C. & N. W. Bridge and Depot, Beloit, Wis.

Mailed 25 May 1910 from Beloit. From Mary L. to Mrs. C. Sweet, Baraboo.

The picture

A red steel truss bridge crosses the river from the left foreground; a white oval sign on the bridge end reads DANGER / NO THOROUGHFARE; a man stands at the bridge end beside stone steps; across the water at right is a brick depot with a tall square clock tower and a white picket fence; a hill of trees behind, with a cupola and a church spire on the skyline.

• Printed caption: C. & N. W. BRIDGE AND DEPOT, BELOIT, WIS.
• Publisher: E. C. KROPP CO. PUB. MILWAUKEE No. 4010
• Number: 4010
• Printing: colored halftone · color
• Lettering in the picture: DANGER / NO THOROUGHFARE / NO PASSING ALLOWED[?] (sign on the bridge); BELOIT[?] (name board on the depot)
• Postmark ink on the picture: a faint curved arc of a circular postmark in the sky, upper center (offset from another card)
• Condition: light corner wear

The back

• Layout: divided back (message at left, address at right)
• Printed: Post Card · This Space for Address only.
• Stamp: 1c, green, Franklin (profile in an oval)
• Postmark: BELOIT / MAY 25 / 2-45P / 19 10 / WIS. (machine cancel with flag killer)
• Condition: toning; the pencil message is faint and partly overstruck by the postmark

Exact copy

Line for line as written. [?] follows an uncertain word; [illegible] marks one that cannot be read; ~~ ~~ is crossed out, ^ ^ written above the line, […] runs off the card.

Message (back of the card, left half, in pencil, written sideways, reading downward (turn the card 90 degrees counterclockwise to read); first line next to the dividing line):

Beloit - 5-25, 1910
Dear Cousin we received your
letter and am glad you are
coming down. I hope Lora is
better, come Saturday. if you can.
I hope 't-dont rain. for it rains
so easy. so long till I see you
Love to all. Mary L.

Address:

Mrs. C. Sweet
700 Walnut St.
Baraboo
Wis.

Reading version

The message joined into sentences, the spelling lightly modernized only where it helps; uncertain words keep their marks.

Beloit - 5-25, 1910 Dear Cousin, we received your letter and am glad you are coming down. I hope Lora is better. Come Saturday if you can. I hope 't don't rain, for it rains so easy. So long till I see you. Love to all. Mary L.

Who

• Mrs C. Sweet — recipient, addressed as 'Dear Cousin', 700 Walnut St., Baraboo, Wis.
• Lora — named in the message; someone who has been unwell, apparently in the recipient's household
• Mary L. — sender, Beloit, Wis. (postmark)

When

How	Date	Basis
filename	1910-05-25	the date in the scan's file name
postmark	1910-05-25	postmark, as read: the day the card was mailed, not the day the picture was made
written	[illegible]-25, 191[?] (the start of the line is under the postmark)	a date written by the sender
card-features	after 1907-03-01	divided back: allowed in the US from 1 Mar. 1907

The readings

Part	Status	Readers
caption	all agree	claude, gemini, gpt
postmark	all agree	claude, gemini, gpt
address	crux (1 word still in question)	claude, gemini, gpt
message	majority	claude, gemini, gpt
signature	in message	claude, gemini

Reader's note: The message is in pencil and the address in dark ink; the handwriting looks like the same writer. The writer's own date line ends '25', the same day as the postmark.

Scans: 1910-05-25 - C. & N. W. Bridge and Depot, Beloit, Wis. - 01.png and 1910-05-25 - C. & N. W. Bridge and Depot, Beloit, Wis. - 02.png (sha256 828303debad5…, d21881c143cd…). Media: front — the scan, byte for byte; back — the scan, byte for byte