Orphan 017-A

This postcard photo was rescued from the Antique Mall in El Paso, Illinois, by me, on 05 October 2008.

The message reads:   Hello Ida.  We are all well.  The weather is very dry here.  Harry Duncan and Hattie was out to visit us.  We had a big fire in Dayton it burnt one block on Main St.  It started in the Exchange Hotel and burnt to the Bank.  One woman burnt and died Wednesday morning.  Will write you soon, ans soon.  Good by, From Clara

There is no other identifying information, postmark, date, or location.

I got this one simply because of the story.  I did a quick (very quick I might add) to see if I could find out more about this fire.  Oddly enough, the first search result was an article written in September 2008 about the “100th anniversary” of the fire.  So based on that info, this postcard was probably written in September 1908.  The end of the article provides more information about the fire and the woman who died that was referenced in the postcard.  Pretty interesting!