Divided back, lightly embossed, used postcard. Postmark appears to be April 10, 1915. Publisher unknown. Series 75 F. Made in the U.S.A. (Publisher or printing heading containing the S in oval mark is the same as the card posted April 12, 2014 on this site under the title Bunny School.)

Price:  $4.00

“Dear Mother – If you are all togged up like I will be on Easter every body will be sure to know you by your clothes. Love from all. Lizzie”

Addressed to:  “Mrs. Alice Ellison, 1730 – J – St., Sacramento California

A lightly embossed postcard of three calla lilies on a background of white with a purple “backwards L” shape. A lovely composition with the caption Easter Greetings at the top. The whole postmarked date did not get stamped on the card but from what we can see it appears to be April 10, 1915. The unusual thing about this card is Lizzie’s expression “all togged up.” Of course, we understand that it means all dressed up, but in googling the expression we find similar examples such as,  “With my new suit people say I am togged to the bricks.”  “They were all togged out in dinner jackets and ball gowns.”  And  “We got togged up in our glad rags.”  Togged out meaning to get dressed up. The Oxford dictionary has this entry for the origin of the expression:

“Early 18th century (as a slang term for a coat or outer garment): apparently an abbreviation of obsolete criminals’ slang togeman(s) ‘a light cloak’, from French toge or Latin toga.”

This will be the first of many postcards put up on this site under The Alice Ellison Collection:  A group of around 150 – 200 antique or vintage postcards that we’ve been so kindly given by a friend, which had been in her family’s collection for years, and that we are most happy to have.

Sources:  http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/tog

“tog.” https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/tog (accessed February 14, 2024).