Every Monday we share an image on the Essex on Lake Champlain Facebook page and invite our viewers to play some Vintage Essex Trivia.

It may be summer, but this is a winter-themed postcard! It’s called “Ice Boating, Essex on Lake Champlain, NY.”

Seen anyone do this activity? Or maybe you’ve done it yourself? Heard of it before? When do you think the postcard dates to?

Here’s what the community has already had to say:

Mary Wade: I have seen a lot of ice boats when I was a little girl. My Grandfather, Capt. Wally Mock,had one in Essex and used to take people for rides. With a good strong wind and no snow on the lake they were very fast and FUN!!

Susan Kellogg: A perfect abstract image!!

Take a look at the back of the postcard below. It was never mailed, so there is no postage date. However, it shows the cost of postage as one cent. That may help us narrow a date range…

This useful link helps identify different eras of postcards. It tells us real photo postcard didn’t begin to circulate until the 1900s. It also states that “The postcard rate was increased from 1 cent to 2 cents as a wartime measure. When World War I ended at the end of 1918, the rate was lowered to its pre-War level of one cent. Allmer states (p. 17) that postage was raised briefly from 1 cent to 2 cents in 1917-1919 and in 1925-1928; the conclusive raise to 2 cents was in 1951.” So since this postcard tells us it was only one cent to mail it, then is definitely pre-1951 and likely wasn’t created during either the WWI or WWII era.

Have any thoughts to share? Please leave a comment below!

Share Your Essex Artifacts

If you want to share your old photos of Essex (or brochures; postcards; menus; tickets; any artifact) on the blog please email us at editor [AT] essexonlakechamplain [DOT] com.

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