Vatican Letter: I Hope it Worked

Discussion in 'Ephemera and Photographs' started by Potteryplease, Mar 15, 2026 at 10:03 PM.

  1. Potteryplease

    Potteryplease Well-Known Member

    This was a curiosity to me, and, fingers crossed, I'm hoping it worked.

    I am finding various people with the same last name, Ahern, in Portland Oregon, but have not yet dialed this in. I'm hoping that @Debora with her insane research skills might be able to (again) help me.

    My wife thinks this is a weird thing to buy, but I'm hoping it turned out well, and that there are relatives around.

    Thanks for looking.


    IMG_6118.jpeg IMG_6119.jpeg IMG_6120.jpeg IMG_6123.jpeg
     
    Marote likes this.
  2. Bronwen

    Bronwen Well-Known Member

    Interesting that the stationery is not customized for a particular Vatican Secretary of State or the Pope he served, in this case Pius XII. Very thrifty.
     
    Potteryplease likes this.
  3. Potteryplease

    Potteryplease Well-Known Member

    Complicated to be Pope during WW2, for sure.
     
    Last edited: Mar 15, 2026 at 11:06 PM
  4. Debora

    Debora Well-Known Member

    There were Aherns in Portland including a mother and daughter Mary but the daughter, who seems to be about the right age (b. 1886), had no issue. In terms of etiquette, "Mrs. Mary" would indicate a widow (although it's possible an uneducated woman of the period might refer to herself as such.) The framing may well be contemporary to the letter as Gunnary's was in business as early as the 1940s and telephone exchanges were eliminated in Portland in the mid-1950s.

    Debora
     
    Potteryplease likes this.
  5. Potteryplease

    Potteryplease Well-Known Member

    Thanks @Debora. As always, appreciate your help.
     
  6. Debora

    Debora Well-Known Member

    My pleasure.

    Debora
     
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  7. Potteryplease

    Potteryplease Well-Known Member

    As a whole, and, as a high school English teacher, it's a helluva single sentence. 68 words, 6 commas, 13 prepositions, and only a couple of adjectives.

    A throughly 19th C sentence, it seems to me.
     
  8. 2manybooks

    2manybooks Well-Known Member

    It seems that the family would have had such a letter framed because it was a successful intervention. We can hope.
     
    Marote and Potteryplease like this.
  9. komokwa

    komokwa The Truth is out there...!

    today would have been a text..........
    " Pope prayin for ya....stay frosty ! "
     
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