Tuesday, December 24, 2024

"A Very Happy Christmas and a Merry New Year"

A greeting card from one friend to another in Hobart, sometime around (I'm guessing) 1944.

2024-12-24. Enslen, Lowell E. - Christmas card 1940s 01
(Click on images to enlarge)

2024-12-24. Enslen, Lowell E. - Christmas card 1940s 02

If we unfold the card, we find that Margaret wrote her friend a longer message:

2024-12-24. Enslen, Lowell E. - Christmas card 1940s 03

The recipient was Lowell Eugene Enslen.

2024-12-24. Enslen, Lowell E. - Christmas card 1940s 05

No stamp, no helpful postmark (it may have been hand-delivered or sent inside a package). It appears that Lowell and his family lived in Gary through the 1940 Census, and I haven't been able to place him in Hobart except from 1943 (when he appears in the Hobart High School Aurora yearbook), through 1947 (per his draft registration card dated February 3, 1947; also the Enslens are listed in Hobart in my 1947 directory). He graduated from Hobart High School in 1945, where he was voted the most humorous boy:

2024-12-24. 1945 HHS Aurora yearbook - Most Humorous

By 1950 he was living in Valparaiso, attending the university there.

Who was Margaret? She never included her last name, and the envelope had no return address. My best guess is Margaret "Maggie" Pearson, who signed Lowell's 1945 Aurora yearbook:

2024-12-24. 1945 HHS Aurora yearbook - Margaret Pearson

I think the handwriting looks similar.

Concerning Lowell Enslen's life and careers, you can find information and photos at his entry on findagrave.com.

♦    ♦    ♦

I don't know much about greeting card styles. From the looks of this one, I would have guessed anywhere from the 1930s through the 1950s. I'm posting this scan of the back of the card in case anyone can find out anything from the little characters in the lower right-hand corner. I already tried and failed.

2024-12-24. Enslen, Lowell E. - Christmas card 1940s 04

1 comment:

Heather said...

The handwriting does look similar. The Oomph girl was the actress Ann Sheridan. She would have been at the height of her popularity during their high school years. But that doesn't help date the postcard much. I looked around on Ancestry. Her married name was Macpherson. She died in 1991 and is buried in Hobart Cemetery. Happy New Year and thanks for all the posts this year.