Monday, March 7, 2011

Wondering about vintage postcards.

I have hundreds and hundreds of old postcards that were sent back and forth between my relatives and friends. I looked through a stack of about 50 or 60 last night and pulled out and scanned 13 of them. I am going to show you a few of them to give you an idea of the variety.


All the postcards that I looked through were post marked between 1909 and 1913. As there are now, there were pictures of natural beauty and parks and memorials, but I am more interested in the more unique ones. Postcards of that era where more than just pictures of a scenic place, they told a story, a joke, or something personal.

This first one is claiming that Foxburg, PA is a “fine town”.

Foxburg is a small town located on the Allegheny River. It began as a railroad town. Both the Pennsylvania and the B&O Railroads went through that little town. There was a double decker bridge with the PRR on the upper level and the automobile traffic on the lower level.  My Grandparents on my Dad's side lived there.


This one shows a little humor, too, saying “the crowd that met me at Atlantic City, N.J.”.


This next one of the Oil City Fire Department was postmarked 1909.

I am sure that this team of horses was faster than any motor vehicle of the time and could get places a motorized vehicle could not go.


I am not sure about this next one. It was probably sent by someone who had been called a “Hay Seed”. Back then a “hay seed” was a good ole country boy. To me, the hearts look out of place. Must have had some special meaning, two hearts wrapped up with ribbon and tied with a bow. And those butterflies are little hearts with faces on them. Enlarge the picture and take a look.


And here is one that is self explanatory, don’t you think:


And I will leave you with one that gives an uplifting quote:

Have a good day and hope you enjoyed a glimpse of the “good old days” though vintage postcards.


5 comments:

  1. You come from a long line of collectors. I just can't imagine reading my grandmother's mail.

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  2. I love the old postcards. Remembering how exciting it used to be to get one in the mail, I try to send each of my grandchildren a postcard every week that I am "on the road". I don't know if they like them or not, but maybe one of them will remember it.

    Reading the old mail is how we get a sense of history, personal as well as general.

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  3. Frann, not much to learn from post cards and hard to read anyway. I think these were sent by people a lot older than my grandma.


    Gypsy, it seemed that back then they had a post card for any and all occasions. No matter what you wanted to say, you could find one that said it. I loved the old days.

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  4. The cards are nice and I remember seeing some like those. Haven't things changed so much,since back in the day. Not always for the best! Blessings jane

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  5. Jane, Things have changed a lot, like you say. Sometimes I want to go back to those "good old days". But, you just got me thinking, yep, I want to go back but I don't want to give up the internet and my blogging friends, I dont't want to give up. . . yes, a lot of things. So, maybe not all the changes have been bad.

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