This postcard was sent in April 1915 by an anonymous patient,"here for two weeks' rest" at Clifton Springs Sanitarium in Clifton Springs, New York. The car was sent to a Mr. W.A. Snaith in Toronto, Canada.The town of Clifton Springs, originally called Sulphur Springs, is in Ontario County, New York, in the northern part of the state. Dr. Henry Foster established the sanitarium in 1850 as a place for people to come and enjoy the health benefits of drinking the spring water.
Clifton Springs became a place where people were sent to recover from "nervous" problems. Adlai Stevenson's mother Helen was sent there for just this reason in 1912.
I had to buy this one because Clifton Springs is a place that figures in one of the family stories that I haven't told on this blog. I'm probably going to save it for awhile. The bit I will tell you is that around 1910, my great uncle tried to send his first wife to Clifton Springs - but she refused to go.
Looking at this postcard, I can understand why.
Some Useful Links:
Early History of Clifton Springs
Religious aspect of the Clifton Springs Sanitarium
A 1952 advertisement for the Sanitarium
Color postcard of the Sanitarium and grounds
Helen Stevenson's stay at Clifton in The Stevensons by Jean H. Baker (Norton, 1996)
6 comments:
Hopefully in color it's a little more welcoming!
Norkio - It did look a bit better in color and from an aerial view, actually...
It's so creepy looking. Is it still there?
Dr. Lauren - It is, but I think the buildings are modern now, and not so Gothic.
Too bad, that whole Munster Family feel is what makes it a great setting for locking up that pesky wife.
Descartes - Yes, it's just the sort of place Count Fosco & Percival Glyde would have liked, too. Very Gothic!
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