new career?

I usually buy old postcards only if they are from the Dakotas, Montana, or Minnesota -- or if they feature roads. However, I just couldn't resist this one. It's basically a business card done as a postcard, and it made me smile. Plus it got me thinking. If I ever tire of the practice of optometry, I could surely become a Singing Evangelist just like Mary T. Louthan of Toledo, Iowa!



The fine print says "Terms Reasonable / Testimonials Furnished". I understand that Mary was assuring people she wouldn't charge an arm and a leg. However, I'm a bit confused on the "testimonials furnished" part. Was she saying "references furnished upon request" or was she saying "I will furnish my testimony as part of my evangelizing"?

Either way, I'd have to leave that phrase off my business card. I'd be pretty shaky on the 'testimonial' part and it would be a stretch to scrape up any references who would vouch for me doing that line of work. However, the "terms reasonable" is no problem (which you would know if you heard my singing).

Here's the back. I'm thinking Letitia Marquardt was a potential recipient of Mary's singing-evangelistic services. Perhaps there was a special event on January 20, 1911.



Just for the heck of it, I googled Mary and found half a dozen relevant websites. I learned she was born on May 21, 1858. It looks as if she never married. Mary was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church (hadn't heard of that merger before), sang "The Star Spangled Banner" for Iowa Day on September 21, 1898 and sang "Face to Face" at the funeral of Lorena Sheldon Raines Swearingen on June 13, 1929. (She was reportedly a life-long friend of the Raines family.) Mary joined the heavenly choir on December 20, 1931.

(So I guess if the singing evangelist thing doesn't work out, I can fall back on internet detective.)