We met Bessie Douglas in earlier postcard stories (“Girl with a Broom” and “Boys on the Pier”).
Bessie was growing up in Anselma, a small community that developed around a mill on the Pickering Creek in Chester County of southeast Pennsylvania.
Anselma no longer has a post office; it is absorbed within the town of Chester Springs.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightfoot_Mill
In a year around 1905, Bessie was given an Easter Postcard.
The giver is identified by a signature on the face – Howard Lilley.
We may assume that Howard lived nearby and that he knew Bessie as a neighbor, perhaps as a classmate in school or in Sunday School.
The face of the postcard is adorned with a charming illustration of a girl wearing the traditional attire of the Dutch.
The girl sports a large apron and a starched cap.
In one hand, she holds a large wicker basket filled with violets.
In her other hand, she grasps a braid of her hair.
Behind her is a backdrop of blue and white tiles – the Delft ware of the Netherlands.
At the girl’s feet, her wooden shoes are surrounded by four chicks.
A printed greeting read, “A Happy Easter”.
The pleasant example of original postcard art was published by the English firm of Raphael Tuck & Sons – it was “Printed in Germany”.
On the reverse, we read only, “Miss Bessie Douglass” and, “from Howard F. Lilley”.
The “undivided back” of the postcard suggests that it was printed circa 1905.
Miss Douglas had an enormous collection of postcards which she preserved throughout her life.
In recent years, postcards from her collection have been offered for sale by more than one dealer in old paper goods.
One hopes that Bessie was delighted by the beautiful postcard, by the thoughtfulness of Howard, and by the joy of the Easter season.
