Travel by railroad was still the best way to get from one place to another in the early 20th century, so a washout on the line was serious business. But paired with a photograph of laundry hanging out to dry, this play on words made for a popular postcard message. The postcard dates from the period 1907 to 1915, known as the Golden Age of Postcards, when hundreds of millions of postcards were mailed every year, some with the briefest of messages similar to today’s texts. Photographer Frank H. DeMars, proprietor of an art and framing store in Winsted, offered postcards such as this to small rural stores in the area.  The houses pictured here lined Greenwoods Road just west of Memorial Green. Those in the foreground where the wash hangs have been replaced by the Alfas Unlimited facility. Those across the road still stand. You can see the bell tower of the Methodist Church, now a private residence on North Street, in the background.

Ann Havemeyer

Photo courtesy of the Norfolk Historical Society