Miss Anna Gibble lived in Manheim, Pa (Lancaster County), and conducted postcard correspondence with a friend who lived in York.

The friend in York, S.K.S., had never met Miss Gibble.

On September 29, 1909, SKS mailed a postcard to Anna from York.

The postcard contained a hand-tinted photograph of the Firemen’s Monument in Penn Park.

Erected in 1900, the monument celebrated the heroism of those who protected the city from fire.

(In the 21st century, we may forget how many cities were ravaged by fire in previous centuries. In 1904, for example, the city of Baltimore suffered the loss of 1500 buildings in the “great fire”.)

On-line, one can find a story from the York Daily Record that reports how the inscription on the monument was later changed, and the monument was moved.

The message on the reverse of the postcard contains the promise that the correspondents “will not forget” one another, although they have never met.