For Washington’s Birthday, Aunt Sadie mailed a commemorative postcard to her niece, Mrs. Walter Lease of York, PA, (RFD #8).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/York,_Pennsylvania
The face of the postcard is illustrated with a simple medallion drawing of Washington draped with a flag. A short verse implores aid from “on high”.
The postcard was printed in the United States.
On the reverse, Aunt Sadie writes, “…thinking about our country today…”
Because the postcard was mailed from York, we can assume that Aunt Sadie and her niece did not live far from one another.
(Aunt Sadie’s written comment about “coming in” may suggest that she lived “downtown” while the niece lived on a rural delivery route.)
The exchange of commemorative postcards on the birthdays of Presidents Lincoln and Washington was a common practice in the early 20th century.
Thousands of these patriotic reminders were saved through the lifetimes of the correspondents.
The patriotic postcards now fill card boxes at the stalls of antique dealers.
Today, we might benefit by yearly reminders of those leaders who placed the national interest above personal ambition or party allegiance.
Aunt Sadie couples her thoughts of the country with an inquiry, “when are you coming in once?”
We hope that Aunt Sadie and her niece enjoyed visits and other happiness in the year 1923.
