This old torn postcard restoration job looks like a tough one. It was! On the back of the postcard was a message and quite a message it was too!
Old torn postcard restoration with marriage message
The marriage acceptance
On her 21st Birthday, the lady featured in the photo had this very image made for her partner as a gift. On the back, she wrote a message. That message read.
“Today you ask me to marry you, Believe I love you, because I do, Believe I am content, Because I am, Believe I am yours forever, Always, Alma”
The photo was torn up in a disagreement over the marriage in 1939 by the mother, as the sounds of the Battle of Britain echoed through the night. The couple remained together until Alma’s partner died at 56. Alma never re-married after that.
To celebrate Alma’s 100th birthday, 18th November 2016 it was time to restore this image. Let us have a look at that message.
Torn postcard message restored an acceptance of marriage.
The photo restore
The postcard used to make the original photo was an old “Kodak Carte Postale”. With a bit of research, I managed to found the appropriate, blank card and postcard texture and essentially recreate the design. Scaled and positioned exactly, with the text meticulously cut out and replaced. This creates the best image for reprint.
The photo needed much reconstruction. Much of the hair was missing and a good-sized portion of the blouse.
Torn photo restored with missing pieces
Being careful to fix the hair in the same wavy style, I was able to use parts from around the head to patch up the missing pieces. The blouse was more tricky. In order to fix this, I filled in the missing area with grey. I shaded and toned it and matched the grain to the base image. From here I drew on the white stripes. Each stripe was shaded darker to the left and right to create the pinstripe pattern. An extra button was added.
I know I’ve made it sound rather simple. A lot of time was taken to get everything correct, believable and accurate.
If you have a similar image check out the main page to see how photo restoration can help you!
