Don’t Tell Mom
Frank Hoolihan sent this postcard to Mrs. Galivan in Buffalo, NY imploring her to tell Sarah not to let anyone know that he’s in Duluth. He doesn’t want his mom to find out. I suspect he sailed up the Great Lakes to Duluth to get away for some reason. Or maybe he was just on a lark. It does raise a few questions. I can’t make out the year in the postmark but I’m guessing around 1909 or so.
Mr. Frank Hoolihan was born in 1897 and is listed variously on the census records as a sailor or a waiter with the Lake Carrier’s Association. His 1918 draft card signature matches this signature. Note that the postcard is addressed to the “Buffalo Dry Dock” which was a shipbuilding area that changed hands often, and was called that between about 1900 and 1914. He died in 1943. His family lived in the “sea wall squatters” area of Buffalo, and his father was apparently a local character.
He was probably in Duluth on a ship, even as a teenager who signed up to work before his mom approved?
That is really cool and informative, Gina! Thanks for posting.