This letter card, written on June 27, 1937, comes from the correspondence of John R. Brinkley and was addressed to Amanda Avaline Wike Jackson (“Aunt Amanda”). The card was composed during Brinkley’s summer tour of Europe with his family and was mailed from the Hotel Bristol in Vienna, Austria, whose crest is printed on the paper. In the note, Brinkley explains that the Austrians call the city “Wein” and boasts that the Duke and Duchess of Windsor had just vacated the suite he was occupying. After this name-dropping, the tone shifts. Brinkley admits that he and his young son are not adjusting well to the unfamiliar food and “hard travel,” writing candidly that “We have bowel trouble.” He signs the card “Jno R Brinkley MD,” still styling himself as a doctor. The letter card also hints at Brinkley’s social circle and resources. Born near Beta in Jackson County, North Carolina, Brinkley was raised by his stepmother after his mother’s death and began his working life as a telegraph operator and mail carrier. He married Sally Margaret Wike in 1907; their marriage produced several children but ended in divorce. Afterwards, he wed Minerva (“Minnie”) Jones and eventually fathered John Richard Brinkley III. Brinkley’s medical education was sketchy; he bought a diploma from the Eclectic Medical University of Kansas City and became known for transplanting goat glands into men. He built one of the country’s most powerful radio stations to promote his surgery and used his popularity to run three unsuccessful campaigns for Kansas governor. When regulators shut down his Kansas station, he moved his hospital and broadcast operations to Del Rio, Texas. By the mid-1930s, Brinkley had amassed a huge fortune from his mail-order prescriptions and procedures, allowing him to travel to Europe and stay at luxury hotels like the Bristol. The note’s recipient, Amanda Avaline Wike Jackson (1858–1945), was a cherished member of Brinkley’s wife’s family. She lived in North Carolina and kept regular correspondence with Brinkley and his family. The card dates from a peaceful time before Austria lost its independence; German troops annexed the country in March 1938, less than nine months after Brinkley wrote this letter card. His mention of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, who were visiting Vienna that summer, highlights his fascination with high society and suggests he chose the Bristol specifically for its celebrity appeal. Readers interested in Brinkley’s self-fashioning will find this card revealing, as it combines celebrity name-dropping with candid complaints about travel and health during his European tour, more than a decade after he initially went to Europe to earn his honorary degree from Pavia University.