Bad Photoshopping

Here’s another find from my recent time in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

This postcard has some remarkably bad photoshopping work prominently on display.

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Foldout Postcards with Vitality

I’m not particularly choosy when it comes to collecting and adoring postcards. I love many types and genres and from any destination. But items have to be a proper postcard.

Here’s a sample of a recent postcard below that stretches the boundaries of a postcard versus cool envelope.

It is an example of a foldout postcard in that it is one large sheet of paper that has been folded into three components that fold into one standard size postcard for mailing.

Here’s the interior component with a message:

Postcard message:
“Hi Glen. I got this in the mail. It came in an envelope, however it does have space for a stamp in the back. Maybe it was originally intended to be sent with no envelope?

In any case, I removed the original message (a simple thank you for a referal) and sent it to you. Hopefully, this can find a place in your collection. If not, let me know and I’ll send you another cool postcard as soon as I find one.”

Below is the back side of the postcard – with another message and stamp (making it a postcard):

Postcard message:
“Hi Glen. Not sure if this counts. But I did write you a message inside.”

This does meet my definition of a postcard – very happy to add it to the Collection!

Something New in Hometown

The postcard options in my hometown of Toronto have been pretty slim for years. Occasionally, I’ll spot a gem in an unexpected spot.

I do save money but not being tempted often here by postcard purchases – as my recent trip to Vancouver set me back at least $25 (the highest one-time acquisition total ever). Recently, however, my local hunting has been more rewarding, such as these two recent prizes found at a downtown pharmacy:

I love the flora framing the snapshots of Toronto. Although, I can assure you that nowhere would one find a garden of daffodils positioned this way (the shot would be taken from Toronto Island).

The read maple leaf motif on the first postcard is also quite impactful if incongruous against the backdrop of the highrises of Toronto, the big bad, – the leaf motif emphasizes Toronto’s prime position in this great dominion of Canada!

Vancouver Has Superlative Postcards, Little Else

I recently got back from a trip to Vancouver, British Columbia. For the most part, it was a horrible trip. As a complete and wonderful surprise the city has an amazing array of postcards readily available!

Here’s the first of my great finds:

To tell the story of my trip, I wrote myself a postcard, of course:

Postcard message:
“My third trip to Vancouver and this trip was enough to make me never want to come here again (let alone live here). Horribly overpriced (even for the flop house Hotel) and pretentious, but the worst is the omnipresent crime, drugs, mentally ill, and homeless. There’s also not any really good attractions. They do, however, have a vibrant postcard presence! Uggh!”

Stay tuned here for more recent acquisitions from Vancouver – it almost made the trip worthwhile (no, it didn’t).

Beyond Postcards

The first week of July 1947 is when a suspicious incident, possibly an alien encounter, happened in Roswell, New Mexico.

My family got Netflix a few months ago and recently discovered (and binge watched) the TV series Roswell.

I have never been to Roswell, but I’m dying to go to add it to my tour of mysterious places (Sleepy Hollow, Salem, Stonehenge, apex of Bermuda Triangle, Pembroke).

So in honour of the past events of Roswell this month, here is a postcard from one of the Collection’s grand patrons:

Feel free to view and probe the back side:

Postcard caption:
“Greetings from Roswell…
This original print commemorates the anniversary of the crash that took the lives of alien beings 50 years ago, and the city that houses the hangar where the bodies were stored.”

Postcard message:
“Hey Guys, Well if the [indecipherable] it sure is damn tacky! It’s a weird place though, but good food and somewhat friendly inhabitants. I still think we might have to exterminate them though. Further research will follow. Signing off in this alien land.”

Fantastico Italian Postcards

A few days ago, I posted a delightful gem from my Italian collection. In that post, I claimed that Europe had the best postcards as in most kitsch or bizarre.  In reviewing my vaults, I found another Italian gem:

There’s so much to love about it!

1. Gratuitous nudity (I put the black bar on – sorry). Only Europeans are okay with open postal nudity.
2. Such a bizarre collage of the “culture” of the great city, Bologna
3. The caption just brings it all together in a over-the-top way (in case you missed it) – Bologna is “La citta dell 3 t…” that is the “city of the 3 Ts”.

Here’s the back side:

Postcard message:
“Ciao! I did it, I finally found some choice postcards. Note the tortelini, it’s from Bologna, shaped after Venus’ navel. Find the 3 ‘Ts’ on the front of this… the shop keeper made sure I understood!!”

In considering the various Italian gems, I think I will revise my claim to state that Italy has the best postcards in the world! (Please feel free to mail me contenders for this title however.)

Familiar Hawaii

We received this postcard in the mail this week from friends vacationing in Kauai, Hawaii:

Here’s the back side:

Postcard caption:
“Aloha from Kaua’i. Clockwise, from top: Napali cliffs, Kilauea Falls, Polihale Beach, Wild rooster”

Postcard message:
“We had a great time on (Kaua’i). We were down here for X’s family celebrating her 2nd eldest brother’s 50th birthday. Such a stunning island – we toured by helicopter, catamarn and bike (down the canyon road!). The chickens and roosters outnumber people, so appropriate the rooster is featured on the postcard. Cheers with a mai tai!”

I remember Kauai fondly from a trip we took there a few years ago. It is one of my favourite places in the world and certainly among the most beautiful.  I thought the postcard looked familiar. So I went to the vaults and found the same postcard but one that we had our young daughter send to ourselves recapping her favourite Hawaii experiences.  Here’s what she wrote:

Postcard message:
“Hi. I went to Dole. I went on a crooz [cruise]. I was in a hoola [hula] show. I went to the teddy bear world. Love!