Yost Park, Beloit, Wis.

Mailed May 1908 from Cottage Grove. From Emma[?] to Miss Anna Buskager[?], Cottage Grove.

The picture

Children in white sit on and stand beside rowboats at a low wooden landing on the river; more rowboats are drawn up along the shore at right, where adults stand among the trees; a long tree-lined far shore with a boat or two on the water.

• Printed caption: YOST PARK, BELOIT, WIS.
• Publisher: THE BELOIT NOVELTY STORE, BELOIT, WIS
• Printing: halftone · monochrome
• Lettering in the picture: • ARMINTHA • (on the bow of the white rowboat, foreground)
• Condition: a crease across the lower left corner; corner and edge wear; a scuff at top center

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 vertically along the dividing line) · THIS SPACE FOR ADDRESS ONLY.
• Stamp: 1c, green, Franklin
• Postmark: COTTAGE GR[OVE] / MAY / 8[?] / 1908 / 6 PM / WIS. (circular date stamp; a separate barred killer cancels the stamp)
• Condition: toning; a dark scuff at the top edge

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 up the card (turn the card a quarter turn clockwise to read it), written sideways):

Dear Anna:-
Well how are you?
I am at home now and
working hard with the
house cleaning - Emma[?]

Address:

Miss, Anna Buskager[?] -
Cottage Grove
Wisconsin -
R. F. D.

A later hand (a number in pencil, probably a dealer's or collector's, above 'Post Card', underlined): 13

Reading version

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

Dear Anna, Well, how are you? I am at home now and working hard with the house cleaning. Emma[?]

Who

• Anna Buskager[?] — recipient, Cottage Grove, Wis., R.F.D.
• Emma[?] — sender

When

How	Date	Basis
filename	1908-05	the date in the scan's file name
postmark	1908-05	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 day still in question)	claude, gemini, gpt
address	majority	claude, gemini, gpt
message	majority	claude, gemini, gpt
signature	in message	claude, gemini

Uncertain readings:

• postmark, day: 8 (or 2, 9) — a closed loop over an open tail; the figure is struck lightly
• address, line 1: Buskager (or Bustager, Burkager) — the letter after 'Bus' could be k or t; the r is a short stroke
• address, line 4: R. F. D. (or R. F. O.) — the last letter is an open loop; Rural Free Delivery fits the address
• message, signature: Emma (or Anna) — a large looped capital, then three or four humps: Emma or Anna (the recipient is also Anna)

Reader's note: Mailed at Cottage Grove, Wis. (Dane County), to an address on a rural route of Cottage Grove: the card was bought in Beloit and sent from home after a visit ('I am at home now'). The same view and printing as pc-004; this image is sharper, and the bow lettering pc-004's reading gave as 'ARETHA[?]' reads 'ARMINTHA' here. The image is a dealer's photograph or scan, about 1,550 px wide.

Other copies of this view

Scans of the same printed picture that are not cards of this collection (matched by picture fingerprint):

• postcard-BELOIT WI VIEW AT YOST PARK WITH YOUNG GIRLS AT LAKE AND CANOE POSTCARD (H-48-2).webp — source, front

Scans: 1908-05 - Yost Park, Beloit, Wis. - 01.webp and 1908-05 - Yost Park, Beloit, Wis. - 02.webp (sha256 b28f6ff9706b…, e3991a83bf1c…). Media: front — decoded from WEBP and saved as PNG (no pixel changed); back — decoded from WEBP and saved as PNG (no pixel changed)