S. C. Brown lived in Prophetstown, a small city in Whiteside County of northwest Illinois.

This settlement replaced an indigenous Winnebago village that was destroyed by an armed militia at the beginning of the Black Hawk Wars of 1832.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prophetstown,_Illinois

Sometime around 1910, Mr. or Ms. Brown was celebrating a birthday.

For the occasion, Brown was given a postcard photograph by S. C. Moodie.

The postcard was not mailed, suggesting that the giver lived nearby.

The photographic portrait shows three women, one appears older than the other two.

This may be a mother and two daughters.

Each of the women is wearing a collared shirtwaist; the youngest one reveals more of her neck.

Although all of the women are wearing their hair “up”, the youngest has a more bouffant style.

It is not clear where the photograph was taken; there is no studio mark.

When enlarged and light-filtered, the bottom of the face shows some squiggles that might be a faded inscription.

(They may also be marks related to the storage of the postcard.)

On the reverse, the giver inscribes a greeting:

“I wish you a happy birthday”.

The birthday celebrant seems to have been pleased by the photograph as it was preserved in good condition for more than a century.