Miss Camella Greetham lived in Bethlehem, the city on the Lehigh River about 48 miles north of Philadelphia (and 72 miles west of New York City) in eastern Pennsylvania.
Originally a settlement of Moravian refugees who established schools, mills, and community buildings, Bethlehem evolved into a major steel-producing city as vast deposits of anthracite coal transformed the region.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bethlehem,_Pennsylvania
In August of 1934, Camella received a postcard from Grace.
The postcard was mailed from Chicago, and the postmark publicizes the “Century of Progress” Exhibition in that city.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago
In recent postcard stories, we saw memorabilia from the “World’s Colombian Exposition” which brought millions of visitors to “The White City” in 1893.
The “Century of Progress, 40 years later, was designed as a World’s Fair to herald a happier future made possible by scientific progress.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Century_of_Progress
Depression-weary fair-goers would see revolutionary advances in manufacturing and transportation at the fairgrounds on the shores of Lake Michigan.
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The face of the postcard is a drawing of the “Havoline Thermometer”.
This 21-story construction in the form of a thermometer was erected by the makers of Havoline Motor Oil which was sold through Texaco Service Stations.
This Chicago History Site offers more background to this unique marketing event: https://chicagology.com/centuryprogress/1933fair10/
The thermometer may relate to the promise of the motor oil company to protect car engines from over-heating.
The postcard blurb identifies the structure as “The World’s Tallest Thermometer” and describes it as “the recognized meeting place for visitors to the Century of Progress.”
The image was copyright in 1934 by the Indian Refining Company; the postcard was printed in the US.
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On the reverse, Grace begins her message without a greeting.
She exclaims, “Bet you’re surprised”.
The “surprise” may be an unannounced excursion to Chicago.
Grace evaluates the Century of Progress as “It’s some show”.
The message ends, “Love, Grace”.
In a postscript, Grace notes, “Card was free”.
We know that Camella preserved the postcard in very good condition throughout her life.
One hopes that Grace continued to enjoy the exhibition and had more stories to share with Camella.
