Postcard #1 - Good Luck

When I go to antique shops, something I love looking though is the bins of old postcards. I can (usually) find some really interesting ones for a great price!

I spend ages sorting through the stacks of postcards, reading through them until I find ones with uniqute messages. Those are the ones I buy.

For example, a postcard that I bought fairly recently:



It reads "Good Luck" inside a four-leaf clover with some flowers (sweet peas? pansies? violets? - I'm hopeless at identifying flowers).



And the back has a message written in the area for "addresses only" (it was never sent, so unfortunately there's no date. I'd guess between 1905 and 1915 because of the ink and the fact that it was in a bin of other postcards dated around that time). It reads:

I think it
was Grace. Have
I guess [sic] right? Thank
you very much for
the card. hoping you
are all well.
Lovingly yours,
Laura

I just wish I knew the story behind it! (In case you haven't caught on by now, I'm big on the story behind things :D ) What did Grace do? Was she right? Who did Laura give this to? Did she ever even give it? Were they all well?! If only I knew.

But I guess that's what imaginations are for.

A Story from 1834

Today I went to a booksale that the public library was holding and I came across several books that I just had to buy. One of my absolute favorites was this book that I found in the "Better Books" section for $10 (today was 50% off day!).

It's called "The Works of Laurence Sterne, in One Volume: with A Life of the Author, Written by Himself" and was published in 1834.

1834.

This is officially the oldest book I own.

In the front of the book, Thomas, the presumed owner of the book, wrote his name and the date "5th April 1837". The day he bought it? I love the old ink and his amazing handwriting.

One of the parts of the book that struck me as particularly interesting is that the images in the body of the text were glued in!

There was only one image in the main body of the text, but I did come across pages like this that made me think that perhaps it was where more pictures were originally but have fallen out over the years. I can only guess, though.

There were also three scraps of paper that I can only assume are bookmarks.

They were stuck in the middle of the book, so does that mean the reader never went back to finish?

At first I thought this one was a very old piece of ribbon until I turned it over and saw that it was a strip of newspaper.

And, lastly, in the back cover of the book, someone has written "See Eclectic Magazine, Sept. 1864." No clue as to why it's there, but I love it.

It's quite worn, but it has a history and such character. It will definitely get a place of honor on my bookshelves!