A 1908 postcard's unfinished story

[RealityCheck]

Among my few dozen vintage postcards is one sent to Detroit a week before Thanksgiving 1908. It inspires thoughts about social networking via pens, paper and postage during that era B.C. [[Before Computers).

For some students and young adults back then, mail turned distant strangers into contacts. Their version of a virtual world, a Second Life, came through pen pal connections.

With a fountain pen, Rose M. Geis wrote from Syracuse, N.Y.:

I saw your name to exchange postals. And I would like to correspondent with you.
Answer soon.

Her invitation, postmarked the morning of Nov. 21, 1908, went from Syracuse's northwest side to Robert L. Stuart on the edge of downtown Detroit at 888 Porter Street [[where the Lodge now stands).

Because Robert saved the card and because he sought pen pals, presumably through a classified-style listing in a pulp magazine or other publication, he likely replied that fall to Rose's three-sentence entreaty. Answer soon.

Whether they corresponded [[or correspondented, as Rose would say) beyond two postcards can't be known . . . but is a thread a novelist or screenwriter could weave into an imaginative narrative that brings Rose to Detroit or Bob to Syracuse.

What's not fiction is that I hold something each of them held 101 years ago. The image side shows Syracuse University, my alma mater, so I bought it at a flea market. Now I wonder how it wound up there, possibly after sitting for many decades in a Stuart family closet, trunk or attic somewhere in this area.

Sitting at a desk without a fountain pen, ink bottle or postcard stamp, I think about young Rose, young Robert and this form of one-to-one social media that left an artifact to display where we indulge a similar interest in communicating . . . connecting . . . correspondenting.

How about you -- did you or someone you know every have a pen pal? Travel back to that time and share a memory here. Answer soon.

[buildingsofdetroit]

Among my few dozen vintage postcards is one sent to Detroit a week before Thanksgiving 1908. It inspires thoughts about social networking via pens, paper and postage during that era B.C. [[Before Computers).
...
What's not fiction is that I hold something each of them held 101 years ago. The image side shows Syracuse University, my alma mater, so I bought it at a flea market. Now I wonder how it wound up there, possibly after sitting for many decades in a Stuart family closet, trunk or attic somewhere in this area.
...
Sitting at a desk without a fountain pen, ink bottle or postcard stamp, I think about young Rose, young Robert and this form of one-to-one social media that left an artifact to display where we indulge a similar interest in communicating . . . connecting . . . correspondenting. .

Reality,
This is one of my favorite things about the hobby of collecting old Detroit postcards. I have, probably, close to 1,000 of them. While true "postcard collectors" prefer unused, unposted cards, I love the ones with the stories. Like you, whenever I get a new one, I sit and wonder what the conclusion of the story was. I have thought several times about creating a branch of BuildingsofDetroit.com dedicated solely to sharing these pieces of people's lives. I thought it might be fun to have people submit their takes on the stories and what happened. Maybe you'd be interested in starting one with me?

Two of my favorites:
http://callmequami.livejournal.com/151962.html
Rose writes to someone in Orrville, Ohio, in August 1923:
"This is the city I would like to live in. Having a glorious time. - Rose"
Who was she writing? Her parents? Did she leave the small family farm in Orrville for the big city and fall in love with the place? Maybe it's just a relative, and she was living in Chicago or New York and found Detroit more to her liking. And, perhaps most importantly, did Rose ever move to Detroit, fulfilling the wish she wrote on this card?

http://callmequami.livejournal.com/164776.html
"Is this where you buy your boose"
What was going through Claude Eager's head when this crazy, cryptic, unsigned postcard of the Rickel Co. plant showed up in his Howell mailbox? Who sent it? Was someone calling him an alcoholic? And what the hell is "boose," anyway?

Another one that I haven't scanned is of the D.A.C. and eastern Grand Circus Park. On the back of the card, a small girl, Matilda, I believe her name was, writes in pencil in a child's script informing her friend that, "Yes, my mother says you may come over to play." Sure, you might wonder what they played with - or when the friend knew she could come over. But what I find most fascinating about this card is a glimpse at a time before telephones made play dates a simple thing to arrange. That a child - judging by the handwriting, maybe 5 or 6 years old - would choose a postcard of the D.A.C., of all things, to write her friend and tell her to come play dolls or hopscotch or whatnot.

[Retroit]

I wonder, per chance, if Robert L. Stuart served in France during WWI with a William ?. Murphy.

[RealityCheck]

Love your evocative cards, Dann [[aka RhymesWithRawk, aka Quami).

I'll go beyond speculating about the messages to add these comments:

* Back in the 1910s and '20s, letter carriers in Howell and Orville didn't need street addresses to find Claude Eager and the Beck couple. Heck, Claude's cryptic card arrived without even a state name.

* Why do vintage postal cancellations include the time of day? When did that stop . . . and why?

* The convention postmark on Rose's stimulates visions of salesmen visiting crossing their territories on rutted roads in Model T touring cars with leather-strapped luggage and sample cases. We learn from the Sept. 17, 1923 issue of Time magazine that their Atlantic City gathering [[six years before the market crash) received this telegraphed message from President Calvin Coolidge:

The evidence of continuing good business conditions and the indications of further improvement from this time forward are such as must be gratifying to your members, representing, as they always do, the best informed and most understanding business optimism of the country . . .

* It sure is an odd, hyperbolic claim to say in the note atop Claude's card that Henry W. Rickel's operation had "the brightest automatic malt kiln turning machinery in the world, and is equipped with the most modern appliances for producing malt."
Really? "The brightest" because machines were polished . . . daily? More often?
And "the most modern appliances"? Because their manufacturer didn't sell to anyother malt houses anywhere?

Ah yes - - these pieces of stock are just 5.5" x 3.5", but sure do convey a lot of imagination-stirring information.

Such a deal for only $3 or so apiece. Keep 'em coming, Dann!

[buildingsofdetroit]

* Back in the 1910s and '20s, letter carriers in Howell and Orville didn't need street addresses to find Claude Eager and the Beck couple. Heck, Claude's cryptic card arrived without even a state name.

I'm just wondering if Claude would be able to guess who sent him that "boose" business. Not like he could text someone and ask, "Did you send me this?" Seems like a card that would be followed by an "LOL!" these days.

[buildingsofdetroit]

I have a test site up now at http://buildingsofdetroit.com/postcards. I would appreciate it if a few people put it through the ringer to see whether it works - and whether this is a worthwhile site.

[sumas]

My mother, Detroit born and raised, had a pen pal in Hawaii in the thirties. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, she never got another letter. She never pursued it because she worried her pen pal may have died in that attack.

[RealityCheck]

Your new postcard site works just fine, Buildings, and is a bookmark-worthy destination for history buffs . . . and others charmed by pieces of the past.

Think about it [[as you clearly have):
These palm-size cards, written for one set of eyes -- or one household's -- gain a wider audience than sender or recipient ever could have envisioned without soaring into a sci fi fantasy.

Found treasures, worth sharing and speculating about. Pretty cool -- and a reminder that history isn't documented only between hard covers and isn't made just by prominent people.

Letters, diaries and postcards add revealing, resonant details about who we were . . . and are. So share your stash and let's see what we learn!
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Sumas: Thanks for your haunting family anecdote -- another unfinished story that's quite vivid in its stark brevity. Reads like a novel's opening sentences, really.

[terryh]

B.C [[before computers) I like that.....I remember having British snail mail pen pals back in the 80's when I was obcessed with the British music scene.there was a certain aniticipation building up to a rush when reply letters arrived.....

[DtCtyGrl]

History of Robert L. Stuart

1900 United States Federal Census
Name: Robert Stuart
Age: in 1900: 18 / Birth Date: April 1882 / Michigan
White / Male / Son / Single
Father's Name: Henry / Father's Birthplace: Scotland /
Mother's Name: Frances H / Mother's Birthplace: New York
Residence: Galesburg Village, Kalamazoo, Michigan
Others Listed in household: Henry Stuart [[age 52) / Frances H [[age 40) / Robert [[age 18) /
Grace W [[age 13) / Archie D [[age 11) / Bessie Stuart [[age 9) / Blanche Stuart [[age 7) /
Rose Perkins [[age 41)

1910 United States Federal Census
Name: Robert L Stuart
Age in 1910: 27 / Estimated Birth Year: abt. 1883 / Birthplace: Michigan
Father's Name: Henry R / Father's Birth Place: Scotland
Mother's Name: Francis H / Mother's Birth Place: New York
Home in 1910: Detroit Ward 14, Wayne, Michigan [[888 Porter Street)
Marital Status: Single / Race: White / Gender: Male
Household Members:
Henry R. Stuart age 58 / Francis H. Stuart age 50 / Robert L Stuart age 27 /
Archie D Stuart age 21 / Bessie L Stuart age 19 / Jessie B Stuart age 14
Claud H Whitlark age 29 / Grace W Whitlark 23 / Franklin Whitlark age 1

1920 United States Federal Census
Name: Robert L Stuart [[age 37)
Wife: Edith L Stuart [[age 26)
Son: J. Merritt Stuart [[age 7)
Son. Robert L. Stuart [[age 2 4/12)
Residence: East Lansing, Ingham, Michigan
Occupation: Station Lineman for Telegraph Company

1930 United States Federal Census
Name: Robert L Stuart [[age 47)
Wife: Edith L Stuart [[age 35)
Son: Robert L Stuart [[age 12)
Daughter: Edith James Stuart [[age 7)
Residence: Precinct 64, Hillsborough, Florida
Occupation: Repairman for Telegraph Company

[pffft]

I love all the postcards, and the site looks promising...

[RealityCheck]

Wow, DetroitCityGirl -- that's great!

In under 3 days, we gain texture and an ending of sorts to my 1908 card's "unfinished story." This is like History Detectives on PBS without the video, budget and national audience.

Thanks for taking time to confirm that a 25-year-old bachelor received the card . . . and didn't marry Rose, ending my romantic fantasy. Still, a name written in fountain pen now is a lot more vivid because I know he became a telegraph tech who moved to east Lansing and then Florida by the Depression . . . and a father of three who lost his first-born child before J. Merritt reached his late teens.

Plus, this tiny tale now involves three forms of mass communication:
1.) Postal mail in the 1900s
2.) A telegraph worker in the 1920s-30s
3.) An Internet community in 2009

Not bad for a three-sentence card. Ah, but we all know that Lowell's forum is a treasureland of swift crowd-sourcing surprises.

Your geneaology research skill sure is impressive, DtCtyGrl . . . and greatly appreciated! I imagine you must know a lot about your family.

[pffft]

DtCityGrl,

Where did you get that census info?

[EastsideAl]

I have a test site up now at http://buildingsofdetroit.com/postcards. I would appreciate it if a few people put it through the ringer to see whether it works - and whether this is a worthwhile site.

And what do I see when I first click on to it? The Hotel Savarine, where members of my family lived, worked, and managed businesses. Almost made me cry.

Potentially a fascinating site and a great resource. Keep it up!

[buildingsofdetroit]

And what do I see when I first click on to it? The Hotel Savarine, where members of my family lived, worked, and managed businesses. Almost made me cry.

Potentially a fascinating site and a great resource. Keep it up!

Feel free to post, Al! You don't have to register.
The site is still in "beta" form, especially until I get more cards scanned in coming days, so I'm not officially rolling it out, but I'd love for people to take the site for a test-comment-drive.

[Sandhouse]

It's amazing what a rush of nostalgia you can get from just one penny postcard. [[Now $3 at your friendly antique store, but frequently worth it.) I remember the Rickel Malt House; it marked the end of the train ride to Brush Street Station. A few years back, when I read the collected letters of H. L. Mencken, I found Mencken corresponded with Rickel, who lived in my home town of Mount Clemens. Mencken was a serious beer fan.

My favorite postcard is of the steamer Tashmoo, at night, with a full moon overhead. Very evocative, and not too hard to find at antique stores.

[RealityCheck]

Shoo-whee, forget my tame card that we now know didn't lead to lasting romance.

Check out a lovestruck 1909 postcard -- also with an unfinished story -- that BuildingsOfDetroit just posted on the intriguing site he crafted for pieces of his collection and any we can contribute.

Go to Greetings from Detroit and scroll to the 2nd card - "Now how could I forget you?'

Then dig out your old cards to see if they have unfinished stories worth sharing. You can send a private note to BuildingsOfDetroit by clicking on his screen name in posts above. He welcomes card scans.

[shovelhead]

Well, let's not forget Claude Eager, shall we?
I have a photo in the 1976 Howell Bicentennial History book, pg. 199 of the class members of the Dibble School. The caption is dated 1895. Can't tell how old he is in the photo, the reproduction is not too sharp. Several other Eagers are in the photo.

They settled in the area of M59 and the present Eager Road, east of Howell in Oceola Township.

[buildingsofdetroit]

Well, let's not forget Claude Eager, shall we?
I have a photo in the 1976 Howell Bicentennial History book, pg. 199 of the class members of the Dibble School. The caption is dated 1895. Can't tell how old he is in the photo, the reproduction is not too sharp. Several other Eagers are in the photo.

They settled in the area of M59 and the present Eager Road, east of Howell in Oceola Township.

I swear to God, some of you DYers never fail to amaze me. That's incredible. Mind posting that to the thread on the postcard site, Shovelhead? You don't have to register.

[DtCtyGrl]

Shoo-whee, forget my tame card that we now know didn't lead to lasting romance.

Check out a lovestruck 1909 postcard -- also with an unfinished story -- that BuildingsOfDetroit just posted on the intriguing site he crafted for pieces of his collection and any we can contribute.

Go to Greetings from Detroit and scroll to the 2nd card - "Now how could I forget you?'

Then dig out your old cards to see if they have unfinished stories worth sharing. You can send a private note to BuildingsOfDetroit by clicking on his screen name in posts above. He welcomes card scans.

She never married. Did Lou die in the War?

Social Security Death Index
Ruby Dedrick / Los Angeles, California
Born: July 11, 1884 / Died: January 8,1983

Canada Births
Ruby Dedrick [[August 22, 1884)
Daughter of: George Dedrick & Emma Hutchinson
Occupation of Father: Livery Keeper / Farm Hand
Walter Lewis Dedrick [[May 23, 1881)
Son of: George Arthur Dedrick & Emma Frances Hutchinson
Occupation of Father: Farmer
Cecil Lorne Dedrick [[February 5, 1887)
Son of: George Dedrick & Emma Hutchinson
Occupation of Father: Farmer

Greeley Daily Tribune [[Greeley, Colorado) December 31, 1960
Eaton - Mr. & Mrs. Hugh Denio received word this week of the death of a former Eaton man, Walter Dedrick, of Los Angeles, Calif. He suffered a stroke Christmas morning and died soon after being admitted to the hospital. Dedrick, unmarried, made his home with his sister, Miss Ruby Dedrick. Funeral services were held Wednesday at the Little Church of the Flowers at Forest Lawn. Dedrick was a nephew of the late Mr. and Mrs. R.M. Hutchinson, Eaton pioneers.
　
1930 United States Census
Ruby Deadrick [[age 45)
Estimated Birth Year: 1885
Relationship to Head of Household: Sister
Mother's Name: Emma F
Others in Household: Walter L Dedrick [[age 48) / Emma F Dedrick [[age 74)
Home in 1930: Los Angeles, California / 240 South Benton Way /

1920 United States Census
Ruby Dedrick [[age 30) / Single / White / female
Estimated Birth Year: about 1990
Birthplace: Canada / Immigration Year 1895
Relationship to Head of Household: Daughter
Father's Birthplace: Canada
Mother's Name: Emma
Mother's Birthplace: Canada
Others in Household:
Emma Dedrick [[age 62) / Walter L Dedrick [[age 38) / Lorne Dedrick [[age 22)
/ Melbourne Dedrick [[age 22)
Home in 1920: Los Angeles, California

1910 United States Census
Ruby Dedrick [[age 24)
Estimated Birth Year: about 1886 / Single / White / Female
Birthplace: Canada
Relationship to Head of House: Daughter
Father's Name: George A / birthplace: Canada / Farmer / Age 52
Mother's Name Emma F / birthplace: Canada / Age 52
Home in 1910: Eaton, Weld, Colorado
Others in Household:
Cecil L Dedrick age 22 / Forest H Dedrick age 18 / Arthur M Dedrick age 12

1900 United States Census
Ruby Dedrick [[age 15) / birthdate: July 1884
Birthplace: Canada
Father: George A
Mother: Emma F
Home in 1900: Eaton Town, Weld, Colorado
Others in Household:
Walter L Dedrick age 19 / Cecil L Dedrick age 13 / Forrest H Dedrick age 8
Melbourne Dedrick age 3 / Levi Rawlings age 32

1881 Census of Canada
George A. Dedrick
*Wife: Emma [[age 23)
Married / Age 23 / Birth Year: 1858 / Birthplace: Ontario
Religion: Baptist / Nationality: German / Occupation: Farmer
Province: Ontario / District #157 / Norfolk South / Walsingham

[shovelhead]

My pleasure.
See, we ex-burbs people aren't all bad

[DtCtyGrl]

DtCityGrl,

Where did you get that census info?

I do a lot of research with Ancestry and Footnote.

[buildingsofdetroit]

I do a lot of research with Ancestry and Footnote.

That is simply fascinating. It takes a little of the fun out of guessing, but man, it's even more fascinating to know the truth.

[DtCtyGrl]

That is simply fascinating. It takes a little of the fun out of guessing, but man, it's even more fascinating to know the truth.

True, but Lou is still a mystery.

Seems Ruby was on the social scene in 1908 according to newspapers for Eaton, Colorado. Lots of little snippets of her attending parties and traveling to California for the winter. Would love to know Ruby's personal story.

[RealityCheck]

Would love to know Ruby's personal story.

Indeed - - 'specially now that you've sketched in more of the outline that shows she:

* Was an Ontario-born daughter of German immigrants who farmed in a township near Lake Erie, southeast of London and St. Thomas.

* Moved to northeastern Colorado with her family as a pre-teen or in her early teens at a time when the territory was in its second decade of statehood and the Pawnee Tribe shared Weld County with settlers who included her uncle R.M. Hutchinson, "an Eaton pioneer."

* Went west to the edge of our continent in her 20s to live in L.A. -- perhaps on or near the spread where dad George worked as a farmhand and livery keeper. L.A. had nearly 577,000 people in 1920 and was the 10th-largest U.S. city.
Ruby had come remarkably far from the Ontario farm town where her life began 2,500 miles away.

* Shared a spouseless, childless home with older brother Walter 'til he died at age 78 on Christmas Day 1960.

* Lived alone, apparently, in the 'City of Angels' until age 98 -- 73 years after Lou wrote: "Now how could I forget you? Far be it from such. In fact I think of you all the time."

This 'unfinished story' is more poignant now, thanks to truly A M A Z I N G fingerwork by DtCtyGrl and an inspired site from BuildingsOfDetroit!
. . . Oh yes, and an essential assist from Lowell Boileau that never, ever should be taken for granted.

--> The takeaway, as we say in marketing: A story is behind nearly every old postcard that was mailed.
--> The pitch, as we also say: Dig out any you have and share the best via a 'Submit' link at the top right of http://buildingsofdetroit.com/postcards/