tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-42714479622961375822024-03-13T18:02:45.599+01:00Vintage Postcard GalleryA Personal Collection of Vintage PostcardsLiT Web Studiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13890059711299443945noreply@blogger.comBlogger121125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4271447962296137582.post-46124121999693596992014-04-18T15:56:00.001+02:002021-03-21T19:22:12.730+01:00Bonnes Pȃques! Happy Easter - 1910s
This charming Easter greetings postcard was published by La Favorite, presumably in France at some point during the 1910s. The real photographic postcard has been hand tinted and was almost certainly created in one of the numerous photographic studios operating in Paris during the Golden Age of postcard production.
La Favorite logo
It’s a uncirculated postcard so there are no further cluesLiT Web Studiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13890059711299443945noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4271447962296137582.post-38640202945139615072014-01-01T18:36:00.002+01:002021-02-26T13:28:07.967+01:00Happy as a pig in clover! Bonne Année!
Trick photography and photo-montages were all the rage in the early years of the last century and a stock feature during the Golden Age of postcard production. This charming New Year Greetings postcard is a wonderful combination of the ubiquitous glamour shot of a young, pretty woman, posed more unusually with a piglet – a European New Year lucky charm popular in the late nineteenth and early LiT Web Studiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13890059711299443945noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4271447962296137582.post-10575155424122530452013-07-26T15:32:00.002+02:002021-02-26T20:22:37.941+01:00Stereoscopic Views of Italy – early 1900s
Naples – La Porte de Capoue
(Click on thumbnail to enlarge image)
Before leaving for my summer vacation and taking an August blogging break I thought I'd post something a little unusual. These vintage images aren't strictly postcards, but I'm sure that anybody with a passion for vintage photography will enjoy looking at these stereoscopic photo cards of Italy - they were the forerunner of LiT Web Studiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13890059711299443945noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4271447962296137582.post-20102482873175704852013-07-12T11:21:00.003+02:002021-02-26T20:38:55.830+01:00Haynes Souvenir Folder – Yellowstone National Park – 1930s
Haynes Souvenir Folder containing 18 images of Yellowstone National Park
During the 1930s and 1940s many postcard publishers known for their linen finish cards such as E. C. Kropp and Curt Teich, produced souvenir albums of images containing scenic views. Printed in cheap tinted halftones on long strips of thin paper, and then folded accordion-style into a linen folder the size of a LiT Web Studiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13890059711299443945noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4271447962296137582.post-72982519464086217712013-06-28T17:12:00.002+02:002021-02-26T20:40:22.953+01:00Geisha playing traditional Japanese musical instruments – early 1900s
Vintage postcards are a wonderful record of past traditions, clothing and lifestyles and this Japanese card from the early 1900s is a perfect example. It pictures two geisha playing Japanese instruments – the girl in the blue kimono is playing the shamisen, a three-string lute with a fretless fingerboard, whilst the other is playing a koto, the national instrument of Japan and one of the LiT Web Studiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13890059711299443945noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4271447962296137582.post-72764625446827684412013-06-21T11:57:00.001+02:002021-02-27T19:03:40.622+01:00Nansen's Fram Expedition by Meissner & Buch – issued 1898, posted 1902
Summer has well and truly arrived here in Rome, with the solstice today bringing sizzling temperatures. So rather perversely I thought I'd share a vintage polar exploration postcard today for Postcard Friendship Friday! It's another stunning undivided back artist signed postcard printed using the chromolithographic method, published by Meissner & Buch. It was posted to Arenzano in Italy inLiT Web Studiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13890059711299443945noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4271447962296137582.post-85212705326427840672013-06-14T17:31:00.005+02:002021-02-27T19:12:14.864+01:00Pioneer aviation and trick photography postcard – early 1910s
Another spectacular Roman market stall find this week. I'm no fan of flying, but perversely am fascinated by the early years of flight, so this celebration of pioneer aviation caught my eye right away. This beautiful, hand-tinted, real photograph vintage postcard features another stock favourite from the golden age of postcard production too – trick photography. I've actually seen versions of LiT Web Studiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13890059711299443945noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4271447962296137582.post-52562887146973638192013-06-08T16:29:00.003+02:002021-03-21T19:30:33.108+01:00Artist signed vintage glamour postcard by M. Cherubini – 1910s
I found this spectacular vintage glamour postcard on a market stall in Rome recently. What struck me first was the exceptionally fine quality of this chromolithographic print. The illustration has been printed on heavy weight watercolour paper and at first glance really looks like the entire image has been hand painted.
This postally uncirculated postcard, with no publisher information, and LiT Web Studiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13890059711299443945noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4271447962296137582.post-33948869588366060142013-03-01T16:56:00.003+01:002021-03-21T19:27:29.349+01:00Arnold House Hotel, Brighton - 1960s
The Southern Aspect, Arnold House Hotel, Brighton
I'm always thrilled when I come across a good story behind a vintage postcard. Sadly, on some occasions, these mementos of times past depict charming buildings which have been long since demolished, and serve as a pictorial record of our lost architectural heritage.
This real photograph postcard published by N.H. Portraits Ltd., depicts the LiT Web Studiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13890059711299443945noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4271447962296137582.post-36743234474322071442012-12-31T19:44:00.002+01:002021-03-21T19:32:46.279+01:00Buon Anno! Italian Lucky 13 Horseshoe Postcard
With 2013 very nearly upon us I thought this Italian vintage postcard would be an excellent choice to celebrate the New Year! Published by a company indicated only by the simple initials T.E.L. printed on the reverse with no further markings, this uncirculated card was probably issued during the 1960s.
The lucky horseshoe has been a popular motif on postcards since the early 1900s, although LiT Web Studiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13890059711299443945noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4271447962296137582.post-9744343603819193462012-12-21T12:01:00.003+01:002021-03-21T19:35:45.921+01:00Joyeux Noël – French Christmas Greetings Postcard from 1924
The prolific Paris-based company Lèo of Pradot was famous throughout the 1920s for its series of erotic images, which look rather innocent today, as well as hand-tinted real photograph postcards with the garish colours that seem to have been so popular at the time. Lèo postcards are still easy to find today and I couldn't resist this lovely example when I found it on a Rome market stall LiT Web Studiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13890059711299443945noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4271447962296137582.post-82855467063926969482012-10-19T19:34:00.002+02:002021-03-21T19:38:45.343+01:00Giacomo Puccini and Giuseppe Verdi – circa 1899
Giacomo Puccini
Italian composers Giacomo Puccini and Giuseppe Verdi are arguably two of Italy's best loved and most famous composers of operas, and as these two stunning portrait postcards from the late 1890s attest, celebrated musical figures of their day. I found these two vintage undivided back postcards on a market stall in Rome, Italy recently. They were sold together in pristine LiT Web Studiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13890059711299443945noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4271447962296137582.post-89932733430524818902012-08-03T18:38:00.003+02:002021-03-21T19:40:49.145+01:00Neapolitan Costume – early 1900s
Over at Beth's Postcard blog The Best Hearts are Crunchy she's celebrating Domestic Goddess Day for today's Postcard Friendship Friday meme. I am delighted because I have just the right vintage postcard to share for this topic - a Neapolitan woman in traditional costume. My tastes in vintage postcards vary and when choosing to add a new card to my collection I'm motivated by all sorts of LiT Web Studiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13890059711299443945noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4271447962296137582.post-55165921140655961902012-06-29T19:14:00.001+02:002021-02-28T13:08:51.503+01:00Margate Holiday Makers by Sunbeam Photo Ltd
I happened upon these vintage sepia real photo postcards on a market stall on a recent trip back to the UK. Snapped by one of the hundreds of seaside photographers working between the wars for the prolific Sunbeam Photo Ltd., in the British seaside resort of Margate in Kent, these are wonderfully spontaneous shots of ordinary families as they stroll along the promenade in Cliftonville dressed LiT Web Studiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13890059711299443945noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4271447962296137582.post-53225561163788461992012-06-01T16:11:00.001+02:002021-02-28T13:09:38.913+01:00H.M. Queen Elizabeth II – 1977
This lovely full length portrait of Queen Elizabeth II was taken by photographer Peter Grugeon F.R.P.S. at the time of Her Majesty's Silver Jubilee in 1977, and was issued as a commemorative postcard by John Hinde Ltd. She is wearing a tiara hung with pendant pearls known as the 'Grand Duchess Vladimir Tiara', which was allegedly smuggled out of Russia during the Russian Revolution, whilst herLiT Web Studiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13890059711299443945noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4271447962296137582.post-46780336518260328332012-05-04T21:00:00.004+02:002021-02-28T13:09:50.158+01:00The Sheraton-Lincoln Hotel – 1957
Vintage hotel advertising postcards are a fun specialisation for postcard collectors as they really seem to sum up the fashions of the day so beautifully – the advertising blurb on the back of the card will be sure to list all the mod cons, whilst the image often shows not only the hotel, but local sites too. This Plastichrome postcard printed by major Boston publisher Colourpicture (active LiT Web Studiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13890059711299443945noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4271447962296137582.post-73213300126403020322012-04-06T16:08:00.001+02:002021-02-28T13:10:01.210+01:00Vintage Russian Easter Card – 1911
I bought this lovely embossed Russian Easter postcard on a market stall in Rome some months ago and have been patiently waiting for Easter to come by again in order to share it here on the blog. I was attracted to the delicate hand finishing on the embossed catkins and pink background wash, but wasn't immediately aware that it was an Easter card. Luckily the woman who ran the stall was LiT Web Studiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13890059711299443945noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4271447962296137582.post-67195379036251161612012-04-01T19:56:00.001+02:002021-02-28T15:03:31.676+01:00Happy Birthday Debbie Reynolds!
American actress and singer Debbie Reynolds is celebrating her 80th birthday today so this seems like an excellent occasion to post this vintage Italian postcard featuring the film star as she looked in the 1960s, when she appeared in a series of successes, most notably perhaps the 1964 movie The Unsinkable Molly Brown, which earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress.
LiT Web Studiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13890059711299443945noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4271447962296137582.post-64883243218275054062012-03-02T20:24:00.002+01:002021-02-28T15:05:20.379+01:00Italian Track Cycling World Championships Maximum Card - 1968
In 1968 the UCI Track Cycling World Championships were held in Rome and the Italian Post Office (Poste Italiane) issued a pair of commemorative stamps to mark the occasion. Issued on the first day of the championships on 26 August of that year, this vintage postcard is an excellent example of a “maximum card” - a postcard carrying a postage stamp on the picture side, rather than the reverse LiT Web Studiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13890059711299443945noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4271447962296137582.post-70164454848556400542012-02-12T17:59:00.001+01:002021-02-28T15:05:56.952+01:00Cupid's Bank, Unlimited – 1900s
Some months ago we looked at a series of World War I postcards issued by the prolific UK publisher Bamforth & Co. Whilst they are best known today for their thousands of kiss-me-quick seaside postcards, this vintage Valentine's postcard featuring a blank cheque drawn on "Cupid's Bank, Unlimited" is more romantic than saucy; with Valentine's Day almost upon us, this is the perfect time to LiT Web Studiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13890059711299443945noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4271447962296137582.post-57338337606001572152012-02-03T19:40:00.001+01:002021-02-28T15:06:11.277+01:00Vieni, piccina – 1932
Beth over at the Best Hearts are Crunchy has been posting some gorgeous Valentine's Day cards for a few weeks now – with February 14th only ten days away, I was inspired to dig out a vintage romantic postcard from my own collection to share on Postcard Friendship Friday today.
Carrying two postal cancellations - a Florence Railway (Firenze Ferrovia) postmark dated 5 January 1932 and LiT Web Studiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13890059711299443945noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4271447962296137582.post-59864489687663935542012-01-13T19:49:00.002+01:002021-02-28T15:06:53.576+01:00We wish you luck - Wir Wünschen Glück - 1938
2012 is going to be a tough year for those of you who are superstitious – today is only the first of three occurrences in the calendar of the infamous Friday the 13th! A good luck postcard seems in order, therefore, so here's a very fine example of an artist signed vintage postcard featuring work by the master of scissors and silhouettes Georg Plischke.
Georg Plischke's signature logo
LiT Web Studiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13890059711299443945noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4271447962296137582.post-23295713793329089242011-12-31T17:32:00.001+01:002021-02-28T15:07:13.112+01:00Bonne Année - 1920s
Anybody with even a passing interest in collecting vintage postcards from the early 20th century will have certainly come across an image published by the PC of Paris studio at some time or another; an enormously prolific company, PC of Paris was well known for its erotic nudes, as well as rather more innocent scenes such as this delightful New Year's Eve greetings card from the Golden Age of LiT Web Studiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13890059711299443945noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4271447962296137582.post-54798129292746655822011-12-09T19:03:00.002+01:002021-02-28T15:07:25.544+01:00Decorating the Christmas Tree - Buon Natale - 1941
The countdown to Christmas in Rome seems to start very suddenly on 8th December - a public holiday celebrating the Feast of the Immaculate Conception – when the city's Christmas lights are switched on and tourists and Romans alike pack the streets of the Eternal City to admire the decorations and start shopping for gifts. With this in mind I thought I'd share a vintage Italian ChristmasLiT Web Studiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13890059711299443945noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4271447962296137582.post-21118206261053878922011-11-11T15:31:00.002+01:002021-02-28T15:09:13.125+01:00Bamforth & Co. Songs Series Postcards – World War I
When the War is Over, Mother Dear
As we drew closer to today's unique date - 11th November, 2011 - there was some considerable speculation online as to whether something mystical might happen at exactly the eleventh second of the eleventh minute of the eleventh hour on the eleventh day in the eleventh month in this, the eleventh year of the new century! Lest we forget, however, 11th LiT Web Studiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13890059711299443945noreply@blogger.com7