I am Holding a lot of History in my Hands

Both of these cards belong to the era before a message could be written on the back of Post Cards – March 1, 1907.

The top card is a black and photo of the Southern Pacific train depot in San Antonio, Texas. The message is written by someone who actually worked at the depot. He is letting someone in his life know that he has been posted here (two years and a month after the depot opened) and is very happy about it. The message is to E. F. Vandivere who lives in Blue Ridge, Georgia. It was written by “Gib” on August 24, 1905. The card was mailed at 2:30 PM on August 25, 1905 and arrived in Blue Ridge two and half days later – August 28th at 7 AM. The card is very sturdy and I can see why it would have lasted as long as it has. The bottom card is of the same depot. This card was mailed almost exactly 18 months later. It was mailed on February 27, 1907. Two historic things to mention about this card: 1) it was mailed two days before messages could be written on the back of post cards – March 1, 1907 and 2) it was written the day this depot “burned to the ground”. The handwritten message at the bottom of the card says, “Hello Mother, this building burned to the ground today. Will write you soon Chas.”

This card was published by Raphael Tuck & Sons. Raphael Tuck & Sons began in England in 1866 Raphael retired in 1881 Adolph took over the family business. By 1894, a year after they were appointed official printers to Queen Victoria, they printed their first Souvenir Cards. Then, when postal regulations were changed, after much lobbying by Tuck and others, the company entered into the post card printing and publishing arena. This is one of their cards. As you can see, they saw that the United States was ready to burst into the post card buying frenzy that history records. I have two postcards from the same post card era (pre-March 1, 1907). I have two postcards that are well over 100 years old. I have two postcards of the same depot sent 18 months apart. The one card was written the day the depot burned. The same card was printed and published by the printers who printed for Queen Victoria and have the seal of the Royal Family. I have a lot of history in my hands when I hold these two cards.