This unusual postcard caught my eye because of the very good drawing (of a boy watching the rain) on the face.
I could not find an artist’s initials or a signature -although there are many small lines in the design that might obscure them.
(There were creases and some ink spots that marred the printed message – the reason that the postcard languished in the box of 25-cent items.)
The postcard was copyrighted and published by the Standard Company of Cincinnati – a non-denominational publishing house that produced a large variety of Sunday School materials and other church-related literature.
A bold headline asks, “LONESOME ?”
The rest of the printed message describes the advantages of attending the Sunday School.
In Sunday School, one is promised “Sunshine, Sociability, and Sublimation”.
“Sublimation”, in this context, relates to the Latin root of the word – to raise to a higher level.
We sometimes assume that social alienation and isolation are contemporary problems, but many people of the early twentieth century lived in places that were physically distant from neighbors and which lacked telephones or other means of communication.
https://solitudes.qmul.ac.uk/research/solitude-loneliness-and-modernity/index.html
Many of our postcard stories contain urgent pleas of “write soon” or lament the tardy response to earlier messages.
When the US population was still largely rural, the church was often central to the social life of the town or village.
Until very recent years, it was common for advice columnists to encourage people to visit a church or church-related events in order to find friendship or social companionship.
One hopes that the collector of this postcard did not suffer from loneliness.
