Mr. Roy Peters was in Bottineau, a small city and the county seat of Bottineau County in north-central North Dakota.
Only ten miles from the US-Canada border, Bottineau was founded in 1883 as “Oak Creek” – a customs station and overnight stagecoach stop.
In 1888, the entire town moved more than a mile south when the Great Northern Railroad lay tracks south of the former town.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bottineau,_North_Dakota
In September of 1913, Roy was celebrating a birthday.
For the occasion, he received a postcard from his sister, Myrtle.
Myrtle mailed the postcard from Excelsior, a city on the shore of Lake Minnetonka, a western suburb of Minneapolis.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excelsior,_Minnesota
Today, this prosperous city has a remarkable historic district of Victorian homes.
Bottineau is more than 500 miles northwest of Excelsior.
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The face of the postcard bears a medallion drawing of a rural road passing by a solitary house surrounded by trees.
The lovely sketch is bordered by a green vine that extends in a graceful twist across the top of the face.
A large pansy adorns this Art Nouveau vine.
Beneath the pansy is a oriented title, “YOUR BIRTHDAY”.
A flock of birds descend in an arc toward the lines of verse:
“Birthdays are birds upon the wing,
Still bearing blessings new;
May they alight betimes and sing
Their sweetest songs to you.”
The postcard was published by the “Gibson Art Company” of Cincinnati which, as readers of earlier postcard stories will know, became a large greeting card company in later years.
https://www.encyclopedia.com/books/politics-and-business-magazines/gibson-greetings-inc
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On the reverse, Myrtle writes, “Wishing you many returns of the day”.
She signs the message as, “Your sister, Myrtle”.
Roy seems to have enjoyed the birthday remembrance as the postcard was preserved in excellent condition throughout his life.
