In March of 1913, Mrs. Mott was celebrating a birthday.
At her home in South Haven, she received a postcard from her friend- Mrs. Emerson.
Mrs Emerson lived in Ludington, a harbor town where the Pere Marquette River flows into Lake Michigan.
(In 1913, Ludington was a center of the lumber industry – a fleet of steamers transported the freight across Lake Michigan.
Today, it remains a year-round center of recreational activity in west-central Michigan.)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludington,_Michigan
Mrs. Mott’s home in South Haven is about 120 miles south of Ludington.
The smaller city is also a port on Lake Michigan, at the mouth of the Black River.
(Some time ago, we saw a postcard story about “Launching on the Black River”.
The area is still a popular recreational destination.)
The face of the postcard is an attractive illustration of blossoms amid lines of a verse.
The verse was copyrighted by W. H. Rider in 1909; Rider was a popular creator of these postcard mottoes.
Strangely, it is difficult to find biographical information about him, although examples of his work abound.
The verse invokes many “new” things for Mrs. Mott in the coming year – “new hope, new faith, new friends”.
(I am puzzled about a friend encouraging one to find “new friends”.)
Nevertheless, we hope that Mrs. Mott was pleased by the postcard, that she retained the friendship of Mrs. Emerson, and that she enjoyed a wonderful birthday.
