A 100-Year-Old Postcard Just Arrived in the Michigan Mail. A Family Search Begins.

For indispensable reporting on the coronavirus crisis, the election, and more, subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily newsletter.Here’s a post office puzzle that isn’t about the scapegoating of workers or the sabotaging of the universal delivery mandate by a corrupt president and an inept postmaster general. This one’s good; read the whole tale, an epic about a 1920 postcard that took its time reaching its mailbox this month, with a come-from-behind win thanks to the dedication of postal workers. Kudos to the Washington Post’s Sydney Page for piecing it together. Highlights:
—“Dear cousins,” the postcard starts. “We are quite well but mother has awful lame knees. It is awful cold here.”
—“Don’t forget to write us,” the note ends, followed by a question about whether ol’ Roy got his pants fixed yet.
—There’s a Halloween illustration on the front, with the words “Witch would you rather be, a goose or a pumpkin-head?”
—The one-cent George Washington stamp is legibly marked October 29, 1920.
—The 30-year-old who received it has pledged to help find members of the original family. “I was shocked,” she said. “At first I didn’t think much of it, other than that it’s old and interesting, but then I took a closer look.”
—A local librarian is pitching in to complete the puzzle; he has turned, in part, to the 1920 census. (If you’re a census neglecter, get on it.)
—The Facebook group Positively Belding is on the case.
—The letter is signed by one Flossie Burgess.
If you’re related to a Flossie Burgess, let Page know, or drop a line to recharge@motherjones.com. We hope Roy got his pants fixed.

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