This old card is probably my favorite from among my small (but growing!) collection of antique and vintage Christmas cards and postcards.

On the front, a bright yellow Deutsche Post mail coach is trundling through a snowstorm, and dropping Christmas packages along the way. The printed text in the lower left says, “Merry Christmas!” in German, and it’s signed “Jens, Else & Heidi.”

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The interesting thing for me, when I turned the postcard over, is that the addressee lived in Mainz, which is where I lived many years ago. There’s also a lovely old stamp, obscured by the postmark. And both the “departure” and “arrival” postmarks are a bit difficult to read … but the card arrived in Mainz on Dec. 25, 1906.

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