Antique & Vintage Postcards

Deep crimson and blush roses surge from a dark, almost lacquered background in this sumptuously embossed German chromolithograph — a tactile luxury that made Edwardian-era birthday postcards feel like miniature works of art. Published under the ECC Serie 30 imprint and printed in Germany, the card carries a verse in gilt script: "Glad remembrance bids me wish you joy and happiness today, Plenteousness of every pleasure, Heart light as a summer's day." On the back, written in a confident, looping hand: "To Charley from mama Tessler" — a mother's simple, tender inscription that transforms this commercial object into a keepsake. The card was never postally used, suggesting it was given by hand, perhaps slipped under a breakfast plate on a birthday morning in the early 1910s.