Vintage Postcards

Hello there, hope you are having a great weekend!

Yesterday as I was sorting through some things, I came across a set of 7 vintage postcards that I'd almost forgotten about.  I bought them last year from a neighbor's yard sale, and was first attracted to the fact that several of them were from Paris.  When I got home and began reading them, I was amazed at the stories they told!  They all were sent to a Miss Kate Lannen, who originally lived in L.A., then moved to Toledo, Ohio.  The earliest one was from 1935!  Kate's friend (or maybe a cousin?), named Annabel sent it from Edinburgh, Scotland, and said that she and her Dad had also been to France, Italy, Germany, Belgium, and were on there way to Wales. Now, in the 21st century it is so easy to hop on a plane here in the US and end up in Europe in 8 hours or less (depending on where you live).  Imagine though back in 1935, how long it would take!  I don't know when transatlantic flights became common, but I am sure it wasn't in the mid 30's!  So Annabel and her Dad would've taken a ship, which I imagine could take weeks!  Also, travel back then wasn't something the average person could afford, so one would have to be fairly well off.  That was also a time when travel seemed so exotic and romantic. Long security lines and pat downs were unheard of!

Five of the other postcards were from a Betty.  That Betty really got around!  It's hard to read the dates postmarked on all of Betty's cards, but it looked like she sent them from 1960-1967.  Betty sure was one adventurous lady!  She visited Paris, Portugal, Amsterdam, England, Germany, and Ireland, where she mentioned going to the Blarney Castle.I wonder if she kissed the Blarney Stone?!  In the postcard that she sent of Trevi Fountain in Rome, Betty wrote "Arrived here the other day and it's a glorious place! Had an audience with the Pope yesterday and I cried like a baby all get out, it was so thrilling."  Wow!  I bet that was one of the highlights of her life!

The one postcard that really stood out to me though was sent by a young soldier named Walter. Was Walter Kate's  beau?  He must have been, or at least I wanted to think he was!  He sent Kate a card from Paris June 29th, 1945, (soon after the war was over!).  This is what he said :  "Hello "Micky",  Suppose you are wondering what has happened to me since coming overseas.  It is quite a long story by now, for I have really seen beaucoup miles pass by. I was fortunate to spend a three day pass in Paris.  Sure is a lovely place."   Ok, the romantic in me really got excited!  I could imagine Walter returning to the states after his tour of duty was over, courting Kate, proposing, and settling down to raise a family.  I quickly scanned all of the postcards sent to Kate after 1945, but sadly, they were still addressed to "Miss Kate Lannen"! So much for that notion!

At any rate, I couldn't help but wonder what the lives of these people were like. People that I never met.  Betty, Kate, Walter, Annabel.........How quickly I was transported back in time!  Getting just a tiny glimpse into the lives of these people was really fascinating to me!  And I still can't help but feel letdown that Walter and Kate did not live happily ever after!