If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 544

 

 

 

 

 

Greeting postcard, 1910

 

One of my granddaughters found this charming used greeting postcard in a shop near where she lives and sent it to me recently.  The card was printed during the Golden Age of postcards, 1898-1920, has a divided back, and is postmarked 14 February 1910.  The design is embossed, raised on the front and indented on the reverse side.  The convenience of a postcard and the one cent stamp made the cards a popular means of sending short messages to friends and loved ones.  This card does not have publisher-printer information but it does have the letter A in the upper left corner on the reverse.  Publishers during this era would sometimes put a “colophon” or a publisher’s emblem/trademark somewhere on the card.

 

 

 

Reverse,

Note the indentations from the embossed design that appears in raised format on the front of the card.  

 

The message appears to have been written by an adult for children to send to their cousin.  It reads:  “Hello Wilber, Hope you are all well this bad weather.  We have colds.  Grandpa was here yesterday we worried him getting one.  Cousins, Darald & Helen.”  The card is addressed to:  Wilber Turner, Fleming, R.D. (? I or 2), Ohio”  A Wilbur Turner living in Fleming, Ohio in 1910 was 10 years old. 

 

The language of flowers and the use of flower symbols was often used on cards during the time period when this card was printed.  The card shared this week has purple and white irises.  White irises were a symbol of purity. Purple irises symbolized royalty and wisdom.  Irises also represent faith, valor, and hope.  The fleur-de-lis used by French royalty was inspired by the iris.  It appeared on their coat of arms, shields, and coins.  Yellow irises stand for passion and blue for faith and hope.  Iris is the Greek goddess of the rainbow which is fitting since the flower, iris, comes in a multitude of varieties and colors. 

 

Thank you, Min, for the postcard and your notes.  It was fun to receive and much appreciated.

 

For additional information, see:

 

https://siarchives.si.edu/history/featured-topics/postcard/postcard-history

https://worldpostcardday.com/history

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postcard

https://www.ftd/blog/iris-meaning-and-symbolism

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paper_embossing

http://www.metropostcard.com/publishersa1.html