Legend of Spanish Moss, live oaks, West Palm Beach, FL, 1971

Subject: Forests & Trees
Card type: Linen
Date: c. 1971 (Modern)

Back of Legend of Spanish Moss, live oaks, West Palm Beach, FL, 1971, Miss Nancy Ackerman, MI, USA, c. 1971 linen postcard — Back

About this postcard

A color view looks down a grassy avenue of live oaks, their branches draped with Spanish moss and meeting over the path. The scene accompanies the old Southern legend printed with the card: a princess and her bridegroom are killed on their wedding day, buried beneath an oak, and the bride's long black hair is hung in the branches, where it turns gray and spreads from tree to tree. Spanish moss is an epiphyte that gathers on live oaks across the humid South, and the moss-hung avenue is a familiar image of the region's roadside scenery.

Postcard Details

Message · English, in pen

Dear Nancy, We are having a wonderful time. Went thru the Smoky Mountains. They were beautiful. We'll be in Florida soon. Starting to get warmer. Finally. Love Mother & Dad

PublisherCOLOURPICTURE

The Legend of The Spanish Moss There's an old, old legend, that's whispered by Southern folks, About the lacy Spanish moss that garlands the great oaks — A lovely princess and her love, upon their wedding day, Were struck-down by a savage foe amidst a bitter fray; United in death they were buried, so the legends go — 'Neath an oak's strong, friendly arms, protected from their foe; There, as was the custom, they cut the brides long hair with love And hung its shining blackness on the spreading oak above; Untouched, undisturbed it hung there, for all the world to see And with the years the locks turned gray and spread from tree to tree. Legend of Spanish Moss

PostmarkedGREATER PALM BEACH AREA, January 5, 1971

Addressed to

Miss Nancy Ackerman

9651 Centralea Detroit, MI 48239

Postcard record

Postmarked	January 5, 1971, GREATER PALM BEACH AREA
Publisher	COLOURPICTURE
Condition	Good
Place addressed	Miss Nancy Ackerman, 9651 Centralea, Detroit, MI, 48239
Publisher	COLOURPICTURE, Boston, MA
Stamp	6c United States flag, red and blue
Notes	Linen-textured stock with a wide white lower panel carrying the printed poem; minor corner wear at upper left. Postmark: GREATER PALM BEACH AREA PM 5 JAN 1971 — divided-back chrome (Plastichrome) card, glossy surface; light edge/corner wear, stamp intact.

Cite this card

Legend of Spanish Moss, live oaks, West Palm Beach, FL, 1971, postcard, c. 1971. PostalPast Collection. https://postalpast.com/postcard/legend-of-spanish-moss-live-oaks-west-palm-beach-fl-1971. Accessed November 2, 2026.