Antique & Vintage Postcards

A vivid linen-era illustration captures the dramatic climax of a Mexican corrida — a matador in an ornate blue-and-gold traje de luces grips his red muleta, leaning into a charging black bull whose lowered head nearly grazes the sand of a sunlit Tijuana plaza de toros. The card is captioned in both Spanish (El Rabo en Premio de Buena Faena) and English ("Bull's Tail as Award of Good Performance"), referencing the traditional prize of the bull's ear or tail awarded for an exceptional faena. Sent from Tijuana to Buffalo, New York, the sender — Leo — dashed off one of the great deadpan tourist quips: "Hy Kids: — Boy — Can he throw the Bull!" A warm double-entendre that needed no elaboration, this card carries the easy wit of a mid-century American tourist discovering the spectacle of the border bullfight scene at its commercial peak.