old-fashioned valentines via post...

       I've cleaned these sweet little postcards for Valentine's Day so that you could include them in your crafts and letters.

A little boy in knickers, delivers a bunch of Valentine balloons "To One I LOVE"

A pretty, bright-eyed toddler, framed with a big red heart

A red-riding-hood sits in the boughs of a blooming tree and plays her horn or flute. She has wings.

Text, "Thoughts of You St. Valentines Day" postcard, child holds a very large rose

old-timers fall for eachother...

Have some wholesome fun sending these old-time Valentine postcards to your sweetheart this year. 

"My Best Wishes Are With You..."

Miz-Pah.
"Deep down within my heart
Alone you dwell
I love you with a love
To deep for words to tell."

Vision of romance

"You're the only pebble on the beach"

"We're Just Tired Out"

two angelic christmas postcards

I've restored these two angels for your Christmas crafting this year; both carry trees and toys for good little girls and boys!

• Find more restored angels at my Belsnickle blog here. 

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old postcards from france

       My husband's father's father was stationed in France during the WWI, as a military musician. He sent home many letters and collected postcards of the places he had either seen or would have liked to have seen. I will be posting them on this blog for those of you who would like to use them in personal craft projects. I could clean them up a bit, but I think it is nice to have some antique looking ephemera to work with once and a while. This post, at least, will showcase those qualities.

Nancy - Salle Poirel (1890- very old, much older than great grandpa) Poirel Theatre

Le Grand Hotel et la Pluge.

Berncastel. Ruine Landshut.

Saint Malo - Le Casino, les Quais.

Epinal - Rue de la Bourse et la Societe Ginerals.

Epinal - Le Char d'Argent.

Nancy - Place Stanislas - Hotel de Ville.

Vue sur le Chemin des Princes et la Moselle.

La Rue Leonold.

General view, the Loire, the Stone, Bridge the Cathedral of St. Gatien and the North West part of the Town.

insulting cards, on valentine's day?

Here are some very old examples of Vinegar Valentines; the cards that one should never send to either a loved one, stranger or enemy.

"Don't sit up nights admiring yourself. The best that can be said
of you is that you might pass in a crowd. "

" Are you too stupid and senseless to know
That this sort of thing makes a sickening show
About spooning in private I've nothing to say,
But to do it in public proclaims you a jay."

a glossary of postcard terms and examples

1. 3D postcard - 1970s
2. Appliqué - A postcard that has some form of cloth, metal or other embellishment attached to it.
3. Art Déco - Artistic style of the 1920s, recognisable by its symmetrical designs and straight lines.
4. Art Nouveau - Artistic style of the turn of the century, characterised by flowing lines and flowery symbols, yet often depicting impressionist more than representational art.
5. Artist Signed - Postcards with artwork that has the artist's signature, and the art is often unique for postcards.
6. Bas Relief - Postcards with a heavily raised surface, giving a papier-mâché appearance.
7. Big Letter - A postcard that shows the name of a place in very big letters that do not have pictures inside each letter (see also Large Letter).
8. Composites - A number of individual cards, that when placed together in a group, form a larger picture. Also called "installment" cards.

   

      Above, Example of a court card, postmarked 1899, showing
   Robert Burns and his cottage and monument in Ayr. Court
    card or court sized card was the name given to a size of
    picture postcard, mainly used in the United Kingdom,
    which were approximately 4.75 x 3.5 inches and predates the
    standard size of 5.5 x 3.5 inches. Court cards were smaller
    and squarer in shape than later cards and were used from
    about 1894 to 1902. In keeping with the regulations of the
    time, they had an undivided back for the address only and
    the message had to be written on the 'front' of the card.
    Many fine examples of these still exist and are sought after
    by postcard collectors and philatelists alike. Although
    mainly used in the UK, many were printed by
   chromolithography in Germany.

9. Court Cards - The official size for British postcards between 1894–1899, measuring 115 mm × 89 mm (4.5 in × 3.5 in).
10. Deltiology - (from Greek δελτίον, deltion, diminutive of δέλτος, deltos, "writing tablet, letter"; and -λογία, -logia) is the study and collection of postcards. Professor Randall Rhoades of Ashland, Ohio, coined a word in 1945 that became the accepted description of the study of picture postcards. It took about 20 years for the name to appear in the dictionary the first time. Compared to philately, the identification of a postcard's place and time of production can often be an impossible task because postcards, unlike stamps, are produced in a decentralised, unregulated manner. For this reason, some collectors choose to limit their acquisitions to cards by specific artists and publishers, or by time and location.
11. Divided Back - Postcards with a back divided into two sections, one for the message, the other for the address. British cards were first divided in 1902 and American cards in 1907.
12. Django Fontina - A postcard written to a stranger, typically as a means of disseminating poetry.
13. Early - Any card issued before the Divided Back was introduced.
14. Embossed - Postcards with a raised surface.
15. Hand-tinted - Black-and-white images were tinted by hand using watercolours and stencils.
16. Hold-to-Light - Also referred to as ‘HTL’, postcards often of a night time scene with cut out areas to show the light.
17. Intermediate Size - The link between Court Cards and Standard Size, measuring 130 mm × 80 mm (5.1 in × 3.1 in).
18. Kaleidoscopes - Postcards with a rotating wheel that reveals a myriad of colours when turned.
19. Large Letter - A postcard that has the name of a place shown as a series of very large letters, inside of each of which is a picture of that locale (see also Big Letter).
20. Midget Postcards - Novelty cards of the size 90 mm × 70 mm (3.54 in × 2.76 in).
21. Novelty - Any postcard that deviates in any way from the norm. Cards that do something, or have articles attached to them, or are printed in an unusual size or on strange materials. An example is cards made of leather.
22. Oilette - A trade name used by Raphael Tuck & Sons for postcards reproduced from original paintings.
23. A postcard or post card is a rectangular piece of thick paper or thin cardboard intended for writing and mailing without an envelope.
24. Postcardese - The style of writing used on postcards; short sentences, jumping from one subject to another.
25. Real Photographic - Abbreviated to "RP."" Postcards produced by a photographic, rather than a printing, process.
26. Reward Cards - Cards that were given away to school children for good work.
27. Standard Size - Introduced in Britain in November 1899, measuring 140 mm × 89 mm (5.5 in × 3.5 in
28. Topographical - Postcards showing street scenes and general views. Judges Postcards produced many British topographical views.
29. Undivided Back - Postcards with a plain back where all of this space was used for the address. This is usually in reference to Early cards, although undivided were still in common use up until 1907.
30. Vignette - Usually found on undivided back cards, consisting of a design that does not occupy the whole of the picture side. Vignettes may be anything from a small sketch in one corner of the card, to a design cover three quarters of the card. The purpose is to leave some space for the message to be written, as the entire reverse of the card could only be used for the address.
31. Wood Postcards - made of thin wood have been produced and sold in the U.S. as keepsakes. Wooden postcards were sold for the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair held in Forest Park. Many included puns associated with wood: "Exposition is more than oak-a", "it is ash-tonishing", I wood spruce up and come", "You walnut regret it." and "Butternut delay". The Lewis and Clark Exposition of 1905 and the Jamestown Exposition of 1907 included wooden postcard souvenirs. The tradition of folksy puns continued in later wooden postcard lines. Others feature images, cartoons, advertisements and event commemorations.
32. Write-Away - A card with the opening line of a sentence, which the sender would then complete. Often found on early comic cards.

Related Links:

• Worldwide postcard exchange project
• English Heritage Archive, of nearly 5000 postcards collected by Nigel Temple. Use Advanced Search/Collections/Nigel Temple Postcards to view. The main theme of this collection is public parks and gardens. Coverage of the collection is national, and the bulk of the postcards date between 1900 and 1910.
• postaletrice A growing collection of select vintage photographic postcards from all over the world, classified by location and topic.
• Award-winning Art from Vintage Postcards — Collection of vintage digitally colorized postcards
• Vintage Postcard Forum — Collecting vintage postcards

old valentine postcards

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"Wanted One Sweetheart. Tag! You're IT!" Valentine Greeting

"To Greet My Love"

"Flowers of tokens, Of Love tis true, Therefore I send, This card to you."

"Somevon should send somebody something shveetly sentimental."

"My heart is lone, For you tis sad, Give me your own, And make it glad." To My Valentine.

photo and message on phonograph postcards in 1930s

      Here was a new way to send a greeting to a friend. Phonograph records on postcards have been made before, but a German inventor combined the record with a real photograph in the 1930s. The sender had his picture taken, recorded his voice on top of it, and the end result was a personal record ready for the mail. A long message was recorded on several postcards, each one was then numbered.

Right, Post card that carries a photograph along with a message that can be played on a phonograph.

• Gramophone postcard 1903-1970 
• Tuck Gramophone Postcards
• Novelty Gramophone Record Postcards
• Unusual types of gramophone records
• Tuck's gramophone record postcards they play, sing and talk, series 1.

Below,  "Tuck's postcard record from roughly 1929. The 3 inch record is laminated onto an old postcard and is made of a material that will hold up well when played with a steel needle. These were sold in the UK in sets of 4 starting in roughly 1929. They are unusual but not particularly rare."

handtinted postcards of the university of missouri and columbia missouri, 1923 -24

This little souvenir postcard collection came from cousin Louis' high school journal.

      Columbia is a city of 113,225 people in Missouri, a state of the American Midwest. Founded in 1818 as the Boone County seat and home to the University of Missouri, it is the principal municipality of the Columbia Metropolitan Area. The tripartite establishment of Stephens College in 1833, "Mizzou" in 1839, and Columbia College in 1851, built the city into a center of eduction, culture, and athletic competition. As the fourth most populous urban area in Missouri, and largest in Mid-Missouri, this college town has a reputation for progressive politics, powerful journalism, and public art. Never a major center of manufacturing, and originally founded on agriculture, the modern economy is based in the trade of healthcare, technology, and insurance. Cultural institutions in the downtown area include the State Historical Society of Missouri, the Museum of Art and Archaeology, and the annual True/False Film Festival. The Missouri Tigers, Missouri's only major NCAA Division I program, play football at Faurot Field and basketball at Mizzou Arena as members of the Southeastern Conference. The city is built upon forested hills and prairies near the Missouri River where the Ozark Mountains begin to transform into plain and savanna; limestone creates bluffs and glades while rain fills caves and springs which water the Hinkson, Roche Perche, and Bonne Femme creeks. Surrounding the city, Rock Bridge State Park, Mark Twain National Forest and the Big Muddy National Fish and Wildlife Refuge form a greenbelt protecting sensitive and rare ecological areas. Read more . . .

Parker's Memorial Hospital. Read more about this old hospital here.

The Famous Balanced Rock.

Boone County Court House. Visit the Boone County Missouri web site here.

Chemistry Building, University of Missouri. Visit the chemistry dept. at MU.

Jefferson Monument on Campus of University of Missouri, Columbia, MO.
 Read more about this monument here.

Wabash Depot. Read more about Wabash Depot here.

Main Building, University of Missouri. Visit the University of MO.

Phi Gamma Delta House.

Daniel Boone Tavern.

Library.

Kappa Sigma First House.

Bible College.

Christian College.

Stephens College.

Sigma Alpha Epsilon House.

New Gate to Campus, University of Missouri.

Kappa Alpha House.

J. K. Roger's Memorial Entrance to Christian College.

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