Mr. And Mrs. Elijah Hart lived in Osceola, Iowa, a small city in south central Iowa.
In December of 1912, the Harts received a Christmas postcard from Jessie H. Anderson in Portland, Oregon.
Jessie wishes, “a pleasant holiday season to you”.
The postcard, printed in Germany, has a very spare, modern design.
A verse expresses the hope that “only looks of love” and “only words of hope and cheer” will characterize the season.
Mailed from Portland, the postcard bears a cancellation mark announcing the Panama Pacific Exposition to be held in San Francisco in 1915.
I have found this cancellation mark on many postcards mailed from the west coast in 1915 – this is the earliest use of the cancellation mark that I have ever seen.
We don’t have any way of knowing how the Harts and Jessie Anderson were connected to one another, but the impulse to greet old friends and distant family members at Christmas is a durable custom.
One hopes that only words of hope and cheer are heard on Christmas Day.
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