Curated blog of quirky, interesting messages from real vintage and wartime postcards, including many sent by soldiers and sailors during World War II.
Man, it would be cool to have the photograph of the sender which had just been taken.
I hope you have a very happy and safe Halloween!
Dear Friends,
Hoping to hear from you soon. Haven’t heard from you for a week or so, so answer.
J.B.
We had some pictures taken together Saturday. You know who [?] that friend of mine.
To: Miss Agnes Shrack
Mooresville, Ind.
Postmark: Indiannapolis, Indiana – October 31, 191_?_
Postcards like this one always prompt me to reflect on how places change over decades. The building pictured is the Art Institute of Chicago, constructed in 1893 for the World’s Columbian Exhibition. The card was postmarked Bensenville, Illinois, which is located near Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport.
This antique photograph postcard reflects an earlier era before the divided back postcard format. The message had to be squeezed on the front and the reverse reserved for the address only.
The place and time where Marie wrote and sent this card seems as distant from our present as our nearest celestial neighbors are from Earth itself. The Chicago of today would be unrecognizable to a 1910 resident, save for monumental landmarks such as this one.
“Come for me to night as I cannot walk home very well. Even if it is late. I must sew late any way. Marie”
To: Miss Eleanor Ehlers, Bensenville, Illinois
Postmark: Bensonville, Illinois – July 1, 1910
Image: Real photograph “Art Institute of Chicago”
Continue reading “Cannot walk home [1910 – Bensenville/Chicago, Illinois]”
The Treaty of Versailles had not yet been signed, but Umberger can certainly see the light at the end of the tunnel. With a location-less postmark from the U.S. Army Postal Service, there’s no telling exactly from where in Europe this postcard was sent. Umberger would likely have been in the vicinity of Bar-le-Duc at some point to have acquired the image of this town in Northwest France. Hopefully he arrived back on American soil not long after his postcard did.
I have two postcards from this WWI soldier, A.C. Umberger. Here is the other, sent in March 1919.
A pretty nice place. Hope to be home soon to play with you but there is no sign of moving yet.
Yours
A.C. Umberger
To:
Postmark: U.S. Army Postal Service, Feb 18, 1919 / “Passed as censored” stamp
Image: Bar-le-Duc
My parents gave me this antique card to add to my collection. It’s a sweet poem from mother to daughter. The content of the writing indicates that there is distance between them, but since it has no address or postmark, perhaps it was sent in an envelope.
The words seem like they would be a song, but a quick google search didn’t reveal any musical source. Thus I will assume that it is the original work of Esther’s mother. She seems like a lovely lady and a charming poet.
Today, on Mother’s Day, I hope you have a chance to thank the mother figures in your life for adding their own light to the sunshine in your life.
Dear Esther,
When your letter comes
If when I’m feeling blue
Comes a letter Straight from you
Blues all fade in just a minute
Ever I know what’s in it
If it comes when I am glad,
It cannot fail to add
[To] the sunshine of the day
One more happy golden ray.Mother
Approximate year: 1910s, based on ink style, fonts, and printing.
Through some quick census research, I’m fairly sure this postcard was sent by Herbert to his father. It boggles my mind that this postcard was sent nearly a century ago.
Another view of the Castle. Am on my way to Taulon and St Raphael. Am in Marsailles now.
Yours
A. C. Umberger
To:
From:
Postmark: U.S. Army Post Office M.P.F.S. Mar 20, 1919
Wow, Gladys seems pushy.
Oh, and Happy St. Patrick’s Day.
Jonny are you dead or alive. Why don’t you answer my letter. I wont probably get it unless you put it care of A. J. Macie. hope you will write a good long letter.
From Gladys
Postmark: North Sheldon, VT. April 18 1910
To:
Wartime postcards are among my favorite finds. This one features two famous Parisian landmarks on the reverse.
The Treaty of Versailles had been signed and Armistice Day was not far in the past when this postcard was censored by a U.S. Army Captain. The Great War was all but over for this soldier who apparently had some free time to visit Brussels. I can’t imagine what harrowing things he experienced during his service in Europe, but I am glad he seemed to make it through.
More information about WWI postcards via the Smithsonian National Postal Museum: http://arago.si.edu/record_76880_img_1.html
France Apr 8/19
Your kind letter received and was very glad to hear from you. Had a pleasant visit to Brussels Belg. and Paris. Oh you Paris. Hope this finds you well.
From
Ges[?]
Censored by Captain U.S. Army
To:
Postmark: U.S. Army with “Passed as Censored” Stamp
Image: Place de la Concorde, Paris. Obelisk with the Arc de Triomphe in the distance.
“A Merry Christmas to your very good self from your very good friends.”
I have been looking for a invitation to that dance for a long time[.] it is coming off [.] Hurry up[.] I want to dance some -?- had
R.F.D.
Postmark: Sep 8, 1910 – Wilmington, Delware“Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument, Delaware Avenue, Wilmington, Delaware.”
I guess you remember this.
Is this correspondence the equivalent of a girl not answering your calls, even though she gave you her number at that bar last night? Is the sender hostile or being facetious? Perhaps both?
Postcard Front“2516 Boyles Ave, looking East, New Castle, Pa.”
Where’s my letter please?
Don’t think you ever intended writing to me. Now hurry, or I will be real mad.
Lovingly, –?-
Lost Greetings 