Just what are you suggesting?

Since there’s no worded suggestion, one must assume that it’s the illustration that is meant to impart some guidance. What I’m getting out of it is that you should take your lover to a quiet spot in the moonlight, stick out your tongue, and see what happens.

Hand-delivered

This card didn’t go through the postal system and appears to have been hand-delivered to Great-Grandpa Phil, presumably by some young lass who was making her intentions clear. Looks like Phil had a happy Valentine’s Day; I hope you do the same.

A couple of flakes from Gmail

I’m not sure how I missed the fact that Gmail was sending out free holiday postcards last month, but they were. Oh, well, since I didn’t send one, at least I received one — plus, you can click on the link and download both the hi-res images of their cards, and PDF files that you can cut out into a postcard shape and mail yourself!

Never slap a man who's chewin' tobacco

It seems to me that this top ten list of Texan philosophies doubles perfectly well as a list of New Year’s resolutions — except, perhaps, for #6, which I would say is more aphorism than resolution. Nevertheless, you’d be wise to follow these instructions, which come courtesy of Moriah at Tokyo Love Letters. Arigato gozaimasu and Happy New Year!

...if you don't know the difference between "your" and "you're".

The Language Police managed to let this one get all the way to production with the phrase “you know your from Texas” uncorrected. Oh well, what can you do? As Christ said, if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out — but instead I think I’ll just let this one pass.

I can’t help but notice that these qualifications aren’t unique to Texans; I’ve met a number of people here in Georgia named Bubba. Some of them even hold public office.

Watch for splinters

Nothing like being in the great outdoors. Of course, this place looks a lot better upholstered than, say, an outback dunny in Australia.

This vintage postcard was published, probably in the late 1940s, by the Asheville Post Card Company. It comes courtesy of Melissa at We Love Snail Mail, who decided on a vintage postcard after struggling with the definition of “wild” postcards. Truth to tell, I don’t even know that definition myself; I just thought the phrase “wild postcards” was catchy.

Bam, said the lady

This is a postcard sent to my Great-Grandpa Phil by his cousin, James, on February 25 of either 1908 or 1909; the postmark isn’t clear. (Also, somebody did a poor job of filching the stamp.) What’s odd is that it’s postmarked at Helen, Pennsylvania. James lived in Dawson, Pennsylvania, about 10 miles from Phil, but he mailed it from Helen, which was only about two miles away. James and Phil were both pre-teens at the time; James and family might have been visiting friends. I don’t recall any that any relatives lived in the very tiny hamlet of Helen.

Mamma will answer your card soon

James writes: “Dear Philip: I rec’d your card. Glad to hear from you. Mamma (Phil’s Aunt Kate) will answer your card you sent her soon. Good-by, James.”

Over at Girls Go Postal! today, I posted another of Phil’s cards, a postcard sent to him by my great-great-great-grandmother. Check it out, then take a look at the other folks celebrating Postcard Friendship Friday today!

An early postcard collector

Some vintage humor for Postcard Friendship Friday: a deacon goes to town and discovers that they make postcards of pretty girls! (You can click on the extreme closeup at right and see for yourself what makes this deacon smile.)

Moreover, he seems pleased as punch at the discovery. And why shouldn’t he be? I know that I was pretty excited when I found out about it.

Looks like my Great-Grandpa Phil received this postcard, oh, a little over a hundred years ago; the postmark is a little obscured, but it looks like January 9, 1909.

Edna says that all is well

All your base are belong to us

Ralph Thomas has a year-long project going in which he designs a new postcard each month, a la those ads that used to appear in comic books when we old guys were kids, then silkscreens them onto cereal-box cardboard.  He sends out six per week, and I was lucky enough to get one yesterday!  Visit his website to find out how to get one of your own.

Sugary goodness

Update: check out more Ralph Thomas postcards on these other postcard blogs:

• The Incredible Mobot at Just Letter Rip
• Real Full Size Nuclear Sub at The Missive Maven

Better ask the gents

Here’s a little chuckle for your Friday.  This is an arcade card, which was a prize that one might win at a carnival or down the shore after beating some mechanical test of strength or skill.  The card is made from heavy stock, and the back of the card is blank.

Kudos to the caddie for his honesty — but she’ll never get her stance right if she insists on teeing off in heels.

Don’t forget to check out the other blogs celebrating Postcard Friendship Friday.

Take that, Jane Russell

One is forced to “wonder” if the Red Queen is lecturing Alice on her appearance, in this take on John Tenniel’s original illustration.  I’m sure that Lewis Carroll would strongly disapprove; his tastes ran to prepubescent girls.

Ellepibi sent in this card from “sunny Southern California”; I find it very uplifting.  One would think that, given the economy, the Wonderbra might be making strides against breast implants in Los Angeles, but Google says that’s not so.  The biggest surprise: as of this writing, LA is ninth on the list of US cities searching for information on breast implants.  Number one?  Salt Lake City.

Sure hope his gun's big enough

Two days ago, I posted some cards featuring the Jefferson Memorial, and a new Jefferson Memorial postcard arrived in the mail later that day.

Yesterday, I posted an advertising card for women’s clothing from the former Eastern Bloc, and a new advertising postcard for women’s clothing arrived from the former Eastern Bloc later that day.

Today I am posting this card from Kris.

I am too terrified to walk out to the mailbox.

...but to really foul things up requires a computer

This is a cute card that came to me as part of a lot that I purchased from the UK for trading, but decided to keep this one (among others).  The saying’s been around for a while, but I think it gives computers a bum rap: they don’t foul things up any more than usual; they just do it a lot more quickly.  But without a computer, you never would have met Mademoiselle Capucine:

"I'm on my way home from a strip poker party"

This is not a postcard, but rather an arcade card, which were sold in vending machines at places like fairgrounds and carnivals.  Often they were the prize in some mechanized test of strength or skill.  The cards are about as heavy as pasteboard, and are blank on the back.

Arcade cards from later eras featured everything from pin-up girls to movie stars to stills from TV episodes.  Earlier cards from the 1920s and 1930s, however, generally featured comic (and usually slightly risque) sayings and drawings.

Caught with her pants down

Thanks are owed to Kris for increasing the size of my Alaska postcard collection by 50%.  A fellow collector, he writes: “Found your site and thoroughly enjoy it…. Like yours, my collection began at the behest of my elders.”  Hey it saved us both the trouble of starting from scratch!  Be sure to check out Kris’s collection which, like mine, spans over a hundred years.

Oh, your pipe wrench is so big.

She’s not bad; she’s just drawn that way. Lloyd Stoltz sent this card off to Kay Anthony on June 6, 1950 (the day before he sent her this card) with the message “See I’m asking you — ha ha. Hesitatingly, LS”.

Was Lloyd trying to cultivate a long-distance romance? What was the question from Kay to which he’s obviously replying? I don’t know where the cards that Kay sent to Lloyd are, but I hope they still exist somewhere.

See, I'm asking you...

Fancy running into you this way!

This card bears a copyright notice of 1914 on the front, but wasn’t postally used until June 7, 1950, when Lloyd Stoltz mailed it to Kay Anthony. Note his initials rubber stamped in the upper left corner (below). Published by Johnson’s Post Card Works of Waupun, Wisconsin.

If you think this is cute, wait until tomorrow, when you can see the card that Lloyd sent to Kay the day before.

A very orderly card from Lloyd to Kay.

Souvenir de Mannekin-Pis, Bruxelles

This postcard is a souvenir of the famous Manneken Pis statue in Brussels, Belgium. It probably dates back to the 1910s and is printed on some very heavy stock. The back also indicates that it was manufactured in Brussels. It’s somewhat yellowed now — with age, people, not with anything that might have come out of the statue.

It’s my understanding that they do occasionally hook the statue up to a supply of beer and hand out cups of what comes out of the statue to passersby. I’m not sure I would be drinking anything yellow and foamy that came out that way.

How did we ever get along before Photoshop?

“Also often called the Antelabbit, this, the most amazing of all desert animals is reputed to be a cross between a Jack Rabbit and an Antelope. Rumor has it that the Jackalope sings at night in a voice that sounds almost human.” This Continental-sized Plastichrome card was distributed by Petley Studios of Phoenix, Arizona, and probably dates back to the mid-1970s.

Let's hope that nothing comes up.

This is a pristine linen card, circa 1945, postally unused. As with other cards in this series, I have no idea who the publisher might be.

This card is dog-eared. Get it?

This is an unused, pristine linen postcard with absolutely no indication of who published it, or when. Best guess: circa 1945.