Frilly fillies

Petra sends srdečnė přáni from the Czech Republic which, as near as I can tell, works out to be the English equivalent of “warm wishes.” From the description, also in Czech, it appears to be a copy of a postcard in some sort of postal museum.

Petra is young but her handwriting in English is old-fashioned, reminiscent of what one might see on hundred-year-old American cards, and goes with the postcard beautifully.

Warm wishes to you on this Postcard Friendship Friday, and my warmest wishes to my friend Marie Isabelle, PFF’s founding maîtresse.

Why Johnny Came Marching Home

The mysterious F.W.E sent this patriotic World War I card from Brooklyn, New York to Miss Rose, who lived in the hamlet of Livingston Manor, in Sullivan County, New York. The message reads:

Meet me at the Vaudeville in Liberty Sat. night  F.W.E ?

"Meet Me Saturday Night"

The Vaudeville in Liberty was the famous Vaudeville theater located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and a good distance from Livingston Manor. The card was sent on Friday, so any suggestion of a get-together that far away was probably a joke.

Madonna and Child Christmas Maxicard, Australia (2008)

Isobel in New South Wales was kind enough to send me this First Day of Issue Christmas postcard from Australia, cancelled at St. Marys, New South Wales in 2008. (You can see another 2008 Christmas maxicard in this series today at Wild Postcards.)

The 2009 version of this series is a little more abstract, but beautiful nonetheless; it comes to me from Thea in Queensland. It’s another First Day of Issue maxicard; this year they were cancelled at St. Marys, Tasmania.

Madonna and Child Christmas Maxicard, Australia (2009)

My thanks to you for your visit, and my best wishes for a blessed Christmas.

"Wishing you a Magical Christmas"

This very beautiful, very posh “Flower Fairies” Christmas card from Marks & Spencer arrived today from my correspondent in Manama, Bahrain. You can’t tell from the scan, but the areas in black are actually gold leaf.

This is the second Christmas card I’ve received from abroad that’s tiny; like the last one (Dreaming of a White Christmas, from Singapore), it’s only four inches square.

Too small for postage and address on a single side!

...as good as a nod to a blind bat

Kris always manages to find the best cards. If this gal’s pose looks a little awkward, or if she looks a little pixellated, it’s because this is a lenticular “stereo” card: the view changes depending upon the angle at which you view it. Observed from an angle, this young lady has no wink and a Mona Lisa smile; looked at straight on, you get something close to the image above. Please make allowances for the not-quite-true-to-life view provided by the scanner.

This postcard is a little thicker than average, in order to create the effect, so naturally the Postal Service did their best to destroy it.

Legs that go on for miles

This handmade card arrived today from Angie, a self-described working mother and military wife. No word on how she found the time to create this, but I think it’s terrific. She says, “I didn’t have any girlie cards so I made you one!”

How about those shoes? I imagine they’re what Wonder Woman wears when she’s lounging around the house.

President of the Gene Kelly Fan Club

Klaudia sends this pretty girl from Poland, with the idea that it was a little joke on me — that this girl is not what I had in mind for this blog. Well, the joke is on her, because it’s undeniable that this is a cutie-pie!

This postcard was published by Edycja Świętego Pawla (which translates as Saint Paul Editions, I think), which seems to be primarily a publisher of religious texts. The Polish text reads, “Yes, I feel wonderful today, the joy is radiating from me!”

It's like something someone's grandma would send

For Postcard Friendship Friday, let me present something unique to my collection: a postcard sent by my great-great-great-grandmother. It was among the original collection of postcards belonging to my great-grandfather, Philip Nelson Smith. While I can’t say for certain which of his grandmothers sent this card, I’m going to guess (based on what I know of family history, and on the postmark) that it was sent by Charlotte Chalfant, the lovely lady pictured at right.  The image of Grandma Charlotte is a pencil sketch, given to me by my own grandmother a few years before she died.

The postcard was published in 1905; it was sent from Dawson, Pennsylvania, seemingly in November 1908. The date is not very legible, and I’ve noticed that many of Phil’s postcards from Dawson were postmarked rather haphazardly. Damn that lazy postman!

While the card wishes Phil “Good health and happy days be yours, today, tomorrow and always”, the news that Grandma Charlotte sends is somewhat ironic:

Poor health, and unhappy days

“All well,” she writes, “excepting all have bad colds.” So much for good health. Some tragic news: “Mr. Bert Newcomer had a son killed at Elsworth (sic; she means Ellsworth, Pennsylvania) Mon will be burried (sic) Wed afternoon.” But, at last, she reports a little sunshine on the horizon: “My hand is well. Come over. From Grand Mother.” Her home in Dawson was about 10 miles from Phil’s home in Upper Middletown.

There are a few of my relatives who bear more than a passing resemblance to Charlotte; I am happy to report that I am not one of them. Many people, however, have commented on the resemblance between me and my great-great-great-grandfather, James Chalfant. I’ve never been able to grow a decent beard but, if this is a look at my future otherwise, it suits me just fine.

For more looks at postcard past, present and yet-to-come, be sure to check out Postcard Friendship Friday.

Was it all just a dream?

This postcard from Jingyi in Sanming, China is both happy-making and surreal. Issued by the State Postal Bureau and ostensibly a card to celebrate the new year (though sent to me several months late, no doubt to showcase the pretty girl), it has all the hallmarks of an acid trip.

I mean, come on — a pink cow? With horns? Rowing an umbrella through the clouds? And how about that kitty cat? Is it sleeping contentedly, or leaning over the side of the boat waiting to barf? Add in the hearts and clovers and you’re just a couple marshmallows short of a box of Lucky Charms.