From Brooklyn!

I thought this was really fun to find. A letter from Brooklyn, NY to Denmark in 1948 makes it back to the states in 2011! I love, love, love the stamp with the New York City skyline in the background. For some reason the sender put two stamps on the back of the letter as well. Looks like our recipient was in the hospital. Nice last name.

On a German Street

This picture comes with a story. I had just returned from Amsterdam where I had gone on a tour through Anne Franks home when I found this picture. It was pasted on the inside cover of a German book I found at Book Decor. Oh, I think the girl in the picture looks older than Anne Frank but still, when I look at this picture, I see Anne Frank and her father walking down the street. The book was published in 1939 and from the cars in the photo, my guess is that this is from the early 30's maybe? Before WWII easily. Love the fashion. The men in the fedora hats and full suits, the women with stockings and gloves. Check out the fur collar on the lady walking away, classic.

1918 Postcard

Another postcard. This one from 1918. Now we know that Julen means Christmas from our friends from Iceland. And I just found out that it was in 1918 that Denmark first recognized the independence of Iceland. Who knew I'd be learning so much?!









Beautiful snowy scene. Just where it belongs. On a postcard. Yes, I live in San Diego for a reason. Pretty to look at, lovely to ski on, not to be lived in. Just my personal opinion.

Geoffrey Ashe and Columbus?

History lesson alert!!! Geoffrey Ashe, British cultural historian and author, had a theory that it was indeed the Irish who discovered America and not Columbus. This article was from the 60's and goes on to talk about his plans to build the same type of ship that the Irish would have used several hundred years before Columbus and test his theory. He has based his theory on the Voyage of Saint Brendan. Brendan was an Irish saint in the sixth century who lands on several different islands in the area of the Americas. I can't find evidence if they actually built the ship or not but the theory is very interesting. Also, FYI, Mr Ashe has also written non-fiction books based on King Arthur. He claims that King Arthur was a man called Riothamus who lived in 470 AD. That's a lot of info and I didn't tell you the half of it. Look it up, you won't be sorry. Interesting stuff.

Bookmarks!

Homemade bookmarks! I find a few of these from time to time. Stitching like this is a lost art, really lovely. I'm not really a crafty person myself, but I love that there are people out there with the patience and know how to make something this beautiful. Props to the crafty people of the world! Love the flowers in the second bookmark, just wish I knew how old they were.

The Family Bible

The first thing to notice about this book is that it is in English. Book Decor specializes in foreign language books so when I get a book in English it is very rare. But the thing that makes this book really special is not that it's in English. Between the Old and New Testament we have a family record! The first marriage recorded is in April 1858. The family name is Rosen. We then have births in 1859, 1861, 1862, 1865, 1866, 1868, 1869, 1870, and 1873. Whoa! The next marriage recorded wasn't until 1886! There were also a few deaths recorded as well. It's hard to make out the names so I'm going to assume it was dear old grandma or grandpa passing away at some ripe old age after a very long and happy life. Some of the first names are Caroline Adelaide, Beatrice, Isabella, David, Victor, Hugo, and Leopold. All Rosen's.

Karen Blixen

Karen Blixen was a Danish author best known for Out of Africa which she wrote about her time living in Kenya. She also wrote Bebette's Feast. Both books were later adapted into academy award winning movies. I had obviously heard of both books but I did not know that the author was Danish. She actually wrote everything in English first and then translated them into Danish. She has a very interesting life story. She apparently had a failed love affair with her second cousin but then went on to marry his brother. What?? Obviously that went well. They lived in Kenya where he went on to cheat on her and give her syphilis. Strange coincidence, since her father contracted the disease while living in the US among the Chippewa Indians in Wisconsin. He hanged himself because of it when she was 10 years old. She divorced her husband and moved back to Denmark and began her writing career. Karen actually lived until she was 77 years old despite the health problems associated with her disease.

We Might As Well Begin Here

The front of the postcard says "We might as well begin here." A bit racy for 1951! These old postcards always show everyone smoking as well. It was still considered a healthy pastime back then. Dr's were endorsing cigarettes. Nice.






The stamps are pretty cool. Never really been a stamp person but I am getting into some of these older ones. I am loving the Denmark lions. You can see that whoever wrote this postcard was very excited. There are many exclamation points!!!

A Man and His Cane

Finally, a photograph with a date! It says Tiswilde 1965 on the back. It looks like he's asking the person with the camera to please stop taking his picture! Or maybe he's saying that his car keys are right over there, just keep looking. I guess we will never know what our mystery man was saying or thinking at that moment, but I think he looks like a friendly fellow. And I do like his style. You can never go wrong with black rimmed glasses and a classic cane.

The Musician

Just a plain piece of paper, only 8 inches tall and 4 inches wide, with the lines drawn in with pencil and the notes placed with ink. There are no dates anywhere but the paper is faded and darker along the edges. It's beautiful.

1921 Stamp

Isn't this a cute stamp. It just fell out of a book, no envelope, no letter, nothing. It has the three lions on it so I assume it's Danish, but I cannot figure out what the words mean. I have tried every translation site out there. Where's a Danish speaker when I need one? Yuletide? Something along the lines of Christmas? Either way, very cute and in really good condition considering how old it is. Must say the polar bear is throwing me off a little. I really need a 1-800-all you ever wanted to know about Denmark phone number, don't I. I received some help with this one. See comments.

Tide!

The world's whitest big wash? I'm not sure that's translating correctly. I'm guessing this is from the 50's or 60's. It folds up to make a little envelope and has a coupon attached. I am guessing that someone was using this as a bookmark. I do love seeing ads from different times. Especially cleaning products where "housewives" are elated with the latest cleaning product. Yipee!

The bottom says, "Washes whitest simply because it washes clean."

Ah, The Seaside..

Another postcard, this one from 1958. I tried to translate but it was beyond me. Two fabulous, green Denmark stamps with the trademark lion on them. I get a lot of books from Denmark with those lions on them, beautiful. And if I had to guess, and I do, I bet they were having a lovely time!

Social Democratic Electoral Share

Ok, I spent about an hour today looking up how the government works in Denmark.  It's all very interesting and still no mention of this little beauty.  If there are any Danish citizens out there who would like to shed some light on this I would love to be enlightened.  I think I have the basic idea for its use, but still, knowledge is power, right?

New Family

A wedding announcement!  It says they were married yesterday and the date on the back of the paper says July 23, 1942 so they were married on July 22, 1942.  I got that her name was Rosendahl Sorensen and that his last name was Madsen.  His first name, Skibsingenior, well, I'll let you try to pronounce that.  If anyone out there knows this lovely couple, please contact me.  What a great picture and I love that the announcement says "New Family".

Linda Christian

I will be the first to admit I had to google Linda Christian. Turns out she was quite famous in the 40's and 50's. She was the first Bond girl, appearing in the 1954 tv version of Casino Royale. She was born in Mexico and at some point met Errol Flynn, who just meets Errol Flynn? Anyway, he talks her out of going into the medical field and into moving to Hollywood. She meets Louis B. Mayer and gets a 7 year contract and the rest is history. She ends up marrying Tyrone Power, who I have heard of, and divorcing him.

Most of this clipping is talking about the bathing suit and only mentions lovely Linda Christian towards the end. She was in Mexico filming "Holiday in Mexico" in 1946. Someone was a fan. Linda Christian has recently passed away, July 22, 2011.

Gymmastics Club

A 1932 female gymnastics club general assembly meeting invite and agenda. I just love that this is still around. I guess I always picture myself in these peoples shoes, they had no idea that WWII was right around the corner. Very cool that it was an female gymnastics club, 1932, that's pretty progressive. Go Ladies!

Guess What??

Ok, it took me a few minutes to figure out what this was. Lovely pictures, but why would someone cut out this random piece of paper with these pictures on them? Then I realized, Swiss chocolate wrapper! Yum. Now were the pictures that beautiful or did they want a reminder of wonderful, yummy chocolate??

A Postcard From 1943

Since all of the books at Book Decor are Danish, French, or German, I will never be able to read the postcards, notes, and letters I find in my books. I know, so sad. But I see the dates and I know what was happening in Europe at that time and I can only imagine what might be written on these postcards. I hope that some multilingual readers will get some enjoyment out of these posts. In the meantime, I do enjoy the historical value and beauty of the notes. I have put the internet to use and translated some of them, but some of them are more difficult to read than others.

A Lovely Lady

So many photos. I really liked this picture. Most likely came out of a round picture frame at some point. Whenever I find a picture of someone I always try to place the year. I wish this one had it written on the back, but it doesn't. What do you think? 30's? 40's? The photographer was Rut Andersson. For all you Europeans out there, if you know his family members, please let them know one of his pictures has survived and is on this site! If anyone knows this lovely lady, please contact me as well. I will always send pictures, postcards, etc. back to their rightful owners.

Cowboys and Indians

Cowboys and Indians, anyone? Aren't these cut-outs adorable? The majority of my books are Danish so these guys were made by some child in Europe somewhere probably around 40 or 50 years ago based on the age of the book I found them in. I thought they were pretty cool.

My Hitler Stamp

First of all, you should know that I am a WWII person so anything I find from that era is going to get a bit more attention. These aren't especially rare, but I thought it was a find! I have found a few stamps, mostly single, but also one full sheet!