Postcards

[Mark Byron]

A few years ago, I got hooked on Ebay and bought alot of royalty postcards including the Russian Imperial family. Some of them are quite special to me and hang on my walls(everyone says "Who's that again?) and some are so-so. Has anyone else start a collection and what do you have. Eventually,what I want to do is show what I have so everybody can see them.

[Joanna]

Thomas what is to mean CDV? Have you ever seen postcards of Neues Palais in Darmstadt?

Joanna

[Joanna]

Many thanks Thomas!  Duh !!! Now that I see carte de visite it is so simple CDV - again DUH !!!!!!!!

Can you post the postcard pic and the Count's writing? This will be fascinating to see !

Joanna

[nerdycool]

While looking around on eBay a while ago, I ran across some postcards of GD Tatiana taken in 1910 so I clicked to see the listing and the picture, and it wasn't Tatiana... it was a picture of Olga taken in the same series! The publishers of the postcards misidentified her. And whoever was selling them didn't know the difference either (I emailed the sellers telling of the mistake). I just thought it was interesting, as well as a little disbelieving that no one checked to make sure that was who it was.

[Sunny]

Mark, same story here (Ebay :-)). Most of my cards are in frames sitting in several areas in my living room. I also found the Vanity Fair cover of Nicholas titled "Little Papa". They are my most treasured possessions, and I would also enjoy sharing them if that is possible.
One in particular which I had not seen before, or since is of Nicholas and Alexei.

Sunny

[NAAOTMA]

I bought a CDV from a junk shop in Estonia in 1998 for pennies-it is one of the famous 1913 photos taken for the Tercentary. It was taken at Livadia, I think. The 1913 date is on the back of the card. It shows some wear and tear, and has a small hole on the lower right corner. I was thrilled to find this treasure in a small, dreary little town on the Latvian border. I keep it on my writing desk.

My father-in-law left St. Petersburg on the last train east to Estonia before the Bolsheviks closed the border, and he took with him a beautiful Tercentenary ruble coin, which is still in our family. As he worked at the Court Pharmacy at Tsarkoe Selo, I have sometimes wondered if the reason he held on to it was that it was a gift from the Imperial Family to their employees. Most people in Estonia during the WWII Soviet occupation got rid of anything that would have tied them to the Tsarist government, as possessions like that could land you and your entire family into a Siberian work camp. Melissa

[elisa_1872]

NAOTMAA, your postcard sounds lovely, what a find! Does it show the palace itself at all? Is there any way you could maybe send an image of it here?

I found in an old old book called "The Last Days of the Romanows" by Wilton, an original postcard of the Grand Duchess Elisabeth+ and Varvara's caskets being moved East. I was so overwhelmed..+ I never thought such a card would have existed.

[Belochka]

Among the few small significant pieces I have been fortunate enough to inherit is also a Tercentenary Silver coin bearing the images of Michael Feodorovitch  (the first Tsar) and Nicholas II. Along with this there was a genuine colorized photograph of the Imperial family and a B/W photograph of Livadia taken from the back. It has the name Livadia imprinted in Russian in one corner.

Many people who left Russia unexpectedly just as my family had little opportunity to take anything substantial with them.

Sad how many families were forced to leave Russia and loose everything through the ravages of Revolution and then the wars ...  

[Alicky1872]

Collecting these pieces of history is so much fun! I'm definately a postcard/cdv/cabinet photo addict! Makes me wonder what I did before Ebay came along!

[Alec]

Hello To All ! ,

In regard to all of you who collect Russian postcards, images and written material.

It is wonderful that there are people who have the interest in this pivotal time in history.

Mu late Uncle Shura Rumarchuk used to say that

" The world was such an idealistic one prior to the first world war"

As we all know, the events following the Russian Revolution and th Civil War in the Far East changed our way of life forever in more ways than I can possibly explain in this thread.

I have an extensive collection of documents and photographs relating to the Revolution with an emphasis on the Civil War including unpublished manuscripts, photographs and diaries from my family.

I will eventually turn these items over to the Hoover Institution in Stanford, California and have just initiated contact with their archivists.

Please,  All of you give consideration to this idea if you have no intention of ever selling your collections.

The cherished history of our culture is an important one to preserve for future generations.

The Hoover orginazition is one of few that has been endowed in perpetuity which will ensure that the collection will remain there for future generations .

There is an old saying that a very elderly friend of mine used to say and that is " I've Never Seen A Hearse With A Luggage Rack!"

So please give some thought in regard to what will happen to your precious written materials when you are gone.

Respectfully,

Alec

[JaneEyre5381]

My question is a bit stupid, but are these postcards available anywhere else besides eBay?  Thank you in advance for any helpful bits of information.