A Penny For…
“Use a picture. It’s worth a thousand words” stated Arthur Brisbane in 1906. Just one short year after his prophetic words, the United States Post Office passed Order number 145, allowing the back of post cards to carry a message as well as the address. Now, senders of picture postcards could include a few words. This simple action ushered in what became known as the “Golden Age of Postcards.” Americans began to communicate with a picture and, as space allowed, a very few words.
Grandma Anna lived this golden era to the max. Her communication with family and friends was conducted by post cards dating from 1900 through her passing in 1970. A shoe box crammed with post cards was discovered while cleaning her attic. Old shoe boxes were the preferred method of storage for Grandma. I could not see dumping all this history without going through the box. The seemingly endless collection included notes from old boyfriends (pre 1905), cards from local boys serving in WWII, and countless notes from her extended family. I’ve kept that box of cards for over 40 years.
Early in the spring of 2021, I visited an antique store in Minocqua with my friend from Chicago. This trip was the first one in several months for us. COVID had kept us from these outings. Masked and cautious, we each went in our separate shopping directions. I finished by sitting down and looking through the vintage postcards. Most were neatly organized by the city represented by the photo on the front. A few were scattered on the desk surface. One of these postcards caught my eye. On the upper left corner was the printed notation “Main Street, Clintonville, Wis.” My mind began to wander back in time as I looked at the image.
I remembered my long but yet brief association with Clintonville. Our family made the trip from Wausau to Clintonville each August for Grandma Anna’s family reunion at Olen Park. Arriving in Clintonville, we passed the site (and later the marker) commemorating the development of four wheel drive in the United States. This simple drive-by would lead to my dad’s annual recitation of the history of the Badger Four Wheel Drive Auto Company. The history lesson was never complete without the explanation of how this little shop of Otto Zachow and William Besserdich was almost totally responsible for Allied Forces winning The War.
As I looked closer at the postcard image, I noticed that it was a truck motoring down Main Street in Clintonville. I’m not knowledgeable in antique vehicles—however, this truck looked suspiciously different. I was certain I was seeing the famous four wheel drive truck. Not sure, I turned the post card over to verify the date. It was mailed from Marion, Wisconsin in December 1916—or perhaps 1918. I wasn’t sure. I was sure it was definitely a four-wheel-drive truck! In my excitement, I thought how odd it was that the card was sent from Marion. How odd it was that most of Grandma Anna’s family were from Marion.
Almost instantaneously, my eyes caught the address on the postcard. It was addressed to my grandma! As I gaped in shock and excitement, I tried to read the message on the card. The words “Grandma is awful sick-she got it too” stuck in my mind as I read on. I determined that the card was sent to grandma Anna by her cousin Mary. I checked the date again. December 1916 or December 1918. I still was not certain. However, in 1918, between September and December, Wisconsin had seen an estimated 103,000 cases of the flu, leaving over 8000 dead. The “it” could have been the flu- the other pandemic This po=ostcard was not only a rare glimpse at a newly produced four-wheel drive truck; It was a report to Grandma Anna on the fate of her family in Marion.
This simple picture post card, costing a penny to send, brought my grandma, my dad, and my memories to life that day. The message certainly was not a thousand words. But, it held the weight of at least that many words. Grandma Anna survived the flu pandemic of 1918; as well as her sons; my 9 year old dad and his 7 year old brother. My heart was lighter as I paid $2.00 for my penny postcard--it was worth every penny! How it ever got to an antique shop in Minocqua, I may never know.
In our age of television and now Instagram, we often rely solely on pictures to convey our messages. The picture of the four wheel drive truck is special. It certainly got my attention that day. But the far less than one thousand words conveyed so much more. Together, they are priceless.