It's been a while since I've had a vintage postcard find. Here are a few from a recent find.
These WWII-era postcards feature the popular (at the time) comic strip character Snuffy Smith, or "Smif" as he's known back home. They were all sent by Private Louis F. Cimo of Rome, New York.
According to Ancestry.com, Louis was born in 1931. His father was an Italian immigrant.
Louis sent these postcards to his mother and brothers in Rome, New York. This one was sent to his younger brother Joe. All were sent from Keesler Army Air Corps Base in Biloxi, Mississippi on September 6th, 1946.
He sent his mother Lucy this postcard and a pillow case. I wonder if she got it?
This is to his older brother "Jake" who I assume was his brother "Mariano" (confirmed on a later postcard).
And rounding out the family is Dad.
Snuffy Smith continues to live on in comic strip form. Introduced in 1934 in the already 15-year-old strip Barney Google comic strip, Snuffy soon became the main character. A hillybilly living in Hootin' Holler, possibly in Appalachia or the Ozarks, Snuffy lives for avoiding work, chicken thieving and drinking corn "likker", much to the grief of his long-suffering wife "Weezy".
Here are a few other postcards sent by Louis or received by his family members.
The moonshine consumption was phased out of the strip back in the mid-Nineties, I'm sorry to say. The legions of schoolchildren that fanatically follow Snuffy's exploits were constructing their own makeshift stills, and toting jugs of "rheumatiz medicine" to barn-raisings and church socials. Shameful.
ReplyDeleteWell, thankfully the chicken thievin' remains!
DeleteIt's always interesting to find out the "future history" of the people where these items come from. I was able to find his obituary.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.findagrave.com/memorial/32051638/louis-frank-cimo
Fairfield--A Mass of Christian burial for Louis Frank Cimo, 64, will be celebrated at 11 a.m. Monday with the Rev. Luciano Valenzuela officiating.
Mr. Cimo died Tuesday, Jan. 17, 1995, at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center, Vallejo after a short illness.
A native of Rome, N.Y., he lived in Fairfield the past 34 years. He worked in civil service as a woodworking foreman at Travis Air Force Base before retiring in 1989.
An avid outdoorsman, he enjoyed fishing and hunting and was a member of the Loyal Order of Moose Lodge No. 861 and Eagles Lodge Aerie No. 4113.
Survivors include his daughter, Cherie L. Cortes of Fairfield; son, Joseph and Louis Cimo, Jr. of Fairfield; brothers, Joseph Cimo of Rome, N.Y. and Mariano Cimo of St. Louis; five grandchildren; and numerous nieces and nephews.
Visitation is 5-9 p.m. Sunday at Bryan-Braker Funeral Home and rosary at 7 p.m. Sunday at the funeral home.
Entombment will be in Fairmont Memorial Park.
Donations may be made to the American Heart Association, 744 Empire St., Suite 112, Fairfield, Calif.94533.
Daily Republic, Friday, Jan 20, 1995
Excellent sleuthing, BJB. So his brother Mariano (Jake) seems to be the St. Louis connection. I wonder if it was his (or his spouse's) estate sale.
DeleteI would say it would be Mariano's wife Janie.
ReplyDeleteCimo, Mary Jane ‘’Janie’’
Cimo, Mary Jane ‘’Janie’’, (nee Spine) Fortified with the Sacraments of Holy Mother Church March 26, 2022. Beloved wife of the late Mariano ‘’Jake’’ Cimo; loving mother of David (Pat) Cimo, Lucille (Charles Lehnbeuter) Pounds and Nicholas Cimo; cherished grandmother of Elizabeth (David) Coe, Michael and Matthew Cimo, Josey and William (Sabrina) Pounds and great-grandmother of Laura, Lydia, Caroline, Adelaide, Mauria, Cash, Caleb and Robert; our dear sister, sister-in-law, aunt, cousin and friend.
Aha! You solved another mystery. That's "Janie" on the postcard, not "Jeanie". Well done, sir.
Delete