This is a nifty, attractive, color post card of Backbone, Virginia, sent on March 3, 1909, by an American sailor, W. E. Grunden, to a lady friend in Melbourne, Australia! The message by Sailor Grunden is neat, as it entails information indicating that he was almost surely on one of the ships amongst America's Great White Fleet(1906-1909) that visited Melbourne in August and September of 1908! That fleet had just returned to Hampton Roads, Virginia, on February 22, 1909! Sailor Grunden mentioned that he was on leave at the time of writing. The mail was sent shortpaid, too, possibly because Sailor Grunden had gotten so used to just paying 1-Cent for sending his mail back to America while on that voyage!

To continue, the green, 1-Cent U.S. definitive is in pretty good condition. There is some toning/gum residue around some of its perfs, and the top, right corner has a crease in it due to being placed too close to the edge of the card. The machine cancel from the Richmond P.O. is awesome! The two, auxiliary, postage due markings(one from the Melbourne P.O.) are quite nice!

Lastly, as for the condition of the post card, it's relatively good for something more than 115 years old! There are some stains here and there, mostly on the back. And, there are some creases here and there, and other, minor signs of wear and tear around the edges. But, the colors of the front of the card are pretty vivid for something so old! It remains an uncommon, unique piece of postal history connected to the Great White Fleet's voyage around the world between 1907-1909, and the relationships made in various ports of call by the sailors serving on that fleet's ships!