Looking through my album of old postcards I found some Easter cards with postmarks dating from the early 1900s.
Edward VII was King when this Easter card was mailed
on 19 April 1905
It seems a mother hen with baby chicks has always been a popular subject for Easter cards.
The card above showing a little girl finding eggs in the grass was mailed from Germany in 1903.
The pussy willow and kittens below date from 1909. I love pussy willow as it always reminds me of the classroom nature table at my junior school.
A Polish legend describes how pussy willow got its name. It tells how long ago some little kittens fell into a fast flowing river. Seeing their mother weeping on the riverbank the kindly willow trees along the water's edge swept their long branches down into the water. The drowning kittens held on tightly to the branches and were brought to safety. Since that time the willow has produced tiny fur-like buds on the tips of its branches every spring and we know it as pussy willow. . . . . . Isn't that the nicest story?
We don't have pussy willow in our garden but we do have cherry blossom which is often in bloom at Easter.
Loveliest of trees, the cherry now
Is hung with bloom along the bough,
And stands about the woodland ride
Wearing white for Eastertide.
Finally the pretty card below dates from 1911 and surprisingly it is the only one in the album that depicts the true reason we celebrate Easter.
I wish you all a happy and peaceful Easter.