Wild Postcards

Forget the date? Use this handy calendar!

This embossed card of German manufacture was sent to Great-Grandpa Phil from one “Lila”; it was postmarked at Vanderbilt, Pennsylvania on December 24, 1910 at 5 PM. As fast as the postmen used to be back then, I’m pretty sure that Phil didn’t receive this until the morning of December 26. In case you’re wondering, Lila is not my great-grandmother.

To my readers and fellow collectors: have a very merry Christmas!

Lila wishes you a merry Christmas too!

A Joyful Christmas

This card was given to Great-Grandpa Phil by Ida M. Schobert on “Dec. 17 - 09″, which either means 99 years ago or one year from now, depending on whether or not this card can get up to 88 miles per hour. When I say “given”, I mean it was apparently hand-delivered, given the lack of address or stamp. The “stamp” in this case is a very highly embossed Santa Claus face, cut by hand from something else — perhaps even from another postcard. Ida clearly put some time and thought into this card, but no, she’s not my great-grandmother.

All of the items around the main picture are embossed, though the main picture is not. I’m not sure what the items in the upper left corner are supposed to represent. Any ideas?

Merry Christmas from Ida Schobert

Christmas ornament of Santa Claus in his sleigh

I haven’t posted in a few days because I’ve been busy Christmas shopping. And look what I found! These two Christmas ornaments seem to have started life as copies of vintage Christmas postcards (presumably copies, anyway, since there were duplicated designs in the store display). A little glitter, a couple of beads, and some silvery pipe-cleaner-type garnish later, you have something suitable for the Christmas tree. (We don’t put up a tree at the house, so these are living on the fireplace mantle instead.) Very nifty.

Christmas ornament: Santa Claus leaves a gift for a sleeping child

Goose: it's what's for dinner.

It’s unusual to find an older card featuring African-Americans that isn’t racially insensitive in some way. This card bears a copyright notice on the front from 1906 by the I. P. C. & N. Co. The two people and the doorway on this card are embossed, while the rest of it is not.

This card was sent from “K.K.” in Reading, Pennsylvania on December 18, 1908 to Mr. Morris Burger of St. Louis, Missouri. Other than the initials, there is no message.

As of this writing, I was able to find two identical cards listed in eBay Stores, each one going for just under $20. I paid about $2.30 for this card as part of a lot.

A Merry Christmas: May Your Dreams Come True

This is a Christmas postcard sent to my great-grandfather, in care of his father, James Henry Smith. It was sent perhaps as early as (but no earlier than) 1907. The sender is unknown, and there is no message.

This card has some unique features. For one thing, there is no indication (that I can see, even after close examination of the high-resolution scan) that there was ever a stamp placed on this card. There is a cancellation mark over the stampbox itself, with the number “1″ breaking one of the lines of the mark. Did this number denote that the one-penny postage had been paid? I have not seen another instance like it among my collection.

There is also the publisher’s mark: the notation “SL & CO” within a circle, and the circle with angel’s wings on either side. This is the mark of S. Langsdorf and Company, of New York and Germany. The card, like most pre-World War I cards, was printed in Germany and presumably exported to the New York office for sale in the United States.

There are several cards without messages in the collection (which will be posted, eventually), and many of those were apparently hand-delivered — probably similar to the way that the younger kids exchange Valentines today.

Christmas Wishes to Master Philip Smith, Probably at Age 11