The Art Card to Mankato – 1909
This is an exceptionally- beautiful postcard, unfortunately worn by time and careless storage.
The face has three different textures, each resembling cloth material.
The illustration of three figures staring out to sea is brightly-colored, and embossed to project depth.
It was printed in Germany.
The triangular patterns at the corner suggest that the postcard was collected in an album, with corner hinges.
(I fear that the scan may not do justice to the original.)
Lydia P. mailed the postcard from Fairmont, Minnesota on December 10, 1909.
Addressed to Miss Sadie Hoffman in Mankato, Minnesota, the postcard was probably delivered the next day – there is no receiving post mark.
Many years ago, I presented a workshop on the campus of the Minnesota State University in Mankato.
Mankato is a beautiful city at the confluence of the Mississippi and Blue Earth Rivers.
The area is hilly, and many city streets are lined with trees.
(I learned later that this lovely place was the site of the judicial murder of 32 indigenous peoples in 1862. So many beautiful things have dark episodes in their past.)
I hope that Sadie admired the postcard as much as I do; I think that she did as she, and others, did preserve it for more than a century.
