We met the McCleary family in earlier postcard stories: “Plan Your Work” (1907) and “Political Possums for Elizabeth” (1909).
Herbert McCleary worked for the railroad depot in Hagerstown, his family lived in a tidy townhouse that still stands near the center of the city.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagerstown,_Maryland
In September of 1906, Mr. McCleary received a comic postcard related to fatherhood.
The McCleary family had a son (Herbert Kinneard McCleary) born in this year, and that event may have precipitated the comic tribute.
https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/LYCV-TRK/herbert-brookins-mccleary-1876-1947
The postcard was mailed anonymously from Hagerstown, perhaps by a friend or family member who lived nearby.
The face of the postcard is a cartoon of a man in a dressing gown holding two squalling infants.
One child holds a rattle and the other child holds a doll – but the father looks frantic as the crying does not abate.
In the background one sees an oil lamp; it appears that father had been in bed – he is still barefooted.
Unfortunately, father’s foot appears to be headed for a tack on the floor – am encounter that is unlikely to calm the situation.
A printed legend proclaims: “Holding My Own”.
This is a clever play on words signifying both that one is bearing up under strain and also that one is responsible for the unhappy infants.
The humorous drawing was copyright in 1905 by the Philadelphia Post Card Company.
The printing was done in the United States – the colors bled quite a bit.
There was also considerable foxing -the worst of which I repaired digitally.
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There is no message on the face – the drawing seems to have communicated everything that the sender wished to express.
We know that the son grew to adulthood, and spent some years in the railroad business.
One hopes that Mr. McCleary found ample reward in fatherhood, and that he continued to manage the stress of parenthood with a sense of humor.
