What I Found in the Mail

On the way home from work one night, I stopped at an estate sale. This wasn't one run by an estate sale company. It was run by the family. A really nice family.

I picked up some nice things at the sale--for really good prices. Several lovely aprons. Some nice linens.  A sweet tulip salt and pepper shaker set. Some pretty metal trays.

But what I was most interested in was an envelope with about 50 photographs from the mid to late 1930s and early 1940s and a Ziploc bag of what I thought was just stamps and empty used envelopes with postage stamps still attached. Just the type of ephemera I use in my handmade journals.

I didn't even have to look far. Both were just inside the front door to the place. And, only dollar each for the envelope of photos and the bag of stamps.

When I picked up the envelope of photographs and the bag of stamps, I certainly didn't expect the treasure trove I found when I opened them up at home.

The collection of stamps was nice and will be quite useful for my craft projects. The corner of the envelopes containing the stamps had simply been torn off and thrown into the Ziploc bag.

At the bottom of the bag, however, were a few whole envelopes. All but one were addressed to the same woman. One was addressed to a man who I assume was woman's husband. Over the course of the 12 years the postmarks represented, 1925-1937, the couple appeared to have lived in Texas, western Nebraska and, eventually, central Nebraska.

To my delight, four of the envelopes still contained the original cards.

Such a lovely Mother's Day card, dated 1925.

And, why wouldn't someone with "moonbeams" in her blog title be bowled over by this adorable Valentine card also from the 1920s? It reminded me of how much I loved the imagery in the movie "Paper Moon."

A whimsical birthday card, dated 1935, for the mister, is just doggone cute.

And the icing on the cake is this tease of a Valentine. A true treasure. Like Russian stacking dolls, the outer envelope opens to another, and another, and another. Ten times over. The prize in the tenth and final teensy, weensy envelope--a construction paper heart. Each envelope has a fun rhyme printed in red ink on the front coaxing the reader to open it. As if I needed to be coaxed to look further!

The cards and empty envelopes are all addressed to members of one family. And, let me just say, the package of photographs--the same family--is a delight. Many have detailed, hand-written descriptions on the backs. I'm excited to share those with you in a future post.

As for the little mailbag featured today: It definitely has my stamp of approval.

Make it a great day!

Linking to:

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at Coastal Charm
Knick of Time Tuesday
Share the Love Wednesday
All-Star Block Party
Vintage Thingie Thursday at The Coloradolady