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| by Michelle at sweetleafnotes.blogspot.com |
Are you packing up for a vacation? Are you dreaming about hiking mountains, swimming in cool waters, savoring tasty meals with friends and family? If you are traveling, don't forget to send a postcard home. I have one friend who writes done his travel adventures each day on a postcard and sends it to himself. Great idea! I've joined several groups of artists and writers who share postcards with each other even when we don't travel. Here are two recent ones that I've received.
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| Created by Andrea from Vienna |
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| from Christine after a visit to the Sketchbook Project at the Brooklyn Art Library |
When postcards were first published in the mid-1800s, some people objected to them. They thought that postcards would do away with the long-time practice of thoughtful letters. They asked, "What ideas could possibly fit on a postcard?" (Perhaps just 280 characters?) Postcards, they thought, could never express the true nature of an experience. Now today, you could ask yourself, "When was the last time I received a postcard?" They have been supplanted by email and text, Instagram and Facebook. We can go right along with travelers on their adventures. But isn't it fun to open your mailbox and find a postcard inside?
While I was in San Francisco recently, I went to the 6th floor of the Main Library on Larkin to drop off a piece of hand lettering to be included in Kalligraphica, the Friends of Calligraphy triennial event. I wandered through a small exhibit of postcards from the early 20th century celebrating Poissons d'Avril in France, which is the French version of April Fool's Day. On that day, you may be tagged with a paper fish on your back if you are walking about, but you could have also received one of the postcards on display. Each has a fish somewhere in the picture. It's not often you see a fish next to a bouquet of flowers!
Send a postcard to a friend this summer.
Let them dream along with you on your travels.
And you will help continue the practice of good handwriting too.
Thanks for sharing the fun and fishy postcards; kind of a lost and lovely tradition! Last Winter my middle son made a quirky collection of them from old magazines found at a thrift store, and one popped up in my mailbox last week. Really made my day!
ReplyDeleteGood story about your son, Teresa. Good for him for taking the time to send a postcard in the mail.
DeleteFrom Mary: You’re right, it is a lost art. Was Great the one you mentioned that sent postcards to himself. He did that in New Zealand, it was fun to get them after we returned home.
ReplyDeleteYou know I love this post. I love the idea of sending myself a postcard each day of my travels. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome, Chandra. Those postcards are a great way to remember the details of a trip.
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