High School in La Crosse Wisconsin
RPPC Postcard Mailed 1909
to Fred A Wingen and Louise
in Garden City Minnesota
RPPC Postcard Mailed 1909
to Fred A Wingen and Louise
in Garden City Minnesota
Prepared by Mary Katherine May of QualityMusicandBooks.com
You can become a history detective!
A postcard can tell us more than only showing us an interesting photograph. The photographic images, addresses, postmarks, cancels and stamps, along with short messages offer to the 21st century viewer a window into the past, and a real, everyday life picture of history that isn't available in most formal history books.
A Summary of the Details
This postcard, a very recent purchase, interested me for the little that I could decipher of the writing below the image of the La Crosse, Wisconsin High School which gave me the impression that the person writing the message ma ybe having some sort of conflict with the intended recipients.
Upon receipt of the postcard, and even with the scrape on the message and address side of the card removing a portion of the text, it became quite clear that something in the relationship between Stella (sender) and Louise and Fred A. Wingen (recipients) had gone awry.
It is apparent that Stella has asked something of Louise and Fred, and in particular of Fred perhaps, that caused her the impression of being ‘cut off.’
Stella writes but received no reply.
Stella really doesn’t know which end is currently up in this relationship.
Stella on one side of the postcard feels terrible if Fred is angry with her, maybe to the point of getting a new friend to replace her, while on the other side she threatens to cut off communication if a reply is not received, though it seems the cut off has already been instigated by Fred and Louise!
Has Stella been chopped? Even with the lack of communication and the idea that there has been an offense (for perhaps more reasons than are revealed in this brief message), Stella is still pushing and is quite clear in her comments that turning her down (The reason for the snub we don’t know!) is, as she writes, ‘real mean.’
Nevertheless, it seems that with Stella all is well that ends well, because her closing offers ‘love to all from all.’ And so it goes. What we don't know is if this woman who loves and attacks at the same time, unwilling to take no for an answer, ever received a reply.
Who is Stella?
It is impossible to identify the Stella who lived in La Crosse, Wisconsin, in 1909 with the scant information offered on the postcard. Her age, occupation, likes and dislikes will remain unknown to us, who are the history interlopers.
Is this the right Fred A. Wingen?
Who I can speculatively identify is Fred A. Wingen. After poking around a bit on the internet, I found that there was a Fred A. Wingen, breeder of short-horn cattle, who lived in Blue Earth County, who advertised in a publication in Blue Earth, Minnesota, and lived in Garden City, Minnesota, during this time period.
What about this High School in La Crosse, Wisconsin?
The photo titled, High School, La Crosse, Wis. tweeks at my curiosity and sends my brain synapses twittering, too! By looking at the image I can deduce certain things before searching for information on the internet. I see that the planted trees are young with maybe only a few years of growth, and that on the side the sidewalk abrubtly ends, and then doesn’t continue from one to another. With the young trees lining on either side of a spanse that looks like dirt and clumps of something in front of the school, and where the tracks are from some kind of a vehicle, there must be a road. These clues lead me to conclude that the high school is very likely new and in an area that will experience future growth.
Notice also the utility poles. The branches were not neatly sawn off but show stubs of branches, which means they were most likely produced manually—that is, with a hand saw.
Now I am searching the internet to see if my deductions are correct. What I find is that this particular new high school at Cass and Fifteenth was opened in 1907, less than two years before this postcard was mailed. Two sites give a nice amount of information. One, a blog, offers a colored photo postcard of the school with a different view, and tells us that it would later be called Central High School along with other interesting details, while the other offers an excellent description of how the school is laid out on the interior.
Postal History
The Scott number 331 one cent green postage stamp is one of the first of this kind issued in quantity, as part of the 1908-09 Washington Franklin series issue of stamps that then went on for quite a few years. Benjamin Franklin was only featured on the once cent U.S. postage stamp until 1908. This particular stamp was at the top-edge border of a sheet.
Also interesting is the 13-star flag cancel in the ‘killer’ area and over the stamp with the number 2 in the center. This is a nice, clear and bold example of this cancel. Collecting mail with postage cancels is an interesting way to pursue the philatelic hobby without great expense unless one desires to get into the rare examples, and there is even the Post Mark Collectors Club with whom you can share and enjoy your collection with other of like mind.
Lastly, please notice the printed ‘This space may be used for communication.’ And ‘The address only to be written here.’ It was in 1907, the beginning of the Golden Age of postcards, that messages along with the addresses were permitted to both be on the blank side of the card.
The Message on the Postcard
Hello Louise
What is the
(The following six lines are incomplete.)
I hope there isn’t
ness by you folks. I am
that Fred hasn’t written to
I haven’t offended you in
If you don’t answer me
real soon I will be sure t?
you are angry at me for some reason or other. Now, you tell Fred, I think
Love to all from all. Stella.
Under the photograph:
Hello Fred: Say, Fred I[f] you [are] sore at me. Now I didn’t think that you would turn an old friend down for new one, especially me. I feel terrible if you are angry at me. Stella.
What Kind of Person Was Stella?
Was Stella a relative who needed an important favor? Was Stella a student in the new high school who needed a date for a dance? Was she a bully who always wanted to get her way? Was this message only a joke between friends? The answer is that we could make up scenarios and think up conclusions to this story, but unless Stella, Louise, or Fred wrote an account in a diary that has survived or told someone what was going on who then passed the information on to future generations, we will never know.
An evening was very enjoyably passed by examining this one postcard and looking into its history. What a great way to learn! ... Mary
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