Pleasant Street SchoolSchool stories. Ashland history. Things worth keeping.
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A Christmas postcard to “Dear Teacher”

“Arrived here safe and am having a good time.” In December 1907, Lela Clarke sent a Christmas greeting and a view of Sandusky Street to her teacher in Michigan.

Color postcard captioned Sandusky Street, Ashland, Ohio, showing an ornate house at left and a red brick church at right.
PastView card 0010. The printed caption identifies Sandusky Street; the photograph and printing dates are unknown.
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Color postcard captioned Sandusky Street, Ashland, Ohio, showing an ornate house at left and a red brick church at right.

A Christmas greeting across a state line.

In December 1907, Lela Clarke wrote to Miss Bessie Combs in Pittsford, Michigan. She addressed her as “Dear Teacher,” reported a safe arrival and sent a Christmas greeting.

The picture she chose names Sandusky Street, Ashland, Ohio: an ornate house, a red brick church and a tree-lined street. A town view on one side, a personal message on the other.

“Don’t you think we are in a pretty place?”

Dear Teacher,

Arrived here safe and am having a good time.

…

Don’t you think we are in a pretty place?

These selected legible lines give the card its voice. A Christmas greeting appears between them, and Lela Clarke signs the message.

Reverse of the postcard with a handwritten Christmas greeting, teacher’s name, publisher’s mark, stamp and Ashland cancellation.
PastView card 0010, reverse. The greeting and cancellation are primary evidence; no additional biography is inferred.
Inspect larger scan

Scroll within the image to read the details. You can also open the full scan and use your browser’s zoom.

Reverse of the postcard with a handwritten Christmas greeting, teacher’s name, publisher’s mark, stamp and Ashland cancellation.

Sent in December 1907.

The Ashland cancellation gives December 1907. That mailing places this particular card on the timeline. The street scene and printing may be earlier; their dates remain unknown.

A local view, printed farther afield.

The reverse carries The Cleveland News Company name, the Litho-Chrome mark, Germany, and Leipzig, Berlin and Dresden. These small printed details open another story about how views of Ashland circulated.

A message worth keeping.

The surviving card brings a teacher and a correspondent into the town’s history through a few lines of handwriting. Other copies of this same Sandusky Street view can carry entirely different messages, postal dates and journeys.

Follow the evidence

Sources & further reading

  1. Owner’s PastView collection, postcard 0010, paired 600 dpi master scans

    Paired fronts and backs inspected. The quotations are selected legible passages, not a full transcription; the handwritten Christmas greeting is not silently standardized. The card does not identify the school where Combs taught or establish a Pleasant Street School affiliation. Publisher marks alone do not identify the photographer or a precise printing process.

  2. Owner’s public Facebook scan of card 0010, front

    The local masters supply the higher-resolution images used here.

  3. Owner’s public Facebook scan of card 0010, reverse

    December 1907 is legible. The day is obscured by printed lettering, so no exact day is chosen. Mailing, scene and printing dates are kept separate.