Though I think I have made it clear that this blog exists primarily to spotlight and criticize certain postcards I have for sale on other venues,. I do like to think it serves other purposes as well. And with this in mind, I thought my postcards and I might just give you a hand writing your New year’s Resolutions.
I, personally, gave up on New Year’s resolutions many new years ago, and opted instead for an annual statement (seen only by me) in which I congratulate the old year on a good, hard fight, and hope that the new year will occasionally go easy on me. I will leave you to judge how our most recent new years have succeeded in coming up to my expectations. (It was Ogden Nash who pointed out that new years are incorrigible, and wondered why we have all these parties to incorrige them. Complaints must be addressed to Mr. Nash.)
But you can bet your boots that our ancestors had plenty of advice to pass along, and frequently did so by means of the postcard. Take this hearty bit of advice, which plays on some minor wordplay and suggests you not let people see your self-doubts.
Our ancestors, going back centuries, have always been good at telling their descendants tyo keep working hard and all will be well. This was a very popular verse in the world of business around the turn of the last century, though for business purposes, you were supposed to “work like Helen advertise” Ther marketing department will not let a chance go by to get a word in, even if that would contradict what THIS version says..
But in case you thought hard work was all it takes, even back in 1912, this young man was willing to give you advice on success in the business world which you MIGHT not get from your CEO. It is good to keep in mind that our ancestors were not blind to the ways of the world, either.
I KNEW the Dutch kids would have useful advice for the coming year. The advice isn’t new, of course, It’s the way she says it.
This is another new phrasing to an old, old bit of advice, and well worth pinning up somewhere. (Yes, jumping to conclusions IS more fun than waiting for confirmation on Instagram or Facebook, but remember the tumble.)
Another attitude you might be surprised to find among the corporate world of 1912 or thereabouts is this admonition. Yes, it says, you want to be nice to your workers, but….
Here is another little touch of equality, at least in theory, between the sexes, suggested by a man who looked a bit like W.C. Fields as a time when W.C. Fields himself was still a skinny juggler in a tramp costume. Still, his jovial, worldly wise attitude has a charm which will lead me to hunt down more of his advice in postcard form.
Even if some of it may not quite be up to the level you want for your New Year’s resolutions.
Blogsy Babbles 