Lot #753: Vintage USA Floral Postcard - White Border - "Forget-Me-Not" - Republican City, Nebraska (submerged) - USA 1¢ Green "Benjamin Franklin" Stamp

One 1910 Vintage Floral Postcard, used, showing flowers forming the word "Forget-Me-Not" with the message "Language of Flowers: 'Forget-Me-Not' "Forget-Me-Not". This richly coloured postcard, with white borders, does not indicate a publisher, but is numbered "56". Stamped with one Green USA One-Cent "Benjamin Franklin" Stamp. Postmarked in February 1909 in Republican City, Nebraska. Addressed to "Miss Nannie Frazer, Lockridge, Iowa". Message includes "Dear Cousin, We received your kind and welcome letter a few days ago, and will answer it soon. We had an awfully bad storm here. Eva. A. Hildebrand." This postcard from Republican City, Nebraska, is a perfect "Type Example" of the Language of Flowers series that was a staple of the Edwardian era. It serves as both a botanical dictionary and a social "status update" from the Great Plains. The design of this card—where the flowers themselves are arranged to spell the word—is a high-concept floral style popular in the 1907–1910 period. The tautological message "Language of Flowers: 'Forget-Me-Not' 'Forget-Me-Not'" highlights the fact that this specific flower is the only one in the Victorian/Edwardian lexicon whose name is its meaning. While a Red Rose meant "Love" and a Lily meant "Purity," the Forget-Me-Not was literal. This card originates from the original townsite of Republican City, Nebraska, before it was submerged by the Harlan County Reservoir. A February 1909 postmark is significant. This was the "Dead of Winter" in Nebraska, which explains Eva’s mention of an "awfully bad storm." In 1909, a bad storm in the Republican Valley could mean isolation for days, making the receipt of a "kind and welcome letter" from a cousin in Iowa a major event. Sending a card from Republican City to Lockridge, Iowa, shows the typical East-West migration and communication patterns of the time. Lockridge was a small farming community in Jefferson County, Iowa, and the cousins were likely maintaining family ties after one branch moved further west into Nebraska. Dimensions: 9 mm x 14 mm Pickup category timeslot {A}