Undivided back, used postcard. Postmarked March 15, 1909 from Fenway Station, Boston, MA. Publisher:  Boston Post-Card Co., 12 Pearl St. No. 770.

“Arnold Arboretum. Rhododendrons. Jamaica Plain, Mass.”

Price:  $5.00

It’s funny, one would not think of this postcard as “hand-colored” as is described on the back, but in looking for color, we do notice the blue-green tinge around the middle of the card. This is one of five that we’ve found that had all been sent to Miss Ida L. Vance of Eureka, CA. In noticing the postcard date, we see that the card was a little old already when it was mailed, since it’s a non-divided back. It was probably produced around 1906 or early 1907 before the postal rules changed. Miss Ida received at least three cards from this particular unknown sender, as we can see the handwriting was the same as in the two (of three) previously posted. (Did postcard collectors mail them to themselves ever? Seems like a good way to record dates and locations, so some probably did!)

A living tree museum on 281 acres and the National Register of Historic Places, just among other things….

Arnold Arboretum: a heavenly place to visit, hang out, and learn. Check out their website, and since we’re especially fond of history, here’s a direct link to their history page.

Just to put into context for our postcard era, here are two excerpts from a long article that appeared in the Davenport Daily Republican, (Davenport, IA) April 7, 1901. Reading the second portion gives us a little bit of a time-travel effect:  We’re now in the “future” (beyond, to be precise – over 100 years) that the writer was imagining!

Sources:  The Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University. https://www.arboretum.harvard.edu/ (accessed February 20, 2017).

“Planting Trees In Living Museum.” Davenport Daily Republican. Sunday, April 7, 1901. Sunday. p. 11. (Newspapers.com)