Showing posts with label Russia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Russia. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Happy New Year, in a Russian winter postcard

RU-3269709

What better way to say "Happy New Year" than with a postcard?

This lovely Russian postcard, Postcard RU-3269709, (the text reads "Happy New Year" in Russian) came to me via Postcrossing. It's a vintage reprint complete with a lovely ornate design on the back, and something about the snow-covered cottage by a lake really speaks to me. I feel the cozy, inward-turning of wintertime, but the yellow sunrise in the sky lights the promise of a new year. Hmm... am I feeling a little extra poetic-romantic today? Perhaps, but I wish all my blog readers a very Happy New Year as we move into 2015. An added bonus was the very sweet message on this card: it was the sender's first Postcrossing card, and she was quite excited about it. I am honored to be the recipient of her first card! She is sure to be an enthusiastic Postcrosser, and of course enthusiasm brings the most fun.

DE-3782357

I've had some great Postcrossing adventures lately, with some wonderful cards received; above is one of my favorites, DE-3782357 from Germany, with a vintage illustration from 1890 of cats on a train. I don't know why this one delights me so much, but it does. Maybe because I like cats and trains both, and the cats on this train look so very civilized and serious, while also looking utterly ridiculous. (The cat illustrations from the late 1800s often share these traits.)

I also get a kick out of the fact that both these postcards I'm featuring today are vintage reproductions. Those seem to be very popular these days - and I certainly enjoy them myself!

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Tsar Nicholas II postcard... and stamp?

Tsar Nicholas II postcard

This excellent postcard of Tsar Nicholas II came to me from a Swap-bot swap for a famous person postcard. I really love the mood of this image, and of course we know that Nicholas II had a very bloody history, as the postcard sender noted in what she wrote to me. Here, he appears aboard the yacht "Polar Star" in the early 1900s. I love the dog next to him.

Russian postcard stamps

I'm also quite taken with the stamps... is that oval also showing Tsar Nicholas II? I can't really tell, there's no name, but they certainly look similar. Anyone know?

**UPDATE:** Thank you, educated blog readers - it is Chekhov, a stamp commemorating the 150th anniversary of his birth.