Divided back, used postcard. Postmarked May 1908, Thomasville, Alabama. Publisher: K – Win & Co., Art Publishers, Chicago, Illinois.
Price: $8.00
“Hello Cousin – how are you fine I hope. I am all ok. I guess you got my picture now you must send me one of yours! I am sending Sister Edna a card. She sent me one. From you loving cousin Doc Spinks Winnie said to tell you to ans. her letter soon.”
And on the front of the card the sender wrote “ans this card soon from your Little Cousin Doc.”
Addressed to: “Miss Leua Hinson, #63 St. Stephens Rd., Mobile Ala”
The exact date of the postmark is hard to read but we can see that it is May 1908 and postmarked in Thomasville, Alabama. The postcard’s a beauty showing a fig tree branch with leaves and fruit, and with the caption:
“A beautiful form is better than a beautiful face: It gives a higher pleasure than statues or pictures. It is the finest of the fine arts.”
Leua Hinson (an odd first name) wasn’t found online in general, nor specifically in the 1900 or 1910 census records for Mobile; nor was the exact address of 63 St. Stephens Rd found in either census, but the house number could have changed at some point. From there we move over to try to locate the sender’s name in records. A little difficult without a first name, however Doc is relaying a message from Winnie, so Winnie might be Winnie Spinks, found with her parents and siblings on the 1910 Federal Census in the Thomasville area, Choctaw Corner, Clarke County. Winnie has a younger brother named Daniel, so we wonder if Doc could be Daniel. Would we write nowadays and call ourselves a “little cousin?” I can’t picture it, but I’ve seen other references to “little cousins” on other old postcards, so it was not uncommon back then. Getting back to the subject of the addressee’s first name: Maybe it’s a nickname or a misspelling of something but that third letter there does not seem to be anything other than a “u.” By the way, Doc’s handwriting is cool. Just look at that “H” ! Imagine if, first of all, we were writing, not typing or texting, and secondly, if we took the time to write like this:
Lastly, “Sister Edna” was researched a little, though not extensively; her last name could have been Spinks, Hinson or other, or perhaps this was her title, as in a religious order.
Source: Year: 1910; Census Place: Choctaw Corner, Clarke, Alabama; Roll: T624_6; Page: 15B; Enumeration District: 0035; FHL microfilm: 1374019. (Ancestry.com)