Oakie's Heartland Clippings

Vol. 75, No. 42, Thursday, September 23, 1999

Rummaging Through Time
(Penny Postcards of Life)

"Sometimes a person has to go back, really back to have a sense, an understanding of all that's gone to make them before they can go forward." -- Paule Marshall

That's what I have been doing with Granny's old penny postcard collection these last few weeks. I found a great photo of Grandpa Will "Bill" McGill that was taken June 15, 1909 in Muskogee and sent from Guthrie, Oklahoma, July 26, 1909 to Miss Constance Warwick who was staying in Colorado Springs, Colorado during this time. I assume, Constance and Bill were courting around that time while he was off playing baseball in an Oklahoma League. I believe it was between 1904 and 1907 that Grandpa McGill also pitched for a Texas League (called the Austin Senators).

Grandpa was a striking figure in his suit, bow tie, white hat and seated on a chair reading a letter with another fellow behind him reading over his shoulder. I have no clue of what or who the letter was from and can only speculate.

You can see the Penny Postcard to check it out for yourself at my website. Let me know it it rings a bell with anyone out there. Maybe someone has this photo amongst their grandparent's collections of memories.

On the back of the card which is postmarked August 14, 1909, Guthrie, Okla. 2-PM, it says, "Just arrived back at Guthrie. Will pitch Monday. Got your letter yesterday. You may not have a dozen awaiting you though at Colorado Springs for I have been home working hard. Will write today."

Another postcard dated August 27, 1909, depicts an Oil Field around Sapulpa, Oklahoma. The wooden derricks and tanks are scattered over the hillside of the Sapulpa landscape. Let's turn the postcard over and read the message WJ (Will) wrote to Constance. "Am looking for a missive (written message). We lost today for the first time in long while. I work tomorrow. Ever, WJ."

If you aren't tired of strolling with me through Granny's old postcards, I have thousands of them to show you. Come up, drop by, Snail/Email and see me some time. Let me show you my ancestor's memorabilia. Here's a dandy postcard of a baseball game at Guthrie, 1909. That link is Baseball at Guthrie, 1909. Grandpa Will's message on the front to Constance reads, "A few rooters. Don't you wish you were here?"

Do you ever get so engrossed in a project and forget about time? Sometimes I am gazing over Granny's postcards and before I know it the day has gone from sunrise to sunset. I could go on forever and ever. Sometimes I tend to ramble on and on. A friend of mine keeps telling me, "You need to not ramble anymore then necessary. Remember, 90% of the people out there that are reading these ezines, have very limited time with work and family."

So on that note I leave you with one last thought & a Cowboys Prayer. Postcard of Cowboy's Prayer - "O Lord, I've never lived where churches grow; | I've loved creation better as it stood | That day you finished it, so long ago, | And looked upon your work and called it good. | Just let me live my life as I've begun! | And give me work that's open to the sky; | Make me a partner of the wind and sun, | And I won't ask a life that's soft and high. | Make me as big and open as the plains; | As honest as the horse between my knees; | Clean as the wind that blows behind the rains; | Free as the hawk that circles down the breeze. | Just keep an eye on all that's done and said; | Just right me sometime when I turn aside; | And guide me on the long, dim trail ahead -- | That stretches upward towards the Great Divide. | --- Author Unknown."

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