East Grand Ave., Beloit, Wis. (C)

Mailed 24 Jan. 1908 from Beloit. From Emil to Mr. Frank Drewry, Eagle.

The picture

A broad unpaved street at an intersection: a streetcar stands at left before a row of two- and three-storey Italianate commercial blocks with awnings; a horse and buggy waits at right in front of a pale corner building bearing a large painted sign; tall utility poles and trolley wires cross the sky.

• Printed caption: EAST GRAND AVE., BELOIT, WIS.
• Printing: halftone · monochrome
• Lettering in the picture: C. A. [illegible] / DRUG[S?] / [illegible] / [illegible] (painted sign on the right-hand building); [illegible] (lettering along the cornice of the left block)
• Condition: light soiling of the margins; slight wear at the corners

The back

• Layout: divided back (message at left, address at right)
• Printed: Post Card · The space above is reserved for Postmark · THIS SPACE IS RESERVED FOR MESSAGE. (printed sideways along the divider) · THIS SPACE FOR ADDRESS ONLY.
• Stamp box: PL[…] […]CE (mostly under the stamp)
• Stamp: 1c, green, Franklin
• Postmark 1: BELOIT, WIS. / JAN[?] 24 / 11 30 AM / 1908 (circular date stamp struck at a slant over the printed 'Post Card' heading)
• Postmark 2: barred killer over the stamp (killer bars (part of the same cancellation))
• Condition: light soiling and toning

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 (front of the card, down the white margin at the right, then across the white margin at the bottom):

That girl / is Edith / Frank, / she works / on the / east side / She is a / good jolly / kid, would / like to / make a / hit with / her, but I think it impossible as she / has a steady. / Emil

Message (back of the card, back, left half, first line nearest the divider, written sideways: written with the card turned, reading downward; turn the card 90 degrees counter-clockwise to read):

Hello Pal, say get
a hustle on you and
find me a job up
your way.
Emil

Message (back of the card, front, down the right-hand margin and across the bottom margin):

That girl
is Edith
Frank,
she works
on the
east side
She is a
good jolly
kid, would
like to
make a
hit with
her, but I think it impossible as she
has a steady.
Emil

Address:

Mr. Frank Drewry
Eagle,
Wisc.,

A later hand (a dealer's price in pencil, the 50 raised, lower right corner): $4 50

Reading version

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

Hello Pal, say, get a hustle on you and find me a job up your way. Emil. [Front:] That girl is Edith Frank; she works on the east side. She is a good jolly kid; would like to make a hit with her, but I think it impossible, as she has a steady. Emil

Who

• Mr. Frank Drewry — recipient, Eagle, Wis.
• Emil — sender
• Edith Frank — person in the message, works on the east side (presumably of Beloit)

When

How	Date	Basis
postmark	1908-01-24	postmark, as read: the day the card was mailed, not the day the picture was made
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	crux (the month still in question)	claude, gemini, gpt
address	majority	claude, gemini, gpt
message	majority	claude, gemini, gpt
signature	in message	claude, gemini

Reader's note: The message continues on the picture side. 'That girl' appears to point at someone in the picture; the scene shows only small, indistinct figures, so which one is meant cannot be told. The sender asks his friend to find him a job in Eagle.

Scans: East Grand Ave., Beloit, Wis. - C - 01.png and East Grand Ave., Beloit, Wis. - C - 02.png (sha256 1c9a601adcbc…, fe54f363e1db…). Media: front — the scan, byte for byte; back — the scan, byte for byte