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.
My grandfather also collected old postcards that had been mailed. My favorite is a postcard made from a picture of a couple, and the woman wrote to her sister about her new hat that she was wearing in the picture. The hat is super fancy, and is special because it has interchangeable pigeon wing decorations sticking out from the top. What a fashion statement!