A Favourite Theme: Reading People

Lesen in den Ferien ('Reading during the holidays'), ca. 1900
Carl Larsson (1853-1919)

De pretenliefhebber (Dr. Aegidius Timmerman), 1898-1900
Jan Toorop (1858-1928)

Sent by Eve (Germany), Heleen (the Netherlands) and Bryon (the USA).

Do Not You Sometimes Feel Like Using Childish Stationery?

Letters sent to Laura (the UK), Bryon and Phillip (the USA).

Order & Structure

«I visit the post office once a month for stamps. I never buy seasonal stamps, only your classic star and stripes, because there is a certain structure, an ORDER, that needs to obeyed. If you keep the mechanism in order, the the contents of the correspondence, the material of the letters I mean, can go anywhere. Be anything. You can write to anyone. You can say anything you like.»

Virginia Evans, The Correspondent

(Thanks, Bryon!)

Sunday Stamps | S Is for Seasons

On January 24, 2021, in Barnesville, Georgia, the United States Postal Service issued the Barns stamps (Non-denominated priced at the Postcard rate) in 4 designs.

The stamps celebrate the beauty and history of American barns. The artist created digital paintings of four types of iconic barns found in the rural American landscape. With differing qualities of light and color, each piece reflects one of the four seasons:

• A round barn surrounded by the hazy light and warm colors of fall;
• A gambrel-roofed barn in summer;
• A forebay barn in an early spring countryside; and
• A Western barn on a winter’s night.

Ashley Walton designed the stamps with original artwork by Kim Johnson. Greg Breeding was the art director.

Information taken from here. This is my S post for A-Z Sunday Stamps.

Postbox Saturday | Rossell

The postbox of Rossell, next to a street mural that say: Planta't contra la violència (='Stand up against violence').

Lighthouses in Brittany

Heleen (the Netherlands) sent this postcard with a painting of the famous lighthouse or Ar-Men, and an adventure from 100 years ago:

Achille Beltrame (1871-1945). "The keeper of the lighthouse of Ar Men, on the French coast, had remained isolated from the mainland for 53 days due to bad weather conditions. He managed, thanks to a dangerous acrobatic journey, to return to land (1926).

The same lighthouse appears on the following postcard sent by Fabienne (France):

And some more lighthouses in Brittany, all sent by Fabienne as well:

Île Vierge

St-Georges-de-Didonne

La Vieille

Thursday Postcard Hunt | Typographies

Postcard sent by Fabienne (France).

Postcard arrived from Australia, no clue why the sender chose it, but I like the typography. I have no read this book.

Maxicard sent by Bryon (the USA), with different postmarks, showing the iconic Route 66. Just three days ago I wrote in a comment that I like these stamps, and yesterday this landed!

There are different postmarks on the stamps, front and back of the postcard:

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Thursday Postcard Hunt
June theme: SHAPES

• Week 1 - Letters
• Week 2 - Curves
• Week 3 - Lines
• Week 4 - Irregular/Wavy

Everyone is welcome to share their postcards!

Mail Labels from China

Receiving a Letter Then vs Now

From Itchy Feet, by Malachi Ray Rempen.

(Although this might not apply to the readers of this blog...).

Women on Postcards | Q Is for Quote

«I am sorry to tell you that I am getting very extravagant and spending all my money ant what is worse for you, I HAVE BEEN SPENDING YOURS TOO.»
Jane Austen, Letter from April 18, 1911

Actually, I have a small collection of Jane Austen postcards. Let me use this for Q, because it is a very difficult letter!

[Women on Postcards - 2026]

Sunday Stamps | R Is for Raccoon

Three different versions of the raccoon issued by USPS in 1978, 1987 and 2025.

Go to Sunday Stamps to see more R-related stamps today.

Without Having Much to Say

«Every at all addicted to letter-writing, without having much to say, which will include a large proportion of the female world at least [...] »

Jane Austen, Mansfield Park

The Whole Journey

Westerhevesand , built in 1908, must be the best-know lighthouses in northern Germany. This postcard was sent by David via Postcrossing. 

The sender was king enough to add a couple of stamps of lighthouses (and two more of the nice series World of Letters).

Usually, when I receive a postcard from Postcrossing, I upload the image to my wall. Sometimes I find that the sender had already uploaded it before sending it. I like the idea of ​​the sender of this postcard: it's like we can know about its previous life, and see the whole journey.

And the same with other Postcrossing postcards from the USA and Belarus:

Thursday Postcard Hunt | Grizedale Forest

The scenes depict the Royal Mail Post Bus at various points on its run from Ulverston to the Grizedale Forest in the English Lake District. This bus was the third to be introduced in Lakeland --Its first run was on 4th June, 1979. The service combines mail runs with carrying passengers and goods in remote parts where there is not other public transport.

Vintage postcard, but received from Laura (the UK) a month ago.

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Thursday Postcard Hunt
May theme: PARKS AND GARDENS

• Week 1 - National Parks
• Week 2 - Public Gardens
• Week 3 - Beaches
• Week 4 - Forests

Everyone is welcome to share their postcards!

Women on Postcards | F Is for Film Festival

Postcard sent by Fabienne (France).

[Women on Postcards - 2026]