I cannot quite explain, but this is my favourite of the lot. The textures. The nearly fading ink with the slants and pulses from a fountain pen. The old worn corners. The irregular cut on the sides and bottom, because why? What’s in the fringes that they so wanted to remove? And then choose to keep the main postcard?
I’m trying to place where the location is on the photo – it looks like the other side of the banks of London near the Tower Bridge. If the year 1939 is accurate, the bridge wasn’t there yet, and I’m assuming it’s probably the riverbanks of Thames (plus, now that I’ve focused more on the card, they do say “Thames.” Way to go, genius 🙄). I don’t remember the buildings themselves but the ambiance feels familiar.
I love how this represented so much–the history of New Zealand immigrants from The UK then were folks who relocated hoping for a better life, and those who were left behind were likely from the same class status. The communication that might have taken months to be delivered by boat, from one end of the sphere to another. It feels surreal, that something developed and made into a postcard was used in 1939 was sent to one of the furthest places on earth, and somehow, during the 2024 Christmas break, I found it in an antique shop tucked inside a small town a few hours down south of Auckland on a whimsical trip with friends.
(you can click on the photos to expand and inspect it closer yourself)
Anyway, whoever you are, wherever you are, I hope you’ve been keeping well.
