To: Mrs. Nora Ringer, From: Aunt Eva 1910-1930
Dear Nora,
I suspect your tongue is waging at both ends these days. I know you are enjoying your mama’s visit – in from the winter(?) How I would have liked to go with her and sleep like(?) our young(?) Julia. But, I went to South B. and Bluffton. Write me.
Your Aunt,
Eva
Wow. To say I’ve been holding on to this postcard is an understatement. This is one of the first postcards I picked up, largely because I thought the front of the card was so beautiful and vibrant, and the back of the card is so clean and aesthetic. But it was a doozy to try and decipher! In the end, I had to play with the colors and contrast of the card as well as look for common letters that I was confident in. I know I didn’t get everything right, so if you have some thoughts on what these words are, let me know! For now, though, let’s dissect a bit of the history of the card.
As you can see, the card has no stamp or postmark. That tells me it was either carried to Nora in person, or mailed in a separate envelope. However, there are some clues that we can gather to help us determine when the postcard may have been written.
First, let’s look at the front. The image is a sweeping watercolor painting of Vernal Falls and the Cap of Liberty in Yosemite. Paintings like this were popular on postcards in the first half of the 20th century (1900-1950). Additionally, the abbreviation for California is “Cal”. State abbreviations weren’t standardized until 1963. So, we know the postcard must be before that date.
However, I’m not happy with a 63 year possibility. So, the final determining factor is the publishing company. On the back, I’m barely capable of making out a publisher: Benham Co. This publisher was active from 1910-1930. So, although we don’t have a postmark, I can now place the card within a 20 year period. If I had to guess one date, I’d say 1918. No particular reason, just a gut feeling.
There is so much I love about this postcard, including “your tongue is waging at both ends”. Which, I hope I deciphered that phrase correctly because it’s fantastic. I attribute it to the visit of Nora’s mother (they must be catching up on a lot!). But, who are Nora and Eva? Honestly, without a location I can’t be sure. It may surprise you to find out that there is more than one Nora Ringer in the archives.
I did find a possibility. There’s a Nora Ringer living in Ohio who was born in 1906. However, I can only find one census record of her, and “Ringer” is the maiden name. The card explicitly says “Mrs.” That indicates a marriage. Since we are talking about women, Ringer would be her husbands name. Once again, the archives do more to obscure than reveal and we are hampered in finding our Nora because she’s hidden by men’s names. Without the husbands name, or a time frame, or location, I can’t confirm our Nora.
Nonetheless, I hope Nora’s tongue wagged the entirety of her mother’s visit, and I hope she wrote her Aunt Eva a mile long letter filled with a cacophony of gossip and family information.
Cheers to Nora and Eva. May we all have friends and family we can spill the tea with.
Hipstory 