Miss Anna L Thomas: 1909
Akron, Oh. Aug – 20 -09
Dear Sister,
Came back to Aunt “L” yesterday 4 P.M. Will stay till Sat or Sun then mother is coming in. Aunt L is awful tired. Uncle L is no better. bad off. Had an awful bad night last night. Minnie is some better. Nettie is well hasn’t worked since Tues.
Love to all, your sis
— Elizabeth
Unlike some of my more recent posts, this card also does little more than reveal a (perhaps forgotten) family illness. Nevertheless, I always find these the most poignant, as they reveal that the everyday mundanities of life haven’t changed much in our human history.
Here, we have (seemingly) an entire family that’s been ill with some sort of sickness. Perhaps the flu, a cold, or something more serious — it’s impossible to know exactly. However, the card does provide some clues. We know the family has been tired, we know that the children (?) are recovering, and we also know that they haven’t been able to work for a few days.
The illness of Aunt and Uncle “L” prompted family to rally around them in an effort to nurse them back to health. Elizabeth stayed with them 3-4 days (August 20, 1909 was a Friday) and then presumably, her mother took over the care.
I have to wonder why Elizabeth refers to the family as Aunt “L” and Uncle “L”. I’m sure it’s a last name, but the parenthesis made me pause.
Dropping this into history a bit, I want to note that Pertussis vaccinations weren’t given until 1914, Diphtheria until 1926, and the flu until 1945. I can’t surmise if the “L” family had any of these diseases, but I can tell you that they all would have been contagious.
Additionally, the melancholy tone of this postcard is incongruous to the picture of the park, a place where we can imagine people walked and mingled and took air when they were healthy. Perhaps a silent wish for better times?
Entrance Grace Park, Akron, Ohio
Hipstory 