20/08/2016

SKELOTON OF WHALE

BLACKGANG CHINE I.W.

This large whale skeleton (and yes – it really is spelt as SKELOTON on the actual postcard) was still on show at the Blackgang Chine attraction, on the Isle of Wight, when I visited here in 2002. This cracking early real photographic postcard is a nice collectible and I bought this one whilst on the Isle of Wight on the afore-mentioned trip. One of the things you learn early about postcard buying is that a local postcard will always be priced higher when sold in the actual location that is depicted (thus Southend-on-Sea postcards will be higher priced for me when bought locally – but are much cheaper when I find them on sale elsewhere in the country). So, this card cost me £4 when I bought it, but, as I had visited the whalebone room depicted only the day before, I had to have it.

 

(I have also depicted this because I did not want to have an entire DISNEY posting night)

 

 

20/08/2016

WORLD OF MOTION

FUTURE WORLD

(EPCOT)

WALT DISNEY WORLD

Ref: 0100-50059

“World of Motion, Future World – This moving presentation follows the progress of transportation through the ages. Man’s advances are shown as scenes from the past led on to experimental vehicles of the 21st Century”

(Text from Reverse side of Postcard)

 

If you had not visited Epcot before January 1996 then you may not have head of the ‘World Of Motion’ and, looking at this image, would immediately say that this is ‘Test Track’, and you would of course be quite correct as this arena now does host the ride ‘Test Track’ (which opened in 1998).

The World of Motion actually opened here on 1st October 1982, and closed in January 1996. Thankfully I got to this experience in 1993 when I first visited Florida.

 

WORLD OF MOTION

FUTURE WORLD

(EPCOT)

WALT DISNEY WORLD

Ref: 0100-50050

“It’s Fun to Be Free, it’s also exciting! As man’s mobility grew, so did the complications. The World of Motion in Future World shows the advances in transportation throughout the ages. Presented by General Motors.”

(Text from Reverse side of Postcard)

 

When I got to visit here, back in 1993, I really enjoyed this ride and as you can see from these four pictures here, this was a ride through the history of transportation via a number of individual animatronic scenes (for those who know this is a bit like the trip through the story of communications which can still be seen via the ride through ‘Spaceship Earth’, the giant silver geometric dome at the entrance to Epcot).

For me these postcards, and especially this one, bring back fond memories and depict part of the history of Walt Disney World.

 

 

 

20/08/2016

 

20 – DISNEYLAND PARIS

DISNEYLAND PARIS EXCLUSIVE POSTCARD

Large Shaped – Circular – Postcard

 

Disneyland Paris celebrated its 20th Anniversary in 2012 and a number of 20th anniversary sales merchandise was produced, including this large(ish) round shaped postcard. This particular copy here was posted from France in May 2013 (which leads me to assume that the postcard was still on sale the following year). As you will have realised by now, I have an interest in shaped postcards and an interest in Disney related postcards, both of which interests are nicely combined in this particular item.

 

20/08/2016

 

THE COUNTY BEAR JAMBOREE

WALT DISNEY WORLD

Ref: 0110404

“This is a reproduction of one of the original sketches used to create “The Country Bear Jamboree” in the Magic Kingdom’s Frontierland. From these drawings Disney Imagineers sculpted miniature scale models and then full-size figures. Through the magic of Audio-Animatronics, the performers were ‘brought-to-life’ to sing, strum guitars and perform in the wild and zany frontier musical”.

(Text from Reverse side of Postcard)

 

Compared with some of the new and highly technical attractions at Walt Disney World this one could possibly seem dated. But, it has a charm which maintains its popularity. I have seen the animatronic show a few times now and for die-hard Disney World fanatics it still is one of the original attractions dating back to 1971 and the opening. These original sketch cards are very collectible (I have some for the Pirates of the Caribbean ride) and easily sell for £2 each and anywhere up to £5/£6 if more than one collector wants it.

 

 

20/08/2016

LEADWORTH

LEADWORTH HISTORICAL VILLAGE OF GLOUCESTERSHIRE

Copyright – Cook 2011

 

Now, who has heard of Leadworth? Assuming you have then you are probably, like me, a fan of the television series ‘Doctor Who’. This is because Leadworth is a fictional location, one attended by the eleventh Doctor, as played by Matt Smith. In his first full episode the Eleventh Doctor turns up in Leadworth and meets Amy Pond. Leadworth is the home village of Amy Pond, and later when she is older, her boyfriend (later husband) Rory Williams. This episode was titled ‘THE ELEVENTH HOUR’ and at one point in it the Doctor and Amy run through the village and stop outside a village shop. Outside this shop is a spinner of postcards.

 

PHOTOGRAPH

Here you have photograph of that spinner from the episode. As you can see the BBC had to invent a load of postcard images so that the spinner could be filled with authentic looking postcards.

Now, here we come to the clever bit. One fan, whilst watching this episode, thought to themselves that the postcards looked good…and looking at them thought, I can reproduce them. We all love a project so this collector went ahead and produced, as near as he could, actual postcards resembling those on display on the screen in this episode.

Having produced a small number of these the collector decided they could cover some of the cost by selling a few sets of the cards. Fortunately, I came across these and managed to get one of these sets.

 

 

 

POSTCARD

LEADWORTH

Multi-view Postcard

 

The real location used as the village of Leadworth is actually the area of Llandaff which is in Cardiff, not that far from the BBC Wales studio where the Doctor Who programme was/is filmed. The building bottom right was used as the Royal Leadworth Hospital in the series and is where Rory Williams worked. The building is in reality the St Cadoc’s Hospital, Lodge Road, Caerleon, Gwent and is another location as it is not even in Llandaff.

In the episode itself there is quite a lot of running back and forth across the village green which is depicted in the top centre image.

 

 

POSTCARD

LEADWORTH

Multi-view Postcard

 

Another collection of images from around the fictional village of Leadworth. This one here is my favourite as the house depicted in the bottom left corner photograph is the home of Amy Pond in the series.

 

 

POSTCARD

LEADWORTH

Multi-view Postcard

 

This postcard concentrates its images on the actual Llandaff Cathedral which is seen in the background of the filmed scenes.

 

 

POSTCARD

LEADWORTH

Multi-view Postcard

 

Another collection of images of the Llandaff Cathedral. If you look at the top photograph of the spinner of postcards from the Doctor Who episode you will see that the Cathedral appears on probably nearly all of the designs the BBC created. So the use of the cathedral on these postcards is true to the original source.

 

POSTCARD

LEADWORTH

 

The only single image photograph postcard and, the postcard which most resembles one of the BBC creations from the spinner in the episode. In fact, although the other designs above are clever and use images from the correct location, it is this postcard here which really captures the idea of reproducing the postcards from the story, and, it is the only successful one (although this observation by no means lowers the amount of work required by the maker, and the interest I have in the other cards shown).

 

 

REVERSE SIDE OF POSTCARD(S)

All of the postcards above, and the one below, have this postcard reverse layout – I liked the fact that a reverse design was constructed (if you look at the photograph of the spinner at the top it can be seen that the postcards there are all plain backed – a bit of a giveaway if you looked closely, but who would!)  

 

 

LEADWORTH

Angulus Terrarium

 

This Latin text has been discussed on Dr Who chat sites and it is thought to have been taken from an original Latin strip that reads Angulus Terrarum and which translates as ‘Tranquil Repose’. The use of Angulus Terrarium is thought to be an in joke as it is the name of a mortuary/Funeral home which appeared in an earlier Dr Who story called “Revelation of the Daleks”.

Whatever the reasoning behind the quote, I like and believe the in joke Dalek connection theory, there is no doubt that several of these heraldry postcards can be seen on the spinner rack in the episode. This made up version here is a quite good interpretation, although the scroll does not curve as much as on the ones shown on the spinner.

So, there you have it. A fascinating and very clever set and one which I do not think is that easy to obtain now as I suspect not that many were actually made – and as a bonus for those who did buy a set, there was an added little extra….

 

 

WELCOME TO LEADWORTH

TOURIST INFORMATION MAP

 

This was a little extra that the person also put together to go with the postcards to make the package a little more interesting. It is clearly not a postcard but came with the above postcards and is part of the entire package bought. It is also as clever, if not more so, than the postcards. This is the front cover of the fold out brochure which contains fake adverts and a piece of text explaining the historic past of this fictional village and where to visit (there is an interesting bit about the hospital having the largest coma ward in Gloucestershire – a direct link to the first 11th Doctor episode). But the best bit is the guide map on the inside which is, by necessity totally fake. It of course includes buildings and structures which are really located in Llandaff and in Caerleon, which have been mentioned, and also parts of what is called ‘Upper Leadworth’, which appeared in later episodes and which was actually areas filmed on location in the village of Skenfrith (South East Wales) – but the Skenfrith locations were not included on these postcards.

 

 

WELCOME TO LEADWORTH

TOURIST INFORMATION MAP

Advert and information sides of expanded brochure

 

 

WELCOME TO LEADWORTH

TOURIST INFORMATION MAP

The map contained inside the brochure

 

19/08/2016

GROTTA AZZURRA

CAPRI

“THE BLUE GROTTO”

CAPRI

NB. SUL LATO ANTERIORE DELLA PRESENTE SI SCRIVE SOLTANTO I’INDIRIZZO

CARTE POSTALE D’ITALIE

 

The ‘Blue Grotto’ is located on the coast of the island of Capri, southern Italy (there are actually a number of ‘Blue Grottos’ with others in Malta, Croatia and Greece – all on islands). Apparently the blue effect is caused by sunlight passing through an underwater cavity and shining through seawater, which causes a reflection that illuminates the cave and makes it appear blue. The cave here actually extends about 50 metres into the cliff at the surface of the water. It is also about 150 metres deep (that’s 490ft!).

This colourful postcard is an early one, posted 1898 and as with all pre 1902 postcards this one has room on the front for the written message as only the address was allowed on the reverse side. Here you have a 50% x 50% for image and message space.

 

REVERSE SIDE OF ABOVE POSTCARD

 

The stamp applied as postage for this postcard has been cancelled with boxed circle cancellation which has NAPLES across the bottom segment of the circle. Naples is on the mainland from Capri (when I climbed Mount Vesuvius, just outside Naples, I could see the island of Capri clearly). It is possible that the part of the boxed circle I can-not see clearly, which is the top, actually would have said CAPRI, but I can-not confirm this. This cancel is dated 18th Oct 1898. The postcard was addressed to SAMMERING, which is in Austria and the postcard has received a SEMMERING single circle cancel as a receiving mark, which is dated 21st Oct 1898.   

 

 

19/08/2016

STAMPEX

AUTUMN 2016

14th – 17th SEPTEMBER

ADVERTISING FLYER

 

As I showed the advert flyer for the Spring Stampex back in February I thought I should also show you the flyer for the upcoming Autumn Stampex exhibition. Yes, I know it is a stamp show but I have attended all but one of the these in the last 10 years or so and I have never failed to buy postcards for my collection. I shall be attending this one as well and will post here my experiences at the event.

 

19/08/2016

 

THE MANSION, BLETCHLEY PARK

Published by

F. FRITH & Co Ltd REIGATE

Ref: BCY 93

 

I have recently watched ‘The Imitation Game’, a 2014 Film starring Benedict Cumberbatch as Alan Turing. The film is really good and tells the story, as if you don’t know, of how Turing helped create the machine, called the Bombe, which cracked the setting codes for the German code machine called Enigma. The work was all done here at Bletchley Park which is now a tourist location and one I can fully recommend as I visited here a few years ago. It was a trip I had wanted to make for many years as I have been aware of the ‘Station X’ (the code name for Bletchley Park) for a long time.

It has been said that the work done at Bletchley Park shortened the second world war by two years. But, as the film shows the secret had to be maintained after the end of the war as the secrets needed to be maintained as we were still listening, but had a new future enemy.

The secret was finally brought out by the publication of the book ‘The Ultra Secret’ in 1974 and then slowly the story of the cracking of the enigma code was discussed and brought to the public’s attention.

If you are interested in this story I can recommend reading or if you want a very good fictionalised introduction the book ‘Enigma’ by Robert Harris is also a favourite of mine (they made a film version starring Dougray Scott and Kate Winslet which is also actually really good – in the film they used an actual enigma machine which belonged to Mick Jagger).

 

 

REVERSE SIDE OF ABOVE POSTCARD

 

There are a couple of things I really like about this postcard and the first is the wavy line machine cancel which has been used to cancel the two Machin head stamps as this is actually from BLETCHLEY. Secondly the date on the cancel is the 24th September 1968, which is interesting to me because this date pre-dates the release of the book in 1974 which first gave out the information about the story of the WW2 codebreaking performed here to the general public. So the sender of this postcard knew nothing about the secret and amazing history of the building he had been in (The building shown here was used after the war as a teacher training college and later as a local GPO [General Post Office] headquarters – I wonder if the sender was a GPO employee?).

 

19/08/2016

 

MAIL RAIL

SPONSOR A SLEEPER

 

MAIL RAIL is the name of what will be ‘The Postal Museum’s’ new project in 2017 when they open up the old Royal Mail underground railway system which runs under London. This exclusive set of tunnels was used to ship mail around London without having to use vehicles in what had become the vehicle packed streets above. The mail was transported in small rail carriages along the specially built tunnels. Sadly, the tunnel system has not been used and has been closed down for many years. But, next year it is hoped that the system will be opened again and visitors will be able to travel the tunnels in specially Perspex covered individual carriages.

With my interest in postcards (and many millions of them must have travelled through these tunnels) I also have a fascination in postal history and the transport of mail, and as a result these tunnels have always fascinated me. So, when I heard about this ‘SPONSOR A SLEEPER’ campaign I was interested.

Basically the museum is asking people to sponsor a sleeper (more than one if you have the money) and therefore support the restoration and, or replacement of the old sleepers.

Unfortunately, you would need to be very interested in this campaign as the cost is £250. But for this you get a plaque with your name on attached to your specific sleeper, a certificate saying you have sponsored a sleeper (and its number), a ticket for two for the VIP opening and a ride on the rail system and lastly, a ticket for an exclusive sponsor’s only Walk Through of the system where you can see your sponsored sleeper (mine is number 184 – so you can see that I did opt to sponsor one).

Once you have paid, like I did, you receive a welcome pack which contains all of the above, and to my delight, four exclusive postcards:

 

POSTCARD

MAIL RAIL

SPONSOR A SLEEPER

EXCLUSIVE POSTCARD

Detail of 1980’s Greenbat Train in Tunnel

 

I am hoping that these will be the trains which are adapted to carry humans, and not mail, and which will be Perspex domed and in which an individual will travel through the restored tunnels – this I am looking forward to

 

 

 

POSTCARD

MAIL RAIL

SPONSOR A SLEEPER

EXCLUSIVE POSTCARD

                                                                Danger Live Rail

 

POSTCARD

MAIL RAIL

SPONSOR A SLEEPER

EXCLUSIVE POSTCARD

Large and Small Tunnels

 

POSTCARD

MAIL RAIL

SPONSOR A SLEEPER

EXCLUSIVE POSTCARD

Greenbat Train in Tunnel

 

So, a cracking set of postcards I think but, only a set which you can currently obtain by spending out the £250 and sponsoring a sleeper. I am by no means saying that anyone out there should do this just to get a really nice set of postcards but, if you are really interested in this Mail Rail project, and fancy a walk-through of the tunnels, and all the other stuff then you can join me as one of the sponsors.

 

19/08/2016

 

LONDON

Published by

THE ART GROUP

Ref: 31643

© Clair Rossiter

 

Last Saturday Jo and I travelled up to London to have a day out initially at the Science Museum but followed with a walk through Hyde Park and then up to the Little Venice area on the Grand Union Canal followed by a walk back to Oxford Street and down to the Embankment (somewhere around 12 – 14 miles – so quite a walk). Walking along the Edgware Road I could not resist looking at a rack of postcards in the ‘paperchase’ stationery shop (a range of shops I have mentioned before). I was taken with this delightful London map postcard, although it does not show most of the areas we had been walking through that day. But, it is a really nice card and appealed to me (and it does show the South Bank area which is another favourite walk of ours).

 

19/08/2016

 

MINNIE MOUSE

DISNEYLAND RESORT PARIS

Large Shaped Postcard

(original cost Euro 1.50)

 

Keeping up my tradition of both Disney related postcards, and novelty postcards I here post this lovely design, and it is a Disneyland Resort Paris exclusive. Really, there’s not much more to say here so I shall leave you to just look at the postcard.

 

REVERSE SIDE OF ABOVE POSTCARD

 

I suspect that most of these types of Disney postcard are bought by people who keep them as a souvenir. It is actually probably quite unusual to find copies that have actually been posted and where this is the case there is also the issue that most recipients might also want to keep the card, or will dispose of it after a period of time. So proper used examples like this one are not that common. Strangely, this one was posted from Bristol to Cambridge, so was bought in France and travelled with the buyer back to the UK from where they later posted it (of course this would be more logical if the sender only spent a day or two in the parks and therefore did not get a chance to post this whilst there).

19/08/2016

 

SCIENCE MUSEUM, LONDON

There is a small, but excellent free exhibition at the museum titled:

WOUNDED – CONFLICT, CASUALTIES AND CARE

On until January 2018

 

On Saturday, as previously mentioned above, I visited the Science Museum and whilst there took a look at an excellent little exhibit related to war casualties and how they were treated medically and what equipment was used. There is a stretcher on display which was used on the Somme. There is also a small display of a few postcards from the first world war. But what caught my eye was a selection of autograph books which were patient’s collections of the signatures of the nurses around them. One page on display caught my eye as the image was very familiar – in fact it was an image from a postcard which I have already posted on the website.

Here is the postcard which has already been posted, much reduced as you have seen it before.

 

PHOTOGRAPH

13/08/2016

 

I am sure you can see here that the image on the above postcard has been reproduced here in this autograph collection book. This is not a printed version, this has actually been drawn into the book, by a patient in the hospital:

Private W. A. POLLARD

20TH London Regiment T.F.

30/03/16

Ward A.3.

 

As an owner of one of the original postcards I was fascinated by this reproduction on display. I took this photograph, and the one below because I wanted to both bring the exhibition to your notice and to show you how this exhibit tied up with my interests (military history) and my hobby.

 

PHOTOGRAPH

13/08/2016

 

PROMOTIONAL LEAFLET AND EXHIBITION INFORMATION SHEET

 

 

18/08/2016

SPANISH DANCERS

By

MARCA REGISTRADA

Real Cloth

 

Postcard wise what could possibly be more ‘Spanish’ than the famous (and they are famous) and iconic real stitched silk Spanish dancer(s) postcards. Throughout the 1970’s my Grandmother and Grandfather regularly went to Spain, as many UK residents were doing, and they used to send through the post a silk clothed postcard like this one here. Even non-postcard collectors are aware of these, and as far as novelty postcards go these are perhaps the most well-known. This one here is typical of the type, although this is quite a nice one with the added glitter in the centre of the flowers, along the bottom of the hem design and on the one shoulder. The quality of this one is shown in the fact that the man is also wearing stitched clothing, a red top and black trousers. There are collectors of these out there but copies are also sought by people who specialise in novelty postcards as well (although many non-collectors have these where relatives and friends have sent them through the post)

 

18/08/2016

 

LONDON MIDLAND & SCOTTISH RAILWAY

GOODS DEPARTMENT

“PRINTED PAPER”

 

These two cards – technically not POSTCARDS as they are too small and not of the regulated size, which was important then – are actually designed to be posted under the ‘PRINTED PAPER’ postage rate of 1D. These cards are actually the REPLY half of a double folded card, you can tell this by the use of the word REPLY on the front and the fact that the top edge is perforated. These two copies are mint and were clearly not used as designed. They are unusual curious items which are more of interest to a postal history collector or a railway themed collector due to the obvious link to the London Midland & Scottish Railway (known also as the LMS Railway).

You can see how small these are from the size of the stamps on the cards, these stamps are of course the size of normal Machin head definitive stamps as are used now – so these are small.

 

REVERSE SIDE OF ABOVE TWO CARDS

 

As you can see the reverse side was designed to be used as a receipt confirmation and as a delivery confirmation with the facility to record an onward transfer from the railway train onto a Motor Lorry for further transport.

Used copies would of course be more interesting but I was really pleased to find any so these two unused copies are still a very unusual addition to my collection.

 

18/08/2016

 

PRIORY PARK

SOUTHEND – ON – SEA

 

This postcard at first glance appears to be quite mundane, it shows a young boy looking at two swans on a small lake area with a tree lined background. The boy is not me, but oh, it could so easily have been. This park in Southend, my home town as many of you will have picked up by now, was the playground area of my youth. I spent many a happy afternoon here with my parents and brother having picnics and playing in the children’s playground area. But when I was a little older, maybe 12yrs, or thereabouts, me and my brother Andy were allowed out to run down to here with our ‘Gang’ (the rest of our gang being Brian, David and Philip). Being the oldest I was of course the leader of our gang (don’t panic – ‘gang’ back in those days really was just a group of kids out having fun without causing too much trouble, except maybe being chased now again by the park keeper for climbing tree’s and playing too close to the water – there was none of the ‘drug culture’ connotations that the word ‘Gang’ now sadly brings to mind – oh for the good old days of innocent child fun). This postcard then, brings back really fond memories of my younger days – but not just my youth as the other weekend Jo and I had a walk through the park and visited the Priory building which lies at the centre of the park, and from which the park gains its name. We went to see a little WW1 exhibition and display being shown there. If you ever visit Southend do please pay a visit here, especially if you have kids, grandkids or are just a childish adult like me.       

 

 

17/08/2016

SUPERMAN

(KRYPTONITE)

Published by

PYRAMID INTERNATIONAL

Ref: PC52092

 

A nice modern postcard depicting the cover of a Superman comic – ‘THE AMAZING NEW ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN – No 1 BEST SELLONG COMICS MAGAZINE – Issue No 233. Superheroes have always been popular and they appear on many postcards, although in my opinion there are more Batman postcards than Superman, I think this is partially due to the popularity of the Batman 1960’s TV series.

 

 

17/08/2016

 

COCKLE SHEDS

LEIGH – ON – SEA

Published in the

MILTON SERIES

By

WOOLSTONE Bros (London E.C.1)

 

Leigh-on-Sea is next to Southend-on-Sea and only a couple of railways stations along from ‘Southend Central’ (this is on the Shoeburyness to Fenchurch Street, London rail line – run by C2C – and along which I travel to work). Leigh is famous for its cockles and in the past, and as you can see in this postcard image, there were lots of cockle sheds all selling their wares. Sadly, today, although the sheds are still here, only a couple still open to sell to the public, in fact, thinking about it there may now only be one along this line of sheds depicted. Leigh has been drawing tourists from London, and from Southend for many, many years and anyone visiting this part of Essex should visit here as it is not just cockles that are available, my favourite is crayfish tails.

 

 

17/08/2016

 

FLYING GREETINGS

FROM

THE ISLE OF WIGHT

REAL PHOTO POSTCARD

By

Nigh, VENTNOR, I. W

 

This particular postcard was posted from Ryde on the Isle of Wight in 1936. Part of the message reads “Afraid awful crowds on the beach (with BEACH crossed out and BOAT written above it – I wonder which one it was – or was it both!)

The images shown on the front are The Needles Rocks and Lighthouse, The Bay and Culver Cliff, Sandown, Ryde from Pier, Ventnor Cascade and Shanklin Chine.

Lastly does anyone know what type of plane this is depicted here?

 

17/08/2016

 

POMPEII

By

E. RAGOZINO

ART STORE “GALLERIA UMBERTO”, NAPLES

 

As we all well know Pompeii was the Roman city which was terribly destroyed and covered with ash up to a depth of 20 feet after the volcanic eruption of Mount Versuvius. The eruption is recorded as having occurred on 24th August in 79AD. The area was covered with tons of ash and was hidden away until partially first re-discovered in 1599 when digging was done to divert a river the Sarno. But, the main work on rediscovering the remains of Pompeii was started in 1748. Now of course, and for many years, Pompeii is a major tourist attraction and is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site (declared in 1997).

I had the pleasure of visiting here a few years ago and it really is worth a visit. It is not until you actually pay a visit that you really get an idea of how huge Pompeii was, and how large the recovered area is. You can walk down many streets and roads, see a massive theatre, visit lots of individual buildings, the shells of which are still in place, and of course see some of the human rock figures that are the remains of those Romans killed during the eruption.

This location was on what in Victorian times was called ‘The Grand Tour’ and thousands of tourists visited here. In 2008 2.6 million tourists came here, making it one of the most popular sites in Italy. This postcard is from sometime prior to the first world war, but post 1902 because it has a divided back.         

 

16/08/2016

Artwork Postcard

Published by

BOOMERANG MEDIA

(Free Rack Postcard)

Artwork piece by

JESSIE FORD

(Title not given on postcard)

 

After two days of Olympic related postcards I thought it was time for an Olympic free day (although congratulations to those still winning medals for Team GB). So, what could be less ‘sporty’ than a nice piece of modern artwork published on a free postcard by the company Boomerang. These artwork postcards are not worth anything much, but, I really like some of these, and this one is lovely.

 

16/08/2016

 

DOCTOR WHO

THE ADVENTURE GAMES

Starring Matt Smith as The Doctor and Karen Gillan as Amy Pond

BBC WALES

 

The Adventure Games was a series of third person adventure games which fans could download in separate episodes. The episodes were free to download to UK residents via the BBC’s official ‘Doctor Who’ website (you required a UK internet address to both download and install). The episodes were first made available as follows:

1st Episode – 5th June 2010

2nd Episode – 26th June 2010

3rd Episode – 27th August 2010

4th Episode – 22nd December 2010

5th Episode – 31st October 2011

The games ceased being produced after this date and in February 2012 they announced that there would be no more.

This was one of two postcards issued to promote this series (the second card is far more scarce and features Cybermen with the Doctor and Amy Pond). It is a very popular postcard with Dr Who collectors and often sells around the £5 mark, although can be found cheaper (if you are lucky)  

 

 

 

16/08/2016

 

CONSTELLATION OF THE ZODIAC

Series

Drawings by

ROBERTA NORTON

Adapted from Bayer’s “Uranometria”

Printed by

ARTHUR JAFFE, NEW YORK

 

CAPRICORNUS, THE SEA-GOAT

TAURUS, THE BULL

 

Recently, last week, I spent some time watching the night sky and seeing some of the ‘shooting stars’ that were moving across the sky. These were of course meteorites travelling through our atmosphere and thanks to the news I was aware that this was because the Earth was travelling through a band of rocks, small asteroids, that appear in a large ring which circles around us much further out.

I have always been interested in the stars and planets and as a result can-not resist anything which is star related.

This card here is from what I assume is a set, although I only have these two postcards.

 

TAURUS, THE BULL

 

Zodiac related postcards have been popular for many years and I have a number of related sets. As already stated I sadly only have these two from what I assume is this set. I bought these at an Antiques Fair in Florida and I thought they were lovely cards. I fear that it is unlikely that I will complete, or even add too, this set, but I will continue enjoying looking out for more, as you never know!

 

Comments

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  • Serena Abrahams (Saturday, December 30 17 12:53 pm GMT)

    I have 13 cards from this collection. I wonder if you would be interested in buying them from me?

 

16/08/2016

 

PARIS

Panorama des 9 ponts sur la Seine

“Panorama of 9 bridges on the Seine”

Publisher – Unknown

Ref: 5874

 

I have a collection of postcards which depict the Eiffel Tower. This one shows the Eiffel Tower towering above the city of Paris as it first did in its early years (no tall structures beyond the spires and tops of churches and cathedrals spread out across the skyline shown here). This is a great early Paris postcard which was posted in 1908, but, not from Paris, or even from France…

 

REVERSE SIDE OF ABOVE POSTCARD

As you can see here this Paris postcard was posted in the United States, from Rochester on January 6th. This is not unusual as people often bought up postcards on trips and then did not always get to post them whilst away. The cards were then later posted when back home. Some people even did this deliberately to show people where they had been but without having to pay the extra cost of international postage. This one here does not even have a written message so you have to assume that the receiver knew who it was from or perhaps knew someone who had recently been to Paris.  

 

15/08/2016

RIO OLYMPICS

TEAM GB

 

Over the weekend Team GB excelled themselves and moved themselves up to second place in the medals table. Congratulations to all of the following who have brought Team GB to this position. Here is a list of the Day 9 GB Medal winners:

 

MAX WHITLOCK – Gold – Individual Men’s Floor

JUSTIN ROSE – Gold – Men’s Golf

MAX WHITLOCK – Gold - Individual Men’s Pommel Horse

LOUIS SMITH – Silver – Individual Men’s Pommel Horse

JASON KENNY – Gold - Men’s Individual Sprint Cycling

CALLUM SKINNER – Silver – Men’s Individual Sprint Cycling

ANDY MURRAY – Gold – Men’s Tennis Singles

SOPHIE HITCHON – Bronze – Women’s Hammer Throw

 

POSTCARD

GAMES OF THE XXIIIrd OLYMPIAD – LOS ANGELES 1984

GYMNASTICS

Manufactured under licence from the Los Angeles Olympic Committee by

DRAWING BOARD GREETING CARDS Inc

Ref: 40PZ 0026

 

 

POSTCARD

GAMES OF THE XXIIIrd OLYMPIAD – LOS ANGELES 1984

CYCLING

Manufactured under licence from the Los Angeles Olympic Committee by

DRAWING BOARD GREETING CARDS Inc

Ref: 40PZ 0024

 

POSTCARD

GAMES OF THE XXIIIrd OLYMPIAD – LOS ANGELES 1984

POLE VAULT

Manufactured under licence from the Los Angeles Olympic Committee by

DRAWING BOARD GREETING CARDS Inc

Ref: 40PZ 0023

 

POSTCARD

GAMES OF THE XXIIIrd OLYMPIAD – LOS ANGELES 1984

THE OLYMPIC TORCH

Manufactured under licence from the Los Angeles Olympic Committee by

DRAWING BOARD GREETING CARDS Inc

Ref: 40PZ 0031

These four postcards are from a large series that were issued for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games. There were two (at least) official postcard series for this games. The set from which these cards have been taken have the format of a photograph overlaid by the stars and Olympic Rings logo. Another series has the games mascot (an American Bald Eagle), Sam the Olympic Eagle, pictured over a photograph of one of the locations where the separate sports took place. Sam was showing doing the sport in question. Postcards from both of these sets regularly turn up (I have previously posted the Sam the Eagle main character postcard) and are not too expensive.   

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14/08/2016

 

RIO OLYMPIC GAMES

TEAM GB

 

Congratulations to Jessica Ennis on her silver medal in the Athletics Combined Women’s Heptathlon at the Olympic Games last night. This is a major achievement on top of her gold at the same event at the London Games in 2012.

 

POSTCARD

TEAM GB

BETTER NEVER STOPS

Published by

PYRAMID INTERNATIONAL

Ref: PC9950

(Official Product of Team GB)

 

This superb 2012 London Olympic Games postcard features the Team GB lion head logo and the Olympic Games rings, which are only allowed to be applied to official merchandise (which is not common as the expense involved of obtaining an official licence is HUGE)

This copy has had the 2012 Royal Mail ‘Jessica Ennis’ GOLD MEDAL WINNER 1st class stamp issued to celebrate her winning the gold medal in 2012. The stamp has been cancelled with the first day of issue Union Jack flag special handstamp dated 05-08-2012    

 

Congratulations to Mo Farah on winning his third Olympic Gold medal last night at the Rio games. Farah of course won the first two golds at the 2012 London Games. Last night he added the 10,000m gold (which he also won in 2012) to his listing

POSTCARD

I [Heart] LONDON

Published by

PAGEANTRY POSTCARDS

Ref: JEF092

“London welcomes people of the World”

 

This slightly large modern postcard was published in 2012 to coincide with the London Olympic Games. It makes no mention of the Olympic Games (so avoided the copyright issues).

This particular postcard has had applied the 2012 ‘Mo Farah’ GOLD MEDAL WINNER Men’s 10,000m 1st Class stamp cancelled with the Union Jack special first day of issue handstamp dated 05.08.2012.

This stamp addition made this, I thought, a most appropriate postcard to be posted today.

 

Congratulations to the women’s Cycling team of Joanna Rowsell-Shand, Elinor Barker, Katie Archibald and Laura Trott on winning the gold at the women’s team pursuit, where they also set a world record. And of course an extra congratulation to Laura Trott on being the first GB woman to win three Gold Medals   

POSTCARD

WELCOME TO THE LONDON 2012 OLYMPIC GAMES

CYCLIST AND LONDON EYE

Published by

ROYAL MAIL

Ref: PHQ 367 (4) 7.12

This seemed to be an appropriate postcard to post after the women’s team gold medal win last night

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As I had posted the above ‘Cyclist’ PHQ stamp card I thought it only proper to also include the rest of the card set:

 

WELCOME TO THE LONDON 2012 OLYMPIC GAMES

DIVER AND TATE MODERN

Published by

ROYAL MAIL

Ref: PHQ 367 (1) 7.12

 

WELCOME TO THE LONDON 2012 OLYMPIC GAMES

FENCER AND TOWER BRIDGE

Published by

ROYAL MAIL

Ref: PHQ 367 (2) 7.12

 

WELCOME TO THE LONDON 2012 OLYMPIC GAMES

ATHLETES AND OLYMPIC STADIUM

Published by

ROYAL MAIL

Ref: PHQ 367 (3) 7.12

 

WELCOME TO THE LONDON 2012 OLYMPIC GAMES

MINIATURE SHEET

Published by

ROYAL MAIL

Ref: PHQ 367 (5) 7.12

The miniature stamp sheet was quite long so a single sheet would not fit on a single postcard. So if you wanted to have the whole thing used you needed to cut it in half and use two of the postcards. Here you have the left side of the sheet, which includes the text and the games logo.

 

WELCOME TO THE LONDON 2012 OLYMPIC GAMES

MINIATURE SHEET

Published by

ROYAL MAIL

Ref: PHQ 367 (5) 7.12

This copy has the right side of the stamp sheet attached, the two stamps from that side of the sheet.

 

14/08/2016

 

GARY LINEKER

TEAM GB (Give Blood)

It’s time to roll your sleeves up

NHS Blood and Transplant

 

I’m not sure if there is a need to actually celebrate the fact that last night Gary Lineker presented ‘Match of the Day’ in just his boxer shorts. It seems that he tweeted a promise that he would present the show in his underpants if Leicester City won the Premier League. Well, they did and so did he.

This particular postcard was issued in 2012 around the time of the London Olympic Games and was designed to take advantage of the team ‘GB’ tag used throughout the games. This is actually one of the harder to find postcards from that period.

 

14/08/2016

KENNY BAKER ..... RIP

24th August 1934 – 13th August 2016

Actor who is best known as being inside the R2D2 robot during the Star Wars films

Postcard – From Belgium – advertising postcard for ‘mobister’ – one from a set of postcards featuring Star Wars postcards. This one shows both C3PO and R2D2.

I had the pleasure of meeting Kenny Baker a few times and he was always a charming and very cheerful character and he was a regular on the signing circuit.

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