Handwritten note on a postcard from A'Lelia addressed to Lelia College of Beauty Culture at 108 West 136th Street in Harlem. Undated but probably late 1921

Very Good. Postcard. 14 x 9 cm. Picture/illustration of the S. S. Paris, an oceanliner, on the back with "Cie GleTransatlantique French Line." printed along top. Partial postmark illegible. Handwritten note on message half of front. "No. 2. Just a note to Let all know that I am 'bien' & the food is 'magnifique.' Post this on the board as soon as you read it. Love to all, A'Lelia." A'Lelia had crossed the Atlantic in a cabin on the S. S. Paris. This postcard was probably sent while Walker was traveling in France in late 1921. Her foreign travels continued into 1922 and included stops in Italy, North Africa and apparently a visit to Ethiopian Empress Waizeru Zauditu in Addis Ababa. The Lelia School of Beauty Culture occupied the second floor of the building on 136th Street. The small thumbtack holes at the corners suggest that this postcard had probably been posted on "the board" as A'Lelia directed. Online information generally has A'Lelia focused on the Walker hair care business until inheriting it in 1919. Thereafter her focus seems to have been more on her role as a patron of the arts and as a giver of memorable (and sexually liberated) parties during the Harlem Renaissance. Yet here she is remembering to send a postcard the Lelia College of Beauty Culture in NYC while she is having a good time in France (probably Paris). The first Lelia College of Beauty Culture was opened by Madame C. J. Walker in Pittsburgh in 1908. Perhaps the Lelia College of Beauty Culture in New York was regarded as Lelia College of Beauty Culture No. 2.