Inside a 1913 Christmas Postcard from Huron, SD

There’s something quietly special about a single postcard making its way through winter. In this case, we’re stepping back to 1913, to a Christmas greeting that started out in Huron, South Dakota. I’ll follow that card from the moment it left the sender’s hands, to what it looks like up close, to the short message it carried to a woman named Bertha Nugabau. Along the way, this small piece of card stock opens up a wider view into how people were connecting, celebrating, and checking in on one another during the holidays over a century ago.

Key Takeaways

The 1913 Christmas postcard from Huron, SD, represents a personal connection and holiday spirit during a time when such greetings were significant in maintaining relationships.
The postcard features a carefully illustrated woman as the focal point, framed by holly, emphasizing the festive theme and artistic style of early 20th-century design.
This vintage postcard not only carries a simple message but also serves as a historical artifact that reflects the customs and communication methods of the era.

How a 1913 Christmas Postcard Began Its process from Huron, SD

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The story starts in the winter of 1913, with a single Christmas postcard being written out and dropped in the mail. It began its process in Huron, South Dakota, carrying a simple Christmas greeting that someone thought was important enough to put down in ink and trust to the postal service.

From there, that Huron postcard would’ve gone out into the cold, traveling across snowy country. You can picture it making its way through that winter of 1913, a small, physical thing carrying Christmas wishes through the season. One vintage Christmas greeting, leaving Huron, South Dakota, and heading off across those snowy miles. It’s the same kind of quiet process you can trace in other early 20th century cards and ephemera, the kinds of pieces that show up in collections of vintage postcards and other print keepsakes.

What the 1913 Huron Christmas Postcard Looks Like Up Close

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On the front, the design pulls you in right away. When you look at this vintage Christmas postcard up close, the first thing your eye lands on is the illustration of a woman. She’s the clear focal point, carefully drawn, and everything else on the card seems to arrange itself around her. The image is composed so she feels like the center of a small, self-contained world on this early 20th century holiday postcard.

She’s framed by holly, and that framing is very deliberate. The holly wraps around her like a border, turning the whole scene into a true holly Christmas postcard. The leaves and berries create a kind of natural wreath around her, so the illustration and the plant motif are visually locked together.

The way the woman is drawn, the way the holly is used as a framing element, and the overall composition are all very much of that era. The postcard doesn’t just happen to be old; its visual motif and layout are described as reflecting “the charm of early 20th century holiday traditions,” and you can see that in how much beauty and sentiment are packed into this small piece of card stock.

Who Received the 1913 Christmas Greeting and What It Said

Flip the card over, and the story narrows to one person. The 1913 postcard was addressed to a woman named Bertha Nugabau, and what she received wasn’t a long story or a dramatic announcement, just a steady little thread of connection. The sender used that card to do exactly what postcards did best at the time: share simple news of well-being from friends and family, and do it quickly, without the formality of a full letter.

The heart of the 1913 postcard message was straightforward. It let Bertha know that the sender was well, that things were okay, and that they were thinking of her. Wrapped around that was the occasion itself, Christmas wishes. So along with the update came warm Christmas greetings, a seasonal check-in that basically said, “I’m alright, I’m thinking of you, and I’m sending you good wishes.”

That’s the core of this vintage Christmas correspondence. The postcard to Bertha Nugabau wasn’t trying to be elaborate or poetic. It was a quick, heartfelt touchpoint, news of well-being, a simple connection, and Christmas wishes, all compressed into one small 1913 postcard message. It fits in with other early 1900s cards and notes you might find mixed in with vintage print media, all doing that same quiet work of keeping people in each other’s lives.

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What This 1913 Christmas Postcard Reveals About Holiday Traditions

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This one 1913 Christmas postcard reflects the charm of early 20th century holiday traditions, but it also points to something bigger, how people used the mail to stay woven into each other’s lives. When I look at it, it feels like a small portal into the past and, more specifically, into the art of correspondence. You can almost feel how much meaning was packed into a few handwritten lines and a single image, sent off to arrive in the middle of the festive season.

Seen that way, it isn’t just a pretty card; it shows the bonds that tied communities together during the holidays. Cards like this were part of how early 20th century Christmas traditions actually worked in practice, checking in, sending good wishes, keeping threads of connection active even across distance. So this one card sits there as a tiny piece of postcard history Christmas, but it opens up a wider view of community bonds and how people used holiday postcards to hold those bonds in place. If you’re curious about how this fits alongside other cards from the same era and region, it pairs naturally with stories like the 1913 Christmas postcard from Parkston, South Dakota and other quiet holiday messages that traveled similar routes.

When you zoom out, this 1913 Christmas postcard from Huron is doing a lot of quiet work: it’s a bit of art, a quick news update, and a thread in a larger web of holiday connection. It’s a reminder that even the most ordinary paper objects can hold onto the shape of a season, a place, and a relationship long after the snow has melted. This little card just happens to let us see all of that a bit more clearly.

Frequently Asked Questions

What was the significance of sending postcards in 1913?

Sending postcards in 1913 was a meaningful way to maintain personal connections and share holiday greetings, especially during a time when such gestures helped strengthen relationships across distances.

How does the design of the postcard reflect its era?

The postcard's design features a carefully illustrated woman framed by holly, showcasing the artistic style and visual motifs typical of early 20th-century holiday traditions, emphasizing beauty and sentiment in a compact form.

What message did the postcard carry to Bertha Nugabau?

The postcard contained a simple Christmas greeting intended for Bertha Nugabau, reflecting the warm wishes and personal sentiments that were common in holiday communications of that time.

How did the postcard travel from Huron, SD?

After being written and mailed in Huron, South Dakota, the postcard would have journeyed through snowy landscapes, relying on the postal service to deliver it, much like other pieces of mail during that winter of 1913.

Where can I find more vintage postcards like this one?

You can explore collections of vintage postcards and other print keepsakes through various online platforms, including dedicated sites that specialize in historical ephemera and postcard archives.