Dorothy Mae Siebert lived in Columbus, the State Capital and center of commerce, transportation and education in central Ohio.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbus,_Ohio
In November of 1907, Dorothy Mae received a postcard from Papa.
(We recently saw another postcard story related to the grandparents of the Siebert children – “Grandma is Watching the Yachts”.)
Papa mailed the postcard from Charleston, the capital and argest city in West Virginia.
Once a part of Virginia, Charleston was known for the harvesting of salt and, later, natural gas and coal.
Today, Charleston is a center of commerce healthcare, and education.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charleston,_West_Virginia
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The face of the postcard is an “Animal Study” – a drawing of a Hippopotamus standing on marshy ground, possibly beside a river.
The sturdy creature is seen amid reeds and nettle-like plants, above are fronds of trees.
The hippopotamus is native to the rivers, lakes, and mangrove swamps of sub-Saharan Africa;
After the elephant and rhinoceros, the hippopotamus is the largest land animal.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippopotamus
The postcard drawing is a very good one, but I could not discern an artist’s mark or a publisher’s logo.
The postcard was printed in Great Britain and contains the customary references to “Inland Postage”.
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I am fairly confident that Papa did not see a hippopotamus in Charleston, but the postcard does not reveal any clues about his trip to West Virginia.
Although the postcard sustained some tears and wrinkles, it was preserved for more than a century.
We may forget how rare colored pictures were for many children in the early 20th century – one can imagine that Dorothy Mae carried the hippopotamus with her and shared it with friends or schoolmates.
One hopes that Papa completed his business successfully and returned safely to his family in Columbus.
