Grand Army of the Republic Decoration Day Greeting Card

 

This is an intricate "Patriotic" post card commemorating "Decoration Day" and the Grand Army of the Republic,  which was an organization of veterans of the union Army during the American civil war (or the war between the states, if you're from the south). 

 

This card has embossing on top of embossing.  The five pointed star has the words "Grand Army of the Republic, 1861-1865".  On back it includes "Decoration Day Series No. 2" as part of the publisher information.

 

Decoration Day began in the south after the end of the civil war, and referred to the custom of visiting and decorating the graves of soldiers who had died during that conflict.  This developed into a national observance, typically on May 30th, and evolved into the present Memorial Day holiday.

 

I do not know the exact date of this card, but I'm pretty sure it would be in the 1908 to 1912 era.

 

 

45 Star Embossed USA Flag, 1906 Postcard

One of eBay's categories for postcards on the USA site is "patriotic", and this certainly fits in that category.  This is a standard/sized postcard of a 45 star American Flag, postmarked in Boston, Massachusetts in 1906.  The waves in the flag are embossed, giving it both physical and visual depth.  This card also has an undivided back, meaning it was created at a time only the address (no messages) were allowed on back.  The back of this one has the postmark and an address, but no other information.  No indication of who sent it.

There is a very faded poem written above the flag, and some other information written at the bottom of the card.

It was sent to an address in Greenland, New Hampshire.  There's still a post office there, I looked it up.