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Otto Wagner Armchair
The chair is in a Minnesota museum. The card is with us. Mailed from Netherlands with a machine-generated label, and address label pasted on. Grade: 4
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Elderly Irish Woman
This is actually a Russian internet card, captioned in English, but mailed from Russia in 2012 with three stamps (one uncancelled) and postmark. Grade: 1
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Anna Kulikova
Mailed from Russia in 2012 with stamp, postmark, and address label affixed. Grade: 4
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American Weekly – cover art
The issue of American Weekly was November 25th, 1956. The postcard was mailed from Taiwan in 2012 with two different stamps and Taipei postmark. We don’t know what to make of the reverse. Though it looks very heavily aged and stained, we believe this is part of the card’s design. It’s probably not aged much, if at all. To be safe, we give it Grade: 3
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Coronation jewels of Czech Kings
Mailed in 2012 with stamp and Praha postmark. Grade: 1
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Lost in the Future
In this variant of “Where’s Waldo,” you are to find robots, aliens, and hands in the pocket. Mailed from Canada in 2012 with four stamps but indistinct postmark. Rounded corners. Grade: `
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Tree (China)
Small (4″ x 4-3/4″) card mailed from China in 2012 with a large “stadium” stamp and Shanghai postmark. Grade: 1
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Hassan, alter Grieche!
We really respect Google Translate but have to smile when it renders something like this as a German translation for the text: “Hassan, ancient Greek! Make two times curry fries mud!” The postcard was mailed in 2012. One of the two stamps is ripped; postmark is there. Grade: 4
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Evian (Finland)
Bottle-shaped card, produced in and mailed from Finland in 2012. The caption on the back reads “Tipatonta tammikuuta!” but all we got out of that was “January”. Stamp, partial postmark, and blue Priority label. Grade: 2
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Superman No. 1 Comics cover
Mailed from Canada in 2012 but the stamp was cancelled by pen. Grade: 4
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“Two of a Kind” on the Desert
Just an old, unused card. Grade: 3
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IKEA Typography
This 5-1/8″ x 7-1/8″ card was mailed from Canada in 2012, with one stamp and full postmark. Grade: 1
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Old USA house
Typical of similar self-ordered cards of the era, this unused postcard evokes so much. How we would like to meet those people, and hear their stories. Remember, folks, 100 years from now, someone else will be saying the same thing about all of us now. Aged, but still Grade: 1
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Looking Good
Internet card, made in the U.K. and mailed from Netherlands in 2012. Grade: 2
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Svajoniu issipildymo metas … (Lithuania)
Dreams came true … on this card mailed from Lithuania in 2012 with stamp, postmark, and Prioritaire imprint. Grade: 1
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Snow globe (China)
Mailed from China in 2012 with stamp and postmark, and part of a red Par Avion imprint. Grade: 2
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Wszystkiego dobrego! (Poland)
Meaning “All the best” in Polish, and that’s what you would say to this card if you tried to mail it the normal way. It is printed on extraordinarily thin paper, and in fact was sent in an envelope, with a message written on the back. Grade: 4
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Skip to My Loo
Very nice, unused outhouse postcard, 4-7/8″ x 6-1/2″. Grade: 1
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Tree sprout
Mailed from Germany in 2012, with three different stamps, and postmark. Abrasions on the front. Grade: 4
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Angry Birds (Finland)
We are quite a long way away from opening a new “Angry Birds” category, and up until now, “Hello Kitty” has the lead by a paw. This card was mailed from Finland in 2012, with stamp, Priority label, and full Kuopio postmark. Lower left front corner has a small crumple. Grade: 2
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High Kicks
Printed in The Netherlands but mailed from Poland in 2012 with three stamps, blue bilingual Priorytet label, and faint postmarks. Grade: 1
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Join Hands!
Mailed from Germany with stamp and much of the postmark. Grade: 1
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Miss Lube Rack (USA)
If you happen to have been “Miss Lube Rack,” let us know, and we’ll get the card to you. Mailed from USA with four different stamps and faint postmark. Grade: 1
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If the outlook is not good Try the uplook
Just one of many cards we know we should understand right away, but somehow we don’t. Mailed in 1911, the stamp and postmark are there. Grade: 3
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There are no borders
This seems to be an ad card for “The Tunnel” in New York. Maybe. Mailed from Holland in 2013 with stamp and postmark. Grade: 2
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Snowboarding
Not quite skiing. Mailed from Norway with stamp, faint postmark, and A Prioritaire label affixed. Grade: 1
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Miscellaneous Chinese set
The scan shows the back cover of a set of 32 unused cards from China, uncaptioned, with everything from bicycles (lots of them) to surfboards to the Eiffel Tower. If you are looking closely, you will see the graphic says there are 32 “sheets” (cards) but shows 34 photos. Sadly, the correct number of cards is 32, and we aren’t taking the time to determine which two of those photos don’t exist. Grade: 1
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Coffee cup and roasted beans
If we ever decide to go unconventional and open new, strange categories like “Drinks in cups,” this card will lead the way. Mailed from Germany with stamp and partial, illegible postmark. Grade: 2
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Bird and lantern (PR China)
This is the kind of card that makes you wonder: why would they choose this for me? Yet, someone did. Mailed from China in 2013 with stamp and full postmark. Grade: 1
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Children (Netherlands)
Mailed from Netherlands in 2013, with stamp, postmark, and extra stickers on the back. Grade: 4
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Elephant Walk
We wish we had enough circus postcards to open a new category, but we’re not there yet. This old photo (1925) is on a contemporary internet card, mailed from Russia in 2013 with two overlapping stamps and postmark. Grade: 3
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Coffee and macarons
What seems to be an internet card from Ukraine, mailed from Russia in 2013 with stamp and Moscow postmark, along with rubber-stamp chops on the reverse. Grade: 3
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Siberian flowers (USSR)
Soviet-era card (1973), measuring 3-5/8″ x 8-1/4″, mailed in 2013 with four different stamps, rubber-stamped address, and also address label affixed. Much postal crumping in transit. Grade: 4
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Tea and bubble
Apart from the message and address, there is no captioning or attribution on the back of this card, mailed from PR China in 2013 with two different stamps and full postmark. Grade: 2
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Vaikka elämä … (Finland)
If you enter this text into Google Translate, here is what comes out: “While the life of nuoleekin bare head, the true son does not expire ikänään!” (Possibly, Finnish is not yet Google Translate’s highest priority.) Mailed with stamp, postmark, and Priority label in 2013. Lots of smudging here and there. Grade: 3
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Taiwanese-style shaved ice
Mailed from Taiwan in 2013 with stamp, partial postmark, and address and other label affixed. Grade: 4
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The Puffin Book of Football
Another category we should consider is “Book Covers”. This one, on a postcard, mailed from USA in 2013 with $1.05 stamp, postmark, barcoding, and blue Airmail label affixed. Grade: 1
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Ampelmännchen from the GDR
The caption on this card is in German, which we translate roughly as: “Designed in 1961 by Charles Peglau they should be replaced by 1990 after the reunification of their colleagues in the West. After protests from East and West, they were allowed to remain in the lights.” But the card was mailed from Russia in 2013 with three stamps and two large postmarks. Grade: 3
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Girl with long hair (Belarus)
Card made in, and mailed from, Belarus–with stamp and 2013 postmark. Grade: 1
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Woman with flowers
Mailed from Missouri in 1910, stamp and postmark. Grade: 3