Postcard Romance

Ladies & gentlemen, welcome....hello...here I go with my first blog post!


As you may know from actually knowing me, or from reading my profile, I am a true romantic! So, in the hustle and bustle of my modern life, where my main forms of communication seem to be texting and social media, I was genuinely thrilled to come across a pack of ten used postcards in a shop in Castleton on Sunday. 
As soon as I had paid the lovely lady the £1.50 for them I desperately wanted to be taken somewhere nice, warm and cosy with a lot fire, pot of tea (served in fine china, of course) and some wonderful homemade cake, so that I could read the postcards feeling like one of the original recipients. Instead, I had a ten minute, uphill walk, in the rain, before reaching our red Fiat Punto. This would be the romantic seclusion I had to settle for.

However, I quickly realised that my real physical setting really wasn't that important. My romantic mind quickly sucked me in and whisked me away. I was picturing the senders and the recipients of the cards, I was trying to work out if there was any connection between the ten postcards, I had visions of the birthday celebrations taking place.

As my boyfriend drove, I admired the handwriting of each one. Each from a distance looked identical, but when I looked closer, I noticed some O's were slightly longer, some C's had more curl. But each was very beautiful. Each showed effort and care. 

The art works and photographs on the cards are all stunning. Where colour is used it is so vivid. The printed messages are meaningful, nothing like the messages a lot of mainstream cards you see on the High Street now. Both the printed and the handwritten messages give an indication as to how different family life was at the time. There were three postcards for 21st birthdays (two addressed to Florence...I wonder if this was the same person?), and they give a clear image that being 21 then you were much more mature than 21 now. 

There is no indication on the cards as to when they are from. I would love to know this bit of info. Someone has suggested they may be from the 1930s. The only indication as to where they are from is that one is addressed to "Mother" in Cadley, Leicestershire. 

I didn't get the love letters I had first imagined (and I admit, secretly wanted) but nevertheless these postcards have tugged on my heartstrings and the romantic tunes played on in my head (and heart) all day. I have now read the cards six times and each time I build up a new image, the characters faces change, their clothing alters, their lifestyles have differences. Maybe I have enjoyed them so much because they are a quick and easy escape from modern life, where it is so easy to lack appreciation for these simple things in life. I guess I will never know the answers to the questions I have come up with, maybe the less I know the better as my naivity helps build the stories I have created in my mind surrounding the cards. 


I am definitely on the lookout for something more "love story", someone has suggested I should read some old war letters. Someone else has told me about a time they got some Italian postcards, and trying to translate the messages added so much more to the experience, so when I visit Paris in June I will definitely have postcards and letters on my wishlist at the flea market!


I think the ten I have now will be the start of a much larger collection!
With love, 
Lucy
 x