[attombomb7]

http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie ... 39687&rd=1

had no idea they even had these ???

[Fram]

The Belgian Post are rather comic mad (well, it's a lucrative market), so apart from stamps with comic figures and postcards with comic figures and special comic books to accompany the stamps, and stamps designed by comic artists, they also have had for a while this kind of celebrations card: you bought it, added the text, and put on the envelope the exact date of delivery. Very easy for a birthday or so! They have a whole range of those, but I believe the comic ones are out of production since at least five years. They had all the major Belgian comic series here, not only the Smurfs. They aren't very rare, but nice (quite a large format).

[Syd Smurf]

Gee it's great having you around to educate us on these items Fram. I have been meaning to print out some of the things you have posted here and keep them in my smurf folder for future reference....thanks

Dyar

[Fram]

You're welcome. It's easier when you are close to the source of course (Belgium, that is, not the Post ). I would often love to be more precise, but I rarely have my references nearby when I need them, so most of what I say here is from memory...

[attombomb7]

I agree with Dyar!! you are wonderful Fram!!

you have so much more knowledge on alot of the smurf stuff.

[Rachel]

Excellent info Fram and Thanks for psting Attom. I didn't know postcards had been made, they look like nice smurfy items, especially to receive for a birthday.

[attombomb7]

thank you!! Rachel!!

[Fram]

Oh, many postcards have been made, starting in the sixties. It's a whole collection of its own, I only have a few... Apart from those for the Belgian post, smaller (well, normal format) ones were made like you can find Snoopy postcards from Hallmark and so on, but mainly for the French market (with texts in French). There certainly were cards for sale a few years ago still, don't know how it is nowadays.

[Fram]

This is one of the nice more recent postcards, a rawing especially made for the Comics Museum in Brussels. I don't know if they still sell it there, but it wasn't available elsewhere. Nice price, but I wouldn't bid any higher than this...

[attombomb7]

nice postcard!! and a amazing mushroom house too!

[Fram]

Yes, the Comics Museum is housed in a very nice Art Nouveau magasin by architect Victor Horta, and some of the most famous Belgian artists were asked to make a drawing with the theme of Art Nouveau, to be used as posters or postcards. This was what Peyo came up with...

Art Nouveau is an art style from 1890 - 1914, also known as Jugendstil, Liberty Style or Tiffany Style, and a few other names. The centres were Paris and Brussels, but the rest of the Western world joined in nicely. The style was the most prominent in architecture and in applied arts (furniture, vases, lamps, ...), less in paintings, a bit more in drawings and sculpture. Famous names were Victor Horta (Belgian architect), Daum and Gallé (French vase makers and glass artists), Gaudi (more eclectic Spanish architect), Gustav Klimt (Austrian painter), ... The British Arts and Crafts movement is associated with the same period and inspiration, but is in a way closer to the Art Deco of the twenties.

I have been thinking abourt starting threads about postcards and puzzles, like the threads about comics and music, but I'm rather busy already as it is