Interesting things to do with postage stamps

Here’s an original postcard. The flowers have been cut out from postage stamps. I can see stamps from the US, Argentina and France. The card was sent in 1923 to announce a wedding on 4th June.

Don't deliver on Sundays

The more I looked at this postcard the more interesting it became. A souvenir of Belgian stamps from 1905 – but are they real stamps? I’m not sure and I’m not going to scratch at them to find out. Looking at the back of the postcard, it’s clear that the outlines of the stamps are in relief. At the bottom of each stamp is a piece that can be detached, or not, saying “Don’t deliver on Sundays”

Hotel Brighton and much more

 A great number of large hotels were built along the broadwalk at Atlantic city in the late 19th century. The Hotel Brighton was one of the many hotels demolished in the 70s and 80s.

This is a postcard that I can get my teeth into. Why is it marked “Private Mailing Card” and what was the act of Congress of May 19 1898?

 The act of congress allowed postcards to be sent in the post at the lower rate of 1c instead of 2c like a letter. “Private Mailing Card” meant that the postcard was produced by a private publisher rather than the United States Postal Service. Many cards were marked “Postal Card – Carte Postale” which meant that they could enter the international system.

 Because the postcard was sent to France in 1901, the stamp is a 2c commemoration stamp,  marked “Fast Express”, worth about $2 today – if you’re lucky!

 Information about the postal system comes from the Smithsonian Institute website

The Language of stamps

Did you know that you have to be careful when you place a stamp on an envelope? This postcard was produced for a philatelic exhibition in Paris in 1941. The stamps were all real, stuck on especially for the postcard.

Here is a translation for the next time you send a love letter through the post:

Straight: You don’t love me
Upside-down: I don’t dare.
To the left: Ardent love
To the right: The beginnings of love
Horizontal right: Tenderly yours
Horizontal left: Passionately yours




Click on the postcards for a better view.

More of Easter

These three were produced for Easter. Slightly newer than the previous card, I was pleased to find the set while sorting through a pile of postcards. Though they have stamps and are franked they were never sent through the post. I wonder if some collectors bought their cards and took them sraight to the post office to be made 'official'. Unfortunately I can't read the year.

If you would like to see them in more detail just click in the image.