1960 Christmas Card Mystery

If I have a few extra minutes and happen to be passing an antique shop, I'll poke my nose inside and keep my eyes open for interesting old postcards and the like, especially ones in Norwegian, Swedish, or Dutch.

One day last April I happened to be passing through Fayette, WV where I stopped in the New River Antique Mall and found a veritable trove of Christmas and New Year's postcards all from 1960, mainly in Norwegian, Danish and Swedish but with a smattering of other languages, including Finnish, Spanish, even Estonian.

Someone had blanked out the recipient's name on many of the cards, but they all were sent to Hardy, VA. We started looking at the cards. A few said "Dear Little Girl" or "Dear Doris" and a handful still showed the name Doris Ridgway. Judging from the notes, it seemed like people must had a specific reason to send this particular girl all kinds of holiday cards for Christmas in 1960. A card showing the Austrian Alps mentions hearing her story on the radio. The first is dated December 22 - perhaps that was the day of some special radio broadcast?