Mr. Harold Banks lived in Banks, a town in Washington County of northwest Oregon.
Until the town was incorporated in 1921, the area had only 200 inhabitants.
I believe that Harold is a member of the family for which the community is named.
Today, it is an anchor of a popular recreational trail.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banks,_Oregon
In December of 1918, Harold received a Christmas postcard from Floyd B.
It is possible that Floyd is a family member.
Floyd mailed the postcard from Yamhill, a small city in Yamhill County of northwest Oregon.
Yamhill is almost 23 miles south of Banks.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yamhill,_Oregon
The face of the postcard has a colorful and complicated image that covers the full face – a style that began to disappear from postcards during World War I.
Indeed, although this postcard bears the red, two-cent stamp of the war years, the postcard was made at least a few years earlier.
Here, an intricate, gilded border encloses a delightful drawing of two small birds huddled beneath sprigs of mistletoe.
A banner beneath the birds proclaims the printed message, “Christmas Greetings”.
The postcard was published by J. M. of New York, and was “Printed in Germany”.
On the reverse, Floyd does not include any personal greeting or information.
He writes only, “Merry Christmas” and “Happy New Year”.
Nevertheless, Harold seems to have been pleased by the pretty postcard; he preserved it in excellent condition throughout his life.
One hopes that Floyd, Harold, and all their family members and friends enjoyed a wonderful Christmas.
GENEALOGICAL NOTE
Harold Robert Banks was born in Banks in June of 1900.
He was the son of Robert Melvin Banks (1869-1950) and Mary Elizabeth Stitchler (1869-1959).
Harold had one sibling – his younger sister Inez Maud Banks (1904-1992).
On Christmas Day of 1926, Harold married Alice Martha French (1904-1997).
Harold and Alice had one son, Calvin (1927-2020).
(Although Calvin married, he had no children. I consider the lack of heirs as a factor in family postcards reaching antique dealers.)
Floyd Warren Banks (1895-1979) was the son of Carl L. Banks (1871-1935) and Lillie Dale Merchant (1874-1950).
Carl Banks was the brother of Robert Melvin Banks -so Harold and Floyd were first cousins.
Harold died in Portland, Oregon in 1965; he is buried in Banks, Oregon.
Floyd died in Yamhill in 1979 and is buried in Yamhill.
