Rifling through a box of old paper memorabilia, I was attracted to the brilliant colors of this postcard.

I was surprised to find that the postcard was published by the German American Novelty Company – other products of this firm feature the same superb quality of printing, but are often finely-colored naturalistic scenes.

This is an example of a more expressionistic kind of original postcard art from this international company.

Printed in Germany, the postcard illustration is unusually “modern” in its sparse blocking, impressionistic coloration, and evocative primitivism.

Mr. Herman Farina lived in Arlington, a neighborhood in Hudson County, New Jersey.  Arlington is due west (across Union City and the Hudson River) from Lincoln Center in Manhattan.

In September of 1906, Herman received this postcard from Flora who lived in Newark, New Jersey.

Newark is about 6 miles south of Arlington.

Because postal regulations permitted only the address to be written on the reverse of the postcard, Flora inscribed a tiny “from Flora” on the postcard. 

(I am sorry not to know more about Flora, but I am very glad she did not write on the face.)

One assumes that Herman was pleased by the postcard as it was preserved in very good condition for 115 years.