Yuri Gagarin

This is one of my most treasured cards! (as always, minus the message and address). It arrived as one of a few cards I swapped with a young gentleman named Eugene. He had an album of the most fantastic cards and if I'd been able to I would have snapped them all up. I LOVE USSR/Soviet/CCCP cards! 

I love this particular card on all sorts of levels... 

I love the subject - Yuri was so handsome.

I love the vintage - it's got visible 'age' to it and has decade's old foxing, and it's style is typical of the era and has a wonderful 'flimsy-ness' to it.  It even has a bit of yellowing tape holding a tear together, as if the original owner knew that one day I'd come along and love it and want it, despite it's flaws.  It was worth it to them to try and repair and keep it safe.  That's the sort of thing that makes a card wonderful to me.  All the lovely, modern, shiny cards available and someone has felt attached enough to this one to make sure it survived long enough to end up with me.

I love that Eugene went out of his way to find some Yuri stamps - Yuri stamps!! LOVE! 

Most of all though I love that Eugene was so passionate about postcards and I'm glad we had the chance to swap. 

Yuri Gagarin - 1934-1968