Lizzie Baumgardner lived in Fulda, a small city on Lake Fulda in southwest Minnesota. The town is known as the “Home of the Wood Duck”.

In August of 1907, Lizzie received a postcard from her “dearest friend”, Reginald.

Reginald lived in Woodbine, an unincorporated community in northwest Illinois.  

(Woodbine is within the “Driftless Area” – a unique ecological area of northwest Illinois, southwest Wisconsin, southeast Minnesota, and northeast Iowa.  “Never covered by ice during the last ice age, the area lacks the characteristic glacial deposits known as drift. Its landscape is characterized by steep hills, forested ridges, deeply carved river valleys, and karst geology with spring-fed waterfalls and cold-water trout streams.” -Wiki)

The postcard from Reginald bore a photograph of two well-dressed couples stepping on rocks to cross a stream.

Trademarked and published by the Hartman Company, the photograph is entitled, “Having a High Old Time”.

Not made in the United States, the postcard indicates that it was ”Printed Abroad” – an unusual declaration.

The photograph seems to be related to Reginald’s message on the reverse, in which he announces his intention to have a picnic.

Apparently, Lizzie is too distant to be invited, but Reginald promises to “tell you all about it later.”

Reginald inquires if Lizzie has written to Joseph and asks her to send him a postal.

On the face, Reginald writes that the figures in the rustic scene could be he and an unnamed other person.

Despite Reginald’s effusive professions of affection, it seems to me that he and Lizzie are not romantically involved.

One hopes that the picnic, in the scenic beauty of the driftless region was a grand success, that Lizzie did send a postal to Reginald, that Reginald shared with Lizzie all the details of the social event, and that the two remained dear friends for many years.