This Art Mfg. Co. card duplicates the Souvenir Postal view. It uses the same photograph at exactly the same image size (though rotated to give the card a vertical, rather than horizontal, format). The printing plate for this card may even have been made from a copy of the Souvenir Postal card -- it has a second-generation look to it, with much higher contrast, less sharpness, and considerably less middle tone. The sky has been cut out completely, taking the trees with it (although if you look closely, you can still see the tree limbs that overlapped the roof of the building). The card was mailed from Salem at noon on a day in July 1908 (perhaps the 18th -- the date stamp did not print legibly) and addressed to Mrs. J. R. Hum (or perhaps Hunt) of Sharpeville, Pennsylvania. The message describes Salem to a T: "This is quite a pretty place, very quiet though. Weather awful hot everything looks so dried up they need rain so bad. Having a nice time. How are you all? Lou." (6/12/03) Home | The 1900s | Next card