... I was recently given a very large assortment of vintage and antique postcards.
Several of them are from the Netherlands and seem to indicate a relative there.
"Happy New Year
Annie - Jo -
Anna-bella and Peter
Maertens, Small ? 3"
"Hedon was brief ont vongen en als be komst bent u zier welkoms wasst wij verlongen ols u nog eins to hien. Gegroet Peter en Anna" which translates to "Hedon received a letter and when you arrive you are very welcome, and we longed you for a while. Regards Peter and Anna"
The Dutch appears to be a return address.
Unfortunately, they are all undated, and most of the postmarks are illegible or simply not there.
Some of them made me laugh out loud.
"Hello folks, Greetings from the Land of the Rising Sun. I've gone strongly for Japanese girls. Regards, Austin.
"Well at least I am sober enough to visit this. Austin"
"Having a swell time. Coming home this week. Ella"
The below postcards seem to come from the same [American] person in France, and the fashion of clothing in some of the images seems to indicate that they were pre-WW1.
[Pvt. E. F. Van Develder; Bty E 308 F.A. AEF] "Dear Sister, Received your letter was very glad to hear you are all well. I see you got one of my letters after a long wait. I sent several but I guess you don't get very many of them. Will write you a letter in a day or so. I thought I would drop you a card to let you know I received your letter. From Brother Ed"
[from same] Dear Sister, Just a line to let you know I am well and hope you are the same. Did you get the letter I sent you from Grenoble. I haven't time to write a letter now but will take time before long. Good bye from Ed.
[from same] [stamp area says Soldiers Mail] "Dear Sister, I am well and hope you are the same. I am at Grenoble in the Alps on leave having a good time. Will send some views later. I haven't time to write tonight but will write a letter in a few days. from Ed."
With them was the envelope below which does have a legible postmark on it from May 25th, 1918, almost 103 years ago, when WW1 was nearing an end.
I'm a bit of a history geek and may see if I can track down the family.
I find the photographs interesting but I am most taken by the handwriting. Perhaps this is why cursive writing is not being taught in schools. It makes it difficult to read vintage writing. Good luck finding relatives.
ReplyDeleteYes, the handwriting is beautiful even if a little hard to read, and most of it looks to be a dipped ink as compared to what we use now. I'll have to go back and add what they say as much as I can decipher anyway. I was also interested to see that none of them had zip codes and wonder what year those became a requirement for mail. Some were also written in pencil, and I would never dare to send a postcard in pencil today.
DeleteThanks so much Cindi for reaching out to me about my family heritage! The postcards from Edward F VanDevelder belong to the family on my dad's side. He's absolutely ecstatic to have this addition to our modest collection of family history. A true gem! Thank you thank you!
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