I seem to be collecting postcards. I didn’t intend to, but when you buy a box of paper or an old scrapbook, they just accumulate.
Because they often reflect the social norms (or ab-norms) and the news of the period they were written, they can be unintentionally funny or a dead-on mile marker of their day. The images as well as the words are often works of art.
Every now and then I will read one that presents a mystery to be solved. Take the cover image. Written in 1962, from a father to his wife and kids, we see the old joke (even then) in a picture of Alcatraz with the faux-hand-written line “Wish you were here!”
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I thought at first that this might have been in poor taste, because when this card was written, the prison is still open. It made me wonder if a mischievous D.A. or other law enforcement official ever sent any inmates this card? The note on the back might read, “Never-mind! You are! Ha Ha Ha!” or “My wish came true!”
The note on this card alluded to a significant escape in the history of the prison having just occurred. The mystery is that the well-documented escape from the prison and the date of this card do not match! To see the message on the card and help me solve the mystery of the prison escape – click here.
