In October of 1914, Mrs. Matilda Shoff of Red Lion (Route I) received a postcard from her son, Christ.

Christ and his family had moved into the bank building where Christ worked.

Christ wanted to be sure that Matilda stopped there when she “came up”, and not go to the place Christ lived before.

The postcard features a hand-tinted photograph of Main Street in Red Lion.

The Farmers and Merchants Bank in the picture is, presumably, the place where Christ worked.

The postcard was printed locally, by “H. L. Smith & Co., Jobbers”, of Red Lion.

The postcard message concludes, “if chestnuts are plenty, we may come down”.

The chestnut tree was once the most plentiful tree in the eastern US.

The chestnut blight, introduced in 1904, was already beginning to wipe out this specie in 1914.