I Finally Found One!

I found one! I cannot believe it; this took me years. Does this look... Fami? Sorry, does this look familiar? That's right! The image on this early 20th-century postcard is the origin of the cover art for Neutral Milk Hotel's "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea."

I found one! As far as I can tell, this is now the fifth known to exist. Jeff Mangum owned one, and he and Chris Bellheimer adapted it for this cover art. Most notably, they replaced the woman's head with a drum or tambourine or potato.

This particular postcard was sent to what appears to be a Miss Hilderbrand of Finlon, Pennsylvania, postmarked July 1st, 1907. Now, I don't know what you think of this album, but it played a really big role in my life 20 years ago.

So, for the last 4 years, I've been trying to find this postcard. Finally, just a few weeks ago, I was browsing a collection, and I found it. Nearly 120 years ago, two people exchanged this postcard. Neither of them are with us any longer, and yet this card is still here.

It means so much to a guy they never met because of songs they never heard.