Antique & Vintage Postcards

From the sun-warmed rooftop of postwar Austria, a panoramic bird's-eye view sweeps across the red-tile rooftops of Innsbruck toward the dramatic Nordkette massif — each summit labelled in crisp dashed lines: Kemmacher 2482 m, Hafelekargipfel 2334 m, Gleirschspitze 2326 m, Rumerspitze 2460 m, a full cartographic portrait of the mountains that give Innsbruck its dramatic identity. The card travelled in July 1960 from Austria to Mrs. L. at 6 Church Road, St. Thomas, Exeter, England, carrying a friendly holiday message in English: the sender — whose name appears to begin with a "B" — mentions having "a very good time" and describes "walls and a long of Miss — a daily cow?" (the cursive is charmingly difficult). The deckle-cut scalloped border and saturated colour photographic printing are hallmarks of Austrian chrome-era tourist cards of the late 1950s–early 1960s, published by Monopol Kunstkarten, Berghorn & Co., Innsbruck.