- Date: Late 1940s to 1951 (Joe III was born in 1941, and one-cent postal cards ended in 1952); the Planada postmark is too faded to read
- From: Joe Sharmer III, as a small boy
- To: “Mommie Sharmer” (Ruby), Fresno Community Hospital, Fresno, Calif.
- What: One-cent government postal card, the message in pencil
- Condition: Complete; some ink blots
Each side of the card is shown beside its transcription. Click a side to enlarge it.
MESSAGE SIDE
Down the left edge: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
JOE ++O
Dear Mommie
We are going to get a new tree
X++ OO O+ O +O+ O+ +O
I love you
ADDRESS SIDE
Written across the top, in ink: I love you too [name or initial lost under ink blots]
Mommie Sharmer
Fresno Community Hospital
Fresno & S Sts
Fresno, Calif
Postmark: Planada, Calif., date illegible. Printed one-cent stamp.
Notes & context
The writer. Joe and Ruby’s eldest son, Joseph Sharmer III, born in April 1941, the father of the Joseph Sharmer who keeps this site. He was young enough to be practising his numbers from 1 to 10 down the side of the card, and he signed it “JOE” with hugs and kisses before he had even begun.
“Mommie Sharmer” in the hospital. The card was sent from Planada to Ruby at Fresno Community Hospital, at Fresno and S Streets. A grown-up addressed it in ink. Why Ruby was in hospital isn’t recorded on the card.
“A new tree.” Most likely a Christmas tree, which would put the card in a December, but the postmark is too worn to confirm the date.
“I love you too.” Someone answered on the card itself, in ink, across the top of the address side. The signature beneath it is lost under ink blots.
A one-cent card. It is a printed government postal card. These cost one cent until the rate went up to two cents at the start of 1952, so it was mailed before then.
Planada to Fresno. The card went from the little post office in Planada, where Ruby herself had been postmaster (The Postmaster of Planada). The boys can be seen in Planada in the family’s home movies (The Sharmer Children in Planada).
