33 Romantic Postcards From the Early 1900s That Prove Love Has Always Been Soft and Silly

There is something ridiculously charming about love from a hundred years ago. Long before texting heart emojis, long before sending memes as flirtation, long before we all collectively decided that communication can and should happen at the speed of light, couples had postcards. Little illustrated love notes filled with dramatic swoons, polite longing, and an occasional gentleman in a suit lying face down in a fountain because romance demanded it.

These Edwardian postcards are proof that love is timeless. People were just as cute, just as awkward, just as hopelessly smitten as we are now. They just expressed it with more hats. A lot more hats. Lovers perched on spoons like Victorian garnish. Couples sitting in fields making eye contact like it was a legally binding contract. Poetic declarations that are both earnest and slightly unhinged in the best possible way.

What gets me is how familiar it all feels. The sweetness. The softness. The goofy, overly posed attempts to look deeply romantic while probably worrying about slipping into the fountain. Technology changes, fashion changes, but affection remains the same at its core. These postcards are tiny time capsules reminding us that humans have always been sending each other little messages that say hey, I like you. A century later, they are still adorable.