It's a gift

We found many of the cards on this blog on fairs, small shops and flea markets, or in webshops like Delcampe, eBay or the Dutch equivalent, Marktplaats. Regularly, we also receive postcards from friendly people. Sometimes it's a gift from a friend, neighbour or colleague and other times people who know us from Flickr or EFSP sent us cards from a relative who passed away or their own cards cause they know we are happy with them. Recently, my old friend Willem gave me this amazing album with more than 1000 vintage collector cards. This post is a salute to all these people. Thank you, dear friends!


French postcard by Editions La Malibran, Paris, no. CF 23, 1990. Gérard Philipe and Micheline Presle in Le Diable au corps/Devil in the Flesh (Claude Autant-Lara, 1947). This postcard was sent years ago to me by my partner at EFSP and in life, Ivo Blom.


Spanish postcard by Productos Compactos, S.A., no. B-3768, 1991. Paul Newman. This card was a gift to me by my other EFSP pal, Marlene Pilaete. She gave it to me when we met for drinks at the VerzamelaarsJaarbeurs 2022 in Utrecht.


Dutch postcard by N.V. Grammofoonplatenmaatschappij CNR, Leiden. Photo: Barclay / Ariola. This postcard of Mireille Mathieu was donated to us by the Conradi family. My colleague Susanne Conradi told me that her mother used to be a big fan of Mireille.


German postcard by Das Programm von Heute für Film und Theater / Ross Verlag, Berlin. Photo: Böhm-Willott, Berlin. Gerda Maurus. A collection of old German postcards was given to us by our Flickr connection Miss Mertens.


East-German postcard by VEB Progress Filmvertrieb, Berlin, no. 174/71, 1971. Photo: Linke. Claude Jade in Domicile conjugal/Bed & Board (François Truffaut, 1970). For years, Didier Hanson supplied us with many scans of his impressive collection of film star postcards. When he decided to focus on the silent era and especially on Russian cinema and theatre, he sent us his more modern cards. It was a great gift.


Austrian photo by Willinger, Wien. Xenia Desni and Livio Pavanelli in the German silent film Die letzte Einquartierung aka Küssen ist keine Sünd'/Kissing is no sin (Rudolf Walther-Fein, Rudolf Dworsky, 1926). When we returned from our holidays in Italy in 2014, there was this little parcel from East Hartford, USA, waiting for us at our neighbour's house. It contained rare postcards, photos and a clipping on the Ukrainian-born silent film star Xenia Desni and her daughter Tamara Desni, who had an impressive film and stage career herself in Great Britain. The postcards were sent to us by a relative of the Desni's, their niece Tatiana. In the past, Tatiana had already sent us some scans of the postcards of Tamara Desni and now she gave us the 39 Ross Verlag postcards, which she had collected as a little girl.


Dutch photo. Dutch publicity for Bambi (David Hand, 1942). The film was shown in Amsterdam in 1948 in three cinemas, Rialto, Nöggerath and Cineac Damrak. A gift by Roloff de Jeu.


Italian pin-up postcard by Bromostampa, Milano. Sent by mail in 1978 to the late entertainer Klaas ten Holt. It was given to us from his estate by his and our friend Mariët Sieffers.


Vintage collectors card. Photo: Paramount. Olivia de Havilland. This card is a gift from my colleague Loek Coenraad from his mother's legacy. 


Belgian postcard by Les Editions d'Art L.A.B., Bruxelles (Brussels), no. 1040. Photo: MGM (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer). Vivien Leigh in Gone With The Wind (1939). This postcard was given to us by Gill4kleuren.


Belgian postcard by S. Best (SB), Antwerpen. Photo: Roger Moore in Ivanhoe. This postcard is a gift from Mary of the A plethora of Postcards blog.


Dutch postcard by Uitg. Takken, Utrecht, no. 3125. Photo: Romy Schneider in Sissi - Die junge Kaiserin/Sissi: The Young Empress (Ernst Marischka, 1956). A gift from our neighbour Cina Roubos, who collected Schneider postcards when she was a young girl and gave her collection to us.

Back to Akkrum

 
Below are vintage postcards that my Granddad, Hendrik Yntema, once gave me. As a boy, he lived in Akkrum. Akkrum is a village in the province of Frisia in the Netherlands. Hendrik left Akkrum with his family when he was still a young man. They started a new life in Den Haag (The Hague) and he would never return to Akkrum.

All he had of the village were his memories and these postcards. My granddad is dead for many years now and I've always kept his postcards in my collection. In fact, his cards started my collection. In 2010, I visited Akkrum for the first time and compared the postcards with the situation then.


Dutch postcard of De Driehoek (The Triangle), Akkrum, The Netherlands, ca. 1910.


De Driehoek, Akkrum, The Netherlands, 2010. At the left is the Kanadeeske Sjtritte (the Canadian Street) and at the right is the Kleef. The curious building in-between was already there 100 years ago. It's a shop that was for sale. The owner saw us taking this picture and thought we were interested.


Dutch postcard of Hoogend (now: Heechein), Akkrum, The Netherlands. Hoogend was the High Street of Akkrum. Just outside of the view were the two churches (right the Mennonist Church; left the Dutch Protestant Church). We see shops and trees, and a small building with a cupola at the end of the street.


Streetview Heechein, Akkrum, The Netherlands. The shop buildings on the right are still there. We were in Akkrum on a hot Sunday. That's probably why the High Street was so quiet.


Vintage postcard of Welgelegen, Hoogend, Akkrum, The Netherlands. On the far right, you can see the cupola building at the Hoogend. It was an 18th Century teahouse, part of a private garden called Welgelegen (well located). In 1924 the owner, ms. Suster van der Vegt left all her riches to the foundation Welgelegen. The foundation modernized the garden and build this beautiful house for single ladies from the Frisian bourgeoisie. The house opened in 1929 and this postcard dates probably from that year.


Stichting Welgelegen, Adam Hurdriderstrjitte 13, 8491 DR Akkrum, The Netherlands. We were fascinated by the green, automatic lawnmowers. A futuristic detail in this historical village.


Vintage postcard of Coopersburg, Hoogend, Akkrum, The Netherlands. Coopersburg contained 22 small houses for married couples of at least 60 years old. They had their own living quarters and also a small kitchen to prepare their meals. The residents even received a weekly sum of money, unheard of in those days. Coopersburg has a beautiful garden with a pool with carp and a sundial, a mausoleum for Kuypers and his wife, and a governor's room.


Coopersburg, Ljouwerterdyk, Akkrum, The Netherlands. In 1980 Coopersburg was no longer suitable as an old people's home. Today Coopersburg houses young and old, singles and small households.

You can see more postcards and pictures in my Back to Akkrum album at Flickr.