Go For the Easy Parts First

In tackling a problem, it might seem best to go for the gusto and wrestle with the hardest parts first. After all, that might mean conquering the biggest percentage of the dilemma right at the start; it's all downhill from there.

My thinking is different: if we can tease out the information from the easiest step first, it might have the cascading effect of unlocking a few more hints to guide us further on our way to an answer.

With that in mind, I took a look at all the clues we could find from the notes on the back of a picture postcard from one hundred years ago. The easiest step—and one with a sure-fire answer—is to zero in on that tiny box where the one cent stamp goes.

If you look closely, despite the murky appearance of the middle of the logo in the stamp box, you can make out the word Artura. That particular stamp box design was used in Artura photo postcards between the years of 1906 and 1912.

While it would be nice to have a narrower date range for our search for Susie and Juanita, the stars of this photo postcard, at least it's a start. Add to that the wiggle factor of the children's ages, and it might seem a very imprecise science, indeed. However, at least we have a starting point from which to move to the next step—examining yet another obvious (though unclear) clue: the address mentioned on the postcard.