Vintage Postcard with an Anagram Challenge
Over Thanksgiving weekend, my younger daughter Natalie (age 15) and I chanced across this postcard which was offered for sale on eBay for not more than a few dollars. Apparently, this card was at one distant time part of a series of anagram-themed postcards from the 1910's, where the original sender of the card could transmit a scrambled message with letters rearranged to the intended recipient.
The recipient would then need to cut out the letters on the front side of the card and, using the hints provided by the text on the front and hints on the back, rearrange the letters to form the meaningful and clever solution to the message provided.
This all seemed simple enough to me. After all, how difficult could an anagram created in the 1910's possibly be to rearrange and solve in 2023? My daughter Natalie dragged out our old Scrabble set, chose the twenty-five tiles represented by the letters on the front side of the card, and together we got to work.
BUT: A few haggard hours later, we resorted to various anagram rearrangement algorithms on the Internet (which of course were not an option in 1910) – yet still, no dice at solving the anagram….
Finally, exasperated with my own hubris at the presumed ease with solving this enigma, we reshelved the Scrabble tiles and called it a night. Until...
Natalie discovered one final clue which ultimately allowed us to solve the anagram.
Success! In joy, I immediately bought the postcard on eBay. It arrived some five days later, and the original card is now part of my collection. 😊
This was an amazing bonding experience between Dad and Daughter, all over a century-old postcard. I will never forget this Thanksgiving holiday experience, and will treasure this particular card forever.
Now, rather than provide the solution to the anagram – or even the final clue as to how to solve it – I thought I might share these scans such as they are with my fellow Simi Valley Stamp and Coin Club members. Perhaps you can find the solution quicker than Natalie and I did, and in any case, enjoy a challenging experience via a vintage postcard. For a clue or to discuss this challenge, please contact me at
Thank you, and enjoy! – Marc Moss