A large excursion steamboat named Queen, crowded with passengers and trailing smoke, moves across Lake Okoboji. In the foreground a small motorboat carrying several people speeds away, leaving a wake. A wooded shoreline sits in the distance.
Lake Okoboji was a summer resort area in northwest Iowa, and excursion boats like this carried vacationers around the lake. The message describes a stay at a lakeside camp and a cabin, with the writer noting the pretty view of the lake.
Postcard Details
Message · English, in pencil
Dear Grandma
Michigan [illegible]
[illegible]
camp from [illegible]
spent [illegible] at [illegible] Lake
till almost 12 tonight
and [illegible] leave at 4:45 AM
here [illegible] this [illegible]
been a long morning
[illegible] all tired [illegible] the lake
is sure pretty [illegible] just
a short view from the cabin
Love, Donna
White border; black-and-white real photo with surface scratches, stains, and spotting; printed caption 'Lake Okoboji, Iowa.'; publisher/photographer credit 'Zaper Photo Shop' in white lettering, tilted.
Postmark: SPIRIT LAKE, IOWA JUL 9 5-PM 1946. Divided-back card; white border, glossy real-photo print. Handwritten message in very faint pencil, heavily faded and partly illegible; card toned with foxing/stain spots.
Cite this card
Excursion steamboat Queen and motorboat, Lake Okoboji, Iowa, 1946, postcard, c. 1946. PostalPast Collection. https://postalpast.com/postcard/excursion-steamboat-queen-and-motorboat-lake-okoboji-iowa-19. Accessed November 2, 2026.
