I’m drawn to postcard shows like a moth to a
flame; I’m unable to resist them.
I’ll
spend hours sitting in a nasty folding chair; hours flipping through stacks of
cards, looking for the early ones – early 1900s, that is. They’re easy to spot
by the handwriting and the one-cent postage.
I’m
looking for the messages, mostly; but sometimes I flip them over, and sometimes
I’m pleasantly surprised.
Or
amused.
Or
baffled.
This one got me on all three counts.
This card was mailed in South
Portland , Maine in April of 1911;
addressed to a Miss Ruth Chaplin, who lived in the nearby town of Bridgton
So
she was six years old when somebody sent her this card.
“Easter
Greetings,” it proclaims.
At first glance, first quick glance, I thought it was cute: the old standards – Easter
chicks, a pretty butterfly, etc.
A
perfect card for a six-year old.
But when I looked closer, I was horrified!
One
little chicken, flat on its back in the pathway, stumpy wing flapping on the
ground and little feet sticking upright, looks positively deceased.
The
other seems to be running for its life, legs extended like a sprinter at a
track meet; beak open, eyes intent...
...while
above them both, a menacing butterfly swoops down for the final kill!
Happy Easter to all!
That is pretty bad! You have to wonder - first of all, who would ever pick out such a picture for an Easter card in the first place; and then who would pick out such a card to send to a six-year old . . . or anyone else, for that matter. Good Grief, as Charlie Brown would say!
ReplyDeleteAt first I thought I was seeing things, but then I gave it a good, hard look and realized I wasn't. It really is bad, isn't it?
DeleteA local hardware store has a sign outside advertising Easter Chicks for sale. Ehh -- you know the fate of those poor things once they are no longer cute baby chicks. Cats will have a feast.
ReplyDeleteDo people REALLY do that? Give 'em to their cats? Oh, goodness....
DeleteI’ll never look at butterflies the same way again!
ReplyDeleteWhat WERE they thinking? It's like sci-fi!
DeleteHow bizarre! It makes me wonder if there was perhaps a nursery rhyme or popular ditty - now long forgotten - starring a chick-scaring butterfly, something akin to Chicken Little and the sky falling in.
ReplyDeleteI thought of Chicken Little, too, Brett. But it still doesn't add up. That butterfly is totally creepy to me...and although fairy tales and nursery rhymes can have a "dark side," I still can't figure out what's going on here.
DeleteThis card makes no sense. Or maybe we are all missing something from time past?! (as Brett suggests?)
ReplyDeleteI am so with you on spending hours combing through boxes of old postcards.
I thought I was missing something, too. If you get any ideas, let me know!
Delete