Postcard “Into Mischief”
Postmarked May 19, 19XX, Lithonia, GA

“Hello Nona
How are you
This morning
Come and see me
Lillie Clarke”

This looks like a postcard from a little girl (Lillie Clarke) of Lithonia, GA to a Miss Nona Mitchel, also in Lithonia. Found in Monroe, GA.

Unfortunately, the postmark is illegible. The year is not visible. So, to narrow down when this might have been sent, I looked to see in which years postage for a postcard was just a penny.

After WW1, postage went back to one cent. It was one cent from 1918 to 1925, and then from 1928 to 1951.

Another clue that could reveal a timeframe for this postcard would be when RFD, or Rural Free Delivery, was active. It was a Georgia Congressman, Thomas Watson, who put RFD in motion. I couldn’t find exactly when RFD was in service in Lithonia, but it went into effect in the late 1890s. Lithonia was established in 1856 as a farming community. Today, it is considered a suburb of Atlanta, conveniently located right on I-20.

I can’t find much more information on these two people, Lillie Clarke and Nona Mitchel. Perhaps Nona Mitchel was a friend of Lillie, or a family member? My own daughter, age 9, wrote a postcard just like this to her auntie a few towns over a few months ago, which is one of the reasons I found this card so endearing. Now, my daughter can text her auntie, too, but back when Lillie wanted to get a message to Nona, she could either write or call (probably).

If you know anything of this Lithonia family, please comment.