Matson Insurance has partnered with Jefferson County History Center to offer exploreJeffersonpa.com readers a look into Jefferson County’s past. Today, the history of postcards in the Brookville area is highlighted.
(Pictured above: A young John Shively spent his summers in Brookville, leaving Gladys pining away in Indiana.)
A PENNY FOR YOUR THOUGHTS
(Submitted by Carole Briggs.)
Once upon a time, the postcard that now requires a twenty-eight cent stamp could be sent through the mail for a penny. Today, these picture postcards are highly collectible and the History Center is fortunate to have a collection of them that includes several albums as well as individual postcards.
People collected them when on vacation and saved postcards they received from friends who were traveling. Some are clean and not canceled. Others include interesting messages. Some folks collected cards with a special relationship. One man attending the Assembly of God tent meetings in Brookville sent a postcard of the Courthouse to a friend with this message, “…This is Brookville City Hall. Do not forget to answer in your next letter—did your wife have any church views of Brookville, Pa, other than those I sent her?..”
Some contain interesting messages. John Shively lived in the state of Indiana where his father was a senator. His mother was a Brookville woman and they vacationed in the large home on the hill behind Buff’s Ice-Cream. A friend named Gladys sent three postcards to him during the summer of 1909, and one included a poem,
I am pining away,
And feel very blue,
And I think that it is just,
That I’m missing you.
The wife who survived John was named Barbara so we know this romance did not continue!
Copyright@Jefferson County Historical Society, Inc.
Throwback Thursday is brought to you by Matson Insurance in Brookville.
Submitted by the Jefferson County History Center.
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