For My Valentine…
“A little bird told me
‘Twas Valentine’s Day,
And gave me this feather
To send you, and say:
‘I’ll love you, my sweetheart,
For ever and aye’ “
A lovely verse for Valentine’s Day – I like the “forever and aye” part, it has such a nice ring to it. “Aye” in this case means always, which is the other significance besides the affirmative “yes” that we are generally more familiar with. And this is a beautiful card, though not in the best of shape with, besides the usual corner wear, a crease in the bottom left corner, and some discoloration and soiling on the back. But the mark on the front right – this looks like it was from an error in the printing process – the colors there are the same as in the feather. I like the blue-green grayish border, and just noticed the pale shadow that the artist included, for the shaft or quill. (These subtle details are important!)
This postcard is the second one that we have posted for these publishers or this publisher/distributor duo. See Publishers Ernest Nister And E. P. Dutton & Co. (Likely E.P. Dutton & Co. was the distributor.)
The writing in pencil from the sender shows: “To Aunt Tootsey from – Little Paul.” The card is addressed to: “Miss Lucy Shockey, Iola, Kansas, 12 1/2 Jackson St.”
Lucy Shockey was found on the 1920 Federal Census for Iola, Allen County, Kansas, at the Jackson street address. She is 18 years old there (and at the time this card was sent), born in Kansas, and sister-in-law to head of household Fred A. Vogel, age 35, born in Kansas, a self-employed manufacturer of cigars. His wife (Lucy’s sister) is Blanche, age 28, born in Colorado; and their daughter, Dorothy Dean Vogel, born in Kansas, is age 1 year, 2 months.
The 1910 census for Iola shows Lucy and Blanche with their parents, H.H. (doing farm work connected with the carpentry industry) and Belle Shockey, and five siblings, Alice E., Clyde, Hattie, Ellen R. and Howard Shockey. (Lucy is Lucy Belle Shockey.)
By the time of the 1930 census for Iola we find that Lucy had married Clyde H. Taylor, a steelworker, age 30, and that they had two children at this time, Evelyn R. and Robert H. Taylor, ages eight and three.
Divided back, used postcard. Postmarked February 11, 1920 from Dallas?, Texas? Publisher: Ernest Nister, London. Printed in Bavaria. Number 3532. Distributor: E.P. Dutton & Co., New York.
Price: $15.00
Sources: Definition of Aye. Merriam-Webster. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/aye. (Web accessed February 14, 2015.)
Year: 1920; Census Place: Iola Ward 2, Allen, Kansas; Roll: T625_522; Page: 3A; Enumeration District: 10; Image: 233. (Ancestry.com)
“United States Census, 1910,” index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/M2HV-HTM : accessed 14 February 2015), Lucy Belle Shockey in household of H H Shockey, Iola, Allen, Kansas, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 15, sheet 26A, family 7, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 1,374,444.
“United States, GenealogyBank Obituaries, 1980-2014,” index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/QV5W-J7WJ : accessed 14 February 2015), Lucy B Shockey Taylor, Kansas, United States, 05 Oct 1991; from “Recent Newspaper Obituaries (1977 – Today),” database and images, GenealogyBank.com (http://www.genealogybank.com : 2014); citing .