yacht club.

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

The face of the postcard displays four drawings  – two named steamships and two views of  island scenery.

The postcard was published by the firm of Hallam and Vesty in Alexandria Bay.

On the reverse, the handwriting is so erratic that I cannot decipher even the language in which it is written.

One hopes that the travelers were thrilled with their voyage through the islands, and that Mr. and Mrs. Wolff were pleased by the postcard remembrance.

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