Berwyn, Pennsylvania is a census-designated place in Chester County, on the “Main Line” of suburbs stretching westward from Philadelphia.
In February of 1914, Miss Ruth Moore was living in Berwyn and she was celebrating a birthday.
Aunt Tillie gave Ruth a postcard with an inscription of “ a cheerful word or two”.
This postcard style is very different from the richly-colored, highly-ornamented fashion of just a year earlier.
World War I had disrupted the international printing of postcards (many US publishers with offices in Berlin, Dresden, and Leipzig) went bankrupt).
Postcard designs became simpler, reflecting both the loss of the technical equipment and skilled craftspeople in Europe and changing tastes.
With the “Great War” came a revolution in sensibility – toward a sleeker, more geometric, less “cluttered” style.
The postcard was not mailed; we may assume that it was presented to Miss Ruth by Aunt Tillie or an emissary.
One hopes that Ruth enjoyed her birthday and appreciated the thoughtfulness of her aunt.
