Today I have some postcards that are hyper-specific in their purpose.
I occasionally run across pieces that are addressed to specific relatives—’to my dear’ aunt, uncle, cousin, mother, etc.—and dated about 1900-1920. That doesn’t say much, I know, since much of my collection is from that period, but they’re still interesting postcards. Most are made up of bunches of florals, often including forget-me-nots, and decorated with gold. Not like, real gold or anything.
Let’s go through some of these cards in my collection, maybe you can use them for your own projects!
A young woman sits at her writing table to pen a nice (we hope) letter to her brother. I like the way this postcard combines photography with illustration, and I can’t help feeling like “To My Dear Brother” is kind of sarcastic.
The second postcard is very fancy. Flowers and a little parchment that says, “To my dear Brother, in simple words my fondest greeting told, All blessings come to you that life can hold.” What a sweet sentiment! Using reds as shading is a very interesting choice.
To Dear Mother, a dove on bright green with a bundle of red blooms. Daisies, maybe? A pretty, and simple, arrangement. I adore the different shades of green being used here. If nothing else gets mother’s attention, this postcard certainly will based on its colours alone.
I like the combination of greenery and gold, with a little bit of Lily of the Valley. I adore those flowers. They’re so tiny and cute, but I don’t get to see them much anymore. A great way to keep in touch with a beloved aunt!
This time, we have flowers inside the word ‘cousin’, which is really cool. The date on the postcard is 1909, and most of the pieces in this style are around that time period. “To my dear [relative]” seems to have been a pretty big thing at one time.
I love the big rose blooms here. Instead of containing the flowers of ‘uncle’ within the confines of the letters, they make up the shapes complete with imperfections caused by the petals being mushed together. Cool, eh?
Forget-me-nots show up a lot in postcards, and for good reason. They’re a flower of memory and remembrance, a subtle reminder (or request) not to forget the person sending the note. They’re also very pretty, and come in a wider range of colours than what you often see on cards.
Another to my dear cousin, and this one with forget-me-nots. I told you that was a common flower in postcards! I’m a big fan of the delicate blooms here, and without much of a background it’s easier to read the text.
Do you have any similar postcards in your collections? I’d love to see them.
Anyway, I will be back next week with another batch of vintage images for you, so tune in then to see what’s up! You can also subscribe to my mailing list from the form in the sidebar and never miss a single post.
