
New Year’s Eve 1914 ball in a ballroom of the Manor. Hostess, Mrs. Alice Thomas Connally, widow of John Kerr Connally. Mistletoe and garland decoration.
In the early years of the twentieth century postcards were at their peak of popularity. Postcard publishers printed cards for any and every occasion including Easter, Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, and the New Year. John Winsch, an important postcard publisher in Stapleton, New York (from 1907 to 1915) copyrighted this one in 1910. He used European artists to design his cards and had them printed in Europe as well.
I love how the card above was personalized (by perhaps one of the two pictured?) to create a personal New Year’s greeting for the intended recipient. Even more personal is the following RPPC (real photo postcard) mailed from our fair city in 1906.

A very Happy New Year to you. Wish you were up here. Hope it won’t be long before you & I will be on an outing similar to this. Your friend Clarke & the boy with the dipper.