To: Miss Mabel Setz From: Ernest 1928
Dear Mabel,
I haven’t seen the kettle on the picture but expect it is supposed to be scenic.
Don’t play too much tennis and give my love to “Bertha”. We’re having a lot of fun.
Ernest
In 1928, Calvin Coolidge was president, alcohol was illegal, and no one knew it quite yet, but the “Roaring Twenties” was coming to a close. Amelia Earhart was still alive, and Mickey Mouse made his debut. The age of entertainment brought to us by screens was beginning. It’s shocking how far it’s come since then.
Perhaps it’s because this postcard comes from 1928, perhaps it’s the joke about tennis and “Bertha,” perhaps it’s simply that there is a full picture postcard of the “Kettle” which appears to be a cauldron decorated by forest loving witches (or if you’re an ACOTAR girlie, by Elaine). BUT, this whole postcard feels like it could be straight out of the Great Gatsby. All that’s missing is a pier with a green light, fancy parties, and the most beautiful shirts you’ve ever seen.
East Ellsworth is a small town located in Pierce County, Wisconsin. Apparently, the train companies couldn’t build in Ellsworth proper, so they set up a depot about one mile away. This became “East Ellsworth.” At least, according to the internet. As far as I can tell, “the old kettle” doesn’t exist any longer, though it certainly looks like it used to sit on a quaint camp/hiking area. Maybe Ernest was there on a camping getaway with family, or maybe hanging with friends? Hard to know, but we know he thought of Mabel.
Mabel Setz was born on January 21, 1907 to Robert Setz and Eda Langlot Setz. At the time of this postcard, she would have been 21, and by the census of 1930, she was working as a book keeper at a local company. I wonder whether she worked by choice or by circumstance, since the stock market tanked in 1929. However, her parents were mid-sixties. Since she was the youngest, and still living with her parents, it makes sense that she might have worked to help with expenses. Mabel married Melvin Henry Else in August of 1936, and passed away in March of 2004 at the dignified age of 97.
As for Ernest, unfortunately I couldn’t find him. Without a last name, it’s fairly difficult unless he happened to be attached to the family in some way. He was neither brother, cousin, or husband. So whatever Ernest’s relationship to Mabel may have been must remain a mystery to us. I won’t lie, whenever I’m researching postcards between young people, I always hope to find out that they ended up married. I suppose it’s the hopeless romantic in me.
Maybe Mabel and Ernest suffered the same romantic fate as Gatsby and Daisy (though hopefully without the murder…), maybe they loved each other, but could never quite find their way to be together. Maybe, they simply remained friends. Whatever the case, I hope Ernest finally got to see the Old Kettle while in Ellsworth.
“The (old?) Kettle” Tourist Park, East Ellsworth, WIS.
Hipstory 