Miss Blanche Shughart lived on a Rural Delivery Route outside the borough of Carlisle in south-central Pennsylvania.
Carlisle, at the intersection of several indigenous trails through the Cumberland Valley, was a colonial trading center and frontier outpost.
An early fort in Carlisle, evolving through centuries, became the US Army War College.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlisle,_Pennsylvania
Blanche lived in the household of A. C. Shughart, and I believe that Blanche is a schoolgirl.
(I have a half-dozen postcards sent to members of the Shughart family, but have not yet determined the relationships between the parties.)
Sometime around 1910, Blanche was celebrating a birthday.
Blanche received a postcard from Jacob Wagner, Jr.
Jacob appears to live nearby, as the postcard was hand-cancelled by the postman on his delivery route.
The face of the postcard displays a diamond medallion with a rural scene, perhaps a mill.
Below, a clump of bright orange flowers and the printed words, “Birthday Greetings”.
(Readers have identified the blossom as a nasturtium.)
https://www.bhg.com/gardening/plant-dictionary/annual/nasturtium
On the reverse, Jacob has written, “Wishing you a happy birthday”.
Blanche collected quite a few postcards during her early life, and she preserved them in very good condition.
One hopes that Blanche enjoyed her birthday celebration and that Jacob remained a friend for many years.
