A tall, enclosed wagon stands on grass beneath mature trees, hitched to two dark horses. A man wearing a suit and broad-brimmed hat stands at its rear with one hand against the vehicle. Large spoked wheels, a small side window, and the projecting roof over the driving position are clearly visible.
The prominent side lettering reads “BIBLE WAGON.” A lower panel carries an abbreviated form of the American Baptist Publication Society’s name, identifying the organization associated with the vehicle rather than the photographer or postcard publisher. Further lettering on the upper panel is too faint to transcribe securely.
The front bears the handwritten date “4/20/07.” and a personal message along the lower and right margins. Addressed to Miss Anna Wicklund at Gothenburg, Nebraska, the card was mailed from Mead, Nebraska, on April 22, 1907, with a green one-cent Franklin stamp. A faint Gothenburg receiving postmark also appears on the undivided address side.
Where the photograph was taken is not established. The card’s own Gothenburg inscription is a delivery address, not a view caption, and does not independently establish the wagon’s location. The man remains unidentified, and no photographer or postcard publisher is credited.
- Medium
- RPPC
- Subject
- Faith, Nebraska, Occupational, Outdoor Scene
- Dimensions
- 5.44 × 3.44 in (138.1 × 87.2 mm)
- Condition
- Small edge tear in the right-hand message margin, outside the principal subject; otherwise sound, with the wagon and horse team clearly legible.
- Provenance
- Postal use documented by the card: mailed from Mead, Nebraska, on April 22, 1907, to Miss Anna Wicklund, Gothenburg, Nebr.
- Catalogue no.
- MRPPC3474
Catalogue details
Location
Mead, Nebraska · Mead, Nebraska, United States
Photographed subject · Locality (town) · 65% confidence
Set aside Oct 9 2026: Mead is the April 22, 1907 origin postmark, not a photographer imprint or scene evidence; the record itself says the photographer is unrecorded. Kept on the mailed route only. Prior note: real-photo postcard by a local photographer (“Mead, Nebraska”) — these were made in and around the photographer's own town. Looked up as "Mead, Nebraska" → Mead, Mead, NE 68041, USA. Order tried: photographer-town: "Mead, Nebraska" → city ✓; Live research: The depicted location remains unresolved; no geographic precision is supported. The supplied readings identify an American Baptist Publication Society Bible wagon, but contain no town caption or fixed landmark. Gothenburg is the recipient’s address and Mead is the mailing origin—not evidence of where the photograph was taken. Archival research found comparable Society wagon postcards in Wheaton College’s inventory, including separately identified Maine and Adirondack subjects, but no exact match establishing this photograph’s location. The organization’s lettering therefore cannot identify a particular town. ([www2.wheaton.edu](https://www2.wheaton.edu/bgc/archives/Accession%20Inventories/EMA/06-04%20Museum%20Postcards%20inventory.pd
Source: Photographer's imprint (town only)
