I wiped away the weeds & foam. / I fetched my sea-born treasures home... Ralph Waldo Emerson







Friday, April 2, 2010

Happy Springtime

A hundred years ago, it was the fad to send penny postcard greetings for holidays and birthdays. The German Easter cards are especially charming....

I collect these cards for their artwork, to use on the tags I add to my etsy & eBay items....Most of these cards date from around 1904-1910.


Some are mailed from Germany or England...

a few from New Jersey!


and some were treasured but never used......

Fluffy yellow Chicks---"peeps"!---were popular....often with adorable grumpy faces and sweet blue forget-me-nots.
Other flowers were popular too....

This card is from France...my grandma grew lilies of the valley that she brought from her parents' home in Europe.....
Violets too---all the precious old fashioned, charming flowers....

And this is my favorite:
Sort of---Easter on the Long Island Railroad? I remember the old cars like this! 
No, oops, the Easterville R.R. Such imaginitive details: the chicky engineer at the front of the train!...the chicky porter, handing out suitcases, wearing his porter's cap at the rear; the blue parasol; the curious commuters peeking out! And that bad boy riding on top---is he sneaking a smoke?? So sweet!

Other cards/details: below~Tiny Easter dress c.1920: notice her little shoes! And what's that under her arm? A bunny in a cage? Don't you wonder what she's telling the chicks?


And I love this Easter egg tree, so naturalistic, with the willow branches in bloom...


Happy Easter!


Happy Springtime!

love,
                    lizzy