august 9th 1909 katherine w to kathleen davey

philadelphia, pennsylvania Usa to mortlake, surrey

3535 miles

the message

"Received your letter and will write soon. Here is a picture of the house where our first flag was made. i will try to send you a flag postal soon.

Katherine W"

the sender

There is nothing on the card to help identify Katherine W. 

the recipient

Kathleen Davey (1889-1985) was the daughter of William Henry Davey (1853-1895) and Edith Mary Deaton (1865-1943). William was a maker of house blinds. After his death, Edith became a laundress. 

Kathleen did not marry. She became a typist and then a cashier and bookkeeper. In the 1939 register she was living with her mother and her sister Margaret Edith Davey (1894-1980) who was an invoice clerk.

the tree

the places

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America

Mortlake, Surrey

what the card says to us

The picture shows the "Birthplace of Old Glory", also known as the Betsy Ross House, which is a landmark in Philadelphia and is referenced in the message. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betsy_Ross_House).

The message itself is intriguing. What was the connection between Katherine W in Philadephia and a 20 year old typist in Mortlake? There is no obvious family connection. Perhaps it was commercial and the business that Kathleen worked for did business with a company in Philadelphia. Or was this an early example of a pen friend relationship?

Did Katherine ever send that flag and if she did, what happened to it. At the time this card was sent there were only 46 states in the union. New Mexico and Arizona joined in 1912, Alaska and Hawaii in 1959.