Thursday Postcard Hunt | Koala

On this postcard received from Australia: The Three Sisters, Scenic Skyway Katoomba, Govett's Leap, the Great Canyon... And a koala!

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Thursday Postcard Hunt

April theme: TRANSPORTATION

• Week 1 - Boats, ferries
• Week 2 - Buses, trams, taxis
• Week 3 - Bicycles, tuk tuks
• Week 4 - Cable cars, gondolas

Everyone is welcome to share their postcards!

Lights Out

Lately, eclipse-related mail has become a thing. Before 8 April, I got a letter on this map from Bryon (the USA). 

On 18 April (only ten days after the total eclipse!), a couple of pieces of mail arrived, postmarked on the very eclipse day:

This postcard from Phillip shows the successive phases of an eclipse on the Sun (taken from Larousse Encyclopedia of Astronomy by Lucien Rudaux and G. de Vaucouleurs, 1962). But the clever thing here is how the stamps are lined up on the envelope: the Moon pass in front of the Sun, eclipsing it. An unbeatable way of sending a real eclipse by snail mail!

The eclipse stamp was issued on 2017,  and it uses thermochromic ink. I took a picture to show how it works. You can see it on this post.

The eclipse path of 2017 was quite different from the 2024 path!

Bryon, Canada, sent this postcard that arrived also on 18 April:

On the back, the stamps include superb images of northern lights and the Milky Way. And also the stamp issued by Canada Post on March 2024, which celebrates the total eclipse:

Printed with a special spot-gloss varnish that glows when exposed to black light, it shows the eclipse set against a darkened sky. A thin silver line depicts its path across Canada, and a collage along the bottom of the stamp highlights some of the landscapes over which it passes – including Ontario’s Niagara Falls and Spillars Cove in Newfoundland and Labrador.

I love that the postcard was postmarked in Bonavista, meaning, literally 'Good view'.

Apotheosis of the Rose (and the Book)

Happy St George's Day!

Apotheosis of the Rose, 1926
Joseph Stella

Folded card sent by Phillip (the USA). 

Letter sent by Laura (the UK).

Postcard sent by Heleen (the Netherlands) in 2023, with matching stamps on the back: books & roses!

My Only, by Katerina Babok

And her 2024 postcard as well.

Letter sent by Imma (PC).

Letter sent by Rosemary (Canada).

Quijotes

It was quite a surprise to get this Don Quijote-related postcard from Russia, sent by Eduard.

I think I found a suitable postcard to reply, this time...

Sunday Stamps | Sant Jordi

Today's theme in Sunday Stamps is Dragons, saints. 

I received this, ehem, dragon from Heleen (the Netherlands) to celebrate St George's Day (#BooksAndRoses). No element of the festival is missing: the dragon, the rose (Australian stamp), the books...

Postbox Saturday | London

Near St. Paul's cathedral in London (the UK). Postcard sent by Laura.

Russian Doll Letter

Heleen (the Netherlands) got this envelope from Germany, and she was thoughtful enough to send it to me. So, she put it inside a transparent bag, hid the stamps with some tape, and and the due postage.

For some unknown reason (an invisible barcode, as the sender suggested?) the envelope was returned to her.

So, again, she put inside a third (handmade) envelope and sent it to me. This time it arrived safe and sound. And, of course, I am not unhappy with the whole matter, because I got some extra stamps and another beautiful envelope. And it was very entertaining to reach the contents, after opening three covers!

Thursday Postcard Hunt | Random Bikes

(Received form Germany)

(Received from Russia)

Bookstore in Taichung (Taiwan)

Houses in Rynok Square (Lviv, Ukraine)

I thought I would have a lot of postcards featuring bikes, but I only found these that I got from Postcrossing years ago. At last a couple of them are not even proper bikes!

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Thursday Postcard Hunt

April theme: TRANSPORTATION

• Week 1 - Boats, ferries
• Week 2 - Buses, trams, taxis
• Week 3 - Bicycles, tuk tuks
• Week 4 - Cable cars, gondolas

Everyone is welcome to share their postcards!

ShangHai

It it very nice when someone on holidays cares enough to send you a postcard from their destination. In this case, not one, but two were sent by Bree (China) on 22 February. They landed here on 3 April. 

She was told at the post office that they had only one kind of stamp. Quite strange, because it was issued in 2004 (!). Both postcards bear the same, a beautiful illustration of a Yellow-bellied Tit (Periparus venustulus).

Celebration of Bulb Plants

Postcard sent by Heleen (the Netherlands), which celebrates the spring. It bears a matching stamp on the back:

The stamp belongs to the sheet issued on 1st March 2024, which mark the 75th anniversary of the garden of Keukenhof, in the city of Lise. The sheet has six stamps in three different designs: tulip,  daffodil and iris. Heleen has sent them all, on different pieces of mail.

They look gorgeous all together!

How Many Sheets Does Your Letter Has?

Two Pence unused Mulready letter sheet, blue, form a96

«Until the reformation of the postal service in 1840, envelopes were not commonly used at all when sending letters through the post. Postage prices were based on the number of sheets each letter contained, and an envelope was considered a sheet and so would therefore be charged accordingly. To avoi this extra cost, letter sheets were used; these were single sheets of paper that could be folded and sealed without the need for an envelope. In 1837, the social reformer Rowland Hill published a pamphlet outlining his proposed changes to the postal service (Post Office Reform: Its Importance and Practicability). Hill suggested a simplification of the whole system, with dramatically reduced prices based on weight rather that the number of sheets used per letter. Most importantly of all, Hill proposed a unifrom charge regardless of where in the country the letter was to be delivered, and with payment in advance (previously the costs would often be paid by the recipient of the letter). In 1840, Hill's proposals were accepted and two different methods of pre-payment were introduced -adhesive postage stamps, and pre-stamped letter sheets and envelopes.

    The artist William Mulready was commissioned to design the artwork for these letter sheets and envelopes. Hill had expected these to be more popular than postage stamps, but within days the overly elaborate designs with their images of Britannia with a lion at her feet, began to be caricatured and mocked. Hill wrote in his journal of his fear that there may be the need to 'substitute some other stamp for that design by Mulready' as 'the public has shown their disregard and even distaste for beauty'. The Mulready designs were quickly withdrawn and replaced by embossed envelopes. The envelopes featured the image of Queen Victoria based on a design by William Wyon. The Wyon penny envelope was an immediate success, but still could not compete with the convenience and flexibility of the postage stamp.»

James Ward, Adventures in Stationery

Sunday Stamps | Is Bamboo a Tree?

A Canadian stamp from 1994 featuring a Shagbark Hickory / Caryer ovale (Carya ovata). 

Two stamps from China (2013 & 2014) and one from Japan (2012), showing bamboo plants:

This is a post for Sunday Stamps. The topic today is Trees, Leaves.

Postbox Saturday | Bruges

A picture taken in 2018 in Bruges (Belgium).

Pink Spring Letters

Collages on envelopes sent by Laura (the UK).

Thursday Postcard Hunt | Columbus Union Station Arch

Not having any bus or tram or taxi at hand, I thought I could add a railway-related card to this week's Thursday Postcard Hunt. It shows the Columbus Union Station Arch (Arena District, Columbus, Ohio, the USA). 

The stamps on the envelope were issued in 2019 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Transcontinental Railway. They have some golden accents difficult to appreciate from a picture. I think some people took the central one for a label without face value, but it is a real stamp. 

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Thursday Postcard Hunt

April theme: TRANSPORTATION

• Week 1 - Boats, ferries
• Week 2 - Buses, trams, taxis
• Week 3 - Bicycles, tuk tuks
• Week 4 - Cable cars, gondolas

Everyone is welcome to share their postcards!