Friday April 19 Lis Sole presented at the La Cultural Library of San Carlos de Bolívar, his latest research called “POSTCARD LOVES”.
It is the story of a young woman from Saladillo, Rosa Zelaya Linares, who was born in 1884, coming from Lobos where her Spanish parents born in Guipúzcoa had married. The Zelaya Linares left Lobos towards the south, more or less following the itinerary of those who got off the ships at the end of the 19th century, settling in different towns and ranches south of the Salado River.
The large family of 12 siblings – as it was in those times – went out in search of growth, work and well-being. They surely traveled on the train that arrived in Bolívar in 1898 and there, she married in 1910, with Edisto Haedo Arredondo, a Dolorense who came from Benito Juárez and who had finally settled in Tapalqué.
The young couple moves through different rooms and places in Bolívar, passing through “La Elvira”, Hale and “La Brava” in General Alvear, until they settle permanently in the place “La Gallareta” in Alvear where they spend the rest of their life. family integration and sadly, the final separation. With some of her siblings, mainly women, Rosa was able to maintain ties through sending postcards that linked their lives in a loving, affective way and that are the driving force and basis of this new research by Lis Solé.
Lisa writes a quasi-biography which is based on the analysis and contextualization of those 59 postcards and twenty photographs that were jealously guarded by Rosa and preserved by her daughters and granddaughters.
The postcards cover a period of almost 30 years ranging from 1907 to 1931, when the correspondence was interrupted.
The first postcards from 1907 were from when Rosa was single and lived in the town of Hale, San Carlos de Bolívar district in the province of Buenos Aires, and are sent by Rosa’s sisters – already married -, coming from different towns in the province such as Tapalqué, Henderson, the “El Pantanoso” area of Sierra de la Ventana and Trenque Lauquen.
The beautiful imported postcards – extremely picturesque, with reliefs, colored and characteristics of the time – bring to Rosa omens of happiness, messages of love and affection that attempted to cover a distance – which was not so great in terms of kilometers – but was almost impossible. to jump due to the lack of means of transportation during the campaign at the beginning of the 20th century.
Although the railroad had reached many of these towns, the arrival to the post offices and stations was almost exclusively on horseback, the distances lengthened and in some cases the sisters could no longer see each other.
Rosa’s communication and union with her twelve siblings became complicated when she married Edisto Haedo, and even more so when they moved from Hale to “La Brava” in Alvear where she baptized her first daughter Rosa Dacia in 1911.
From there they move to the “La Gallareta” area, about 15 km from the town of General Alvear, where rural life absorbs Rosa among the animals, the planting, the garden, the milking of cows and of course, the raising of the twelve children. what they have with Haedo.
In that environment, alone and with children who are born every year, Rosa stops receiving postcards. Perhaps they have lost that correspondence but it may also be that situations of poverty prevented the purchase and payment of Postal Mail.
The period also coincides with the cancellation of imports as a consequence of the First World War and the effects of the post-war period.
Thus, the correspondence was interrupted from 1911 to 1925, the date on which the postcards sent by his sisters Teodora, Francisca and Manuela arrived, coming from Sierra de la Ventana, Trenque Lauquen, Tapalqué and Henderson.
Those postcards, full of love and affection, were surely the lighthouse that supported Rosa in unfortunate moments and this is explained by Lis, who analyzed the texts, recovering the love story they reflect.
In the presentation, Liz explained that these postcards and photographs not only show the history of a family but the reality of many families who lived in the countryside in the early 1900s.highlighting stories of work in times when human activity was constant, with people who lived in the countryside gathered around bowling alleys or field corners, isolated from towns although they were not very far away.
Rosa and Edisto, like other residents of “La Gallareta”, gathered on very small portions of land on which they were tenants, mostly in mud ranches built and maintained by themselves and where the lack of transportation led them to almost total isolation from village activities.
With clarity, the writer explained the great difficulties she had when analyzing what was written in cursive and the use of nib and ink, as well as the number of spelling errors that they demonstrate – in addition to the simple fraternal and decorous writing of the time – , the lack of schooling of the family group that did not discourage the women who also demonstrated their love through a simple postcard.
The writer stressed the need to do this type of analysis to strengthen family ties, understand cultural traditions, build bridges between generations, strengthen ties with relatives and learn about stories of love and family resilience. From the constant dialogue with the participants of the event, it was very clear that the study, analysis and contextualization of these postcards incorporates examples of hard work, perseverance and love for the Earth into daily life, feelings so necessary to understand the present based on identity. and to the cultural differences that make us unique in the world, that reinforce the sense of belonging and make us understand the reason for our attachment to a certain place.
Lis Solé brought the albums that have been preserved in the family where there were photos and postcards belonging to Mrs. Rosa Zelaya de Haedo, grandmother of Mrs. Marcia De Gregorio de Balquinta, who preserved those precious memories from mothers to daughters and nieces, in a circle of brotherly love that united and always will unite the women of the family.
Without a doubt, in this turbulent present, “POSTCARD LOVES”, reflects on an almost unknown reality of the early 1900s and highlights the need for the study and conservation of documents, essential to understand traditions, showing examples of love and resilience necessary to overcome everyday problems.
