Giant Jack Rabbit Postcard

Yet another variation on the "giant produce gag" postcard, this vintage linen example from the Western USA features a giant jackrabbit being ridden by a cowboy. The caption: "Punching Cattle on a Jack Rabbit." Circa the 1940s.

Giant Fish Postcard

A takeoff on the "giant produce gag" postcard, this variation from Port Huron, Michigan features a giant fish eating an angler, with the caption "They're Biting Well Here In Port Huron." Circa the late 1900s.

Giant Potato Postcard

I love old postcards, the kookier and kitschier, the better. There is a whole sub-genre of postcards that can perhaps be classified as "giant gags." These are often souvenir cards from rural areas, featuring gag photos of giant produce, like this one of an enormous potato on a flatbed train car from New Brunswick, Canada. Circa the 1950s-60s.

The caption reads, "We'll grow them bigger when flat cars are made longer! Famous New Brunswick Potatoes."

Strange Easter Postcard

This very strange German made Easter postcard from the 1900s features all the holiday sights one would expect (chicks, colored eggs), but also a little boy chef who is smoking a cigar while balancing a tray with an apparently live chicken on his head. I do not know why. Perhaps this is some little known European spring time custom, or perhaps the German Easter Bunny also brings stogies.

Antique Photo Post Card: Boy with Dog Cart

I'm always on the lookout for old photos of children with toys, to complement my toy collections. My most recent find was this, a real photo postcard from 1910, of a little boy posed in a dog cart.

The poor doggy looks very unhappy, but the boy is adorable, as is the message from him on the back of the postcard. Sent to a Mr. John Rurth of Jefferson, Wisconsin on April 28 1910, it reads:  

"What do you think of me now. I grow bigger every day. I have a pony now clear white with brown eyes. I take dinner to Papa with him when Papa is very busy and won't come home for dinner. Harold (last name illegible)."

Cupid Uses the Telegraph Lines

Dated 1908, this beautiful embossed postcard shows Cupid delivering his valentines along the telegraph lines:

Anthropomorphic Hearts Valentine Postcard

I just found this 1911 valentine postcard a couple of days ago, and it instantly became one of my favorites. The anthropomorphic heart people include a sobbing lady and a smirking man. What's their story, I wonder? The man looks like a rakish character, and he has clearly broken this lady's heart. I hope she finds the strength to move on, and will some day find true love, like that of Mr. Carrot and Mrs. Bean from last year's valentine posts...

Romantic Sausages

While not technically a valentine, I thought this odd, 1911 postcard was romantically-themed enough to qualify. Definitely one of the strangest postcards I've ever found...

Antique German Santa Postcards

Ooooh: look what I found today while poking around at the local antique mall: two gorgeous German Christmas postcards, circa the early 1900s, featuring their rather stern and forbidding-looking version of Santa:

How different these are from our modern Santa! These guys are tall, skinny, their coats are blue, and they appear to be most definitely un-jolly. If you're wondering what's up with the sticks, well, according to my German friends, these Santas typically came bearing not only toys, but switches to beat the bad children with! (As if Santa wasn't already scary enough to most little kids...)

Antique Cracker Jack Bears Postcard

I've collected antique and vintage Cracker Jack prizes for several years, but I didn't have one of their iconic pieces, a Cracker Jack Bears postcard, until we found one this weekend at an antique show, buried deep within a tray of old postcards and photographs.

The Cracker Jack Bears were a couple of characters, probably inspired by the contemporary Roosevelt Bears and the concurrent teddy bear fad, used to promote the company's product back at the turn of the 20th century. They appeared in a series of 16 beautifully lithographed full-size postcards, and children were urged to collect them all.

This is number 14, with a copyright date of 1907, measuring 3 by 5 1/2 inches:

The back of the card reads:

"Sixteen Beautiful Post Cards, No Two Alike, (without this printing), sent Free to anyone who will mail us ten sides from Cracker Jack packages, reading, 'The more you eat, the more you want,' or mail us 10 c in silver or stamps and the side of one package. A 2 c stamp is enough to mail ten sides. Rueckheim Bros. & Eckstein, Chicago, U.S.A."

Creepy Valentine Postcards

These circa 1906 German postcards  were some of the first antique valentines I purchased. I remember thinking how strange, even creepy, they seemed: just what the heck were those cupids doing?! They appeared to be chopping up hearts, painting them with something caustic, and shishkabobing them. Finally an artist acquaintance explained that the cupids were not fiends, but friends: they were repairing a a broken heart by smelting it back together, and "stirring the flames of love" by roasting two hearts over one flame. Whatever, I still think they look creepy.

"Vinegar Valentine": A Lady's Pipe Dream

Here's another "vinegar valentine" from my collection of these insulting postcards that were all the rage in the early 1900s. This one features a fantastic embossed scene of a lonely lady having a Valentine's Day "pipe dream." Dig the monocle and fancy mustaches!

"Vinegar Valentine": A Gentleman's Pipe Dream

Here's a "vinegar valentine" postcard from the early 1900s, featuring a bachelor's "pipe dream". This gently joshing card was sent between friends, and saved in an album for over 100 years before I found it. It's really a beautiful card.

"Vinegar Valentine": 'Tis a Lemon That I Hand You...

Here's a postcard from my collection of "vinegar valentines," sarcastic, sly, or downright cruel cards that people sent to friends (as jokes) or to their enemies (not as jokes). 

These were quite popular in the early 1900s.

This card dates to about 1906, and is one of my favorites. 

Courtship Sequence Valentine Postcards

Here's a great set of 1907 sequence postcards: these were mailed by the sender one by one, with the complete set telling a little story. These postcards were sent by a woman in Washington state who traded similar sequenced sets with a friend in Michigan. The message on the back of the first card reads: "Kind friend, yours received yesterday, couldn't get the rest of that set, therefore I shall finish with this." Pretty cool that these were kept together and saved for over 100 years!

 

Antique Valentine Rebus Postcard

This is one of the most unusual antique postcard valentines I have. Dating from the early 1900s, it's essentially a rebus, and plays to the old adage that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach...

Valentine Veggies

I love old postcards, vintage valentines, and anthropomorphic objects, so this fantastic item was a perfect find: a 1900s Raphael Tuck valentine postcard featuring "Mr. Carrot" and "Miss Bean". If you look closely, you'll see that the "fourteen carat gold" engagement ring is, in fact, made of carrot.

Pooped Postcard

I haven't been able to post much so far this month: been too busy (undecorating from Christmas) and sick (a wicked cold) and tired (from both). On my first antiquing foray of the new year, I found this vintage postcard titled "BOY! AM I POOPED!" that seemed a fortuitous find. Dating from 1957, it was sent by a couple of soldiers to a friend back home.

The message reads: "Hi Kilo. Curly + I went to the races Sunday. Had a big time. Got loaded as usual. Hope you are O.K. Will be down to see you one of these days. Your old pals (illegible name) + Curly."

I've said it before in my old postcard posts, but I have to say it again: everyone seems to have had such colorful names back in "the old days." I wonder what Kilo, Curly, and their illegibly named friend are up to these days...

Antique Christmas Postcards

Here are a couple of antique Christmas postcards from my collection. The first one features a great image of a toy-filled sleigh pulled by a rocking horse, while the second is a more subtle design, of Santa flying over a cozy village. Both are from 1906.

Antique Halloween Postcards

I've been fortunate enough to find some beautiful antique Halloween postcards at reasonable prices. These all date between 1907 and 1914. My favorite is the first one, with all the jack o' lanterns.


The message on the back of the blue card, penned by an aunt to her little niece in 1914, reads, "I hope the goblins don't get you!"