Real Photo Postcard of the Chapel Car “The Crusader of the Divine Child,” Destined for China.
Rutherford, New Jersey: Garrway Co., n.d., ca. 1930s–1940s. Real photo postcard measuring approximately 3 ½ x 5 ½ inches. Photograph shows a priest celebrating Mass at an outdoor altar attached to a streamlined trailer chapel, with several women kneeling or seated before it. Captioned in the negative: “Chapel Car ‘The Crusader of the Divine Child’ destined for China” and “Go ye into the whole world and preach the Gospel to every creature. St. Luke 16.15.” Divided postcard back, unused, printed for the Franciscan Mission Crusade, 812 N. Salina Street, Syracuse, New York, with “Help the Missions” appeal and Proverbs 19:17 quotation. Some wear and toning; very good. Item #List3839
A real photo postcard showing the Franciscan Mission Crusade’s chapel car, “The Crusader of the Divine Child,” described here as destined for China. The image shows a mobile Catholic altar built into a trailer, with a priest vested for Mass and a small outdoor congregation gathered before him. The verso identifies the card as a mission fundraising or promotional piece issued by the Franciscan Mission Crusade of Syracuse, New York. Another cataloged example of this image identifies the scene as a Catholic mobile chapel at Hingan Fu, Shensi, China, suggesting that the trailer may have reached the mission field rather than remaining only a fundraising image produced in the United States. The combination of American fundraising address, named chapel car, China destination, and another cataloged example located at Hingan Fu gives the card a fuller paper trail than most missionary postcards of mobile chapels. American Catholic missionaries were active in China through the first half of the twentieth century, but their work was largely disrupted after the Communist victory in 1949, when foreign missionaries were expelled and Catholic institutions were reorganized under state pressure.
Price: $125.00