Mrs. Truman Grant lived in Fulton, a flourishing industrial city on the Oswego River in central New York State.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulton,_Oswego_County,_New_York
In December of 1908, Mrs. Grant received a postcard from Dr. Kilmer.
We met this doctor and his patient in an earlier postcard story, “A Christmas Bird from the Doctor”.
The earlier postcard was sent in 1907, so it appears that Mrs. Grant has remained under the care of this physician for another year.
I am using these words in the most elastic sense, since I believe that “Dr. Kilmer” is the founder of a large patent-medicine company that once prospered by selling elixirs of the Doctor’s own devising.
The postcard was mailed from Binghamton, New York – where Dr. Sylvester Andral Kilmer established his medical practice, medicinal laboratory, mail-order business, manufacturing plant, and specialized hospitals featuring homeopathic remedies.
https://www.nps.gov/articles/dr-kilmer-s-medicine-bottle.htm
(The doctor deserves his own story -as his company was indirectly involved in the establishment of the first federal Pure Food and Drug laws.)
The face of the postcard is a medallion drawing of a lone figure carrying a fir tree along a rural path on a winter evening.
The brilliant colors of the setting sun illuminate a church tower in the distance.
Around the drawing is a expanse of star-studded blue, and bunches of holly.
A pair of bells are suspended from the frame.
In decorative script, the message of “A Merry Christmas” is printed.
The postcard was designed by the English “Art Publishers” to the crown – Raphael Tuck & Sons.
The embossed postcard was “Printed in Saxony”.
On the reverse, the hand-written message from the Doctor is very concise:
“Wishing you a Merry Christmas”.
Mrs., Grant preserved at least two greetings from Dr. Kilmer throughout her life.
One hopes that she, Dr. Kilmer, and all the recipients of the postcards, enjoyed a wonderful Christmas.
