Miss Ella Bunts lived in Tracy Creek, once a lumbering and farming community that is now included within the town of Vestal – a western suburb of Binghamton.
The Post Office in Tracy Creek was closed in 1911.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vestal,_New_York
In March of 1908, Ella received a romantic postcard from an unknown friend.
I suspect that this image of lovers may originate with an admirer of Ella, but there is no clear evidence of this on the postcard.
The greeting was mailed from Binghamton, the city on the Susquehanna River in the “southern tier”, the counties bordering Pennsylvania in south-central New York State.
Binghamton abuts the town of Vestal – which now includes Tracy Creek.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binghamton,_New_York
The face of the postcard is a hand-colored photograph.
It shows a young woman standing before a vanity or dressing table.
Over the table hangs a large mirror with a gilded frame.
The girl is wearing a very lacy blouse, with wide sleeves – over a long, dark skirt.
Close behind the young lady stands a mustachioed young man.
He holds the woman’s hands in his, and he is kissing her cheek.
Both are finely-dressed; the gentleman sports a brown suit and tie.
There is a boutonniere on his lapel, and his French cuffs are closed with cuff-links.
The image has no title or legend – but we know that this is a scene of courtship or romantic adventure.
The publisher’s initials appear on the reverse, but I have not yet identified them.
On the reverse, the place for correspondence is blank.
The stamp is affixed at an angle, which probably denotes some level of affinity.
It seems that Ella was pleased by the amorous scene -the postcard was preserved in very good condition throughout her life.
(I did make digital repairs to an ugly postmark that was carelessly applied over part of the lacy decolletage.)
I don’t know if some right-minded postmistress was applying her own censoring of the image!
One hopes that Ella was well-aware of the sender and of the meaning that the postcard intended to communicate.
