"A seller of kerchiefs" (from the series "Russian types").
Publishing house of P. Von Girgenson. 1900s.
Fantastic postcard from Nadya (Russia).

Moscow (two upper) and Nizhny Novgorod Kremlins.

The postcard from Helena. She lives in South Ostrobothnia (Finland) with her husband and an old black cat.

This multiview postcard arrived from Laura, who lives in Savona (Italy).

Wiki says:
Savona is a seaport and comune in the northern Italian region of Liguria, capital of the Province of Savona, in the Riviera di Ponente on the Mediterranean Sea.
Savona used to be one of the chief seats of the Italian iron industry, having iron-works and foundries, shipbuilding, railway workshops, engineering shops, and a brass foundry.
One of the most celebrated former inhabitants of Savona was the navigator Christopher Columbus, who farmed land in the area while chronicling his journeys. 'Columbus's house', a cottage situated in the Savona hills, lay between vegetable crops and fruit trees. It is just one of many residences in Liguria associated with Columbus.

An ad-card from Rita (Lisbon, Portugal) with forever young Hugh Hefner.

When I first signed a postcard to Deanne (Westland, MI, USA), I didn't know that we will have such interesting correspondence. She sends me real pearls! Two cards related to my beloved Frida in January and now these incredible three artworks:

Marc Chagall
The Glowing Bouquet, 1972. Oil on canvas.
Deanne's favorite painter.

Wiki says:
Marc Chagall (1887-1985), was a Jewish Russian French artist, associated with several major artistic styles and one of the most successful artists of the 20th century. He was an early modernist, and created works in virtually every artistic medium, including painting, book illustrations, stained glass, stage sets, ceramic, tapestries and fine art prints.
Art critic Robert Hughes referred to Chagall as "the quintessential Jewish artist of the twentieth century."
Before World War I, he traveled between St. Petersburg, Paris, and Berlin. During this period he created his own mixture and style of modern art based on his idea of Eastern European Jewish folk culture. He spent the wartime years in Russia, becoming one of the country's most distinguished artists and a member of the modernist avante-garde, initiating the Vitebsk Arts College before leaving again for Paris during 1922.

Norman Rockwell
Who Is Having More Fun?, 1939.
Advertisement for Green Giant canned corn.

Wiki says:
Norman Percevel Rockwell (1894-1978) was a 20th-century American painter and illustrator. His works enjoy a broad popular appeal in the United States, where Rockwell is most famous for the cover illustrations of everyday life scenarios he created for The Saturday Evening Post magazine for more than four decades. Among the best-known of Rockwell's works are the Willie Gillis series, Rosie the Riveter (although his Rosie was reproduced less than others of the day), Saying Grace (1951), and the Four Freedoms series. He is also noted for his work for the Boy Scouts of America (BSA); producing covers for their publication Boys' Life, calendars, and other illustrations.

Maurice Sterne
Entrance of the Ballet, 1904. Oil on canvas.

Wiki says:
Maurice Sterne (1877/78 - 1957) was an American sculptor and painter remembered today for his association with philanthropist Mabel Dodge Luhan. He began his career as a draftsman and painter, and critics noted the similarity of his work, in its volume and weight, to sculpture. A trip to Greece in 1908 introduced him to archaic Greek statues, inspiring him to experiment with the form himself in stone. He also traveled to Bali to paint and sketch, which further informed his later work. He was one of a dozen sculptors invited to compete in the Pioneer Woman statue competition in 1927, which he failed to win.
Sterne died in 1957.

Richard from Guangzhou (South China) sent me this view of Jigong Hill at Xinyang.

Beauties on an Outing  (Detail).
Came from Rosiel (Taiwan)... 

... with the incredible seal she made on the occasion of Year of the Rabbit.

Beauties on an Outing .
Attributed to Li Kung-lin (1049-1106), Sung Dynasty .
Handscroll, ink and colors on silk, 33.4 x 112.6 cm

This work is based on the archaic verse "Beauties on an Outing" by Tu Fu (711-770), who described therein the opulent beauty of the noble ladies of Ch'in, Han, and Kuo (the latter being the elder sister of the famous Yang Kuei-fei). Nine figures are shown here on an excursion on horseback in early spring. The plump ladies and muscular horses as well as the clothing, hairstyles, and coloring all suggest the style of T'ang (618-907) culture and painting. A late Northern Sung (960-1126) copy of a T'ang rendition of this subject is similar in composition to this one. Later connoisseurs, perhaps because Li Kung-lin was said to specialize in figures and horses, attributed it as a copy done by him. Actually, this work was completed probably some time after the Southern Sung period (1127-1279).

Amazing card from Anu (Helsinki, Finland). I adore retro
advertising. And the bicycles, of course*

Finnish stamps are always special!

I was really pleasantly surprised when I opened the envelope from Nina. Five (!) incredible cards with Frida! Thank you my dear Nina, you made me happy :)

Self-portrait Wearing a Velvet Dress, 1926.

Self-portrait with Necklace, 1933.

Frida, c.1943. Photo: Courtesy Guillermo Monroy.

Frida in a white dress.

The Suicide of Dorothy Hale, 1939.

Wiki says:
Dorothy Hale (1905-1938) was an American socialite and aspiring actress who committed suicide by jumping off a building in New York City. Hale was considered a remarkably beautiful woman with less remarkable talents who was introduced to high-society and luxury living. Her husband's death, followed by several unsuccessful relationships, left her financially dependent on her wealthy friends. Artist Frida Kahlo created a famous painting based on the incident titled The Suicide of Dorothy Hale.

Today I received a letter from Felice and it simply fascinated me. It is imbued with the romance and special charm.

"My burning passion
And my deep desire
Like a slow waltz
Will make us dizzy"

A reproduction of the vintage postcard.

Five amazing stamps!!!

Nice retro styled postcard from Irina (Moskow, Russia). Kremlin, Tsarskaya Square.

Stamps are gorgeous!

This postcard came from Natalya (Minsk, Belarus). It is dedicated to the Belarusian folk tradition of Kolyada (Christmas carol), which is celebrated from the end of December to mid January. Our cultures are very close, so here, in Ukraine, we have the same tradition. We sing "kolyadky" during the all Christmas holidays.

The monument of Adam Mickiewicz in Poznań (Poland). Sent be Ewa from Torun.

Wiki says:
Adam Bernard Mickiewicz (1798-1855) was a Polish or Polish-Lithuanian poet of the Romantic period. He was also a publisher and political writer, one of the founding thinkers of a Romantic movement called Polish messianism. He is one of Poland's Three Bards – a national poet of Poland and one of the greatest Slavic language poets alongside Alexander Pushkin. He has also been described as a transformation poet and Slavonic bard. He was the most prominent creator of Romantic drama in Poland compared both at home and in Western Europe to Byron and Goethe. He is known primarily as the author of the poetic novel Dziady and national epic Pan Tadeusz, which is considered the last great epic of Polish-Lithuanian noble culture. Mickiewicz's other influential works include Konrad Wallenrod and Grażyna. All served as inspiration during regional rebellions and as foundations for the concept of Poland as "the Christ of Nations". Mickiewicz was active in the struggle to achieve independence for his homeland, then part of the Russian Empire. Having spent five years in internal exile in central Russia for political activities, he left the Empire in 1829 and spent the rest of his life in exile, settling first in Rome, later in Paris, where he became professor of Slavic literature at the Collège de France. He died, probably of cholera, at Constantinople in the Ottoman Empire, where he had gone to help organize Polish forces to fight against Russia in the Crimean War. His remains were later moved to Wawel Cathedral in Kraków, Poland.

This winter view postcard arrived from Pia (Finland).

One more postcard from Netherlands. It came from Christa who lives in the city Roosendaal.

A women from Nuremberg (Germany) sent me this vintage postcard with a photo by Anni Kunze.

This postcard from Daniel depicts two span-, 280 ft. long Dummerston Bridge, built by Celeb B. Lamson in 1872. It is Vermont's longest covered bridge and historically one of the most important of its in United States. This bridge carries East-West Road over the West River.

A photo with the monument of wooden architecture in Tomsk (Russia). Came as a postcard from Natalia.

Ryazan Kremlin

Postcard from Janet, English woman living in Canada.

Wiki says:
The Vancouver Public Library is the third largest public library system in Canada, with 22 branches, over 395,000 cardholders and more than 8 million item borrowings annually. The central branch opened in Downtown Vancouver on May 26, 1995 and cost 106.8 million CAD to build. It currently holds over 2.25 million items.

Amazing stamps! The upper right stamp is dedicated to Ukrainian pysanka erected in Vegreville, Alberta (Canada) in 1974. This is the world's largest pysanka which was commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

I dreamed about a postcard from India. Now I have one & it is definitely one of the most beautiful that I ever received! Sita from Mumbai sent it to me. It depicts a girl from Rajasthan (the largest state of the Republic of India) in her traditional outfit.

The stamp is also incredible.

Deanne from Michigan (USA) sent me those two amazing cards with Frida. Thank you so so much, I adore them!

Frida Kahlo painting Self-portrait on the Borderline Between Mexico and the United States in the Detroit Institute of Arts mural project studio, 1932. Photograph by W.J. Stettler. 

Frida and her husband, Diego Rivera, embrace on the scaffolding erected for the painting of the Detroit Industry frescoes, 1932. Photograph by W.J. Stettler. 

The card from California Wine Country sent by Julie. July loves Lady Earl Grey tea and the smell of freshly rained on pavement.

Wiki says:
The Wine Country is a region of Northern California in the United States known worldwide as a premium wine-growing region. Viticulture and wine-making have been practiced in the region since the mid-19th century. There are over 400 wineries in the area north of San Francisco, mostly located in the area's valleys, including Napa Valley in Napa County, and the Sonoma Valley, Alexander Valley, Dry Creek Valley, Bennett Valley, and Russian River Valley in Sonoma County. Wine grapes are also grown at higher elevations, such as Atlas Peak and Mount Veeder AVAs. The region is defined not only in terms of viticulture, but also its ecology, geology, architecture, cuisine, and culture. The majority of the grape harvest, in terms of both area and value, derives from Sonoma County.

Please adopt a shelter pet!