In December of 1913, Miss Alice Guenther lived in Menomonie, a city in western Wisconsin.
Alice received a Christmas postcard from Lena Hager, who appears to be a friend and neighbor in Menomonie.
This area of Wisconsin had been inhabited since he Woodland Period; an earthen mound of the indigenous peoples still stands bedside Lake Menomonie.
A French fur-trader, Jean Baptiste Perrault, built a trading post in the area in in 1788, but significant European settlement was not established until the 19th century when the vast hardwood forests of Wisconsin were harvested. In 1873, the world’s largest lumber company – Knapp, Stout, and Company – was located in Menomonie..
When Miss Guenther received her Christmas postcard, the lumber industry was in decline and the city of Menomonie was diversifying by building the first agricultural high school.
The face of the postcard bears an embossed illustration of poinsettias and a legend, “Christmas Greetings”. The postcard was printed in the United States.
On the reverse, Lena expresses her best wishes for a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
On hopes that the friends enjoyed happiness and prosperity in the years to come.
