Charles Blakey lived in Kingfisher, a small city in central Oklahoma.

Today, Kingfisher is mostly a “bedroom community” for workers in Enid and Oklahoma City.

At the end of July, 1935, Charles Blakely received a postcard greeting from a correspondent also named Charles.

Charles W. was in Noel, a resort community on the Elk River in the very southwest corner of Missouri. 

The town was founded when the railroad from Kansas City reached the area, and was named for two brothers with the surname of Noel who were stockmen and the owners of a saw mill.

(Since the 1940’s, when Kate Smith began boosting Noel on her radio show, tens of thousands of cards are sent there to be postmarked for Christmas.)

Today, Noel has a large, multi-ethnic population (Pacific Islands, Sudan, Mexico, and Myammar) of people drawn to jobs at a large meat-packing plant.

When Charles W. visited in 1935, the town of Noel boasted of the recreational opportunities in the area and promoted tourism as a primary industry.

The postcard, published by Curt Teich of Chicago, shows an inviting scene of cool lakes and streams.

One hopes that Charles W. enjoyed his visit and that Charles Blakely was pleased to be remembered with this postcard.