Antique & Vintage Postcards

A snow-capped Popocatépetl looms majestically over the colonial rooftops and church spires of Cholula, Puebla in this evocative real-photo postcard mailed January 12, 1953 — when the volcano still wore a thick glacial crown now much diminished. The sweeping panorama captures the Valley of Puebla's patchwork farmland stretching between town and mountain, tall cypress trees framing the right edge, the whole scene rendered in crisp silver gelatin. The sender, Rose, wrote to her friend Hanty in Livonia, New York, cheerfully reporting four days of guided sightseeing, evening meals eaten "right in style between 9–10 pm — just like the Mexicans," temperatures in the comfortable 70–75°F range, and imminent departure for Acapulco — while noting with amusement that back home Hanty was enduring a big snowstorm.