Winifred Carlson was growing up in the town of Frontenac, an unincorporated community on the Mississippi River in southeast Minnesota.

The coming of the “Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul, & Pacific Railroad” in the 1870’s led to the growth of a resort in the area.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frontenac,_Minnesota

From the evidence of other postcards addressed to him as “Master Winifred”, we know that Winifred was a boy and that he was not yet 12 years old.

(Although the postcard addresses often show “Winifred”, the census records show “Winfred Carlson” born in Minnesota in 1900.)

In November of 1907, Winfred received a comic postcard from Grand Rapids – I assume this to be Grand Rapids, Michigan.

The sender is not identified, although there are mysterious marks on the lower right of the face that could indicate smudged initials.

The face of the postcard is a touching drawing of a forlorn puppy beside a big doghouse.

It is disconcerting that the poor puppy is held captive by a very large chain that is very short.

Behind the pup, a sign warns in large letters: “Beware of the Dog”.

The humor lies in the contrasted appearance of the friendly puppy and the supposed hazard.

Like many other comic postcards, this one was published by the English firm of Bamforth & Co.

It seems that the boy, Winfred, was delighted with the postcard as it was saved (along with many others) in very good condition throughout his life.

One hopes that Winfred grew up to be a friend to animals and that he had an affectionate puppy.