“Mysterious Postcard Collector” sent this very nice photo through the mail, as a postcard, of an original photo of the Loveland Ski Area — along with a request to send him or her a million postcards. Well, not all from me; this individual has somehow gotten the idea into his (let’s stick with the generic pronoun, shall we?) head of amassing one million postcards. Naturally, I obliged. It’s a challenge for me to store my own collection (somewhere between one and two thousand, I think) and, necessity being a mother, I am hoping that he’ll come up with some good ideas for the rest of us.

Since the goal seems to be quantity, not quality, I say let’s oblige him. If you’ve got an old advertising postcard, unwanted card, or just plain ugly card, why not pop it in the mail?

George Barbier (1882 – 1932) was a French illustrator, whose work is in the art deco style and was produced while art deco was very much en vogue. Barbier made a living in illustration as well as in theatre and costume design; he died at the height of his popularity. This work, L’hiver (Winter), is less stylistic than some of his other works but, if you squint, you can see a little Alphonse Mucha in there, and possibly some Maxfield Parrish in the landscape in the background.

This card was produced in and mailed from Singapore, which I had thought was in Southeast Asia but which might actually be somewhere in France. Thanks Ammy!

“The magnificent and palatial Sun Valley Lodge is located in the heart of Sawtooth Mountains, south of Galena Pass and near Ketchum, Idaho. The view shown is looking east up Trail Creek Pass. Skiing, skating, tobogganing and dog-sledging (sic) are typical activities attracting international sportsmen. Cost $1,500,000.” I hope they’re referring to the cost of building the Lodge rather than going on a ski vacation.

This Curt Teich card (number 7A-H3945, published in 1937) features a photograph by Wesley Andrews, and was in fact distributed by the Wesley Andrews Company of Portland, Oregon. Andrews started out making real photo postcards early in his career, then apparently outsourced production to the Teich Company later. A beautiful card despite some minor damage in one corner.