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Health & Fitness

Found: A "Tweet" from 1875

Before Twitter (way before) it was called "Sending a Postcard" and they are easy to collect.

The post card is an interesting phenomenon; once a common form of correspondence, it may someday be referred to as the painfully-slow predecessor of Twitter. A few words scribbled quickly in a box of limited space, open for anyone to read, but often making sense only to the recipient. Post cards can be very collectable, but I never knew why until I started blogging about them - they are visually addictive.

 

As a novelty of communication and a form of advertising, around since the 19th century, there are still millions of post cards out there. They were printed on thick paper stock to survive the handling of the Postal service, which also ensured their longevity.

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 The images, whether cartoon, photo, or lithograph stand as historic documentary, especially if there’s a dated post-mark on the back. However, there was no standard of accuracy and sometimes the image wasn’t quite “true.” Take a look at a favorite topic of mine in the Lover’s Leap card. The location is listed incorrectly and the photo has been enhanced with some brush strokes.

The oldest card I have ever found was the one pictured above from 1875, and the message on the back is great. The birch bark image above has been enhanced by my own hand, and is only proof that the post office will deliver anything.

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The random scenes – Grauman’s Chinese theater, popular characters- Alfred E. Neuman, A comely Victorian girl (with a warning), a humorless posed family in boardwalk photo display – all meant to entertain, all unique pieces of the past whose story is almost gone. Continue reading and  Take a look at this card on the blog, is it a geisha house or are they actors in a play? Maybe you can translate the mystery message on the back.

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