When I first saw this image, I thought I was looking at a casual shot of three sober-faced men visiting at someone’s home, so I moved on. When my wife Bev looked at it, she read the message on the back written by the sender, C. Nelson, to Louis Westenburg in Wales, Wisconsin. What Mr. Nelson wrote under a postmark dated November 22, 1910, to extend Happy Thanksgiving wishes indicates that he and the other two men pictured are in Edgewater to seek a cure for their tuberculosis. Edgewater is a municipality of Jefferson County and sits at the west end of Sloan’s lake, which is about six blocks south of the Lakeside Amusement Park. Mr. Nelson writes:
“Edgewater, Colo., Nov 22 — 10
Dear Friend: Will send you a card although it is not a turkey card, but it is one of my own make. Was glad to hear you were negative 4 times, and hope you may stay that way. Am feeling fairly well, but don’t think I have improved any yet. Received your photo O.K. Sincerely, C. Nelson.”
Perhaps Mr. Nelson is the man closest to the camera. The buildings in the background may be patient cottages. As testament to the desirability of the Denver area as a locale for the sun, dry air and high altitude favored in the early 20th century for tuberculosis treatment, there were at least five T. B. sanatoriums in Edgewater alone. They were the Craig Colony, Swedish-American, Brotherly Love, Fern Hill, and Jewish Consumptives’ Relief Society.
REFERENCES:
- “Craig Colony,” Denver Public Library Digital Collections, at https://digital.denverlibrary.org/digital/collection/p15330coll22/id/32358/
- “Edgewater, Colorado,” Wikipedia at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgewater,_Colorado
- “The Sanatorium – Official Organ of the Jewish Consumptives’ Relief Society,” Vol. VI to Vol. X 1912-1916, edited by C.D. Spivak, Denver, Colorado, 1916, Google Books at https://books.google.com/books?id=YMONcfNLjccC&pg=PA206&lpg=PA206&dq=%22edgewater%22+colorado+sanatorium&source=bl&ots=ojgqB0-Ies&sig=ACfU3U134dFUElyNqXJFg_RsqY7AN7FXxg&hl=en&ppis=_e&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiyjY_fnsHoAhUOgp4KHRJqB0EQ6AEwBXoECAoQAQ#v=onepage&q=%22edgewater%22%20colorado%20sanatorium&f=false
