I’ve come across many unusual postcards during my project, with some of them unreadable, while others seemingly contained secret coded messages that I couldn’t decipher. I’ll look over these types of cards and then pass on writing anything, viewing it as a waste of time.
This unusual card is one of those, except that the message a man sent from Alaska to a single girl in Chicago gets an award for being tasteless, although the sender probably didn’t see it as such.
The card, postmarked in Saint Michael, Alaska, shows a flock of white seagulls on a beach with the caption: “A Northern Convention” or a Family Reunion. Sea Gulls in Alaska.
I believe what the gulls are actually doing is mating. Miss Vera Lamb undoubtedly saw things the same after reading the letter, written by someone with the last name of Mohring.
“March 7, 1910
The seagulls reunion is here. A chance for us? At least I hope so.
Yours
Mohring”
Mr. Frederick J. Mohring was the person sending this card, with a 1910 census showing him as a soldier with the US Army stationed at Fort Saint Michael. He was 24 at this time—married—with a child. Rejection is a terrible thing, yet in this case, the single lady made the right decision.
Private Fred Mohring had wed Lillie May Agnew in 1905. A daughter came soon after. Lillie was a native of Wichita, Kansas, and from a good family. Frederick Mohring enlisted in 1904 and was discharged from military service in 1933. Fred must’ve got his act together for them to have stayed hitched to the end. They’re buried together in Pennsylvania.
If Vera had good friends in 1910, they undoubtedly steered her clear of married men. Miss Vera Maude Lamb eventually found a Frederick, but not Frederick Mohring. She became Mrs. Frederick Ralph Corbett on March 10, 1917, and they spent the rest of their lives in sunny southern California.
I like to write junk... 