Grand Avenue from Bridge, Beloit, Wis.

Mailed 22 Feb. 1912 from Beloit. to Mrs Leila Phillnick[?], Edgerton.

The picture

Looking up a broad unpaved business street from the bridge approach: brick and stone commercial blocks with awnings on both sides, horse-drawn buggies and wagons, a streetcar far up the street, and a building with an outside staircase and a railing along the sidewalk at right.

• Printed caption: 2976. Grand Avenue from Bridge, Beloit, Wis.
• Number: 2976
• Printing: colored halftone · color
• Lettering in the picture: BAKERY; ROBERT BURNS CIGAR; SIGNS; RESTAURANT; JEWELER (upper facade, right); COMING [illegible] (balcony sign); JEWELER UP STAIRS; [illegible] JEWELER (lower sign); TOM KEENE CIGAR; TH[E] WIN[…] / Sells Noth[ing][?] … and Liquors
• Condition: light corner wear

The back

• Layout: divided back (message at left, address at right)
• Printed: Post Card (ornamental, red) · THIS SIDE FOR THE ADDRESS.
• Stamp: 1c, green, Franklin (profile, in oval with laurel)
• Postmark: [BEL]O[IT] / FEB 22 / 9-15A / 19 12 / WIS. (machine cancel with American flag killer)
• Condition: light soiling; the last line of the message is cut by the left edge of the scan

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, written sideways, reading top to bottom (turn the card 90° counter-clockwise to read); first line next to the center line, later lines toward the left edge; the last line runs over the printed Woolworth imprint and off the edge):

Beloit, Feb. 21/912.
Hello[?] how is Leila? I rec'd
your card quite a while a-
go while you was on your
W[illegible] trip??? We are feel-
ing fine. and hope the same
of all your folks. Give best
regards to all your folks and
accept a basket full of our-
selves[?] No[?] [illegible] very[?] [illegible] […]

Address:

Mrs Leila Phillnick[?]
Box 30'[?]
Edgerton
Wis.

Reading version

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

Beloit, Feb. 21/912. Hello[?], how is Leila? I rec'd your card quite a while ago while you was on your W[illegible] trip??? We are feeling fine, and hope the same of all your folks. Give best regards to all your folks and accept a basket full of ourselves[?]. No[?] [illegible] very[?] [illegible] […]

Who

• Leila Phillnick[?] — recipient, Edgerton, Wis., Box 30'[?]
• Leila — named in the message (the recipient)

When

How	Date	Basis
filename	1912-02-22	the date in the scan's file name
postmark	1912-02-22	postmark, as read: the day the card was mailed, not the day the picture was made
written	Feb. 21/912	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	single reader	claude, gemini, gpt
address	crux (1 word still in question)	claude, gemini, gpt
message	majority	claude, gemini, gpt
signature	in message	gemini

Uncertain readings:

• address, line 1, surname: Phillnick (or Phillrick, Phillrich) — the letter after 'll' could be n or r
• address, line 2: Box 30' (or Box 301, Box 30) — the stroke after 30 is a short tick, not clearly a 1
• message, line 2, first word: Hello — written over the postmark and Post Card ornament
• message, line 5, first word: W[illegible] (or Western) — the word begins at the cut edge and is cramped
• message, last line: selves[?] No[?] [illegible] very[?] [illegible] — faint, written over the printed imprint and running off the edge; any signature is lost
• message, date line: Feb. 21/912 (or Feb. 21/1912) — the year is written '912' after a slash; there may be a leading 1 merged with the slash

Reader's note: Written in Beloit Feb 21, postmarked Beloit Feb 22 1912. Sender's name not visible: the message runs off the left edge of the scan. Woolworth-published card.

Scans: 1912-02-22 - Grand Avenue from Bridge, Beloit, Wis. - 01.png and 1912-02-22 - Grand Avenue from Bridge, Beloit, Wis. - 02.png (sha256 ead920955e4f…, 0be61e0a41c6…). Media: front — the scanner's white edge trimmed: kept pixels [0, 0, 1076, 680]; back — the scanner's white edge trimmed: kept pixels [0, 0, 1075, 683]