These two postcards both show lovely young women holding a horse . . . with flowers. I love the hand tinting on these cards.
Both of these cards were used although only one was mailed. I can't read either of them except for the Dear Taki greeting, but the handwriting is lovely and speaks of a long gone era that matches the lovely women on the front of the cards.
Take a look at my Pinterest account if you like equestrian art.
As many of you know, I collect antique postcards with equestrian themes. I also horse-themed digital collages.
Recently I opened a Cheval Nouveau Pinterest account to showcase my collection and some of my new artwork. Please take a look as I’m always adding more images.
On some of the older postcards in my collection, the message is on the front with the image. Only the address is on the back.
I collect vintage postcards with images of horses on them. All of the cards in my collection are pre-1925. I love the images, both the drawings and the real photos that were so popular. But I also love the words.
Most people who collect vintage postcards seem to prefer the ones that are in mint condition; the ones that were carefully put aside before they could be used.
Not me.
I like the cards that were used. The ones that have elegant handwriting from a long gone era when penmanship was valued. The ones that have addresses like St. Louis with no street names, just the name of the recipient. Can you believe that’s all you needed?
Some of the postcards in my collection are written in different languages or feature stamps more than 100 years old. I love the thought that these lovely old postcards are reaching through time to carry the messages of people who are long dead . . . but who chose the card because they loved the image as much as I do. Each of these postcards is a little time capsule that does just that. It has reached into the future (some by 100 years more!) and created a window into the past life of the person who wrote it.
I love the vintage postcard that is the base of this collage. It’s from the early 1900s. Her hat is just adorable! And I’m pertty sure she’s doing her best to ignore the horse. I layered this with four other images.
Can you tell I’m still wasting time with photoshop?
This lovely old postcard is from the early 1900s. I love the romance and the staging. Back in the 1900-1910 era it appears to have been quite common to dress in costume and pose with your horse. Maybe that should make a comeback? I know several people who might really enjoy that!
Hand tinting was also very popular back than. Not surprisingly, the tinting was done primarily by women who did complex cards in an assembly line — each person was responsible for a color. Sadly, there was a downside: the women typically cleaned their brushes by putting them in their mouths and the lead in the paint slowly poisoned them.
This is one of the images that I have made available at Le Cheval Nouveau as a greeting card or postcard.
