Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Postcards from Italy

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Postcards from Italy

I hope this doesn't sound like a silly request, but here goes. In March, my fiancee and I will be married and the theme to our wedding and reception is peasant Italian. Since we are honeymooning in Italy, it seemed appropriate and I'm never opposed to some fun Italian tradiitons. My question: does anyone know where I could get Italian postcards from BEFORE we go to Italy? We're hoping on using them as the "Thank you" notes, sending from Italy while we're there. Thanks in advance! E

So you want postcards of Italy before you go there on your honeymoon so you can write the thank yous, lug them to Italy and mail them from there right? You don't want to write them in Italy or write them afterward on postcards bought in Italy but mailed in the U.S.A. right? Just do a Google search (www.google.com) and type in "italian postcards". Lots of sites selling them come up.

It sounds like you understand what I want. :) Considering that we have the potential of purchasing roughly 200 postcards, I was hoping on getting a head start on addressing them. I did the Google search before asking on this forum and most of the places found there are electronic Postcards. Thanks for the suggestion!

The theme of your wedding and reception is "peasant Italian"? How derogatory! What exactly are you aiming for here? And about these postcards - what do you want? Scenes of peasants toiling in the fields, stomping grapes with their bare feet? Laundry blowing in the wind between Neopolitan row houses? Sorry, but the whole idea doesn't strike me as silly, but rather as totally crass and obnoxious. Italians are proud of the way their economy has prospered in this century, and embarrassed at their poverty-stricken past. You want to play on this past? WHY? Seems callous at best to me. My relatives would attend such a wedding with firearms and be ready to use them.

Hey now, my family comes from Sicily. My grandfather, first generation American, thinks it's a wonderful idea to celebrate the culture from which we came. I meant no offense to anyone. It's certainly no reason to threaten myself and my family with weapons. Please forgive.

Lol~E, I think it might be a good thing that "Italian Peasant" isn't invited to the wedding! http://histclo.hispeed.com/photo/pc/it/pc-it.html This is from Google, cards with Italian themes. I hope this helps. an English peasant myself:) Kate

Thanks, Kate. :)

If you live near Chicago, Ristorante Dinotto on North Avenue has free postcards with scenes of Rome (I picked up a few black and white postcards showing a sidewalk cafe in Rome in the 1950s). They do advertise the restaurant but they are pretty well done. Maybe they can send you some.

Here's another thought: I printed out all of the names and addresses of people we wanted to send postcards to on labels and took those with us to Italy. All I had to do then was write the postcard, put a label and a stamp on it and mail it. I know this isn't exactly an answer to your question but I thought it might help out. SG

Thanks to you both. I may do that, SG. It'll be better than lugging all those postcards with us. :)

Oh yeah, it was easy to tell who I had sent a postcard to and who I still had to find that perfect card for!

I find it less offensive that the theme is peasant Italian and more offensive that you will be writing and sending a generic note of thanks for in expectation of gifts that your individual guests may have put much thought into. That is truly in poor taste. Sorry. If someone is going to get you a gift, the least you could do is give a more personal note of thanks.

If I were you I'd post the cards from the US too. It can take up to 6 months for a card to get to England, so goodness knows how long it will take to get to the US. Post them in the US or cross the border to Switzerland. I agree on the etiquette thing. Wait until you get home and send polite letters to people who have sent you gifts.

We are planning to write a note of thanks on each postcard. Look, I wasn't looking for comments on our decisions here. I was looking for help from a resource I have always found valuable in the past. Now, I am offended and I thank you for ruining a site for me where I thought people were respected a little more.

E, you idea is a sweet idea, but even sweet ideas encounter logistics problems. Mailing an obviously pre-fabricated thank-you note is crass, but my understanding is that you plan to have only the address labels pre-done and write a note. That's a very good idea, as it still leaves you flexibility as to whom the recipients should be. As far as the wedding theme, is YOUR wedding and the hell with what other people's perceptions are. On that note, sweetheart, you need to develop a thicker skin if you are are going to post here and ask for advice. Everybody is entitled to their opinion, including yourself. Congratulations on the happy ocassion! Have the best time and lots of fun in your wedding! Sounds wonderful!!

E, please don't pay ANY attention to those with negative opinions or criticism of your idea! Many people post with a question and end up getting opinions that are unasked for.(especially about chidren & honeymoons) Personally, I think it is a charming idea and it is refreshing to know that someone is planning their own wedding (in our neighborhood, wedding planners do the work) and that you would go to the trouble and extra expense of finding just the right cards to Thank people with, instead of the generic Thank You cards that most people go with . Have a lovely wedding and a bright and happy marriage! Lola

You could find a photo of some place in Italy you particularly liked and have the "postcards" printed at Kinkos. Any photo on a postcard size stock would become your postcard and you could even have them print your US return address (in case any go astray) and the lin down the middle as postcards are on the other side. You might be able to find an old Italy postcard on Ebay you could fashion it after, given the fact the Venice stays the same and copyrights have probably long expired on sme of those old photos.

E: I really like Sherry's suggestion above. It would not be difficult to find some reproducible photo(s) of beautiful scenes that you might use in your own custom postcards. Or, if the rights to use the images are not a big obstacle, you might use some antique images that you can find on the internet. If that interests you, a good place to start would be Alinari. It has old photos from all over Italy. They are organized under categories. The one covering occupations has some particularly interesting images of people. (Many are from Sicily. One that I happen to especially like is of a water seller in Palermo.) The url for an Alinari website home page is www.alinari.com From there you can look for links to the photo collections. I just looked at some postards I bought two months ago in Cefalù that had images from old photos. I tried doing Google searches based on the very limited info printed on each re the source, but unfortunately didn't get anywhere, except with just one of the cards. Here's the website for that one photographer's work, which was not as old as the other images, but some are interesting (one is a wedding scene): www.roccocristaudo.it I can't find the postcards I bought a few years ago with images from antique photos, but I have a feeling there wouldn't be too much useful info that might lead you to sources anyway. (You can also buy old postcards on Ebay, but it would obviously be a major production and very expensive to have to buy 200 of them and most people probably wouldn't get the point anyway.) P.S. Re mailing from Italy. I found that postcards from fairly remote places (little towns in Sicily and Basilicata) arrived in the US in a flash--less than a week. Mail was far less reliable when sent from major tourist places (e.g., Florence, Monreale, Assisi)--sometimes fast, sometimes took weeks. It MIGHT possibly be a problem if you mail thank yous from Italy and some people get them quickly, while others have to wait weeks and start assuming that you didn't send your thanks. Best wishes for your wedding. cmt (granddaughter of Sicilian peasant)

I think the "natives" of Italy would be glad that there is a fascination with their "peasant" background. Otherwise who would buy all their crafts, pottery, fabrics, and other items that keep their economy going?

There are a lot of older postcards from Italy being offered for sale on Ebay under the "collectibles" category.