Here's what a Russian speaker wrote me about the address on the postcard:
The penmanship is gorgeous - but the problem is abbreviations and order of the lines. In old Russia and even in my time, it was common to write from top to bottom: country, city, street no. and street, and finally the addressee.
Here it seems somewhat botched.
So here goes:
Top line: Vg G. Dvinsk "Videbech" (or something like that) (Dvinsk is/was a city in Latvia)
Next line: Mr. Israel Svirskom
Next: to (or 20) d. (dom?) Genshkinu (Tenshkinu) Petersburg St.
Yiddish Anyone?
- Slava
- Great Grand Panjandrum
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I'd say it's:
V G. Dvinsk, Videbsk. o.
G-nu. Israilyu Svirskomu
v d. (?shkinu) Peterburgsk. ul.
which works out to be:
Mr. Israil Svirskii
Peterburg St.
(?shkin) Town
Dvinsk
Vitebsk Oblast.
I'm going for a misspelling of Vitebsk in the first line of the address.
The small d in the last line is the abbreviation for derevnya in Russian, so it means town here.
Now called Daugavpils, Dvinsk was the name in use from 1893 to 1920, not a long time frame for this to have been used in.
Sadly, the date on the other side is not clear enough to read. I do know it was sent to a Mr. Maiman at 38 Eldridge St. NYC. Maybe I should try tracking down the family. That feels a little creepy, though.
V G. Dvinsk, Videbsk. o.
G-nu. Israilyu Svirskomu
v d. (?shkinu) Peterburgsk. ul.
which works out to be:
Mr. Israil Svirskii
Peterburg St.
(?shkin) Town
Dvinsk
Vitebsk Oblast.
I'm going for a misspelling of Vitebsk in the first line of the address.
The small d in the last line is the abbreviation for derevnya in Russian, so it means town here.
Now called Daugavpils, Dvinsk was the name in use from 1893 to 1920, not a long time frame for this to have been used in.
Sadly, the date on the other side is not clear enough to read. I do know it was sent to a Mr. Maiman at 38 Eldridge St. NYC. Maybe I should try tracking down the family. That feels a little creepy, though.
Life is like playing chess with chessmen who each have thoughts and feelings and motives of their own.
-
- Great Grand Panjandrum
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Spelling or pronunciation? The "d" and "t" are close in pronunciation ('t' being aspirated?) and maybe it's a dialectal difference in pronouncing the word that leads to the different spelling (phonetic spelling). Spelling in English was sometimes rather creative before dictionaries became widely distributed.I'd say it's:
V G. Dvinsk, Videbsk. o.
G-nu. Israilyu Svirskomu
v d. (?shkinu) Peterburgsk. ul.
which works out to be:
Mr. Israil Svirskii
Peterburg St.
(?shkin) Town
Dvinsk
Vitebsk Oblast.
I'm going for a misspelling of Vitebsk in the first line of the address.
Regards//Larry
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"To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them."
-- Attributed to Richard Henry Lee
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