A simple New Year’s postcard sent from someone named Flora to Miss Rose Duff was postmarked on December 30, 1907, and mailed from Cochrane, Wisconsin, to Fountain City, Wisconsin. That is exactly 118 years ago. On the front of the card are two German children selling cards on a cold winter day. Written in pencil is, “Love from Flora.”
Cochrane is a small village in Buffalo County, with approximately 452 people living there. Photos show it to be a clean and well-laid-out community. The town was started in 1895 when the railroad was built nearby.
Fountain City is the largest town in Buffalo County, with approximately 806 residents. It started as a landing point on the Mississippi River for steamboats to pick up firewood for their boilers, including fresh water. Cochrane and Fountain City are only nine miles apart.
Rose Margaret Duff was the postcard recipient. She was born on July 5, 1885, to parents Jacob and Katharina. They were both from Ireland, while Rose Margaret was born in Buffalo City. Jacob Duff was a lawyer.
On May 20, 1919, Rose married Clarence Fred Kohlhepp. In the 1940 census, Clarence lists his occupation as a car salesman. The couple had two children, with one dying at birth. Rose passed away on January 31, 1974, in Winona, Minnesota. She was 88. A picture shows the Irish in her face.
Flora Rasale Bohrer was the friend sending Rose that card. Flora’s parents, Joseph and Louisa, came from Germany. That’s where the Victorian-style postcard was printed. Flora was born in Cochrane on January 15, 1890.
Miss Bohrer married Emil Josias “Joe” Florin on July 16, 1913. A man of different trades, the 1940 census lists him as being a hardware store salesman as well as an undertaker. They had one son and a daughter. Flora Rasale Florin died on May 8, 1965, after a long illness.
A picture I found shows Flora in the lap of her mother. I’m sure she turned out just as beautiful. Once again, the keeper of this postcard must’ve considered it something worth holding onto all of these years.
Sadly, sending cards has all but stopped, like so many other old-time traditions. It’s good that some of the old postcards have survived, as this one tells an unknown story, until now, of two dear friends
I like to write junk... 