I just died in your arms tonight. Rosa in Mexicali, Baja California very kindly sent me a third postcard from the Mexican Calendar Girls Postcard Box by Chronicle Books. Being generally suspicious of Correos de México (the postal service there), she mailed this card from California, USA.

The image on this card is entitled Sacrificio (“Sacrifice”) and first appeared circa 1945. The doomed maiden rests in the arms of what appears to be an Aztec god, and is clearly overjoyed about it. Her honeymoon, perhaps? I must admit that looking at her makes me a little giddy myself.

Damn that florist, anyway. Rosa in Mexicali, Baja California was kind enough to send me a second postcard from the Mexican Calendar Girls Postcard Box by Chronicle Books. This one features an image entitled Flores (Flowers) by Armando Drechsler, which first appeared circa 1939. Of course, this postcard is a modern reproduction.

Rosa says that “this is my favorite postcard. She is beautiful and I love the colors.” Me gusta tambien. Red, white and green are, of course, the colors that appear on Mexico’s flag.

One can’t help but admire Drechsler’s work here. His depiction of this woman is everything a man could want: large eyes, full red lips, the curves and swells of a beautiful body — then he has to go and ruin it by putting a bouquet in the way.

When Ana at My World of Postcards received a card identical to this one a few weeks ago, she mentioned that she thought it would appeal to me. She was right. Naturally, I had to have one, and it was a simple matter to arrange a postcard swap with Rosa, who had originally sent this card to Ana.

I did Ana one better, though: her postcard was mailed from California in the United States, while mine was mailed from Mexicali, Baja California in Mexico. Interestingly, however, this postcard isn’t native to Mexico; it’s part of the Mexican Calendar Girls Postcard Box from Chronicle Books. The image on this modern card was first published around 1930; the artist, regrettably, is unknown.

Both Ana and Rosa could be calendar girls in their own right. Are all female postcard collectors beautiful, or is it just that all male postcard collectors are dirty old men? I did some research and it turns out that both statements are true.