The Woodpecker – 1907

Mr. Frank Wilson was living in Albia, Iowa in 1907.

(Albia is a small city in south central Iowa, the seat of Monroe County.)

In 1907, the area around Albia was dotted with small coal-mining camps, and the population in 1910 was greater than the population in 2000.

There was a mine disaster two miles from Albia in 1893.

Frank received a postcard from an unidentified friend.

Unfortunately, the postmarks are badly applied, so we cannot know from which post office the card was mailed.

Although there is space for a message, none was inscribed.

Thus, we have a nice illustration of a wood-pecker, done by an unknown illustrator, on a postcard from a mysterious correspondent.

The postcard was printed in the US about 1906, but the lack of a printer’s mark suggests it might have been a small company or a regional printer.

Nonetheless, Frank preserved the card during his lifetime, and the card survives more than a century after it was mailed.

Note:
I found Frank Wilson on line.
He was born in Monroe County in 1881.
He married, and had two daughters and two sons.
He worked in two hardware stores.
He died in 1958 at the age of 76.
Frank was 26 when he received the woodpecker.