Antique & Vintage Postcards

A brilliantly colored gypsy-style bow-top caravan rolls down a narrow Irish lane canopied by dark forest, its arched roof ringed with polka dots in red, yellow, blue, and green — a rolling confetti of folk art that stops the eye cold. A man in a navy jumper holds the reins while a young woman in a green sweater perches casually on the side rail, bare legs dangling, one hand gripping the carved woodwork as the piebald cob trots forward with quiet authority. The back panel of the wagon is painted with scarlet tulips in terracotta pots, a trademark of the Irish horse-drawn caravan holiday trade that took off in the late 1950s when Slattery's of Tralee first offered tourists the chance to rent these wagons and meander through the Irish countryside at a horse's pace. Published by Anthony Mathews of Dublin and printed by Croker & Co. of Waterford, this card captures the romantic ideal of slow travel that drew visitors from across the world to rural Ireland in the swinging sixties.