Dr. R. S. Brinton lived in New Castle, a city on the Shenango River in Lawrence County of west-central Pennsylvania.
In 1908, this area near the Ohio border became a center of railroad transportation and New Castle developed many industrial plants, especially tin-plate manufacturing.
New Castle is the center of a rich agricultural area; since the mid-19th century, there has been a sizable Amish community nearby.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Castle,_Pennsylvania
In August of 1908, Dr. Brinton received a comic postcard from a friend who provided his initial, D.
The postcard was mailed from Pittsburgh, about 43 miles to the southeast.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_Pittsburgh
The face of the postcard is an interesting drawing of a young couple in the kitchen.
In the drawing, the figures are silhouetted in strong light from the left, creating an interesting texture of shadows.
A young couple is exchanging recriminations while preparing a meal together.
The man says, “I wish you could make the bread mother used to make”.
The woman responds, “I wish you could make the “dough” father used to make.”
The humor is found in the young wife’s quick wit.
The postcard was copyrighted and published by M. T. Sheahan of Boston in 1907.
We have seen other postcards from this firm -some mottoes and some light-hearted scenes.
On the reverse, D. begins his message by comparing himself to a boiled tomato.
It seems that D. had taken a vacation; he reports that he had a “fine time” and “wished I could have stayed longer.”
The unknown vacation spot “is the only place to forget your troubles…”
D. hopes to return to the wonderful place “in a short time.”
In closing, D. makes a reference to the drawing on the postcard, asking, “is it not all right?”
It may be that Dr. Brinton has recently married or that there is some other occasion for the comic greeting.
One hopes that the friends enjoyed marital happiness and remained correspondents for many years.
