Tacky German Postcard, purchased March 2012 at the Mt. Vernon Antique Center
I wish I’d had this postcard for last year’s Toilet Week. It would have added an international flair to the event. It depicts a man with a bottle of schnapps in his hand about to flush himself down a toilet. The caption reads, “My life’s last station hangs on this chain.” Wow, that is certainly more clever than what we Americans usually come up with: “Goodbye cruel world!”
This reminds me that my first encounter with the concept of tackiness involved postcards. Way back when I was in college, one of my friends conducted a tacky postcard contest. People sent her the tackiest ones that they could find, and after a while, she would declare a winner. The first year I remember this contest happening, the winner was the picture of a dead cowboy in the desert with a vulture on his back, with the caption, “The End of the Road.” Ah, memories!
I found the tacky German postcard at the Mount Vernon Antique Center while on a tacky quest. The Tacky Treasures Road Show is coming up soon, and I hoped that day for a big find. And in fact, I did find something fabulously tacky, but unfortunately it was way out of my price range. It was a stuffed macaque monkey in its own glass display case, holding a small ceramic pitcher and a red wine glass. The sticker price was an unbelievable $3,500.00. Even when the sales person said helpfully, “It’s 30% off today,” there was no way that I could afford it. On the other hand, at that price, I don’t think it’s going anywhere soon, and I might just head back to Mt. Vernon one of these days to visit it. Unfortunately, I do not have a photo of the monkey worth posting. My cellphone camera is horrible, and most antique malls actually forbid the use of cameras. The only reason I took a shot of the monkey with my phone was in case someone doubted my story and I needed proof.
Back to the tacky German postcard…it’s now on display in my downstairs bathroom with rest of my toilet and outhouse collection. Thanks to John Heins for the translation of the caption of the postcard.
