how many hands?

When I visited Prague and Berlin in 2007, I found myself fascinated by the old world culture that still rears its ancient head so heavily in these two cities (I’ve not been to Europe in a long time, so forgive my naivete). Prague’s junk shops, or bazaars, were all over. I came across wonderful detritus there and came home with the best of it. Berlin was not as forthcoming, however its giant flea market in MauerPark was quite wonderful and got my hands quite dirty with dirt and dust.

I abhor purchasing touristy post cards and will only do so at a museum or the like if I have to. I found a plethora of old postcards in my favorite junk shop in Prague and used the sewing kit my hotel had provided to fix them up a bit.

Who knows how many hands these old withered cards have been through, and how exciting to think that they are about to travel through the hands of many others before they reach their intended recipients. They were mailed to various friends and family (including myself, of course) on my last day in Prague. Hopefully the stitching won’t clog up any postal machines, and hopefully they will arrive complete with a bit of tearing, smudging and bends.

For your entertainment, the second series of ‘Wish You Were Here’ found and altered postcards:

Wish You Were Here I

Wish You Were Here II

Wish You Were Here III
{It was this lovely thing that I mailed to myself. I am proud to say that not only did the postcard get bent, but the perforation caused the man’s head to pop out, and the loose thread on the back of the card managed to pick up a price tag (with no amount). Everything else is intact and there’s a nice clean ink stamp canceling out the postage on the back.}