Mrs. L. Tritschler lived on the High Street of Germantown, now a neighborhood within Philadelphia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germantown,_Philadelphia

Germantown, as the name suggests, was a very early settlement of German immigrants, and was an independent community for more than a century until being incorporated into the city of Philadelphia.

Residents of the area continued to use the name, “Germantown”, and one can find many postcards addressed to that place.

In November of 1908, Mrs. Tritschler was celebrating a birthday.

She received a postcard greeting from her son, Paul.

The postcard was mailed from the Germantown Station of Philadelphia, suggesting that Paul lived nearby -if he was not residing in the household of his mother.

The face of the postcard is a lovely drawing, in autumnal colors, of objects related to November.

A bunch of asters, and a gemstone surrounded by a wishbone, are artfully arranged on the golden background.

A verse, entitled “November”, celebrates the topaz as a symbol of love and friendship especially prized by those born in November.

The postcard art was copyrighted in 1907 by A. Q. Southwick of New York.

(I have found postcards of Southwick that feature other months of the year, but I am unable to find any information about the artist.)

On the reverse, a message from Paul is inscribed in a childish hand and in a third- person voice.

The message reads, “Paul wishes Mother a Happy Birthday.”

It appears as though another person may have written the greeting from Paul; it is likely that Paul is a child.

We may assume that Mother treasured the birthday postcard as it was preserved in good condition for more than a century.

One hopes that Paul and his mother enjoyed years of happiness and prosperity in Germantown.