Rhode Island Picture Post Cards
1906 Leather Postcard - Jenks Park - Clock Tower -Central Falls, RI 
With Pawtucket Flag Cancel and Rockport Maine Receiving Cancel
(Scroll Down for Background, History and additional Links)

Leather Postcards are one of the earliest types of postcards. They were produced between 1903 and 1910. However, the latest date that I've seen on a canceled leather card is 1908. The United States Post Office banned their use in 1909 due to the difficulty in processing them and the increasing use of mail sorting equipment. 

The leather postcards are all of the undivided back type of card and were usually produced from deerskin. The designs were individually created using a heated iron in a process called Pyrography. (The same process is used to burn designs into wood.)

The Leather Postcard above was sent from Pawtucket, Rhode Island to Mrs. Jennie Tuttle in Rockport, Massachusetts and contains both a Pawtucket Flag Cancel and a Rockport Received Cancel.

Jenks Park was laid out in 1890 at Central Falls, RI. The park is approximately 4 acres and the land was donated to the city by Alvin Jenks, (Textile Manufacturing Family). The Cogswell Clock Tower was a gift of Caroline Cogswell in 1904. The tower is 18 feet square and 69 feet in height. It has a clock face on each of the four sides and is located on Dexter's Ledge, from which Indian scouts during King Phillips War (1676) spotted the approaching colonist army. Captain Michael Pierce and his company of Plymouth soldiers were ambushed and almost annihilated on March 26, 1676.

SEE ALSO: 1906 Leather Christmas Card From Woonsocket, RI