The card stock of this card is unusual and unlike the other cards he did. It is tan on the outside and light gray on the inside. It also has a straight edge at the bottom and a deckled edge on two sides. When opened, it is almost 13 inches in width so, longer than our standard 8 1/2 x 11 inch paper that we use today.

The glowing moon in the picture hangs over a bucolic, country evening scene at night time. Since there is no year in the card, we have to assume that this scene depicts St. Peter Lutheran Church, judging by the steeple on the church. Though it is noted in his Daily Herald obituary that he "began his career traveling the countryside, painting pictures of farmhouses." This is, possibly, an adaptation of a sight he often saw in the country.

The rhyme that Mr. Link created is extraordinarily clever and is, obviously, an allusion to Adam and Eve never having experienced Christmas. But, because Mr. Link is sending you, his family member or friend, this card, you're fortunate to be getting it!

We assume it is a pen or pencil that has been drawn next to the rhyme. And, in the lower right corner, we find that the card is from the Link Family. It is a tiny signature but it is signed with a bit of a flourish.

Jane Rozek
Local History Librarian
Schaumburg Township District Library
jrozek@stdl.org