Thursday, March 19, 2009

Postcard Friendship Friday

A few years ago, my mother gave me a bundle of postcards that had been her mother's. Flipping through them reminded me of a number of things about my 'Bigmother' as she was known to her eleven grandchildren.

She had a very social personality. She belonged to the local garden club. She was president of a few organizations in her lifetime. She loved to travel. She regularly took off to visit friends or relatives. Even into her 80's she would jump into her car and pick up her friends for a day of adventure. She always called her friends 'girls' even when they were all past 70.

When my mother was young most Florida family vacations were spent on the Atlantic side of the state. To this day my mother repeats her daddy's advice about the difference between the Gulf and the Atlantic....the undertow in the Gulf is apparently more dangerous than in the Atlantic....therefore one should go to the Atlantic instead of the Gulf. BUT, the Gulf is only 5 hours away compared to the Atlantic which is around 10 hours away. The result of which is that we go to the Gulf. Every trip I hear about the undertow again. The result of which is that I am now paranoid about swimming in the Gulf.

These are a couple of postcards that were part of Bigmother's stash.

All of my childhood Florida vacations were spent here...Daytona Beach....on the Atlantic side of the state.

This is my mother and 2 of her brothers with my Bigmother. I believe this was taken in St. Augustine, FL, but I 'm not sure. It is close to Daytona.

St. Augustine is the oldest continually occupied city in the United States.

Happy Postcard Friendship Friday! Pop over to Marie Reed's blog to get a complete list of participants.

24 comments:

  1. Oh Stevie! These postcards speak volumes! I found myself just gaping at your Mom in her swanky suit, your smiling uncles and 'Bigmother'.. What a great name for a Grandma!

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  2. i just love these oldie postcards, faded as they are, wish i had kept some of mine...sigh...

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  3. How lovely to have a family collection of cards. It's interesting for me to learn little details of life, such as the advantages of the Atlantic over the Gulf for swimming!

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  4. The post cards are really neat Stevie, thanks for sharing!
    Carol

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  5. Happy Friday. These old cards are wonderful.

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  6. Magnificient postcards! I especially like very much St. Augustine card! Lovely!

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  7. Wonderful old postcards and photographs, very nostalgic.
    I love Florida, both the Atlantic side and the Gulf side.;)
    Have a great Friday.;)

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  8. Welcome to PFF! I love the postcards! That's the first time I heard about the undertow danger - of course we have them- and they are a danger - but it seems to me they spend more time rescuing folks in the atlantic than they do over here - not to mention the sharks. The gulf sharks are polite and friendly and only eat vegetables.

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  9. Thanks for sharing! What memories. We lived close by Daytona in a little town called Ocala, my folks still live there. Blessings

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  10. Wonderful post cards and photo. You can really sense the feel of their holidays.

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  11. Your mother looks like a Barbie doll in that pic! :^)

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  12. These cards are exquisite, and Mom was quite the looker too, back in the day.

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  13. Happy PFF! These cards are the BEST! They have such wonderful memories too. I love the family in front of that castle building, how fun is that?! Have a great day!

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  14. Those are wonderful antique cards! If you haven't been to St. Augustine, try to make the trip sometime. It's loaded with history and yummy food. The natives are friendly too.
    Good news: it's safe to swim in the Gulf. One should always use caution in any body of water of course. But I grew up in Florida and the Gulf is actually calmer than the Atlantic. Go for it. :o))
    Happy PFF! ♥ ∞

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  15. how fun to have the big stack of postcards handed down to you! my mom still calls her friends girls as well. it always makes me smile a bit.

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  16. Muse and Sparky, I've never thought the Gulf was safer than the Atlantic...it was my mother's paranoia, but when a person tells you something enough times, it tends to make you a bit paranoid yourself..as in being too apprehensive of the undertow.

    One of my sons and his friend actually rescued a mother and child on rafts who were being pulled out too far by the undertow at Orange Beach. My son said he was afraid he wasn't going to make it back to shore, he was so tired from pulling the woman on the raft. And he had his life guard certification at the time.

    I'm not a good swimmer. That makes me more apprehensive I guess.

    Sparky, I've been to St Augustine a couple of times. It is certainly a great place to go.

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  17. wow, those vintage treasures are indeed precious! you have such a groovy "bigmother!" i hope i can still go on joyrides till i'm 80, too. :)

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  18. I'm partial to fountains so I love the fountain in the last one. Forget the undertow, its the jellyfish you have to watch out for!

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  19. Most elderly ladies I know are like your 'Big mother.' I enjoyed your postcard pictures Steviewren. - Dave

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  20. Oh, this was cool. My hubby's elderly aunt left some old postcards of St. Augustine too. It must be a popular place to buy post cards, lol! I went there once, really liked it.

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  21. My extended family were all homebodies but my younger brother and myself are the travelors, closely followed by my children.

    I think someday my grandson will outdo us all -- he's already flown to two different states and he's only 3 months old!

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