vintage and contemporary postcards and stamps from around the world


30 April 2017

Sunday Stamps II - 124

1954, Canada
engraver: Silas Robert Allen
based on a photograph by Dorothy Wilding

This issue of six stamps featuring Queen Elizabeth based on a photograph by Dorothy Wilding replaced the five (1¢ to 5¢) issues from 1953 based on a photograph by Yousuf Karsh. (those stamps replaced the King George issues which were also based on a Wilding photograph). Dorothy Wilding (1893-1976) was considered one of Britain's most successful portrait photographers.

for Kings and Queens

29 April 2017

Niagara

Canada

The American (foreground) with Bridal Veil (the single fall just beyond the American) are completely on the US side of the border. Horseshoe (background) is mostly within Canada with only a small portion of the north east corner in the US. The Niagara River flows from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario, and while the falls aren't exceptionally high, they are very wide at over 3,400 feet from the extreme American side to the extreme Canadian side.


for Postcards for the Weekend: body of water

23 April 2017

Sunday Stamps II - 123

2015, Canada, Weather Wonders - fog at Cape Spear
Cape Spear is on the Avalon Peninsula, Newfoundland (near St John's) and is the easternmost point of North America. The lighthouse is the oldest surviving lighthouse in Newfoundland and Labrador. It was built in 1836, with a new tower built in 1955 using the active light from the original tower. Generations of the Cantwell family of lightkeepers lived at Cape Spear for 150 years, from 1847 to 1997.

for lighthouses and/or windmills

22 April 2017

flowerpots

The flowerpots in Tobermory on Georgian Bay were formed after years of rain, wind, waves and ice wore away at the cliff at the water's edge. The softer rock eroded more quickly until the shape of a 'flowerpot' emerged from the harder rock.

The flowerpots in Hopewell Cape on the Bay of Fundy have been formed by tidal erosion. The Bay of Fundy has the highest tides in the world. The extremes mean that the base of these rocks are covered in water twice a day. The only way to view them at ground level is at low tide.

In 1903, one of the three stacks at Flowerpot Island collapsed.
In 2016, part of one of the Hopewell Rocks - Elephant Rock - collapsed.

here is a drone view of the collapse
https://youtu.be/vxNKBukqOOU

16 April 2017

Sunday Stamps II - 122

2011, France, transportation

In 2006 a tram network was opened in Mulhouse, a city in Alsace. By 2010 it also included this hybrid tram-train, a first in France. This is a light rail public transport system that runs on urban tram lines that connect with a main railway line. This stamp shows the tram-train at station Mairie. Each station has a different coloured archway holding the electrical wires.

for a favourite, (or Easter)

15 April 2017

A happy Easter

unsent, Easter

featuring lily of the valley and a newly hatched chick, early signs of rebirth and spring

for Postcards for the Weekend

09 April 2017

sunday stamps II - 121

1951, Vietnam, Landscapes of Vietnam
designer: Do Hoang Ke

This olive green stamp shows Pongour Waterfall, the biggest of the falls in Dalat. Pongour is surrounded by unspoilt forest about 50 kms from Dalat City. This terrace waterfall is 40 m high and 100 m wide.

for green

08 April 2017

02 April 2017

Sunday Stamps II - 120

2009, Netherlands, Children's Stamp  surcharge
artist: Christian Borstlap

This stamp is one of a series of six for the theme "Let Children Learn" for Children's Stamp which is a charity focused on the promotion of children's eduction. I had no idea what this was meant to portray until finding this site. Each stamp offers a bit of advice with this bit of inspiration "something boring can be beautiful if you look at it upside down"

for something odd or humorous



01 April 2017

Mess

received 2017,  from Lithuania
artist Luka Va

Luka Va is from Lithuania, but now lives in Melbourne Australia.
You can read an interview with this quirky artist here.

for Postcards for the Weekend: odd or humorous