Garden Birthday

Birthday Greetings. In the Garden

For Maria's birthday month a birthday card and greetings.  I think most of us would be happy in a garden I know I always am although I think wearing a large bow on my head might be a little impracticable if any hard labour were involved and a white apron would be a disaster. We will just have to imagine an idyllic sunny afternoon among the flower beds collecting cut flowers to display in the house.  By the size of the wheelbarrow I would guess our pretty girl must be a flower seller.
 
The postcard was published by E A Schwerdtfeger who set up business in the 1880s and were large producers of  real photo postcards, many hand coloured, but unfortunately not this one.  They also produced a number of series featuring  actresses of the day, portraits, holidays and fashionable women in a variety of costumes. Birthday postcards seem to be one of their major outputs and eventually they would become Germany's largest greetings card company. Their other products were calendars and glanzbilder (decorative elements printed on paper which could be pasted on household items, furniture, walls or displayed in one of the great leisure pursuits of the time, scrap books).  Schwerdtfeger had offices in London and New York but the business and factory was located in Berlin and despite being damaged in World War Two they continued to trade until the 1980s.

The card has been used for a birthday greeting from May to her father with five kisses, although there is no stamp the inland postage rate quoted of ½d and the divided back indicate it might have been sent between 1902 and 1918.

Postcards for the Weekend theme - Happiness - be happy and travel to Maria's Linky Party at  Connections to the World