Description: Condition (card: fine, photograph: good). Sepia colored photo-like card is without border. Unused.; On the back left edge is the publication information: "Pub. by The Canterbury Shakers, East Canterbury, N. H." -- In the top middle section is "Post Card." Below and between the space in those word is a vertical line separating the "correspondence" from the Address Only sections of the card. -- In blue ink in the address area in stamped "FROM THE COLLECTION OF SCOTT DE WOLFE." -- In the upper right is dealer's code number "#670," followed by price, "15.00" ($15). [Peoples' names come from back of another post card with the same picture on the front.]

Girls Tending Gardens Near Meeting House. Shaker children at work in a garden area at the side (north side) of the Meeting House. A portion of the Meeting House can be seen on the right back side of the picture. In the left back of the picture is an eastern view of the side and front or north view of the Church Family's Ministry Shop. One young sister is using a reel lawn mower, another seems to be pumping water into a bucket. Girl in the front middle, in a crouching position, appears to be weeding. Two on the far right are examining something. And behind them is holding some gardening implement. "Shaker recruitment postcard. Scenes such as this one, showing girls at work just outside the Church Family Meeting House, were used to attract new recruits (chiefly orphans) to the community. Active recruiting became increasingly important as membership fell, but ultimately the Shakers could not compete with state-run orphanages." [24-P120, 26-PC7]" (quote from A Shaker Family Album, p. 27) The girls in the picture are Florence, Edna, Grace and Alice Hewitt, Leona Merrill and one unidentified girl.