The Day Mary Sold Lucy

The front of this 1913 postcard wishes someone a happy birthday. The back tells a very different story. 

Mary writes of illness, moving, and the emotional pain of selling "Lucy." She did like to kick after all.

Website: https://retellseller.com/the-day-mary-sold-lucy/

YouTube: https://youtu.be/ymE-650ZmOM

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Transcript

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Today's episode I'm calling a postcard pause, as it'll be really short. I have quite a few postcards which either don't offer up a lot of info outside of the message itself, or they aren't addressed at all, but the imagery or topic may be interesting to share. Let’s see what today’s find has to say.

This postcard design is fairly ornate with its decoration. The florals are made up of a thicker glitter-type material, adding a bit of weight to the card. 

In the center of the florals is a circular image of a landscape with water and greenery. The upper right says, "Birthday Greetings."

The lower right says, "A message sweet doth this, my card, convey. May fortune's favors gladden thy birthday." The artwork is copyrighted by John Winson in 1913. This card doesn't have a postmark date, no stamp.

The writer took up the entire message side of the card and mixed in underneath you can see it says, "To my dear mother," and below that it says, "from Mary," which is the writer's name. The date written is May 3rd, 1913. " as you'll hear, I say on a pop wagon. However, I don't know if that's actually what it says, whether that's a local expression, a specific person, or something else. I'm just not sure. Uh, the image will be shared on the blog over at retellseller.com, so you can take a look and see what you think.

My dear mother how are you now? Harold is getting along nicely now, but there was days we thought we would surely lose him.

But I done something yesterday I wish I had not. I sold Lucy for $295. She is going on a pop wagon, but it makes me sick. I can't eat or drink or sleep. But she liked to kick so much I had a time with her just a few days ago.

But it just broke my heart to see her go. She has a good house and will have good care. We are going to move Monday or Tuesday. I will write you then. How I wish you was here with me. It would quiet my head. I did not realize I would feel so bad. Love to you and Pa, Brother Mary

Thank you for joining me for this Postcard Pause. To catch more, visit the link in the show notes, which will take you to the various ways you can follow along and connect. It's not nostalgia, it's human. May you find something worth holding on to