USA - Washington

Ellen Clapsaddle, Postcard Circa 1910

This very festive Halloween postcard of a boy holding a jack-o-lantern with a black cat perched on his shoulder was sent to me by my friend Val from Washington state last year.  

The card is a reproduction of an original postcard made by the artist Ellen Clapsddle (January 8, 1865 - January 7, 1934).  While one of the most prolific postcard maker of her day, she was in Germany at the start of the First World War and was unable to return to the US until after the war when her business partners went searching for her.  They found her destitute, ill, and suffering from a mental breakdown due to the war.  

According to the wikipedia article linked above, her art work is still quite praised and sought after by collectors over eighty years after her death..  

Czech Republic

CZ-633837

Zátiší s Reprodukcí a Novinovou Fotografií

In the category of "why would someone make this art?" comes this postcard.  The card is of Czech artist Michal Cihlář (born September 16, 1960 - , Prague)'s work Still Life with Reproduction and Newspaper Photos.  He has no English wikipedia page, but his Czech-language page can be found here. 

Germany

DE-4043840

Wildkatzen

This beautiful card of some small wild cats came with this beautiful double-postage panoramic stamp of Dresden.

USA - Washington

Moulin d. Edam, 1896 by Paul Signac (1863-1935)

This card, sent by my friend Val, during a notable slump in receiving post cards in April 2015.  It is a beautiful example of pointillism!  

Australia

Melbourne, Australia

This card of Melbourne, Australia was sent by my friend Bec on Livejournal.  

USA - California

Albert Einstein in Berlin, December 1932

This card, sent from my friend Melissa came with the large tear at the top of the card.  On the back, Melissa, jokingly wrote, that Bigfoot tore the card!

China

CN-1567982

Casablanca

A poster of the classic film Casablanca.

Taiwan

TW-1586287

The House of Reverends in Tamsui Taiwan, build in 1909.

USA - Wasington

Museum

This card comes from my friend Chanele in Seattle.  The drawing is by French artist Robert Mallet Stevens (1886-1945) and is of "Museum": Plate 3 from  A Modern City, publisedh by Benn Brothers Ltd in London in 1922.  

If this card looks a bit familiar, a card from the same set, "Theater" was one of my expired/lost postcards that was mailed on May 14, 2014.  You can see that card's page here.

Russia

RU-3661338

Arhangelsk, Russia

This card of  Arhangelsk or Archangel, Russia shows the Dvina River.

Latvia

LV-164839

Riga, 1840

Dipected in this cad is a Panorama of Riga, the capital of the Baltic nation of Latvia.  The watercolor is dated to circa 1840 and is house in the National History Museum of Latvia.

Belarus

BY-1557279

Welcome to Belarus

The castle complex of Mir, Belarus made in the 16th- 20th centuries.

China

CN-1543736

Birds.  

This card, sent by user Wangshu, is a Chinese New Year card sent in 2015.  It came with the below beautiful stamps.

Brazil

BR-340696

Sao Paulo - Ponte Estaiada

This horizontal postcard of features the Octávio Frias de Oliveira Bridge in Sao Paulo, Brazil.  The back of the card features these three stamps as well.

USA - Indiana

Arches and mosaics in the Quire.

This card, sent from my friend Rose one she got when she studied abroad in England in 2005.

Czech Republic

CZ-616755

Plzen

The image of the card is the sender's library in Plzen, Czech Republic.

Belarus

BY-1557140

The Kiss, by Gustav Klimt

This card, which came from Minsk, Belarus, was bought in Vienna where the painting is on view.  

United Kingdom

Cornwall

This card of a beach with boats and an assortment of fishing equipment taken at Portwrinkle, Cornwall, comes from my friend Bryony in Wales.  Cornwall is a county in the southwest of Great Britain.  

Germany

DE-4018357

Air-Berlin: We fly Europe

This wonderful card of a Boeing 737-400 for Air Berlin Airline is wonderful!  I love card of airplanes of commercial airlines!

Netherlands

NL-2911126

This is a rare non-postcard Postcrossing card of an oil painting  called Black Mesa, by Santa Fe, New Mexico artist Jane Chermayeff.

USA - Oregon

.

This card, sent from my friend Kate who now lives in what she calls "SwitzerFrance" is from the Museum of Natural History at the University of Oregon in Eugene Oregon.  It is of a 1987 Hammer copper salmon by Wayne Chabre.

China

CN-1605468

Wu Zhen, China, apparently the "Venice of the East"

Taiwan

TW-1540744

A map of Taiwan featuring various features and attractions of the country.

Belarus

BY-1569386

Zubr (European Bison)

This card of a European Bison with various facts about the animal is beautiful.  I have actually received this card twice.  This is the first time I received it, on March 31, 2015

United Kingdom

Wales

This horizontal card is a little bit hard to read, but it says:

 Llanfair­pwllgwyngyll­gogery­chwyrn­drobwll­llan­tysilio­gogo­goch

The name was created up in the 1860s and is the longest village name in Great Britain and is pronounced (at least as the back of the card claims):

LLAN-FAIR-PWLL-GWYN-GYLL-GO-GER-YCH0BROB-WLL-LLAN-TY-SILIO-GO-GO-GOCH

Which, as the sender, my friend Bryony from Wales, accurately mentions...is pretty much useless unless you actually know Welsh!  The name means: "Saint Mary's Church in a hollow of white hazel near the swirling whirlpool of the church of Saint Tysilio with a red cave"

 Believe it or not, Llanfair­pwllgwyngyll­gogery­chwyrn­drobwll­llan­tysilio­gogo­goch with it's 58 characters is not the longest single-word official place name in the world.  That distinction goes to Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu, which is the name of a hill in New Zealand in the Moari language.  The word contains 97 characters and translates to "The summit where Tamatea, the man with the big knees, the climber of mountains, the land-swallower who travelled about, played his nose flute to his loved one"

  

USA - Ohio

Detail of The Song of the Nightingale, by William Adolphe Bouguereau (1825-1905).  This painting is in the Dayton Art Institute in Dayton, Ohio and is probably one of my favorite pieces in that museum.

Netherlands

NL-2892109

ino de groot

This postcard of people apparently on a raft at sea with a yellow flag doesn't really say who the people in the image are.  They appear to possibly be castaways looking for a rescue.

USA - Washington

"They Tried To Teach My Baby Science"

This card, sent by my friend Chanele, is of an article from the satirical newspaper/news website The Onion, spoofing a women mother upset that her 11 year old was being taught biology and a joke at the bottom saying that inside is a story called "Five Valuable Lessons in Humility I Opt to Ignore: by Donald Trump 

Netherlands

NL-2721731

The Threatened Swan, 1640-52

This card of the above-listed painting was made by Jan Asselin.  

Netherlands

NL-2934247

Holland

This card of a windmill with a field of tulips is a beautiful image of the Netherlands.

France

Paris

This direct swap card comes from Italian Postcrossing user Ellii who was currently in Paris.  It shows beautiful sights around the city.