This is one of the earliest cards in the collection. How can we tell? Not only by the dress that Estelle Link is wearing, but also because there is only one child in the drawing.

Robert Link, the son of Adolph and Estelle Link, was born May 28, 1916, in Minnesota. His sister, Mary Lou, was not born until November 28, 1922, in Fort Wayne, Indiana, giving Robert six years to be an only child.

He stands in the foreground of the drawing with a toy drum and the family dog at his feet. While his parents are singing from a book of Christmas carols, Robert is "singing" from a book called I Love Santa. Note that the dog is "singing" too.

Mr. Link is dressed formally in a top coat and Mrs. Link is dressed in a fancy, ankle-length dress with fringe on the bottom. Her hair is cut in a bob that was a new style for women at the time. Judging by her style alone--and the fact that Robert is in the picture--the year is, quite possibly, 1921.

You can also find three allusions to the fact that it is the Links sending this card. First, just their name alone is at the end of the message. Not Estelle and Adolph Link, or The Links but, simply, Links.

Second, Adolph's initials, A.L., are just beneath the green background border. Third, they are also in very teeny tiny print, at the base of the drum. Or, it's possible that it says R. Link and was addressed that way to acknowledge that it is Robert's drum. Robert is clearly the important image in this card.

The rhyming couplets are simple but basic. They allude to the caroling that the Links are doing and wish the recipients of the card, "a Christmas day of joy and cheer."

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