After receiving positive feedback from last week’s experiment of The 1306, I’ve decided to share another historic postcard for this edition. To be transparent, I had one family friend say they “thought it was really special,” so I’m running with it. I assure you, after some necessary research this week, I’ll be back to local history next Friday. Besides, after finding this postcard at the Oceana County Historical & Genealogical Society, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to share as soon as I could.
This week’s postcard comes from our favorite local Renaissance man, Swift Lathers. The front of the postcard shows the journalist, poet, homesteading and shack-building extraordinaire standing before his beloved Dune Forest Village. Despite the slightly blurry quality of the photo obscuring his face, the figure is still undoubtedly Swift, identifiable by clothing choice alone. Swift was known throughout Oceana for his daily uniform just as much as his paper: green pants and a red tie complemented by his blue shirtsleeves with a white collar. On cool days, he accessorized with a brown suit jacket and a black derby hat.
In the photograph, his derby and collar stick out as dark grey features on the figure. If you study even a single picture of Swift Lathers, a spell is cast, and you’ll find the man in even the grainiest historical picture. Behind him are three of his Dune Forest Buildings, most notably, the red schoolhouse.
Once upon a time, this postcard was pasted to some black construction paper, so the postmark is obscured save for the location of “Mears,” but it is dated the 21st of July, 1941. The sending address and message are typed, probably on Swift’s oft-used typewriter, which is still on display at the Lathers’ home in Mears. The lucky recipient is a Miss Margaret Minich of Minich Cottage in Silver Lake, and her message reads as follows:
"July 21, 1941
Dear Margaret:
It was nice of you girls to give me a ride home. I got home in time for church. How does it seem to spill in a c/ sailboat? I mean out of one. A quadrangle of college girls would call it thrilling. Swift Lathers"
Swift was certainly wearing his uniform as he trundled along the road in Mears. I imagine his distinctive appearance acted as a faraway beacon, allowing Miss Margaret plenty of time to stop her car with her college friends. Having been a college girl myself not too terribly long ago, and one eager to act as a hometown tour guide for her friends, I’d almost say she was eager to show off the local celebrity. Perhaps she announced over the engine, “Check this fellow out!” before pulling over to give Swift a ride.
1941 was well after the time Swift Lathers stopped driving his own cars, electing to walk everywhere instead, and there are many personal anecdotes from Mears residents of picking up Swift from the side of the road and giving him a ride to his destination. Margaret was doing nothing out of the ordinary, offering him a ride with her friends, whom he certainly entertained.
Judging by his reference to their conversation, Swift may have asked how the group of college girls were enjoying their summer and was told about their sailing adventures in return. While trying to make heads or tails of his reference “how does it seem to spill in a c/ sailboat? I mean out of one,” I believe “spill” may refer to falling or tripping; “taking a spill” so to say. Perhaps the girls had taken a sailing trip on a windy day such as we’ve been experiencing lately, tumbling around or out of the vessel, and describing the ordeal so nonchalantly as “thrilling.” The car ride would’ve been just as crowded, as Swift describes, with “a quadrangle of college girls.”
Trying to make sense of Swift’s use of “quadrangle” to colorfully describe a group of four, rather than “quartet,” I looked to the dictionary definition, which simply describes four-sided shapes or structures. This paints a picture of Swift Lathers sitting right in the middle of four college-aged girls all chattering about their summer fun.
Another note, as far as I can tell, “c/” is shorthand, the meaning of which I cannot find. I know in history “c” is “circa” and used to mean “approximately,” especially in terms of historical dates. Perhaps “c/” symbolized something similar to Swift? Especially considering the unclear prepositions of “in” or “out” in concerns to boats and taking spills.
Looking up Miss Margaret Minich affirms many of my assumptions. The Minich family were from La Grange, Illinois, but frequent vacationers at their cabin in Silver Lake. Margaret was born in 1919, and would have been 22 in the summer of 1941. She was also the president of the Alpha Phi Sorority at DePauw University in Indiana. So not only did Swift take a car ride with four college girls, but a gaggle of sorority sisters led by a seemingly spunky and adventurous Margaret.
The Minich family was often referenced in the Mears Newz, with Swift documenting their summer activities at their Floradale cottage. In fact, the summer after sending this postcard, Swift announced Margaret’s marriage to her husband, Chuck Mettler, and their honeymoon to Silver Lake.
Margaret Minich passed away in 2013, and during her life, she vacationed often in Silver Lake, even into her old age, so perhaps some readers may recognize her or her family name. If anyone has any stories of the Minich family or of driving around Swift Lathers, we at The Oceana Echo would love to hear them!
