Cuba 1906 - Picture postcard mailed from the Columbia Barracks to Illinois.
An incredible card mailed from the Columbia Barracks in Havana to Fairbury, Illinois, USA. We have seen other cards mailed from the Columbia Barracks during this time period of the so-called "second intervention", but they have always been commercially produced cards (Diamond News, Detroit Photographic, etc.) with the typical Cuba views (Morro Castle, Havana Cathedral, etc). This is the first and only card we have ever seen with a picture taken inside the actual barracks. The view side shows a lady wearing the typical attire of the times standing in front of a building. Handwritten on the view side: "IN FRONT OF OUR HOUSE" and "MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM BOTH OF THE ROSES. - CAMP COLUMBIA - HAVANA, CUBA"
We guess that the family took this picture and got these cards privately made very fast since they (the troops) have been in Cuba only since October 6th. Stamp cancelled with very scarce COLUMBIA BARRACKS - CUBA - DIC 18, 1906 duplex cds. This is the postmark used by the U.S. Troops in Cuba during the second intervention, during the Presidency of and requested by Don Tomás Estrada y Palma. The cds is somewhat incomplete; mainly the last few letters of COLUMBIA and the first few letters of BARRACKS. Most of the examples of this cancellation we have ever seen, including another one also for sale at this time, show the same incomplete impression of the cds. We wonder if the c.d.s. itself could have been damaged or warped, producing these incomplete cancellations. Even with the partial impression of this cancellation, an incredibly nice and rare card of historical significance!