Fun-shaped Postcrossing arrival from Croatia

This nifty postcard arrived in my mailbox from Croatia, via Postcrossing. It was sent by Dorotea, a 21-year-old pharmacy student and philatelist who is a fan of Audrey Hepburn and Clint Eastwood.

Dorotea wrote: "Many friendly greetings from CROATIA! ... I come from a beautiful town of Sisak, which is famous for the fortress from 16th century and for three rivers, Kupa, Sava and Odra."

I also recently received a postcard from Zhizhi, who lives in Shaoxing, China, and is a fan of Taylor Swift. They wrote: "Contrary to you, it often rains here. I'm really tired of the rainy life everyday. It's just too painful, holding an umbrella every day. I am very interested in history, especially war history. I don't know why, but it really interests me, even though I'm someone who doesn't support war. Thank you."

I think our last measurable rainfall here in Florence was sometime in August, so I can't fathom the idea of disliking rain. 

To tie all of this together in an oddball way: Dorotea is a fan of Clint Eastwood and, coincidentally, Ashar and I watched Eastwood's Kelly's Heroes last night. It was the first viewing for both of us. I knew going in that it was more comedy than drama, but didn't expect it to be as trippy-hippie as it was. Also, parts of Kelly's Heroes were filmed in regions that are now part of Croatia. I think both Dorotea (Eastwood presence) and Zhizhi (historical war action mixed with anti-war messages) might find it interesting.

Sunday's postcards: People of the past (and a bunny)

Just a couple of quick vintage postcard blasts from the past today. 

The top card is a linen postcard published by the Asheville (North Carolina) Post Card Co. N327 is captioned "CHURNING. A MOUNTAIN WOMAN AT ONE OF HER CHORES." I can't quite tell whether this is color photography or a black and white photo that was hand-colored. If pressed, I'd lean toward the latter. I hope she got paid for her time!

The second postcard is from the UK. It's from M.P. Series No. 2 and is labeled "PLAYMATES." A barefoot boy who looks he'd fit well alongside the mountain woman is standing by a stool (or tiny table) upon which rests a rabbit. I'm not sure what year this one is from, but it has a divided back and indicates that for "inland"  delivery it requires half-penny stamp (1/2 d.). According to the Great Britain Philatelic Society, the half-penny rate was in effect from 1870 through the first half of 1918. So that narrows the possibilities.

Neither postcard has been written on or mailed, so I'll try to put them to use and convert them into even more interesting ephemera for a future historian. But it'll cost way more than a half-penny to mail them.