I haven’t written one of my ‘postcard people’ stories in several months, and with snowbirds already heading back, now is the time. This picture postcard was mailed from the Phoenix post office on March 3, 1976, showing the London Bridge under construction in 1970; the historic bridge, of course, was completed and dedicated on October 10, 1971.
This card was mailed to Helen and Nofe Biviano, care of Heleni Beauty Shop, in Sherburne, New York. Sherburne is an interesting place because it includes both a village and a town in the same location. People living in the village, which is in the center of town, pay taxes for both locales.
The postcard’s sender identified themselves as the Guidos. It took a bit of sleuthing, but it was relatively easy to identify them as Lucia Guido and his wife, Martire. I found photos of both the Bivianos and the Guidos, and they came from large Italian families. I could see they liked to eat because many of the pictures came from large dinner gatherings.
This postcard reads as follows:
“Hi Folk’s – Just sitting here & thought – Let’s send the Biviano’s a card. We’re spending 4 weeks here this year. Just relaxing. Take care – Love – the Guidos”
My wife and I sent cards like that to family and friends from Arizona years ago, especially in winter, just to rub it in a bit. That might not have been Joleen’s main reason for corresponding, but it was mine.
Whenever I read these postcards, I also like to read between the lines, looking to see how the sender got to their ultimate destination. In some cases, I haven’t been able to say precisely, like this one.
I’d bet the Guidos drove their recently purchased 1976 Cadillac DeVille. Extremely bored and sunburned after lying around for several days on cheap green-and-white lawn chairs bought at K-Mart in Phoenix, they eventually set out on a road trip, rolling through town and buying that London Bridge postcard at some store or gas station. Of course, before heading back to Phoenix, they went to Oatman as most tourists do.
Onafrio George “Nofe” Biviano was born on February 13, 1919, and passed away in November of 1984. Helen Michaels Meelan-Biviano was born on August 6, 1915, and died on January 3, 2001. They married in 1941 and had a son, Frank, who passed away in 2023.
The card’s sender, Martire Guido, was born on June 7, 1903, and died on April 28, 1966, sadly, just 48 days after mailing the postcard. Based on her mentioning that they were staying in Arizona for four weeks, she would’ve just returned home to New York.
Martire’s husband, Lucia, was born in 1900 and died on October 16, 1996. The couple had one daughter, Teresa, who passed away in 2023, the same year as the Biviano’s son.
I enjoy researching these old postcards, and as I’ve often joked with friends about going through people’s mail like this, expecting to hear the postal authorities knocking on my door someday. Hey, stranger things have happened; just ask Rudy Giuliani.
I like to write junk... 