“The Valentine Bowler” – Washington Boro, PA (1907)

Mr. Emerson Kane lived in Washington Boro, the pleasant community overlooking the Susquehanna River in western Lancaster County.

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

On Valentine’s Day in 1907, Emerson received a comic greeting from an unidentified friend.

The postcard Valentine was mailed from Lancaster, the historic city about 10 miles northeast of Washington Boro.

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

The face of the postcard displays a cartoon drawing of a lanky, red-headed bowler holding a large bowling ball.

Our hero wears a green vest and a red tie; his shirtsleeves are secured with garters.

(Garters became popular in the 19th century when manufactured shirts were produced uniformly with long sleeves and cuffs.

The garter was employed to customize the length and to secure sleeves while working.

By the dawn of the 20th century, the garter had become a fashion accessory.)

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

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A printed verse describes the bowler’s success (or lack thereof):

The bowler has a record fine,

The ball goes rolling down the line,

And tho’ he’d like

To make a “strike”,

The chalk marks show “All down but nine”!

I interpret the “chalk marks” to indicate that all nine pins were still standing, although it could mean that only the nine pin was still standing.

In any event, our bowler has not had a “strike”.

The postcard was published by the English firm of Raphael Tuck & Sons; I believe the postcard was printed in England.

Unfortunately, the postcard has no other information about the possible meaning of the cartoon to Mr. Kane, or about the Emerson’s relationship to the sender.

We may assume that Emerson appreciated the joke as he preserved the postcard in good condition throughout his life.

(I removed digitally a few wrinkles and post office smudges.)

One hopes that Emerson and his correspondent found romantic success on Valentine’s Day.

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