Divided back, used postcard. Postmarked February 3, 1909 from Stockton, California.
Price: $12.00
I love these type where the sender has written in their own caption, so to speak….And for me, this should be titled, “Blessed Rain” since we don’t get enough of it here in California. Reminds me of a bumper sticker on the back of a truck that I see often, when driving to work, which says, “Pray for rain” and it tickles me that I think the exact same response every time, that of “I always do.”
Anyway, this is a lovely, slightly comical silhouette type postcard postmarked in 1909, but the sender was still thinking 1908…it was February, and he or she was not used to writing the new year yet. It’s wonderful how much is going on in this scene…the couple kissing under the umbrella; the ladies running to the street car which is already full; the people that were prepared and have their umbrellas, and the poor guys who were caught unprepared, getting soaked, one looking a little zombie-ish, and the other one, bent over staring at the pavement. Is he marveling at the amount of water that is pouring off of him, or just thinking, “Gawd!” I like to think a combination of both. Not to forget to mention the kissing couple on the streetcar; the guys watching the ladies running, the one has his hand up, either waving or trying to signal to them, “Hey, the car’s full…it’s not going to work.”
The sender wrote:
“2 – 3 – 1908 Your card received. I am bound for Sonora – I’m in Stockton now – address Sonoma Ave – M.H.C.” and addressed the postcard to:
“Roy J. Andrus – 1608 – 48 Ave – Ocean Beach, S. F. Sea Shells”
Sea Shells?…Maybe the addressee was supposed to be saving sea shells for M.H.C. or it’s some kind of running joke, or any number of other possibilities. (I don’t see anything coming up regarding a district or neighborhood under this name.) But the address is clearly a San Franciscan one. This exact street number doesn’t show, but it’s residential, near Lawton Street. 48th runs parallel to the Coast and the addressee would have lived just a short walk from the beach. Lucky guy!…And just think, this was just a little less than three years after the Great San Francisco Earthquake, which was April 18, 1906.
After looking at the census records and city directories, it appears most likely that the addressee is John R. Andrus on the 1910 Federal Census. He is divorced, occupation Cutter at a paper box factory, born in California, about 1882, and living with his parents, John and Gertrude Andrus. The address given is 1612 48th Avenue, so 1608 might have been a designation for a separate entrance or the numbering could have changed or even have been incorrectly written by the sender. By 1911 Roy had changed occupations and was working as a manager for the Golden Gate Butter Co., and by 1912 was listed as a Horse Dealer.
Sources: Year: 1910; Census Place: San Francisco Assembly District 39, San Francisco, California; Roll: T624_100; Page: 15A; Enumeration District: 0241; FHL microfilm: 1374113. (Ancestry.com)
Crocker-Langley San Francisco Directory, 1911, p. 192. Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989.
Crocker-Langley San Francisco Directory, 1912, p. 193. Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989.