Something to collect…

Little pieces of history…

I’m all about collecting paper and vintage ephemera and so when I come across interesting postmarked envelopes, I snap them up.

These can be found inexpensively but they are so evocative of a certain time and place, they really do allow you to hold a little bit of history in your hands.

Sometimes post offices around the world will issue commemorative envelopes like the ones above. These both showcase certain airlines or airline routes.

I love the one that’s announcing the Paris to Cairo passage - the famous bust of Queen Nefertiti symbolizing Egypt.

Fonts

Another thing I notice on these sorts of paper items is the font. Fonts are very good about giving clues to dates. The font of ‘03 Octobre 1975’ (middle lower portion of envelope) is a classic font that was often used in the 1970s, originally designed by famed poster designer A.M. Cassandre who was very active in the 1930s.

This decorated envelope is from 1947 and commemorates the first route from New York to Bermuda by Colonial Airlines. How cheerful, fun and festive the illustration is - it really says ‘Come to Sunny Bermuda!’ in its style.

Stamps are interesting - ALWAYS!
If you are person who doesn’t appreciate the artwork of stamps, you’re a person who probably stumbled onto the wrong blog ! :)

But seriously, I love collecting things that are postmarked.
It’s true, pristine, unused examples are worth more, but they don’t have the same charm without that dated and place stamped postmark.
IMO.

Anyway, if you’re looking for something to collect, that you can get for little money (of course, you can get some of these for ALOT of money too, collecting can be a very serious business), these might be just the thing.

On a side note - when I mentioned the fonts earlier, I couldn’t remember the name of that particular one I mentioned (Peignot). Let me tell you about an excellent website if you’re trying to identify a font or just want to go down a fabulous rabbit hole.
It’s called Fonts in Use and it shows a myriad of fonts, in use - so photos of actual things they were used on - plus all the name info etc.
Put in ‘1970s’ and you’ll be amazed at all the examples that will come up - or any other search term.
Fonts in use site