Grandma Peel's Postcard Collection

Our Grandmother, Ora (Harper) Peel, was born in 1892.
    16 Years after Alexander Graham Bell Patented the telephone. Well before it was available in the rural areas in which she lived.
    3 years before Marconi's first radio transmission.
    4 years before Henry Ford completed his first self-propelled Quadricycle. When people traveled mainly by foot, horse, or train.
    34 years before the first television picture was transmitted.
    She died one year after Ray Tomlinson sent the first e-mail message.

Grandma became ill at the age of 30, and was eventually diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritus. Rheumatoid Arthritus is still a terrible disease, but during Grandma's time, it was devastating. In her picture you can see the crippling effects of the disease. She went from a vibrant active woman and mother at the age of 30. To being totally dependent and crippled at the age of 40. She had an indomitable spirit. Despite the pain and debilitating effects of her disease, she would correspond with dozens of friends and family. Writing with a pen fastened to her hand with a rubber band. She kept her mind active, and collected everything she found interesting into scrap books. And.., she saved everything. Years of Reader's digests and National Geographics were lovingly put back into their original covers, labeled and stored away. Pictures were labeled and pasted into photo albums. She likely saved every postcard she received from the time she was a young teen until her passing. Many of these are lost, but when I recently discovered her collection, I was amazed to realize that it contained over 500 postcards.

She was born near the dawn of the 20th century. A time when people communicated by mail. In these postcards, you will find communications of all sorts. Simple messages to announce a birth, others to say "We'll be coming by on Sunday.", or to tell of someone's passing, and more to announce their safe arrival after a trip. I've presented her collection in two different ways. Chronologically, and by state or location on the face of the postcard. I hope you enjoy them half as much as I have.