The Crowd Is Having A “Big Time" in...

Belle Klaus was glad that she could get away from the small town of Washington, Louisiana during the hot summer of 1909.

She was glad to visit her friends in Colorado Springs.

I was cooler there, and Belle saw many new things.

After she returned home, one of her friends wrote to her and encouraged her to "come back soon."

Belle sighed when she heard that the crowd was having a "big time" in Colorado.

Maybe next year, she thought to herself.

_________________

The card features the Deaconness Hospital in Colorado Springs (circa 1904). It was an impressive hospital for that time.

Postmark

Colorado Springs

August 4, 1909

Address

Belle Klaus

Washington

La.

Message

Hello Belle;

How are you?

I hope you will come back to see us soon.

A crowd of us are out here having a big time.

(Cannot read the signature)

Comments: 21

Peter Wimsey Oct 21, 2008, 10:41am EDT

So, the lovely 17-year old Belle or Bella makes some new friends in Colorado.

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Peter Wimsey Oct 21, 2008, 10:44am EDT

"Lushowl? An owl that's a lush?"

I could make nothing of the signature.

I tried to read Lee..., Lu..., , tried it as two words (Lee Shaw), but had no inspiration.

Lush Owl looks pretty good.

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Dorine H. Oct 21, 2008, 10:45am EDT

No wonder Margaret Sanger had a rapt audience in just a few years! All those children in close succession!

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Peter Wimsey Oct 21, 2008, 10:45am EDT

Bella married a Monsieur Godelaux?

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Peter Wimsey Oct 21, 2008, 10:46am EDT

"No wonder Margaret Sanger had a rapt audience in just a few years! All those children in close succession! "

My thoughts exactly, Dorine!

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Vicky Duggins Oct 21, 2008, 10:53am EDT

My (Bad) Grandma had a card from Colorado Springs that her sister sent her in 1919 that had a picture of Pike's Peak and said "they" had climbed to the summit the day before. That was my Aunt Blanche who was quite a wild child and even got thrown in the pokey for prostitution sometime in the '20s.

This is interesting and makes me wish I knew what happened to that card.

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Peter Wimsey Oct 21, 2008, 10:59am EDT

My comment about the large family, the in-laws, and the two boarders, has disappeared.

Maybe Gather does not like CAPITALIZATION.

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Peter Wimsey Oct 21, 2008, 11:02am EDT

"My (Bad) Grandma had a card from Colorado Springs that her sister sent her in 1919 that had a picture of Pike's Peak ..."

There are no "bad Grandmas", Vicky.

After a few years, or a few generations, you are "colorful", "spririted", and "free-thinking".

(My grandchildren will love the stories about each one of my criminal trials.)

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Peter Wimsey Oct 21, 2008, 11:03am EDT

"This is interesting and makes me wish I knew what happened to that card. "

Should you find it, Vicky, it would make a splendid story.

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Beaker (just Beaker) Oct 21, 2008, 4:30pm EDT

I was just thinking, "jeez, that's bigger than my family!" Luckily they even had spare rooms to rent out. Maybe their house looked like the picture on the card.

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Beaker (just Beaker) Oct 21, 2008, 10:35pm EDT

And they probably didn't even have indoor plumbing! I wonder if Mr. Klaus was a prosperous merchant. (I've just been reading about the Kaufmann family--of department store fame--who commissioned Frank Lloyd Wright to build the Fallingwater house. That's prosperous.)

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Peter Wimsey Oct 22, 2008, 5:07pm EDT

"I wonder if Mr. Klaus was a prosperous merchant. (I've just been reading about the Kaufmann family..."

I have never heard of "Klaus Department Stores", but I don't get out much.

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Peter Wimsey Oct 22, 2008, 5:09pm EDT

" Despite all the children, Sarah Klaus even made to the 1930 census and the age of at least 59. "

I am glad to know it, Kate.

I feel sorry for the mothers of big families who who faced endless toil and trials.

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The Crowd Is Having A “Big Time" in Colorado -1909

Comments: 21

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