Duffield/Sisson Postcards No. 36

This is the 36th in a series of postcards from 1908-1914. 

This collection was discovered last year in the Sierra Madre, California home of Warren Brown after his death. Warren’s mother, Edythe Grace Sisson (1897-1978), was the daughter of Edith Amy Duffield (1864-1926) and Charles Herman Sisson (1868-1927). Charles and Edith were married in Ottawa, Illinois in 1895. They remained there until the early 1920s when they moved west to Los Angeles, California. Their collection of memorabilia was passed down to Warren, my husband’s cousin.

Chicago Street Bridge, Elgin, Ill.

Excerpt from the book Elgin: Days Gone By - E. C. Alft, Chapter 3 - Fox River, found at  http://www.elginhistory.com/dgb/ch03.htm:

"It wasn't exactly a gold rush, and there were no roaring saloons or claim-jumping wars, but visions of sudden wealth once led scores of pearl hunters to the Fox River. For a few years beginning about 1908, large numbers of freshwater pearls could be found in clam shells from Carpentersville south to the Five Island shallows.
Elgin had pearl fever. Clam diggers wandered the river banks and jewelers were kept busy appraising the finds. Professional pearl buyers made regular visits to the city. At. the peak of the big pearl rush in 1911, they were said to be paying $100 to $150 for exceptional specimens, but $25 was probably more typical. (A day's wages in local factories at that time averaged about $2.)
The boom was given impetus by the discovery of a shell below the Chicago Street Bridge in which there were 342 small pearls. All were pure white in color and averaged three-eighths of a carat in size. The clam diggers would wait until the river was low in the hot summer months, then wade in until their feet touched a clam. They would then reach down for their prize and toss it in a sack. When they had a bag full, they headed for shore and opened the shells. They usually found odd shaped slugs, if anything. Some shells were sold to a button factory."

This card was purchased and mailed in 1910, smack in the midst of the "pearl fever" described in the book. It was sent to Edith by her younger sister Vic from Elgin. I like to imagine that Vic and Jim, who were there in late August when the river would have been low, may have waded out to search for a clam or two. Perhaps they even found a pearl.

Postmark from Elgin, Ill on August 26, 1910
Made in Germany. Edwin Hall, Importer & Publisher, Elgin, Ill.

Addressed to:

Mrs Edith Sisson

Ottawa

Ill

408 Marcy St

Message:

Hello Edith.

How are you all

will be over to see

you soon.

Vic Sesslar

The next card, mailed the same day from Elgin, is from the youngest sister Eva, who was traveling with the Sesslars. It's not known if this was a trip for business or for pleasure, but it took them about 65 miles from home heading North along the Fox River.