Romance in Paraguay

There will be very little fact (history) in this story about six postcards that show two adorable children interacting in a completely natural way – on a rooftop. The ladies will probably agree that a rooftop is a strange place to be courted; and the men will likely agree that it would be an inconvenience, but using the logic of the millennials, it must be true, it’s on the Internet.

Since facts will be scarce, guesses and speculations, will be abundant. The first of these is the assumption that there is an unusual circumstance that exists in the mind of many American postcard collectors. There is no need for a discourse filled with psychological mumbo-jumbo, so upfront, cleanly stated, the misconception is that many American collectors have no interest in foreign postcards.

Agree? Stop here.

Disagree! Read on.

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The first supposition to be employed is that the “Ciudad,” (City in English), in the address on these postcards is Asuncion, Paraguay. Only one card, No. 5 is cited and dated. [Are you asking how I know the number of the card? Look at the face of the moon.] The numbers on the face of the moon have also helped in the sequencing of the message parts.

These six cards were mailed to Señorita Maria A. Pascual at Pte Carnot 424, Ciudad, by a suitor, suspected to be Mario Soto.

An additional curiosity is that the stamps have four different denominations: there are two different 1 Centavo stamps, two different 2 Centavos stamps, a 5 Centavos stamp and there are two 14 Centavos stamps on one card.  It is difficult to fathom since the cancels are of such poor quality (nearly unreadable).

Curiously, different stamps were used to mail the cards, suggesting that they were not sent together. That begs the next question, how long did Mario make Señorita Pascual wait for the “next” installment?

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There is no evidence on the cards concerning publication. Each card is printed with an identical Universal Postal Union postcard apparatus and the undivided backs are lined for addressing in the usual fashion.

The image backgrounds are identical in every respect. The children first appear from the far-side of the roof. He is dressed in a satin vest and wears a top hat; she is in dusting attire and is wearing a mobcap. They meet at a brick chimney. Their greeting is not unusual, it was likely a planned event. She tells him a secret. They pretend to “smoke” as they enjoy a glass of wine. She reads from a newspaper (perhaps her horoscope), then finds herself alone sitting atop the chimney with a decision to make.

See, just as was said, lots and lots of supposition . . . . what did you expect, every word on these cards is in a foreign language.