Greetings for National Postcard Week -- May 3–9, 2015

This week is National Postcard Week. Although I am not making and mailing actual NPCW postcards, I thought it would be fun to modify the greetings on an old French New Year postcard that shows a female mail carrier delivering postcards.

the original French New Year postcard
Heureuse Année = Happy New Year

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Russian New Year Stamps

This is a square (5-3/4" or 14.5cm) postcard showing a collage of Russian New Year stamps. It was printed in Russia in 2013. I received this postcard from Postcrossing earlier this year.

The stamp on the back is one of the set of twelve 2009 Kremlin stamps. This one is the Ryazan Kremlin.

This is a post for Sunday Stamps at

See it on a Postcard

New Year Calendar Postcards

December 31, 1907
May this year bring joy & good Health.

December 31, 1908
Viel Glück im neuen Jahre.
(Good luck in the new Years)

July 11, 1910
I always try to write postals to the sick people so suppose you are sick now. I have just written a long letter to Mrs Brown and another to Aunt Sarah.

Calendar postcards were one of the types of postcards sent as New Year greetings during the postcard craze of the early twentieth century. Postcard calendars like these are nearly all from the years 1908, 1909, and 1910.

The 1908 and 1909 cards above were sent at an appropriate time with an appropriate message. The 1910 postcard, however, was sent in July with a rather odd message. I think I would find this one insulting. I wonder what the sender's intention was...

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New Year Arrival

Wishing you a Happy New Year

С НОВЫМ ГОДОМ! -- Happy New Year

Countdown to the New Year with Ded Moroz, Snegurochka, and this 1979 Soviet New Year postcard.

A New Year Belle

These are two New Year Belle postcards made by Whitney. The Belle has a bell for a hat, a January 1 calendar for an apron, and good luck symbols on her skirt (horshoe on the first and swastika on the second).

С НОВЫМ ГОДОМ! -- Happy New Year

Let's START (СТАРТ) the New Year with Misha, the Russian Bear mascot of the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games. You can see the Olympic rings on the belt he is wearing in this picture. According to Wikipedia:

In Russian, Misha is a short form for the Russian male name Mikhail (Michael), and Mishka is a diminutive of Misha.This name, in any of its forms, is a common colloquialism in Russian for a bear, because it is similar to the standard name for bear медведь (medved). Also, most anthropomorphic bears in Russian fairy tales have this name. It is thought to originate as euphemism for medved, which was tabooed because of magical thinking that letting out the "true name" of the dangerous animal may cause it to come and attack.

 This is a 1979 Soviet New Year postcard (postal card). The back has preprinted postage and artwork by a young child.

С НОВЫМ ГОДОМ! -- Happy New Year from Space

The International Space Station has been in the news a lot this week. International Space Station Expedition 38 Commander Oleg Kotov and Flight Engineer Sergey Ryazanskiy of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) began a planned 7-hour spacewalk from the Earth-facing Pirs Docking Compartment at 8 a.m. EST today.

This postcard is a Soviet Russian New Year postcard from 1981. It has an artist's conception of a young astronaut and a rabbit companion delivering New Year greetings from space.

USPS Chinese New Year 1992-2004 Stamps Issue

The designs in the USPS Chinese New Year 1992-2004 Stamps Issue are based on intricate paper-cut designs for the twelve animals associated with the Chinese lunar calendar. The first stamp  was a rooster stamp issued on December 30, 1992 for the 1993 Year of the Rooster. Twelve stamps were issued, one per year, with the appropriate first class postage denomination for the year of issue.  The second design was a dog for 1994 which is shown on the postcard above. The dog is  a Pekinese, the royal dog of China. The Chinese characters on the left translate as "Year of the Dog."

The postcard below shows the design for 2001, which was the Year of the Snake. Other years of the snake include 1941, 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989 and this year 2013. According to the description on the back of this postcard "Silence, great wisdom, and sympathy are hallmarks of the snake. People born in the Year of the Snake are romantically deep thinkers."

The stamp used on the postcard is from a souvenir sheet of 37-cent Lunar New Year stamps in twelve designs issued on January 6, 2005. The 2005 sheet was a double sided pane of 24. A similar souvenir sheet of 12 stamps was issued issued with the 39-cent denomination on January 29, 2006.

source: The Postal Service Guide to U.S. Stamps

My postcards show the denominations of the original series of stamps. It is hard to find any information on the postcards issued by the United States Postal Service. I discovered that there is also a set/series of postcards all with the 37-cent denomination.

Here is a list of the stamps in the original series:

1993  29-cent Year of the Rooster
1994  29-cent Year of the Dog
1995  29-cent Year of the Boar
1996  32-cent Year of the Rat
1997  32-cent Year of the Ox
1998  32-cent Year of the Tiger
1999  33-cent Year of the Rabbit
2000  33-cent Year of the Dragon
2001  34-cent Year of the Snake
2002  34-cent Year of the Horse
2003  37-cent Year of the Ram
2004  37-cent Year of the Monkey

This is a post for Sunday Stamps at Viridian's Postcard Blog

Bonne Annèe - 1915 - Happy New Year

This French New Year postcard from the World War I era is dated 1915. The woman wearing a red Phrygian cap is dressed as either Marianne or Liberty  (apparently the distinction is not always clear), patriotic symbols of the French Republic. Two French soldiers pose ready to charge with swords, while a German soldier plays dead on the ground.

The caption is as follows:

L'ennemi vient dans un éclair
Chargez, soldats, et sabre au clair!

The enemy comes in a flash
Charge, soldiers, and with drawn swords!

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A Happy New Year - 100 Years Ago - 1913

Year dates were popular on New Year postcards in the early years of the twentieth century. This type of postcard seems to have peaked around 1908-1910. There are relatively few after 1910.

С Новым годом - Snowmen Deliver New Year Greetings

 

These are two Soviet New Year postcards from the 1960s. Delivering New Year greetings was a popular theme on New Year postcards, and even snowmen helped out. 

Note the Дед Мороз (Ded Moroz) postmark and stamp on the first postcard. Ded Moroz is a fictional character who in some Slavic cultures plays a role similar to that of Santa Claus. The literal translation of the name would be "Old Man Frost", although the name is often translated as "Father Frost" in light of the modern usage of "ded" to refer to a grandfather. Ded Moroz is said to bring presents to children, however, unlike the secretive Santa Claus, the gifts are often delivered "in person", at New Year's Eve parties and other New Year celebrations. (source Wikipedia)

Note also the headgear, which is an upside down pail, unlike the hats worn by American snowmen. 

Both postcards are unused, though the second one has a regular postage stamp affixed. 

The words "слава труду и науке" on the stamp mean "glory to labor and science."

 

Russian Stamps New Year - Марки России Новый Год

This postcard has pictures of Russian New Year stamps from the 2000s. The postcard was published in 2011.

This is a post for Sunday Stamps at Viridian's Postcard Blog

С Новым годом - Happy New Year

© 1982 USSR Ministry of Communications
Artist L. Kuznetsov

This is a Russian New Years postcard showing one of the unusual ways Ded Moroz has of delivering holiday greetings. Here he is dropping them from a helicopter--no envelopes needed.

1965 Russian Stamps on New Year Postcard

This Russian New Year postcard was issued in 1965 for New Year 1966. It has pictures of three stamps issued in 1965

The top stamp shows Lt. Col. Alexei Leonov taking movies in space. On 18 March 1965 he was the first man to conduct a space walk.

The center stamp with the hockey player was first issued in 1963. It was overprinted when the Soviets won the 1965 World Ice Hockey Championships. The overprint is below the hockey stick.

The bottom stamp shows the Kremlin and was issued on November 16, 1965 for New Year 1966. The Moscow Kremlin is a historic fortified complex that includes four palaces, four cathedrals and the enclosing Kremlin Wall with Kremlin towers.

Below is an enlargement of the picture of the New Year stamp. Like the postcard, the stamp says "С Новым годом" (Happy New Year).

I am participating in Sunday Stamps at Viridian's Postcard Blog

New Year Greetings - Old French Mailbox

Happy New Year, Heureuse année, Bonne année!

I like just about any postcard with a postal theme, and I especially like the old French New Year's photo postcards showing mailboxes (boîtes aux lettres). I have several others that I posted a couple years ago here and here.

The mailbox on this postcard has the words "La levée est faite." These words are on most of the old French mailboxes. (Many photos of old French mailboxes are on the PTT-POSTES' photostream on flickr). Google translates "La levée est faite" as "The lifting is done." At first I was confused by this translation. I think it indicates that the mail has been picked up from the box at a certain time.

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Children Ringing in the New Year

These two New Year postcards are from the same series, but different printings. The back of the first postcard is marked "Series 56 F" but is not marked "Made in U.S.A." The logo in the bottom left corner on the front is printed in blue and has the initials “J.E.P.” (standing for James E. Pitts) above a small circle with a “C” and a dot inside the circle. The second postcard is marked "Series 56 D" and "Made in U.S.A." on the back. The logo on the front is printed in dark brown with "Stecher Lith. Co. Roch. N.Y." around a circle with a "C" inside.

The first postcard is unused. The second is postmarked Elmwood, Wis. Dec. 30 (19?) and has this message on the back:

This is to wish you all the best for the coming year. Trusting you had a nice Xmas. I am your brother Steve and all.

Holiday Mail From Russia

I recently received this pretty envelope from Russia. The envelope has a printed design of the Russian version of Santa Claus, Ded Moroz (Grandfather Frost), driving a troika through the snow. A troika is a sleigh pulled by a team of three horses harnessed abreast.

There is a nice assortment of Russian postage stamps on the envelope:

• top left - 2003, Gatchina Palace, an imperial residence built in 1766-1781
• center - 2009, Yuri Gagarin (1934-1968), first Astronaut in the world
• top right - 2010, Happy New Year with Ded Moroz (Russian Santa Claus)
• bottom left - 2008, definitive stamp, fox
• bottom right - 2008, definitive stamp, hare

Below is one of the postcards sent in the envelope. This is a New Year postcard showing Snegurochka (Snow Maiden), Ded Moroz's helper. Snegurochka, the little bird (bullfinch), and the hare are often seen on Russian New Year cards.

I am participating in Sunday Stamps at Viridian's Postcard Blog

Russian New Year Stamp Postcard 1977

If you are interested in stamps and postcards, be sure to visit the new Sunday Stamps Meme at Viridian's Postcard Blog.

I like both postcards showing images of stamps and Soviet New Year postcards. This postcard combines those interests. This card was published in 1977 for the 1978 New Year. I haven't found any information on the top stamp image. The stamp on the bottom is the Soviet New Year Stamp issued in 1976 for the 1977 New Year. I found a large image of that on Wikimedia Commons.

С Новым Годом = Happy New Year
ПОЧТА СССР = MAIL USSR

For more information see my article on Russian New Year Postcards and the links at the bottom of that article.

For more of my blog posts about stamps, click the "stamps" label at the bottom of this post or my sidebar.

PFF - Christmas & New Years Postcards

This postcard is part of the New Year Bird Series. According to the ad on the back of the card, it is a sample of the Christmas and New Years Post Cards given for subscribing to Up-to-Date Farming about a hundred years ago. What an offer! For 25 cents you could get a one year subscription and 15 postcards! For 50 cents you could get a two year subscription and 50 postcards! I would have subscribed just to get the postcards.