In the early twentieth century, hand-crafted postcards were constructed of a variety of materials and sent through the mail.

I have posted samples of hand-painted postcards and of light, balsa-wood postcards.

A niche area of postcard handcraft was feather and fur design.

I have only two examples in my collection – these postcards are fragile (the feathers disintegrate and fall off, the fur rubs off) so few examples have survived in good condition.

Recently, I found a white bear made of fur.  The postcard was not mailed, and the bear has survived largely intact.

You can see that the face and the feet of the bear have been painted, and that the body consists of applied fur.

I cannot distinguish the furry substance.

There are contemporary postcards with furry animals, but the background of these cards is a modern chrome print.

This postcard has a background that was printed circa 1910.  Parts of it appear to be hand-painted, and it is possible that the entire postcard was hand-painted.

Someone treasured the postcard and ensured that it was preserved for more than a hundred years.