This Romantic postcard was not mailed.
We do not know if illustration had a special meaning to the collector who preserved it.
The image was copyrighted in 1900 by the Ullman Manufacturing Company of New York, prolific publishers of hand-colored illustrations.
We have seen the products of the Ullman Company in other postcard stories.
In this postcard, a young woman in a long, pink dress, is seated at a desk.
She leans pensively on the desktop, her head on her hand.
In her other hand, extended over the top of the chair, she holds two photographs.
We can see the likeness of a young man on one; we presume that the other has a similar image.
The scene is entitled, “Which?”
Apparently, our heroine has two eager suitors and she must declare a preference.
There is no indication that the young lady is close to making a decision.
Interestingly, the postcard was published by another firm, The American Post Card Company – and the style of the postcard (and the “colorgravure” process) suggests a date around 1908.
The choice of marriage could be a fraught decision for many women; there were few remedies available for those in disastrous marriages.
One hopes that this woman made a rewarding choice, and that all such romantic dilemmas have a satisfactory resolution.
