1908 Vintage Postcard, Ben Franklin 1c Stamp Boston, Mass. First Baptist Church for Sale

1908 Vintage Postcard, Ben Franklin 1c Stamp Boston, Mass. First Baptist Church For Sale

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1908 Vintage Postcard, Ben Franklin 1c Stamp Boston, Mass. First Baptist Church:
$45.37

This beautiful vintage postcard from 1908 depicts the First Baptist Church in Boston, Massachusetts, on Clarendon street.

Originally built in 1873 for the Brattle Square Congregational Church (later Unitarian), the church building was designed by Henry Hobson Richardson, who won a design contest put on by the church when they were ready to build their new building. This illustration is a great piece of Boston's history and historic architecture. Most of the features of the building remain intact, and the building stands in Boston today, as First Baptist Church on Clarendon street.

The historically accurate, hand drawn, realistic print postcard was mailed with a rare Benjamin Franklin one-cent stamp that was issued in 1902. The Ben Franklin Postage One Cent Stamp, with gorgeously deep blue-green ink, is a rare find in the stamp world. The stamp is lightly hand-cancelled, series 1902, and depicts cherubs holding aloft light bulbs on either side of Ben Franklin's portrait. The top of the stamp reads SERIES 1902 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. At the bottom of the stamp, it reads 1706 FRANKLIN 1790, above the words POSTAGE ONE CENT. Above the cherubs, there is a coloring irregularity of the shields that adds rarity to this stamp.

Together, this is a valuable, unique, and irreplaceable piece. This card and stamp combination from the early 1900s is a unique addition to any collection: Boston architecture, vintage postcards, and/or rare, valuable, and historic stamps. The postcard was manufactured in Germany and is an excellent specimen of topographical post cards. It is perfect for anyonr interested in thr history and beauty of Boston.

This is, in other words, a FIND!

And let's not forget: there is a story behind every piece of mail. This postcard's story goes like this:

On August 4th of 1908, Miss Hazel Sprout sent a "postal" (the term widely used at the time) from Chelsea, Massachusetts to her friend Miss Beryl Black, who was residing in Hillsboro, New Hampshire at the time. Misd Hazel Sprout wrote to her young friend:

"Dear Miss Black:

I thank you for the

postal you sent

me. It came when

I was on my vacation

at Croyden, N.H.

Mr. Childs was here

Sun. night and Mon.

night. Hope he had

a good time. Your

friend, Hazel Sprout"

(Personal note: I love the veiled reference makes about sleeping with Mr. Childs and hoping he had "a good time". Hazel and Beryl were probably young adults, since the title "Miss" was used for young, unmarried women at the time. And what young woman wouldnt talk to her friend about her secret boyfriend? So scandalous.)

The cursive the message is written in is beautiful, slanted, and so different from modern cursive that it can be difficult to decipher. I actually find it quite entertaining, deciphering the cursive from long ago in order to look backward in time. "Decoding" the messages is my favorite thing about old postcards!

I hope you'll take a good look at the photos provided above. While this piece is a treasure, there are imperfections in its appearance that I have shown clearly in the photos I provided. I aim to be transparent, and in that spirit: there is smudged ink from the time of writing and hand cancelling, respectively. The ink from the cancel stamp bled into the front of the card very lightly. Both of these issues happened at the time of use. At some other point in time, someone wrote "so..." on the card in pencil, the only alien mark. The corners of the postcard are slightly worn. These issues are minor and clearly pictured above.

This 116-year-old postal card is in excellent condition and would be a charming and historic addition to anyone's collection!