Finding a Connection to the Past

July 10, 2019

Last July, we went to the Brimfield Antique Show in Brimfield, MA. The Antique show occurs for a week in May, a week in July, and a week in September. We try to attend the show once or twice a year. For those of you that have not been to the Show, there’s no real way to prepare for the experience! The Brimfield Antique Show spans a mile down the main road and includes 5000+ dealers from all over the world.

While looking at the countless antiques and collectibles at the Antique Show we found a business that sold vintage postcards from around the world. Unlike many dealers that sell postcards, this one was neatly organized with the postcards separated by state and then by city if applicable. Since Elisabeth collects vintage postcards of places she has been or hopes to go, she spent a decent amount of time going through the postcards of New England and New York. In her search, she found a handful of vintage miniature postcards of Albany, a few of New York City, various ones of Vermont, and a handful of postcards from the 1920s of the Island Pond 4th of July parade (Elisabeth’s hometown). Pictured below are the postcards that we bought:

Finally, after a year of not doing anything with the postcards, Elisabeth began to frame some of her favorite ones to hang in her room. Since she attends college in Albany, she chose some of the miniature Albany postcards to frame first. She also framed a vintage Twin Tower postcard to hang by her New York pennant. In her journey framing the various postcards, she came across one that was connected to our past.

Talk about a small world. In Elisabeth’s endeavors to frame the postcards, she discovered that one of the postcards of New York City was addressed to Florence McLaughlin of Island Pond, Vermont timestamped April 1954. Florence McLaughlin happened to be the owner of our first home in Island Pond, Vermont and after her death we bought the house fully furnished. Florence and her husband were only the 3rd owners of our 1880 Victorian home in Island Pond and lived there for over 40 years. It was a great surprise finding this piece of home in the most unexpected place!