Hazel Penoyer lived in Palmyra, a village on the Erie Canal, just south of Lake Erie and east of Rochester, NY.

An early transportation and industrial center, the village (today, with an historic district) was a major stop on the Underground Railroad for freedom-seekers going on to Canada.

In October of 1913, Hazel received a postcard at her place of employment, the Palmyra Sand & Gravel Company.

The postcard was mailed from Detroit, Michigan by Mable.

We don’t know if Mable was working outside the home, but she was very busy; she writes, “I completed three pair of pillowcases this week and worked a wreath and initial on them”.

The weather in Michigan was “real cold”.  Mable supposes that Hazel “will be soon going home”.

This puzzling expectation invites many questions:  was Hazel leaving Palmyra?, could Hazel be getting married (and in need of new pillowcases)?, was the Sand & Gravel Company a seasonal operation?

The postcard bears an illustration of a beautiful stream on which a single canoe is gliding.

Entitled, “Boating on Clinton River, Mount Clemens, Mich”.

Mount Clemens is a city on the eastern edge of Michigan’s “thumb”

Since the 19th century, it was a popular tourist attraction – featuring more than a dozen hotels and “Baths” were one could seek the curative powers of the many mineral springs in the area.

One hopes that Mable persevered in her sewing and stitching, that Hazel returned home as expected, and that the two remained friends and correspondents for many years.

(Interestingly, Palmyra, NY today boasts more than a dozen sand and gravel companies – the dolomite formation is an enormous resource for road materials.)