Mrs. Caroline Pfeifer lived in Galion, a city on the Olentangy River in Crawford County of north-central Ohio,
Galion lies on a watershed divide – part of the area drains to Lake Erie, and part of the city drains toward the Ohio River.
The city also lies between the metropolitan areas of Columbus, OH and Mansfield, OH.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galion,_Ohio
In August of 1939, Mrs. Pfeifer received a postcard from her granddaughter, Carol.
Carol mailed the postcard from Huron, a port city developed at the mouth of the Huron River on Lake Erie.
Huron is one of several towns and cities that lie along Lake Erie in north-central Ohio.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huron,_Ohio
+ + + + + +
The face of the postcard is a photograph of the beach at Mitiwanga, an unincorporated community on the shore of Lake Erie in Erie County of north-central Ohio.
Mitiwanga is about 53 miles north of Galion.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitiwanga,_Ohio
The photograph was first made and published by E, B. Ackley of Sandusky, Ohio; this postcard, in the linen-style, was printed by the Curt Teich Co. of Chicago.
In the picture, one can see several piers extending from the narrow beach into the clear, blue water of Lake Erie.
While some soak up the sun on the sand others are seen bobbing in the waves.
The red rowboat at the edge of the water may be a lifeguard rescue craft.
+ + + + + +
On the reverse, Carol reports that “we are having a grand time”.
Nancy, who seems to be the great-granddaughter of Mrs, Pfeifer, “just loves it here”.
One assumes that Nancy is a small child as, “she likes the beach but is afraid of the water”.
Like many healthy children, Nancy “eats like a little pig and sleeps like a log”.
Carol suggests that Nancy is “having such a good time she won’t know what to do when she comes home”.
In closing, Carol urges Grandma to “take care of yourself”, and she sends “Love”’
One hopes that Grandma was delighted by the pretty postcard, that Carol and her family continued to enjoy the beach at Mitiwanga, and that Nancy found many things to interest her when she returned home.
+ + + + + +
RESEARCH NOTE
Caroline Bauman was born in Wurttemberg, Germany in December of 1856.
She was the daughter of Johann David Baumann (1819-1890) and Christine Catherine Schaeufele (1820-1907).
Caroline had three sisters and four brothers, although at least one brother died in childhood.
I cannot locate the Immigration Record for Caroline, but she married Jacob Pfeifer (1851-1912) in Crawford County, Ohio in September of 1882.
Caroline and Jacob had five sons and two daughters, although one son died at age 30 and another at age 31.
Caroline Bauman Pfeifer is the “Grandma” of the postcard.
https://www.familysearch.org/en/tree/person/details/LKVT-T3V
Grandma Caroline had a son, Theodore Daniel Pfeifer (1884-1915) who married Katherine Adela Ibach (1891-1977) on Christmas Day in Cuyahoga County (Cleveland) in 1909.
Theodore and Katherine had a daughter, also named “Caroline” (1912-1981) who is the granddaughter of the postcard.
In July of 1936, granddaughter Caroline married Robert Paul Bianchi (1909-2001) in Logan County, OH.
Caroline and Robert had a daughter, Nancy Carol Bianchi (1937- 2019) – who is the infant who loved the beach at Mitiwanga.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/84643773/caroline-marie-bianchi
(In this family, one can see that the same names for girls are repeated in generations.)
I am confident that Mrs. Pfeifer of Galion received a postcard from her granddaughter describing the vacation of her great-granddaughter.
Sadly, Caroline Bauman died on the day after Christmas in 1943.
She was 87 years old and was survived by nine grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
(Nancy was 5 years old, and one hopes that she had memories of her great-grandmother.)
Her funeral was conducted by a Methodist pastor.
Her obituary notes that her son, Otto, was President of the Galion City Council.
