Marian Will Wear Grandma’s “Old Costumes” – Chatham, N.J. (1943)

Mrs. Grant Castner lived in Trenton, the capital city on the Delaware River in west-central New Jersey.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trenton,_New_Jersey

In May of 1943, Mrs. Castner received a beautiful postcard from her granddaughter, Marian.

Marian mailed the postcard from Chatham, a prosperous borough of Morris County in northeast New Jersey.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chatham,_New_Jersey

The face of the postcard is an illustration of blossoming lilacs – purple and white.

The postcard art was printed in Switzerland by the firm of Thor Gyger.

(We have seen other examples of postcard art from Swiss printers.)

On the reverse, Marian thanks Grandma “for your nice card”.

By her hand-writing and command of the language, I assume that Marian is an older girl.

Marian reports, “I am on the committee for decorating the Sunday School room with flowers.

Fortunately, Marian has found some flowers nearby.

(Even today, there are parks and open spaces along the Passaic River that flows through Morris County.)

“In the woods near the river there are lots of purple violets and jack-in-the-pulpits.”

The floral decoration of the Sunday School room may be related to a special event.

Marian shares, “I am going to wear one of your old-fashioned costumes in a S. S. play.”

I believe that Marian is using “costumes” in reference to Grandma’s clothing of a bygone era.

If Grandma was born in the 19th century, her “costumes” would seem decidedly old-fashioned in the 1940’s.

Grandma Costner seems to have enjoyed the lovely lilacs as she preserved the postcard in excellent condition throughout her life.

One hopes that Marian found flowers for the Sunday School decoration, that Grandma’s costumes added luster to the play, and that the two enjoyed a friendly correspondence for many more years.

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