Mr. James Dowd lived in New Haven, the college town and coastal port on the Long Island Sound in south-central Connecticut.
Established by English Puritans in 1638, New Haven is one of the oldest planned cities in the US.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Haven,_Connecticut
In 1910, about 134,000 people lived in New Haven.
In February of 1909, James received a postcard from Amelia.
The postmark is applied so lightly that I cannot identify the place from which the postcard was mailed.
There is a notation on the reverse that appears to be Mr. Dowd’s method of filing his correspondence – it records “from Amelia” and the date, and an abbreviation which might be “Bridgeport”, which is a city in Connecticut.
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The face if the postcard is a lovely example of postcard art – a painting of a romantic outing within a rustic wooden frame.
Here, a couple enjoys a canoe excursion on a placid stream of clear water.
Beneath a broad-brimmed hat, a fellow is paddling the canoe; he seems to be angling the craft near a cluster of water lilies.
The finely-dressed belle dangles her fingers in the water, perhaps to pluck one of the floating blooms.
A nameplate identifies the idyll as “Spring” and the artist as “Morris”.
The postcard was printed in the United States.
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On the reverse, Amelia greets “Dear James”.
She immediately apologizes, “I am almost ashamed to write, it is so long since I wrote to you”.
Nevertheless, Amelia hopes “that you are still alive and kicking as I am.”
The message then makes reference to a mutual acquaintance before Amelia closes by expressing a desire to hear from James again.
Mr. Dowd preserved the postcard in very good condition throughout his life.
One hopes that James accepted the apology and that the correspondents exchanged many more postcards.





