Antique Post Cards

I was checking through some old paper downstairs and came across a wonderful post card. It featured a scene I remember well; the Ponce de Leon Monument and Circle in St. Augustine, Florida. There are old cars in the circle but the thing that jogged my memory and brought a smile was the horse-drawn carriage.

Our daughters were 6 and 7 when we first took them to Florida and stayed in St. Augustine for 3 nights. (The first few days were in Orlando.) We took a carriage ride around the city and while parents sometimes over-react to the possibility of a runaway horse, this time there was no need for concern. This horse was sway-backed and definitely an oldie. The driver’s name was Freddie, the horse, ironically, was called Lightning. Freddie told us his papa had driven the carriages before him and it seemed natural to ‘follow in his hoof-prints.’ Freddie also shared with us a bit of his own history and told us he had been born in “ought-7.” This was the early 70s, and in retrospect, he was not really that old. But at the time, he seemed ancient. He told us stories about the city but to be honest, not much of that stuck. I just remember the girls in the carriage, smiling and listening to his slow, southern drawl. They asked a few questions about old Lightning’s past but Freddie did not know too much. He had been in some parades he recalled and owned by a wealthy family and probably had a pretty good life, or so Freddie said. The tour was over an hour long but it seemed to fly by. The kids wanted pictures with them, those must be somewhere in the attic. May be time to get some of those out of storage!

Seeing this old penny postcard also reminded me of the seafood restaurant we’d gone to on this trip. It, too, was in St. Augustine, and as I recall, we were seated at a window table. The view was wonderful and the food so good! It was only my second time having shrimp. Being from the mid-west, it was not made at home and not until my prom did I taste these delightful morsels. The girls had “kiddie – plates”, supposedly smaller portions for a minimal cost. But they got shrimp, fish and scallops, plus fries and cole slaw. Although they were ravenous from a day in the sun, they could not possibly finish it all and dad and I were glad to help. I especially enjoyed the scallops and from that day on, they have become one of my all-time favorites.

We enjoyed our first trip to Florida and were very award of the danger of being in the sun too much. But our 2^nd last day there, we rented a little rowboat and went fishing in a small bay. We made the mistake of leaving our suntan lotion in the car. But we were not too worried since it was overcast. Boy, was that a mistake! We all got a bad sunburn. Hubby had to run to a late-night pharmacy to get some lotion to spread on our arms, faces and legs. It helped but none of us slept much that night. We learned a lot from that experience and were much more cautious on our next trip.

Now who would think that finding an old postcard could bring back so many fond memories? But it sure did. I know there are a lot of old postcard lovers out there and imagine many of those collections started by one picked up on a family vacation. What a fun, and inexpensive, collectible.

Before wifey replaces the Easter décor lovingly displayed around the house with the next season’s selections (whatever that might be), I felt we should explore the collection we have and entice you to start or keep your own collection growing.

The Easter Holiday evokes fond memories of our childhood, with the Easter Bunny bringing wonderful chocolate bunnies, yellow Peeps, Jelly Bellys, chocolate covered marshmallow and cream filled eggs. The holiday was preceded by the creation of colored and decorated Easter eggs, stored in woven wooden baskets with colored “straw” cushions.

Easter takes a back seat to the more prolific Christmas and Halloween collectibles market for decorating or display. Although the selection may be more limited, the colors of pale pink, green, yellow, lavender and blue brighten and bring a touch of spring into the home.

The bunny, a symbol of fertility and spring dating from pre-Christian time, was introduced into this country in the mid to late 1800s with migration of German settlers into Pennsylvania. The edible bunny soon became a popular treat made of pastry and lots of sugar.

The tradition of eggs, and chicks and bunnies for Easter is well documented in post cards from the beginning of the century with many produced by German printers. Today they present a wonderful opportunity for collecting, and while some post card collectors prefer clean backs, I enjoy reading the “To and from” and the hand written greeting or message of love and consider the dated canceled stamp an important part of the sense of time and travel these cards have journeyed. These can be easily displayed on small plate stands on a shelf or in a collage framed on the wall.

Baskets made of different materials are found at antique stores at this time of year, as are paper cutouts, child’s plates and bowls decorated with bunnies and chicks.

Figurines are the biggest variety of collectibles and come in many sizes from all sorts of manufacturers in materials ranging from bone china to papier mache’, and in forms that include baskets to hold candies and even in the form of tea pots.

Candy molds and Easter lamb cake molds are another dimension to Easter collecting. The lamb cake was usually chocolate with white frosting and topped with white cocoanut shavings, and green died shavings formed its bed. The lamb’s eyes were jelly beans and a leftover Valentine candy heart formed its mouth. Mom knew how to extract the cake from her cast iron mold, and please our eyes and taste buds.

The candy molds rest nicely opened on a shelf or counter top or hung on a wall, and can be displayed all year long with a collection of primitive kitchen items.

Our bunny mold was purchase from the estate of a confectionist in Green Bay, Wisconsin many years ago and has been displayed in season. The chocolate egg mold from the Droste Chocolate Co. in Holland, was purchased a short while ago in Rockford, Illinois at the recently re-opened State St. Mall. These heavy metal molds are not common, but as any collector will attest, the harder the search the greater the reward.

May the Bunny bring you sweet rewards, and your collections grow on chicken feed.