Vintage Postcard

Hanging the Moon

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Pam’s Pictorama Post: We are mooning around today here at Pictorama and of course Deitch Studio is a good place for it as no one does it better than Kim in my opinion. That old man on the moon – Kim makes him toothy and gives him carbuncles and craters for an extra moon-y surface to his bald head. There was a time when I might have said that the Man on the Moon best defined Kim’s work – along with the time clock with a face standing over him for starters. And I generally ask Kim for a moon face (and snow) in our holiday cards.

A good ‘ole Kim Deitch moon in this eye popping pic of a cartoon mural!

Postcards, photography, cartoons – all in love with the man on the moon and hanging with him. My collection has a few choice photo postcards of people sitting on the moon (I’d have more if they weren’t so expensive!) and of course even just a few posts back there were kittens in a balloon flying toward the moon. A few images from my collection are below. (The post about the photo of Kim and Simon shown below can be found here.)

Pams-Pictorama.com Collection.

(The card above was from a previous postcard sale and was in a January post which can be found here.)

As much as we crave sunlight there is something about being out under the rays of a bright full or roaring orange harvest moon that makes us kick up our heels in a totally different way – not to mention the romantic interludes it inspires. I remember reading a passage in a novel about roaming through backyards and streets in the suburbs late at night under a bright full moon. Having grown up in suburbia it brought such a specific image to my mind that stayed with me. And where I grew up it would have also been the moon on the water too, always reflected on the river in our backyard. Stephen Millhauser writes very compellingly about having a different life by night – I may be thinking of him. (His novella, Enchanted Night is a good place to start with his books.)

Available in paperback in a number of places online.

I fell hard for this postcard immediately. I found it last weekend at the postcard show and the dealer told me it is a part of a series. Although I found another copy of this card in a collection online, I was unable to find others from a series. I will be keeping a sharp eye out however.

An early Deitch Studio holiday card production with moon, stars instead of snow. I like those too.

It would appear that these youngsters are constructing this natty moon fellow, placing his hat, glasses (those are a nice touch!), giving him a pipe, and one doing something with his mustache – applying it? There is a tiny paint can next to him. Obviously a ladder is necessary to do this work. The boys are all wearing overalls in different colors and reach sports red shoes.

The thing about this image is this amazing flying contraption the boys are in. When you look carefully it is a flying boat – something akin to a rowboat with wings, a kite-tail and strange wheels – for use on land? Another look and you realize that there is something coming off the flying machine to the back of the moon – it appears it is actually propping it up in the softly star studded sky. The painting boy, tucked in the seat of this machine, has a tiny ship’s wheel in front of him to steer. How all three would fit is also a further question for our imagination.

Kim and Simon posing for a moon seat photo as tiny tots!

Lastly this machine hangs over the endless sea – like it is taking place somewhere at the ends of the world, which is likely is. Waves appear to gently lap but of course space and scale are left entirely to our imagination. I must say the artist had a wonderful vision and got to run with it on this one.

This card was never mailed although the back has indications that it was pasted into something. The maker’s mark is postcard druik u. Verlag von B. Dondort, G m.b.H. Frankfurt a/m which doesn’t seem to lead to much of anything.

It is seldom that an image makes me as dreamy as this one does. It gives a new visual to the idea of thinking that your loved one has indeed hung the moon for you. A cheerful thought on a rainy Sunday here in New York City and at Deitch Studio.

Beauty

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Pam’s Pictorama Post: Yesterday’s postcard show did not disappoint, and Kim and I wiled away an hour or two perusing the wares. This is a single day show and therefore a bit smaller and folks say they don’t bring as much stock but we made out just fine. We will wait for Friday and Saturday, June 5 and 6 for that. Meanwhile I present one of my purchases which caught my eye, however it is more fun now that I have transcribed the message on the back. The message is for a new kitty, named Beauty, that has clearly joined the family.

It would appear that these cats are ice skating – and this Mom (?) cat is putting a skate on the young cat (boy? it has a blue bow) although there is only one, which she has just placed on his foot. (Where is the other skate?) The chair is somewhat mysteriously placed out on the ice, another cat skating with what appears to be a cane in the background. In the foreground there is a black kitty, who looks like my Blackie with just some white on his neck, also standing with a cane. (Do cats need canes to stand like humans? Is this something we should know if we want them to become bipeds?)

Youngster looks like the one I am calling Mom and has a matching tabby stripe to his fur. The skater in the background also appears to have stripes but is at a distance and somewhat indistinct. The weird sea green ice (which makes them appear to be actually standing and seated on water) goes to an only slightly lighter background. Dad pokes out of the frame and Mom perches right on it.

Back of card – very embossed indeed! Makes it a bit hard to read at first.

This card is embossed, creating a very three-dimensional effect, and around the edge is some snow decoration, also embossed. The postcard was made in Germany, however no artist is identified with it. Youngster is eager to get skating I’d say.

We stopped for lunch at a place called Bagel Pub.

I didn’t understand the message at first as it took some decoding. Despite the neat script the back of the card is pitted with the embossing making it hard to read. Anyway, it reads as follows, October 2d 1910. Well, my one eared Beauty how are you? Snoozing in your mother’s big chair I presume. Be good to little Georgie and never scratch him. Hope you will live many years. Auntie B. It was mailed to, Beauty Dunham, 782 Commercial S, East Weymouth, Mass. and just in case below that, To Georgie Dunham. It’s nice that she dated it because the postmark does not show the year, although October 3 and 6 AM show, as does New Jersey, but only Brio…? shows on the postmark for location which I cannot figure out. And gosh, what happened to one of Beauty’s ears?

Spotted this interesting building – the old bit in front seems to have actual gas lamps. The ancient building on the other side is interesting too. This is 13th Street, I think between 7th and 6th, southside of the street.

Meanwhile, Kim had his maiden voyage on the subway, his first long trip out since surgery. I think a change of scenery swept away any cabin fever he had, although admittedly he has been deep into his work so I am not sure how much he was suffering from his time at home as a result. However, all is onward and upward here at Deitch Studio.

Way Up!

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Pam’s Pictorama Photo Post: Today is Metropolitan Postcard Club Show Day! Yay for new postcards for Pictorama! We herald that event with a postcard from the last show, purchased for it’s kitten collage-ness.

Photos of kittens floating in balloons is a sort of sub-genre of early 20th century photography and this is a late example – almost a tribute to those. This card was mailed from Kingston, New York on July 27, 1944. (As an aside, I had cousins who lived near Kingston, New York and was probably visiting them thirty years later.) So it is later than most of my collection but is reminiscent of those earlier cards. (You can check out some of those posts here and here.)

In the Kills refers to the upstate area full of small water bodies (kille is Dutch for waterway) and those areas such as Fishkill, Peekskill and Catakill (the last being where those cousins resided) named thusly.

Pams-Pictorama.com collection.

These cats are a further play on words with the broader Catskill area. The postcard play on words was popular and I have future posts devoted to more of these as of course cat cards are like nip to me. We have two fluffy kits in a basket with a “balloon” that looks like maybe it is a fishnet stocking or real fish netting around a ball, which is probably then held by a string of fishline we cannot see. An ever so slightly cross-eyed moon face looks on – the yellow is a nice contrast in this otherwise almost dark and stormy card. I gather these kits are making their journey at night.

Pams-Pictorama.com collection – very similar!

The back of this card is printed in an unusually legible hand. It says, Dear Very Dear Elinor Hello; Sweetness. How be you, and the partner – O.K. I hope – the same here – in this grand restful place – I am getting along famously – take a walk most every day – and am receiving excellent care – in the intervals – lots of love from your old man – brother. AL. It is addressed to, Mrs. R.H. Robinson, 155 Clymer Street, Brooklyn, 11, New York.

The ingenuity of cards like this interest me. I am always looking at them and thinking about which two of the seven I could convince to sit in a basket (none) and tie a little ball to it, etc. I am sure it was a day’s work that was harder than it may look. Meanwhile, this one has these collage elements of the moon and background layered in. It is though, remarkably similar to the earlier one I show here.

Back of card.

Meanwhile, Kim and I are off to the West Village soon to see what irresistible cat cards are in store for me today. Wish me happy collecting! It is bright and sunny here in New York and having a spring swing back toward warm today. Kim is braving downtown for the first time since his back surgery – getting a bit of cabin fever I think doing nothing these days really but working on hard his next book. We’ll get him some air and a change of scenery. More to come!

Easter Egg

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Pam’s Pictorama Post: This year it is a foggy, rainy Easter morning here in New York City. Hardly the harbinger of spring that you want it to be, however I am celebrating with this somewhat whacky card. I bought many months ago at the postcard sale and I bought it for the sheer, delightful, oddness of it.

Just noting that I have an odd fondness for these chocolate Easter eggs from childhood and still grab one or two annually.

The card is heavily embossed with thick looking gold highlights. A careful look tells that it appears to take place in a dark forest, if you peer behind the large egg house the trees almost bend around it. Easter Greetings is engraved with gold highlights, nestled among the trees. Meanwhile, a pretty little decorative, curtained window on the second floor of this egg house reveals a rooster portrayed in dignified profile. Below him is a sweet little green door complete with a mail slot and a red portico (you want to get into the house in the rain comfortably, after all), and even a little pull chain for a doorbell. There are a few front steps to complete the image.

Below, running wildly are two little chicks – I say little although somehow they are much larger than the rooster – who I grant you is at a bit of a distance up in his window, but still! They are in a race with each other on a grassy turf; the light one has a worm the one with brown feathers wants to share. Is there a cryptic and symbolic meaning in this? The artist was very conscious of shadow, bottom of the egg, under the chicks, under even the tiny window ledge, giving the card a three dimensional appeal.

The border of the card is a colorful riot of flowers, leaves and (pink!) eggs on a gold background. The eggs are dispersed in odd groupings of single, three and two, again not sure if there is some symbolism I am missing.

Back of card.

Like many lately, I find that this card was addressed on the back but never stamped and postmarked so therefore not mailed and no date for us. I show the back above, the sloping child’s hand going off the card and barely crams in the address. It appears to read, Miss Eleanor Bigwood, 928 Helamont Avenue, Schenectady, NY. Upside down on the other half, in the same hand but very hard to read is, Myra and Victor – presumably the senders. I will assume that this precious missive was ultimately put directly in Miss Bigwood’s hands.

With today’s weather we can only cheer ourselves with the old adage, April showers bring May flowers. And it is true! The pansies, tulips, magnolias and cherry trees are in bloom after a long winter’s nap. New York City is shaking off its long-held mantle of winter at last this year and it is all we can do from burying our heads in the flower filled tree wells lining the blocks here.

Meanwhile, we had a gorgeous spring day yesterday. Kim and I endeavored to undertake his first long walk since his surgery, about a mile round trip to Orwashers bakery and back. This weekly walk to get a nice loaf of bread for the week has become somewhat of a ritual and during the hospital stay and the MoCCA convention last weekend, it has been interrupted. However, the walk was much longer than anything he has done since the surgery, although still using a walker now and for the coming month. He did it like a champ though which makes us feel he is well on the way on the, albeit long, road of recovery from his back surgery.

Homemade matzoh making a holiday appearance at Orwashers this weekend.

Although Orwasher’s was all sold out of their as advertised, yummy-looking hot cross buns when we got there (oh my!) a small amount of homemade matzohs were still available. Although not our mission for the day (we stuck to our loaf of sourdough and a bonus olive stick), it was a reminder of the dual holidays, Passover and Easter, which signify this season of renewal and regeneration.

Pictorama readers may remember that with a Jewish father and a mother who was raised in a Catholic/Episcopalian household, I grew up recognizing both holidays, admittedly in a secular and food related way. I can remember Easter weekends with matzoh brie (my mom had mastered that) followed by an Easter Sunday family brunch at my maternal grandmother’s of ham and homemade Easter bread. We dyed Easter eggs but also, at least roughly, knew the rituals of a Passover seder. It all means the return of spring to me now – tied to the blooming of the magnolia in my front yard in New Jersey and streets filled with masses of blooming cherry trees.

A day or so in the ER and even a short stay in the hospital will always remind you of your blessings – other people’s problems are indeed frequently worse than your own, and we have seen that recently. For now, I remain grateful to say spring is arriving, Kim’s recovery and walking improving apace, and there are many signs for a significant growth and blooming in the next part of this year.

All Wet

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Pam’s Pictorama Post: This March Sunday, a much yearned for spring thaw let alone summer, seems quite far away still. This Manhattan morning can’t quite make up its mind if it is going to be gray all day or not, but the temperatures will hover in the low forties – not unreasonable for March but we can’t help but yearn for the halcyon promise of summer. So for my part it seems that the least I can do is immerse us in a swimming cat card today.

It appears to me that in the early days of the 20th century, the Tuck company put all their eggs in the cat card basket it would seem – and emerged victorious. Churning out first Louis Wain cards, then these Boulanger ones and eventually making their way to Felix ones a few years later. (Examples from prior posts and a bit about Tuck can be found in posts here and one of the Felix Christmas cards here.) Clearly cats helped build the Tuck empire. By the time Felix rolled around they were card publishers to the King and Queen and I can’t help but wonder if that means that maybe George V was mailing Felix holiday cards?

This card is credited to Maurice Boulanger – the not-quite-Wain – whose cat antics are of a slightly less sardonic variety than those by Mr. Wain. (Albeit he is usually less pointedly ironic, this card as below which I posted about recently where Mr. Cat is preparing a rat feast!)

Pams-Pictorama.com Collection. A post a few weeks ago.

Today’s card is from the earlier days of Raphael Tuck, before royal recognition it would seem. It was sent in 1908 with a sloppy postmark (marring the front a bit) on September 5 from Marblehead, Massachusetts – a lovely beachy place. (I have visited a childhood friend there and it is a wonderful seaside area not far from Boston.) This card was mailed to Winthrop Stacey and then simply Orne St. Town. On the message side it says simply, H.T.S. R.F.N. W.P.S. Don’t stay in too long. E.

This is sort of a pitch perfect message to go with this image of happily splashing cats, adult and two kits. (Splashing is printed at the top with lovely little flowering plants winding through it and a nice decorative frame top and bottom.)

The execution of the splashing cracks me up, a bit primitive but gets the idea across. The kittens are splashing dad (or is it mom?) and little white caps indicate some movement in the water. Two seagulls wheel in the sky above them unnoticed. Their catness does not extend to that at the moment – they pay them no mind. And of course traditionally cats eschew water so in that regard these are anthropomorphic kits too.

View coming into the Sandy Hook Bay recently on the ferry.

A lighthouse is perched on land in the distance – it reminds me of the Sandy Hook bay where I land when I take the ferry to New Jersey. (And really quite near where I myself learned to swim as a tiny tot.) As mentioned above, an errant postmark registration lightly mars the front of this image over the grown up cat on the left but doesn’t take away from the overall card. The yellow in the sky indicates either sunrise or sunset – I vote for the latter – and of course picks up at the top of the card.

Summer will arrive here as suddenly as winter did I suspect. The Farmer’s Almanac says that it will be a hot spring season and while I am not a fan of heat and humidity I look very much forward to evenings on our deck under twinkle lights and the hummingbirds and bees feasting on the dahlias and strawberry plants. Here’s for contemplating summer days!

Easter Greetings, 1908

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Pam’s Pictorama Photo Post: As we head toward the Easter season, this is one of a few seasonally appropriate items I have. The odd image doesn’t necessarily scream Easter, but there it is at the bottom of the card, Easter Greetings 1908 and the photographer’s name front and center although barely legible, G. Butney. It also says, Novato.

It would seem that Mr. Butney was a well-known (in the day) photographer in the early days of the 20th century, evidently headquartered in Novato, California. In July 1908, presumably several months after this card was created, he took a series of photos of a train wreck in Novato and turned them into photo postcards which he became best known for. (If, like me, you aren’t familiar with Novato, it is north of San Francisco.) It seems somewhat odd that photo postcards of a train wreck would be so popular.

For all of his sort of ten minutes of fame with this series of photos, there isn’t much left about Mr. Butney – no biography available, nor is his first name even evident.

Wreck on N.W.P. at Novato July 3 ’08. From the train wreck series that brought G. Butney brief local fame. Image via University of California.

It is a bit hard to see the connection between the train wreck photo and mine, but there you are. I assume mine was made as some sort of advertisement for his services and distributed earlier that same year. As an advertisement the difficulty reading his name at the bottom probably did not work in his favor – however, this very clever and eye-catching photo probably did. There is nothing on the back and it was never sent.

On close examination, it appears that each of these children really did pose with their head poking through this large homemade flower sort of collar. At first I thought it was photos collaged into the flowers, but I think not. It would appear that each flower is a separate photo or more likely negative, printed together into this image. It is quite a funny design and had to be more than a little work to execute. A careful examination shows some slight differences in exposure and printing – further contributing to my idea that they were each shot and printed individually.

There is an array of boys and girls, some smiling, others not – especially among the boys, although really, frowning might be evenly distributed. There is a range of age as well from toddler to a woman just to the right of Novato who appears to be an adult – his wife I wonder? Did he have a studio where he collected these over time as he took photos (Oh and just one more thing before you and Junior go…) or was there just a day or two of madness when he had a pile of kids come in? There are 26 (I think) separate images.

My other Easter treats are a bit less unique however I thought I’d share this one today, a tribute to the Ides of March and the spring season to come.

Kitten Card

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Pam’s Pictorama Photo Post: Today I have plucked this hand-colored card out of the pile. It was used as a birthday card and it certainly is cheerful enough to make a good one. Kitten pictures are like dopamine hits and during stressful times if I can, I find watching videos of them or looking at pictures of them very soothing. Given the feline nature of Pictorama this is probably not surprising.

Meanwhile, I have seven cats, no shortage here, and yet looking at more cats still appeals to me, although I do recognize that I do not need to acquire any at the moment. (I’m not sure I documented the sudden acquisition of five cats when my mother died, although longstanding readers probably figured it out. For new readers, that is how I went from always having two to having seven more or less overnight. It’s a lot of cats.) All that to say I am cheerfully contributing to your dopamine acquisition online today, a bit of cat fluff to cheer your weekend, (another) rainy one if you are in Manhattan. (Not to mention to help get with the time change – that certainly snuck up on me.)

This young woman might be from the early 1920’s to as late as the 1930’s when we take her clothes and hair (careful marcel wave) into account. She holds two very likely little suspects, a tabby (always a good look on those) with his small paws wrapped around her arm, and fluffy white one with spots, the true color of which is hard to peg.

The kittens are small enough to be easily subdued by the young woman holding them. Her dress has a wild print and has been painted in this interesting orange, red stripe running down the front and a sort of Keith Haring-esque pattern. She sports a bracelet which appears to be silver and has a charm hanging off of it. Her ruffled cuffs and collar have been left a bright white. There are some sort of illegible decorations down the front of her dress and artificial looking ropes of flowers are color sketched in behind her. If she wasn’t such a pretty woman, she would recede behind all this visual noise, however she holds her own.

Inked on the back in neat script is says, Dear Kathie, Wishing you many happy returns of the day. From Lily & John. However, there is no postmark, it must have been handed to her or on gift perhaps.

Given my affection for such antique missives, it probably isn’t surprising that I am still a sender of cards. Although the circle is smaller than it used to be, physical cards still go out for birthdays and for some, Valentines, Easter and for a large group (as you have seen) Christmas. Are the best of my cards being saved to turn up in the future? It’s hard to say, but I believe the folks I send them to seem to appreciate the physical reminder that I am thinking of them and have chosen a card for them. (And who doesn’t love a bit of unexpected mail that isn’t a bill?) However, it is undeniably an anachronism, albeit one I hold dear. So this is a cat card for all of you today – I will say that personally I needed a cat pic today and this one has done just fine.

Any Luck?

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Pam’s Pictorama Post: It’s a Wain wannabe card again today. While Mainzer has the most Pictorama posts (one of those can be read here) dedicated to his pursuit of the Louis Wain feline illustrator fame, today’s card is a very fair competitor in this race.

This card reminds me of where I used to go running along the river here in Manhattan and where often in the warmer seasons there would be folks fishing – some looking quite business like about it and others more at their leisure. Although I haven’t done a lot of it myself, I grew up around fishing and long-time Pictorama readers might remember that my maternal grandfather repaired outboard motors and made lead sinkers – weights for bottom fishing. There was a time when I would clean fresh caught fish in the backyard – making me very popular with the cats – and although I guess muscle memory would take over I have no desire to gut fish these days.

It’s a sunny day in the cat neighborhood here and our protagonists are an orange striped fellow wearing a sporty sort of huntsman’s hat and City kitty, tricked out in a bowler, bowtie and carrying walking stick. Fishing cat has a tin of bait and a straw bag to hold his catch; his line is bobbing in the water and the look he gives the other kitty distinctly lacks welcome – annoyed that his fishing is being interrupted.

Tiny boats are way off in the distance on the water, including way that appears to be steaming along at the very tip of the horizon. Gulls have been sketched in, wheeling above in a sky with puffy clouds and there is some pretense at water current. A cheerful blue border puts the finishing touch on this as a summery scene.

Meanwhile, our town puss has a genial look with his white collar and paws that could almost pass for white cuffs too. He is clearly the one inquiring, Had any luck? His hat is set straight on his head (no wise guy this one) and I like the way he fills the space – it is a dynamic composition even if a bit awkward. His stick points one way and the fishing pole another. It might be fair to say that neither of these cats is very firmly installed on the ground below him – they both float a bit in space despite a light shadow cast by each.

The image is signed VR and a quick search turns up Cornelis Van Vredenburgh as a Dutch cat card artist with that signature. Clearly riding the wave of Wain and active during part of the same early 20th century period Van Vredenburgh has a less ironic and sometimes sweeter attitude. Nor does he find his way into the psychedelic realm of Wain’s latter period. I show a Wain beach scene from my collection for comparison. (The post can be read here.)

Pam-Pictorama.com Collection from a 2018 post.

Evidently cat cards were a sideline for VR who signed his full name to his Impressionist landscape oil paintings (example below) for which he is perhaps better known although these cards are sought after today as well.

Landscape by Cornelis Van Vredenburgh – found online. It is possible to buy prints of some of his non-feline work.

This card was mailed from Luzern, Switzerland in 1913, not sure how to read the month and the day. In a light blue ink it reads, Luzern, Aug 1 I leave for Mayence then a boat ride down the River Rine, EGA and mailed to Master Jamie Thayer, Farmington, New Hampshire, USA. In pencil and likely a more contemporary note, it says in caps, VIOLET ROBERTS. The publisher is The Photochrom Co., L1D, London, Tunbridge Wells and it is the Celesque Series. Photochrom was a significant publisher of postcards (they started with Christmas cards) which were characterized but a tri-color Swiss photochrom process.

Verso of card.

It is snowing – yet again – as I close this post. Luckily I think today we will get away without any real accumulation. However, not a wonder as this snowing winter makes its way into March that I needed to pull a sunny summer’s day card out of the pile this morning.

In the Mood for Love?

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Pam’s Pictorama Photo Post: I have a Pre-Valentine’s Day post today to get us all in the high mystic mood for next week – when I will have a super great Deitch Valentine reveal this year. I don’t think I am spoiling the surprise when I say it is the height of hotsy totsy this year.

I admit to having accidentally left Kim to open his Valentine’s Day gift which arrived early last week! It was an early hardcover edition of a book called Lefty of the Big League by Burt L. Standish of the Merriwell book fame. I saw it in a Flat Lay Friday group photo of objects for sale on Instagram and grabbed it up on a whim for Valentine’s Day. Kim is a Merriwell fan and miraculously it seems he has not read this other book by Standish. I was performing well until I handed him the package to open! Alas, timing is everything but the love and the thought were there nonetheless.

Not Kim’s copy but this edition.

Meanwhile, today’s card, purchased back in the fall, is wonderful and wild. This woman is a “spider” who has cast her love net and scored this man who is now quite literally her puppet! He looks to be a well-heeled sort of the day, a watch chain stretching across pronounced ample girth, top hat, glasses rather than monocle although they sit atop his head in a jaunty fashion. He wears a print waistcoat, bow tie and jacket with some sort of other print on his fat legs ending in tiny, shiny shoes.

This fellow is smiling and I might point out that he also has a bottle of champagne in one hand and a full glass in the other – if the strings that bind him are obvious, may I say he does not appear to mind in the least.

The hand-colored beauty who is the woman-in-charge sports a green top, trimmed in red hearts (!) and stripes that really make this card for me. (Can I just say, oh to find such an item at a vintage sale and snatch it up!) A slight blush is added to her cheeks, skin and her curly hair which is highlighted brown – all adding to her winsome appeal and, shall we say, allure.

Our manipulating maiden emerges from this spider’s web (tiny tear to her left so maybe it isn’t the first rodeo for this photo set) with fat cloth hearts pinned on in a circle around her. Aside from the green label of his champagne bottle (borrowed from her shirt) and a bit in the top of his champagne glass, our puppet man is left in black and white, aforementioned strings top and bottom quite visible.

I can only really confirm that this card was sent in 1907 – there are three cancellations, two overlapping and European and I cannot verify the month or day although it might be August. This card (which the internet attributes to being Russian maker – again the cancellations make it a bit hard to see) was sent to a Mademoiselle L. Guilloim… on the Avenue de la Gare, Vielsalm, Luxembourg.

Thanks to several readers I now know I can put the image of the note into Google and get a (very) rough translation:

It is a pleasure, my dear,
for the good wishes you sent me. Like a verse, I thank you for it, and I think of it often. For short nights, I will be accused afterwards. I slept very well, a big thank you that the present during your trip? Please reply. Best regards to all your team.

Maria

Sort of interesting to chose such an extraordinary card with no mention of the image, but it seems Maria had other things on her mind.

Whoever Mademoiselle G. was, I am very glad she saw fit to keep this card in fairly pristine condition for me to share with you today and wishing you a romantic week leading up to next Saturday.

Dear Louise

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Pam’s Pictorama Post: Here at Pictorama we’re in lucky black cat territory today. When I reflect on the difference between the British who honor their black cats with being lucky and our own culture’s tendency to assign them bad luck, I think I may have been born on the wrong side of that big pond. This is an English published postcard, never used postally so hard to get a date on it. The image is a fairly common one and I would say this postcard could be from any time from the ‘teens to the forties.

Although the phrase on the card, I will meet you in the evening dear Louise, seems to bounce around (I found it on at least one other, albeit mundane, postcard) I cannot find the precise origin of it. However, one can imagine this sharp looking little fella being a popular image on a postcard. Red bow, tongue out, looking over to the side with huge eyes, he is perched atop a brick wall, rooftops and pipes in the distance with a huge yellow moon rising from the mist. I can see it being just the right cheeky card to send to your loved one for an assignation of sorts.

I have written about the roots of British black cat good fortune before. On the maritime side, they believed that a black cat on board a boat was good luck (perhaps not for the cat although maybe a mousie and rat filled paradise of sorts), and my favorite tradition of giving a bride a black cat on her wedding day – what a very nice wedding gift that would be!

Blackie on the bed in NYC in a recent photo.

As mom to two black cats, Blackie and Beau, I often profess to their particular good nature. I remember that my mother wanted to adopt Beau especially because he was an all black cat and I gather they are less likely to be adopted. There seems to be some truth in that but meanwhile certainly she found herself the most devoted little friend ever. Beauregard would sit on her lap happily for hours if allowed and there is not enough petting in all the world for that cat. He is a great companion.

Beau possessively on my lap one morning in NJ recently.

When his weight became too much for her as she grew more frail, he shifted first to next to her and eventually to the chair next to her where he kept persistent watch over her – really of his own accord and understanding. He did not need to be reminded after he first realized it. At times it would be my job to move him to another room – doctor coming etc. and at first it was difficult. As experienced as I am with cats he wasn’t used to being picked up and carried and he is, frankly, an enormous cat. He allowed it and over time he accepted me as one of his spare humans while mom was the unquestionable primary.

With mom gone more than two years now I am the closest thing to her and when I spend time in NJ he claims as much lap time as he can get. His preference is still sitting in my mom’s recliner chair, and I like to think my way of petting, learned at her knee, is somewhat reminiscent of hers.

Milty, who is actually a small cat, looking like an evil genius in a recent photo.

At times I have felt bad about not trying to bring Beau to New York with us, but he rules the house and the other cats in New Jersey, and I am not convinced that displacing him would make him happier. It was my mother’s wish that they would all continue to live in the house and I promised to at least try and it has worked for the past few years. Beau, Gus and the two girls (Stormy and Peaches) are quite young cats, only Milty is a senior citizen (of slightly indeterminate age – late teens, early 20’s) and he is quite tenacious. Therefore, the Jersey Five remain intact at the house there.