“The Boy with a Brace” – Brooklyn, NY (1911)

Miss Mabel Burchill lived in Port Carbon, now a small borough in Schuylkill County of east-central Pennsylvania.

(Port Carbon had more residents in 1910-1920 than it does today.)

Once a lock on the Schuylkill Canal, Port Carbon shipped coal to Philadelphia in the mid- 19th century.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Carbon,_Pennsylvania

In December of 1911, Mabel received a postcard photograph with a Christmas greeting.

The postcard was mailed from Brooklyn, the most populous borough of New York City.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooklyn

On the face, a young man sits in a polished wooden chair and clasps his hands in front of him.

Our hero is well-dressed; he wears a suit with a luxurious vest, and endures the high, starched collar from which his tie flows.

The left hand of the young man is supported by a leather brace around the wrist.

From the photo, we cannot determine if this is a result of an injury or if the young man is weakened by a disease process.

Although mailed from Brooklyn, the photograph was made in Manhattan.

The reverse displays the name of the Bachelor Studio at 419 Sixth Avenue.

(The studio was located near the intersection of 8th Street, just below the Jefferson Market Library.  This is no longer an address on Sixth Avenue.)

Whatever difficulty the young man was experiencing with his left hand, it did not compromise his legible hand-writing.

He writes, “Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.”

Alas, the decorative initials are difficult to distinguish -I believe that his first name begins with “R”.

Mabel seems to have been pleased with the picture as she preserved it throughout her life.

(There was a very ugly postmark on the side of the face that I endeavored to remove digitally – but the lack of sharp contrast in the photograph made the results less successful than some other restorations.)

One hopes that the young man regained the strength of his wrist, that he and Mabel enjoyed a wonderful Christmas, and that they remained friends and correspondents for many years.

GENEALOGICAL NOTE:

Mabel Ann Burchill was born in January of 1888; her parents were William Charles Burchill (1846- deceased) and Georgina Foxall (1845-deceased).

Both of Mabel’s parents were English; they were married in 1873 at St. Thomas Church in Dudley (Worcestershire).

I cannot find immigration records for the parents.

Mabel was the youngest of four sisters, although two sisters (Emily and Agnes) died of undocumented causes in 1901 – then they were 16 and 19 years old.

Mabel lived in Port Carbon throughout her life.

In September of 1920, when she was 32, Mabel married Howard Elmer Wintersteen (1890-1967),

Mabel and Howard, had no children

Mabel died in December of 1953, age 65, and was buried in Schuylkill County, PA.

Share:

Search By:

Topics:

More Postcards