Postcards from the past: the Gustafson-Van Wert Family pt. 1

 There is something truly special about reading the handwriting of your ancestors. 100 years ago they carefully inked a name or a word, and now you are once again reading that same word in the same writing. Even more spectacular is reading postcards from your ancestors. Each one is a memento of a story, a voice from the past. I was lucky enough to receive a box of postcards from my Great Uncle Everette Van Wert a year or so ago. Below is the first installment of some of the specimens from the box collection.

Postcard to Frances from her Father (Date Unknown)

Relations to me:

Frances Gustafson: Great Grandma

Papa/ F. O. W. Gustafson: 2nd great grandpa

The text of the postcard is in half English half Swedish and reads the following:

Dear Frances, How are you? 

We will stay in Pueblo till Thursday morning. Brandelle(?) kommer icke hit. Hälsa allesammans. Har din mormor kommit till dig? (illegible sentence) 

Pueblo Colo. 

August 21st 9:15 am 

din papa

The fully translated  version looks something like this:

Dear Frances, How are you? 

We will stay in Pueblo till Thursday morning. Brandelle(?) will not come here. Greet everyone for me. Has your grandmother come to you? (illegible sentence) 

Pueblo Colo. 

August 21st 9:15 am 

your papa

The colorized photograph is of the Pueblo County Courthouse in Pueblo Colorado. As noted by the postcard, it was "constructed entirely in turkey creek stone".

Postcard from "B. R." to Mrs. Rev. Gustafson (1907)

Relations to me:

B. R.: none or unknown

Mrs. Rev. Gustafson/ Blanche Aurora Ekeberg: 2nd Great Grandma

It's rather funny to think that over a hundred years ago people were still sending each other cat pictures. Hardly anyone can argue against the fact that the mysteriously cuddly allure of a cat in a sweater is one phenomenon that transcends time.

This particular cat card is sent by someone whose initials are only identified in the lower left-hand corner of the card, a person known as "B. R.". It is addressed to Mrs. Rev. Gustafson of Greeley Colorado and postmarked in Elgin Illinois on May 22, 1907.

Letter from Charles Pehrson to Rev. O. W. Gustafson (1907)

Relations to me:

Charles Pehrson: none/ unknown

Rev. O. W. Gustafson/ Frans Oscar Wilhelm Gustafson: 2nd great grandpa

The letter is dated Sep. 26, 1907 and is postmarked in Portland Maine. The letter is from Charles Pehrson. He mentions that he was a preacher in the letter so that may have been how my 2nd great grandpa knew him.

The postcard reads:

14 Sherman St. 9-26-07Well Brother, how are you getting along in your glorious city? Please leave time to drop me a line. This great musical concert will soon be here. Am a member of the phones (?). Everything about the usual here. Preaching to a handful of people. I should have remained in Utah. This is a beautiful city but rather cold. Kindest regards to you and yours.Charles Pehrson

Postcard from Louise and D. N. Anderson to Rev. and Mrs. F. O. W. Gustafson (1909)

Relations to me:

Louise/ Mary: none or unknown

D. N. Anderson: none or unknown

Rev. F. O. W. Gustafson/ Frans Oscar Wilhelm Gustafson: 2nd Great Grandpa

Mrs. F. O. W. Gustafson/ Blanche Aurora Ekeberg: 2nd Great Grandma

This letter from Louise and D. M. Anderson in York, Nebraska, was postmarked in Dec. of 1909. It was sent to the following address:

Rev. + Mrs. F. O. W. Gustafson 

1423 10th ave. 

Greely, Colo.

The actual text, which is in Swedish reads:

En god jul tillönskas eder 

of 

Louise + D. N. Anderson, 

York, Nebr. 1909

Which translates to:

A merry christmas to you.

From the 1910 census, I found out that D. N. Anderson was a clergyman in York, Nebr. who was born in abt 1876 in Illinois. That piece of information leads me to believe that he perhaps met F. O. W. Gustafson in Illinois (As there is a popular college there for studying pastors called Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois) and kept in touch with him via postcards.

Postcard from Uncle Waldo and Aunt Edith to Frances Gustafson (1912)

Relations to me:

Uncle Waldo/ Waldo Clemens Ekeberg: 3rd Great Uncle

Aunt Edith/ Edith Rosalia Brandelle: wife of 3rd Great Uncle

Frances Gustafson: great grandma

This letter was from Waldo and Edith to their niece Frances. It was postmarked on Sep. 24, 1912 in Hamilton Montana.

It was addressed to:

Frances Gustafson 

1808 11 ave., 

Greeley Colo.

 Here is the text of the postcard:

Dear little Francis: 

You better come out and stay with Uncle and Auntie. We are lonesome without our little girl. Uncle is to preach at this place tonight. 

Love and greetings to all, 

Uncle Waldo and Aunt Edith

 Letter from Malinda Ekeberg to her granddaughter Frances Gustafson (1915)

Relations to me:

Malinda Ekeberg/ Malena Larsdotter: 3rd great grandma

Frances Gustafson: great grandma

Ruth Gustafson: 2nd great aunt

The text of the letter reads:

199 W. Park Ave. Aurora, IllinoisAugust 9th 1915Dear little Frances,I am writing you a card, and I want you to write to me and I am also writing one to Ruth. Now I want to see which of you girls can write me first either a card or a letter. You better hurry and write while you have vacation. with love, your grandma,Mrs. Malinda Ekeberg

Postcard from C. A. Carlsen to F. O. W. Gustafson (1915)

Relations to me:

C. A. Carlsen: none or unknown

F. O. W. Gustafson / Frans Oscar Wilhelm Gustafson: 2nd Great Grandpa

This postcard, postmarked on Dec 23, 1915 in Longmont Colorado, was sent from C. A. Carlsen to Rev. F. O. W. Gustafson, whose address was:

1808 11 ave., 

Greeley Colo.

The text is in Swedish, as F. O. W. was a Swedish Lutheran Pastor. It reads:

En jägdefell jul tillönskas eder alla.

Which translates roughly to: 

Merry Christmas wishes to all of you.

A verse from the bible is inscribed on the front of the postcard, according to the Swedish-English bible it is Luke 2:14, and translates to:

Glory to God in the highest, and peace on earth.

 A letter to Frances Gustafson from her Father (1917)

Relations to me:

Frances Gustafson: great grandma

Frances' papa/ Frans Oscar Wilhelm Gustafson: 2nd great grandpa

This postcard was postmarked on Apr. 20, 1917 in Denver, Colorado and is a letter to Frances from her dad.

The postcard's text:

Dear Frances- 

How are you? a pretty good girl! Do you study your lessons? 

Greetings to you all 

your papa

The colorized picture is "On the seat of Pluto, Park of the red rocks, Mt. Morrison Colo."
A stamp on the card informs the recipient of the future opening of the Rocky Mountain National Park on May 1st of 1917.

Letter from Reginald and his wife Effie to their niece, Frances Gustafson (1918)

Relations to me:

Reginald / Reginald Freedlund: Husband of 3rd Great Aunt

Effie/ Effie Ekeberg: 3rd Great Aunt

Frances Gustafson: Great Grandma

This letter from Frances Gustafson's Aunt Effie and Uncle Reginald is postmarked January 10, 1918 in Chicago Illinois. 

Dear Frances, 

Thank you so much for your dear little letter. Do you remember the day we went thru the zoo at Lincoln Park? Write me again sometime. With much love, 

From 

Uncle Reginald and Aunt Effie

It is addressed like so:

Miss Frances Gustafson 

212 N. Walnut St. 

Colorado Springs 

Colorado

 This postcard contains some interesting remnants of both local and world history. The picture on the front is a colorized photo of some deer at the Lincoln Park Zoo, a zoo that is still standing today. the caption in the postcard describes the zoo as it was 100 years ago:

Lincoln Park is located on the north side, being the largest in Chicago. The total area is 600 acres, the water surface alone comprising 140 acres. It extends along the lake from North Avenue to Cornelia Avenue. Near the center of the park is the Zoo containing 2300 specimen of animals, reptiles, and birds.

Nowadays the zoo is not nearly as large. It is now 35 acres and houses only 1,200 animals.

Also visible on the postcard are two stamps reading "Food will win the war don't waste it". During world war one this was a slogan used by Herbert Hoover to encourage the rationing of certain foods such as wheat, sugar, and meat. The rationing of such foods allowed for more exports of food to the allied powers, allowing the allied soldiers to be fed. Below is a wartime poster with the same slogan.

Source

Letter to Frances Gustafson from her Morfar (1918)

Relations to me:

Frances Gustafson: great grandma

Frances' Morfar (Maternal grandfather)/ Gustaf Alfred Jonsson Ekeberg: 3rd Great Grandfather

This postcard is dated the 28th of January, 1918. It was postmarked in Aurora, Illinois and was written to Frances from her grandpa.

This postcard was addressed to:

Frances Gustafson 

212 N. Walnut St. 

Colorado Springs 

Colo.

It is written in English and reads:

Aurora, Jan, 28, 1918, 

My dear Frances: 

How do you like Sunday-school in your new church? How many girls are there in your class? 

Morfar

On the postcard is a hand colorized picture of the Augustana College and theological seminary in Rock Island Illinois, a popular location for future pastors to go and learn the skills necessary for the profession.

Postcard from Ben to Mr. and Mrs. R. E. Van Wert (1950)

Relations to me:

Ben: Unkown/ possibly 2nd great uncle

Mr. R. E. Van Wert/ Reuben Everette Van Wert: great grandpa

Mrs. R. E. Van Wert/ Frances Gustafson: great grandma

This postcard was from some family member going by "Ben".

It is dated the 29th of March, 1950 and was sent from Buellton California.

It is addressed to the following:

Mr. + Mrs. R. E. Van Wert 

4552 Utica St. 

Denver, Colo.

My thought is that the Ben in this postcard might be Harold Benson Van Wert, a brother of Reuben Van Wert who the letter is addressed to. Harold is often referred to as "Ben" in documents and would have still been living at the time the letter was written.

It reads:

3-29-50

Hello folks-How are you all? Hope you are fine! I'm pretty fair- Been to the no. portal of the tecolote tunnel: trying to get on the so. portal will start in a mile or so. Maybe then- would like to see all you folks again and be in good ole Colo. Will ? get on ? again. 

Love to all, 

Ben

 Pictured on the postcard's front is the Interior of the Danish Lutheran Church in Solvang California.

Ben mentions something called the "Tecolote Tunnel" in the card. I was curious what it was and found some interesting information about it from this site.

It was apparently a six-mile-long pipeline through the mountains built in the 1950s. Going by that date it is possible the Ben from the letter was actually working on the pipeline. Workers on the pipeline had to endure rather strange working conditions. Since it was so hot, workers had to be transported in mine cars filled with cold water.