New Year Greetings from Huron, SD in 1913

A single postcard making its way through a cold Midwestern winter feels like such a small thing, but it carries a lot. In this case, we’re going back to the very start of 1913, when a New Year greeting left Huron, South Dakota and made its short, snowy trip through the mail. It’s more than just a piece of paper to me, it’s a tiny time capsule of what people were hoping for, worrying about, and celebrating in rural America at the turn of the year. In this post, I’ll walk through the front and back of that card, look at the people connected to it, and see what this simple greeting can tell us about New Year traditions more than a century ago.

Key Takeaways

The 1913 New Year postcard from Huron, SD serves as a time capsule reflecting the hopes and celebrations of rural America during that era.
The postcard features a classic design with a greeting that conveys optimism: “A happy new year. There’s plenty coming. Never fear.”
Addressed to Miss Bertha Nugabau, the card personalizes the New Year wishes, connecting it to real individuals and their correspondence.

How a 1913 New Year Postcard Began Its process from Huron, SD

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In the winter of 1913, a single postcard started its trip out of Huron, South Dakota. On the surface, it was just everyday mail, but I think of it as a small snapshot of life at that moment, a 1913 postcard carrying New Year wishes from one person in rural America to another. As it left Huron, those New Year hopes were literally traveling across the map in ink and paper, moving through the cold season one postmark at a time.

What the 1913 New Year Postcard from Huron, SD Looks Like

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The card is a classic divided back postcard, with the image on the front and space for both the address and a short message on the back. On the picture side, it’s a vintage New Year postcard with holly and a bell, very much in that early holiday style. Printed right on the front is the greeting: “A happy new year. There’s plenty coming. Never fear.” It’s short and to the point, but that line is what immediately anchors this as one of those 1913 New Year greetings that feels hopeful and very much of its time. If you like this kind of early 1900s design, it fits in with the other vintage postcards that show similar holiday artwork and sentiments.

Who Received the 1913 New Year Greetings and What Was Written

Turn the card over, and it shifts from a pretty picture to real people. It’s addressed clearly to Miss Bertha Nugabau, and that name alone drops this into an actual life instead of “someone in 1913.” The New Year message becomes part of 1913 rural correspondence between two specific women, not just a generic greeting.

The sender signs herself as Gwendelene, and that’s what makes it feel like I’ve stepped into the middle of an ongoing conversation. She’s not just sending a quick “Happy New Year.” She’s asking about Bertha’s mother’s health and sharing family news of her own. There’s that mix of concern and everyday updating as she moves between checking on the mother and talking about what’s happening with her own family. That’s where this stops being just a vintage family postcard and turns into a small, very human slice of 1913 rural correspondence and relationship.

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What This 1913 Huron Postcard Reveals About Rural New Year Traditions

When I zoom out from this single card and look at it as a snapshot of rural America in 1913, what jumps out is how much relationship is packed into such a small space. You’ve got early 20th century holiday customs on the front in the New Year imagery, and on the back, the sender is weaving in family news and everyday life alongside those New Year wishes. In rural America in the early 20th century, these cards weren’t just decorative, they were a way to keep close connections going, with holiday cheer and personal updates sharing the same few lines. That same blend of art and handwriting shows up across other pieces of vintage print media from the era, but it feels especially concentrated on this little New Year card.

Seeing the 1913 New Year Postcard Today at Stereo View Vault

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More than a century after that winter process in 1913, the New Year postcard hasn’t vanished into a box or an attic. It has a new home at Stereo View Vault, preserved and viewable online as a Stereo View Vault postcard on stereoviewvault.com. There, it sits as a small artifact you can actually look at and spend time with as you view Vintage Postcards online, alongside other pieces of ephemera in places like the Stereoview Vault eBay store.

A single New Year postcard from Huron in 1913 carries a lot: holiday cheer, family updates, small worries, and a sense of connection that still feels familiar. Now that it’s preserved and viewable at Stereo View Vault, we get to step into that moment and read it as if it just arrived in the mail. It’s a quiet example of how much meaning can fit on one small card making its way through winter.