Going Postal

I really like postcards.  I'm not totally sure why, but there's something nice about a well-designed one, like it's a little poster. 
I'm really into some vintage-inspired ones that I found online, like this one which I think it suppose to be for Switzerland.  I like the bright colors and the simple shapes.  I usually don't like writing on my postcard's front image, but I really like the writing on postcards that are clearly inspired by old school advertisements.  They remind me of those stickers people used to put on their luggage to indicate where they had been before. 
Also in vintage postcard world is this French postcard.  Again, it reminds me of those old advertisements, but this one also reminds me Alphonse Mucha's style of art.
And this great one of Michigan reminds me a little of the cover art for Greeting from Michigan by Sufjan Stevens.  I suspected that the cover of that album was not just meant to look like a vintage advertisement but was probably inspired by a specific one, and this looks kind of close.

(As a sidenote, I'm so sad to hear that Stevens won't be doing more state albums.  I was personally pulling for one of Oregon myself.  I suspect that someone down the line will start making state albums themselves, and I'm hoping it'll either be Kimya Dawson or Double Saginaw Familiarity.  Because, really, someone needs to.) 
Other vintage postcards that I like include ones of Milan, Australia, Cuba, this one castle I can't place, Mexico, a fleur de lis, St. Tropaz, Bulgaria, Flanders and Brazil.  Possibly this one from Egypt is vintage too, though maybe it's just me. 
I guess I am a geography nerd, because I even liked some of the flag ones out there, like this one from Senegal.  I'm always trying to quiz myself when I see flags, trying to get good at remembering every country's flag.  I'm embarrassed to say I didn't remember Senegal when I saw this one.  I really should, considering how much I love African history and really want to go to Senegal someday.  It's not quite as bad as not knowing the flag to Cambodia, but I'm still not pleased with myself. 
The only one I found that I really don't like is this one for New Zealand.  I suspect that woman is suppose to be a "Native."  I get the feeling they were like "Hey, we need something exotic and sexy, let's put a woman in a bear blanket and nothing else."  Er.  Racism is never hot, sorry. 
Of course, there's nothing quite like an intriguing picture to make a good postcard, like this one, which is from some place I've never heard of.  When it's a good picture, I kind of hate it when someone sticks words over it.  I feel like that's part of the point of the back; you can just turn it around if you want to know where the picture is taken from.
Most of the humorous postcards out there strike me as tacky and/or lame, but some of them genuinely make me smile.  See this postcard from Earth.  It's times like these I wish I had a friend who actually thought he was the Doctor, because then I could send him this, writing a message that sounded like I was a companion.  I suspect that would be the sort of thing a lot of my friends would think was funny.  (Maybe I could do that to Matt?  He made himself one of those gigantic scarves like the fourth Doctor has.)  
The biggest problem with looking at these is that they make me wish I was out traveling and actually seeing some of these things.  Then I would have the excuse to buy some postcards and send them home to my friends.