London S. W. – The Houses of Parliament

This London street scene card was sent to Mrs. Augusta Bentzen, wife of Hjalmar Bentzen. They appear on the 1920 Federal Census with daughter Eleanor, who’s name you notice under the address. The 1920 shows the Bentzens as living at 1445 Shrader St., San Francisco, CA. Hjalmar is a bakery manager, born Denmark about 1873, his wife Augusta born Denmark, about 1879, and daughter Eleanor born Denmark, about 1904. The family emigrated to the U.S. around 1905 or ’06. This card was sent from Augusta’s uncle, and is written in Danish. His name appears to start with the letter K. The Bentzens were living at 1 Vicksburg St. in San Francisco at the time this card was sent, which was October 1907. The message is a little hard to read but is something like:

“Kære Gusta, Kuns disse kort for at forbere de dig at jeg vil sende dig et Brev jeg troer ikke sky[?] edin[?] er min du du sagve[?] i det sidste[?] Brev du fly[?] første[?]. Din Onkel, K..?..”

The gist of the first part below is, I hope, fairly correct. The second half of the message is harder to read and translate. Various words here and there are clear but too many unknown words could change the meaning, so my best translation so far is:

“Dear Gusta. Only sending these cards to let you know that I will send you a letter. I do not believe …?………Your Uncle [starts with a K?]”

Japanese Ladies Walking With Candles

The “Japanese Ladies” card is sent to Ch. Bentzen. 1445 Schrader St., San Francisco. Ch. likely stands for Charles, and he is probably the son of Hjalmar and Augusta, and older brother of Eleanor. The message from the sender is:

“With the best wishes for a merry christmas and happy new year. Sincerely yours, Frodi Sinding. 2460 Clay Str., S.F.”

According to his WWI Draft Registration Card, then sender, Frode Sinding was born in Denmark, October 15, 1873, so he would have been age 43 when he sent these holiday wishes. The draft reg card shows occupation as Porter at Lane Hospital in San Francisco, and his permanent address as 2403 Clay St., S.F.

The addressee, Ch. Bentzen was likely the Charles Bentzen who appears on the 1930 Federal Census taken in San Francisco. He is there with his wife Mary E., who was born in California, about 1895. This Charles Bentzen was born in Denmark, about 1893, working as a milkman. His wife Mary is listed as the owner of some type of company, the writing there is hard to read. The Shrader St. address and the daughter’s name on the one card were big keys in tying these two postcards together.

For more about each postcard see this website’s posts under their individual titles of:  London S. W. – The Houses of Parliament and Japanese Ladies Walking With Candles.

Sources:  Year: 1920; Census Place: San Francisco Assembly District 27, San Francisco, California; Roll: T625_142; Page: 8B; Enumeration District: 340; Image: 701. Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.

Registration State: California; Registration County: San Francisco; Roll: 1544245; Draft Board: 11. Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005.

Year: 1930; Census Place: San Francisco, San Francisco, California; Roll: 197; Page: 3B; Enumeration District: 82; Image: 724.0; FHL microfilm: 2339932. Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2002. Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Fifteenth Census of the United States, 1930. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1930. T626, 2,667 rolls.