I think they've already budded

Mrs. Happy (really, that’s her name) sent me this handmade postcard as part of a Swap-Bot swap designed to “shock your mail carrier.” Spend five minutes on this blog and you will note that this card isn’t shocking at all compared to some of the other items previously delivered by my mail carrier. Nevertheless, I am absolutely delighted with it.

So much for the all-over tan

TessyT in Queensland sends along this beach-going bronzed individual. The strange thing about it is that the model didn’t start out in a bikini; it was added to the photo later. Is is really that difficult in Australia to convince women to be photographed in a bikini instead of in the nude? If so, how much is plane fare to Australia? Or did the publisher of this card, Sidney Hughes of Brisbane, blow his royalty budget on the nude shot, then decided he needed a PG version?

Might as well jump

Doulton passed along this souvenir of her travels in South Korea. “Neolttwigi is the most active (game) conducted by big children early in January. People lay a two- or three-meters long, thick wooden board across… a sheaf of straw. When one jumps and comes down, the other bends her knees with her heels raised on (the) very end of the board. The sight of lively girls clad in beautiful Korean clothes playing it gaily by fluttering the hem of their skirts in the breeze is really beautiful.”

Doulton says that people in traditional or even Medieval dress, enacting traditional customs, are a frequent sight in South Korea. I almost missed the gentleman in the back; he’s clothed as a “Confucian Scholar.”

Easy Reeder

Bertram Park (1883-1972) was known primarily for his portraiture of the rich and famous, including the British Royal Family, who would come to his studio in London once a year to have their portraits taken. His wife, Yvonne Gregory, was also a photographer, as well as a frequent subject; she may be the subject of this particular portrait as well. No matter who this girl is, it’s a pity to think that she’s dust by now.

This is a reproduction of a bromide print, probably taken around 1911, and comes to me from the wonderful PostMuse.

24 children among them, if I remember correctly

Another terrific card from GirlZoot that taxed my eyes and brain for a few minutes, until I put it into the scanner at high resolution. In case you’re getting blind and senile like me, pictured (from top left) are Florence Henderson (The Brady Bunch), Shirley Jones (The Partridge Family), Marion Ross (Happy Days), June Lockhart (Lost in Space), Barbara Billingsley (Leave It to Beaver), Jane Wyatt (Father Knows Best), and Esther Rolle (Good Times). 

GirlZoot says that “they have got a passel of kids between them, so you know these women… have something going on!!!” I’m surprised they had time to make dinner. You should make some time yourself for some more blasts from the past over at Postcard Friendship Friday.

Or is it?

I love this Thomas Neff photograph, which showed up on a postcard from GirlZoot; it’s part of his collection of photographs and narratives entitled Holding Out and Hanging On: Surviving Hurricane Katrina. That being said, I’m not sure I understand or agree with the sentiment expressed here. An excerpt from Neff’s narrative:

To a few young individuals who remained in the Foubourg- Marigny, this rooftop slogan embodied the manifold dysfunction of local, state, and federal agencies during the rescue, relief, and recovery efforts in the weeks after the storm. The sentiment was spawned by the certainty that no one would come to their aid and that helping one another might be the only way to survive. They would ultimately assist two hundred members of a Lower Ninth Ward church who had escaped the floodwater by wading to the relative safety of a school on Mandeville Street, across from Caroline and Elisa’s home.

As the few helped the many, it soon became evident that a crisis was developing: the elderly parishioners had been forced to flee without their life-saving medications. The young rescuers had no idea how long it would be before prescriptions could be properly filled. They organized those with greatest need into lines, took careful notes on what each person needed, and then, using no lights so as to avoid detection by the ever-present helicopters, they waded to a drugstore nearby. There, they climbed through the already shattered doors and with flashlights and a copy of the “Orange Book” in hand, they methodically searched for brand-name medications or generic equivalents and filled the most crucial prescriptions.

Now, to me, a few rugged individuals not just surviving, but helping others along the way, is America. Whenever there’s a crisis or a disaster, anywhere in the world, Americans are the first to open their hearts and give their time, money, whatever is needed. That’s America.

Or, if your vision of America is sitting around in the dark until the government shows up to decide how much light you deserve, then maybe the photograph is correct.

High maintenance

Here’s a gal who likes her champagne dry and expensive. This reproduction of a 1930’s calendar poster from Gande, Price & Company of Hong Kong shows you just the type of high-class ladies you can attract with some high-class hooch. But, if you’re not a high roller, not to worry; they’ll hook you up with some Taylor’s Gin, Tuborg beer, or even some grape juice, if you happen to be dating someone who’s not as high maintenance as this lady appears to be.

This card is one of six poster reproductions which arrived yesterday from Qianqian, my new best friend in China. One of the cards she sent, a 1918 calendar poster from the Lobowl Medical Company, already exists in my collection. I’ll post the other four as the weeks go by.

Special delivery from Qianqian

A girl under every daffa

Polaris assures me that this old card (circa 1982) does in fact show girls, wearing something called a daffa, which is like an abaya — what’s that? You don’t know what an abaya is either? I’d better let her explain:

Oh, I understand now

No, I still don’t get it either. Suffice it to say that the appearance of the girls depicted on this particular card will have to be left to the imagination.  Now wander on over to this week’s Postcard Friendship Friday and imagine some other people and places.

Grab a Heine

This postcard reproduces a 1950s advertisement for Heineken beer, and arrived today from the Netherlands — where Heineken is brewed and is the number one brand. In truth, I’m not much of a beer drinker myself, but I doubt I could say no if this gal offered me one.

"Why, oh why did I let him talk me into this?"

One of a series of modern postcard reproductions of vintage pinups, from the now-inactive PinUpCards.com. This image seems less of a pinup and more of a bad attempt at artfulness. You can spend the day forming your own opinion.