Tag Archives: Postcards

Wish You Were Here

Posted on July 10, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

I recently discovered the dubious concept of Beforehand Postcards. The conceit behind Beforehand Postcards was that, if you were going on vacation to Europe, you could buy your postcards from them beforehand. Then you could address the cards, and maybe even write … Continue reading →

Posted in Air Travel, Europe, Tourism | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Halloween Greetings

Posted on October 31, 2023 by Brian D. Butler

These days folks in North America go overboard with Halloween decorations, costumes, parties, candy, and spending, but in the early 20th century they celebrated in a less ostentatious way.  As the autumn festival began to emerge in its modern form picture … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, History, USA | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

The Rise and Fall of the World’s First Social Network

Posted on December 19, 2021 by Brian D. Butler

Up until quite recently, I was a habitual buyer of postcards during my travels. Mind you, I rarely ever sent the postcards to anyone, but rather keep them as reminders of the places that I had visited. When I was young, postcards … Continue reading →

Posted in Air Travel, Art, Books, Europe, History, Public Transport, Tourism, Travel Writing, USA | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

I Got Up At

Posted on June 5, 2021 by Brian D. Butler

On Kawara was a 20th century Japanese conceptual artist who was influential in the New York art scene. Although he was widely know for his “Today” series or “Date Paintings,” many considered that the most personal and intimate of his … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Asia, Tourism, USA | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Australia Needs Your Help

Posted on January 29, 2020 by Brian D. Butler

Australi-Aid has partnered with over 40 incredible artists to create a beautiful collection of postcards to support wildfire recovery. You can support the effort by purchasing some of the wonderful original artwork on their website. They have selected two organizations … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Tourism | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Around the World in 80 Postcards

Posted on October 3, 2015 by Brian D. Butler

Lehel Kovacs is a Budapest-based artist and illustrator who dreamed of traveling around the world. When those travel plans did not pan out, he decided to take a virtual world tour using Google Street View. That inspired the creation of … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Books, Europe, Tech, Tourism | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Whimsical Landscapes

Posted on March 25, 2015 by Brian D. Butler

Even in this golden age of digital travel photography, I still love old fashioned travel postcards. I’m not embarrassed in the least to admit that I still return home from most trips with a stack of kitschy cards. The very … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Europe, Tourism | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

The Traveler’s Eye

Posted on February 15, 2015 by Brian D. Butler

Hand-tinted tourist postcards are just a sample of the delightful items that make up the current exhibition at the Smithsonian’s Arthur M. Sackler Gallery of Asian Art  in Washington, DC.  Titled “The Traveler’s Eye”, the show includes travel souvenirs, maps, photographs, … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Asia, History, Museums, Photography, Tourism, Travel Writing, USA | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment