19/09/2018
TALK ZONE
IT’LL LEAVE YOU WIDE-EYED
BT – STAY IN TOUCH
E.T. EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL
This postcard is from the period around 1999 – 2000 as there is a reference to the Millennium Experience on the reverse side, it appears BT were an official sponsor. I think the Millennium Experience was part of, if not the Millennium Dome. I think I remember the E.T. television advert campaign which this advert was a part of. This would be an interesting postcard for any film theme collector.
REVERSE SIDE OF ABOVE POSTCARD
19/09/2018
JEAN-PAUL GAULTIER
THE FASHION WORLD OF JEAN-PAUL GAULTIER
From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk
9 April – 24 August 2014
Postcard from the exhibition at the:
Barbican London
Postcard Depicts:
AD CAMPAIGN FOR THE FIN-DE- SIECLE COLLECTION,
WOMEN’S PRET-A-PORTER
SPRING/SUMMER
1995
I wanted this one because it depicts the Eiffel Tower, but it would also be of interest to those who like advertising images and those looking for anything connected with the clothing industry and fashion world. An interesting postcard, what from looked to be an interesting exhibition.
19/09/2018
AMERICAN FOOTBALL
By
BORIS VALLEJO
Copyright 1987
Published by
GALLERY CARD
VERKERKE COPYRIGHT & LICENSING (SWITZERLAND)
(Printed in the Netherlands)
Ref: # 34837
The artwork of Boris Vallejo is highly distinctive in its style and sexuality, although at least this one does not depict the more usual, but not exclusively so, female body. Quite a lot of his work appeared on postcards during the 1980’s, with quite a few being published under the ‘Gallery Card’ series.
18/09/2018
BASILICA DI S. MARCO
IN
VENEZIA
(Saint Mark’s Basilica, Venice, Italy)
Published by
EDITORE A. SCROCCHI. MILANO
(Made in Italy)
Some locations have been appearing on postcards for many years. This is one of those famous locations, the beautiful Saint Mark’s Basilica in Venice. I bet out there somewhere there are people who specialise in postcards of this building. This painting, an early one, is a cracker.
REVERSE SIDE OF ABOVE POSTCARD
18/09/2018
PRAHA XIX
(Prague)
DEJVICE
(Dejvice – an historical community, a municipal quarter of the ‘Prague 6’ District of Prague)
Published by
FOTO – FON (192[3?])
Ref: 6957
This black and white photographic postcard showing the 6 District area of Dejvice in Prague was posted from Prague on 4th September 1928. It was posted to Denmark and was marked up as ‘Imprimes – Drucksache’ (Printed Matter – probably required because the stamp had been applied to the front).
The stamp applied to the front is the 1926 issued President Masaryk 50h (SG 254b). It is not a very expensive stamp (my 2004 issue of Stanley Gibbons Stamps of the World catalogue prices it at just 10p), but it is nicely used here on this postcard.
REVERSE SIDE OF ABOVE POSTCARD
18/09/2018
MARKETS OF LONDON
By
FAGA
Published by
FAGA
In the
THE FAGA SERIES
Ref: No. 25
(Ref: No 71 in the book ‘COMPLETE WORKS OF FAGA 1961 – 1985)
Considering that I am such a huge fan of the FAGA postcards it is amazing how few have appeared on the website. Many collectors are well-aware of his later more transport themed smaller normal size issues, but fewer are aware of his large postcards which are more map like in their design (with many being based on London areas, like this one). This postcard was first issued in 1965 and it remained in print until 1976 during which period 25,000 copies were issued. Despite this huge number it is not an easy postcard to source. I think this because of its size, I think they were hard to store and got damaged easily and thus were often eventually thrown away. FAGA took two years of research to produce this postcards image. A lot of work, but such a smashing postcard release.
REVERSE SIDE OF ABOVE POSTCARD
Ref:
35P/172
(This is not a reference number for the entire output of this postcard – it is a single printing reference. It breaks down as follows 35P (35TH printing, this is from the 35th batch of printing for this card. Cards were often printed in batches of 1000 and 2000 at a time, with more being printed if the last batch sold out or came close to doing so) 1 (this is a month of printing number, so 1 is for January [2 would be February, 3 March etc]) 72 (the last two numbers are the year of printing, so 72 is 1972)
Knowing how to decipher these references allows you to learn more about the individual card you are holding. These appear on most, if not all, of the early map postcard releases. It is also possible, if not a little fanatic, to build up a collection of the same map postcard but all with a different one of these references, obviously first printing issues are the most sought after, and these would clealry start as 1P (I keep all the ones I have if they are different).
18/09/2018
“RETURN TO SENDER”
ELVIS PRESLEY
GERMANY (FEDERAL REPUBLIC) 1988 issued postage stamp
Large Postal Card
Copyright:
ELVISLY YOURS, LONDON
STAR-FOTO, HAMBURG
Ref: EP 14 488 . NCB
This is another of my recent ‘Stampex’ finds. It is a large card used with a 1988 issued German (Federal Republic) 60pf + 30pf Elvis Presley stamp (SG 2236) from the ‘Youth Welfare. Pop Music’ set (possibly used first day of issue, but this is not confirmed – the other stamps in this set pictured Buddy Holly, Jim Morrison and John Lennon). I found this in a cheap box and had to have it, but then I found a second one, depicted below.
“RETURN TO SENDER”
ELVIS PRESLEY
33rpm RECORD ATTACHED
GERMANY (FEDERAL REPUBLIC) 1988 issued postage stamp
Large Postal Card
Copyright:
ELVISLY YOURS, LONDON
STAR-FOTO, HAMBURG
Ref: EP 14 488 . NCB
At first, I thought this was just another copy of the above postcard, but then I noticed the hole in the middle of Elvis’ face! I then realised that there is a thin plastic long playing record attached to the front of this card. The record, not surprisingly given the title on the card, plays ‘Return to Sender’ when placed on a record player. So, this one will fit nicely into my ‘Novelty’ themed collection.
REVERSE SIDE
Both of the above postcards have this very attractive reverse side layout
18/09/2018
ROYAL NAVY SUBMARINE A1
Launched at Barrow-in Furness 1902
Published by
COLLECTORCARD
Croydon
Ref: C12052
There is a wide range of these ‘COLLECTORCARD’ issues, mainly, but not exclusively, depicting types of transport. This submarine one is attractive and historic with its image. Some of these are now selling for £2 or more.
18/09/2018
MOTORTANKSCHIP
(Tank Engine Ship)
“CAUCASIA”
Te Bazel voor de stad
(Translates as ‘In Basel for the City’ but I suspect it is more likely ‘In the city of Basel’)
Published by (possibly)
PHs. VAN OMMEREN N. V.
(Rotterdam)
Ref: 762
Shipping cards have always been popular, but personally I prefer the more unusual boats and ships, the ones that are going to appear on postcards far less often, like this one here. Basel is a city in Switzerland, so I assume this photograph is taken on the Rhine which passes through this city. It is a lovely photograph, and I picked up this postcard on Saturday for £1.
REVERSE SIDE OF ABOVE POSTCARD
18/09/2018
CONCORDE STUDY CIRCLE
40TH ANNIVERSARY
1978 – 2018
Published by
PETER COOPER
‘A PETER COOPER DESIGN’
2018
Large sized postcard – A5
Limited hand numbered edition of just 10
On Saturday I attended the meeting of the Concorde Study Circle at the London based ‘STAMPEX INTERNATIONAL’ show. Although the circle has far more members, it is normally just ten of us who regularly attend these bi-annual meetings. This large postcard has been especially produced to celebrate the circles 40th anniversary this year. At this meeting we were all given a copy of this postcard free. Each card has been used with two different Concorde themed postage stamps (different stamps were used across the ten postcards, making for a selection of different variants). The two stamps were then cancelled with the dates 2nd March 2018 and the 9th April 2018. The 9th of April 1969 was the date of the first flight of the Concorde 002 at Filton. The 2nd March 1969 was the date of Concordes first maiden flight. Therefore, these two dates have a lot of Concorde history attached to them. The cards were produced in a hand numbered limited edition of just ten cards, and each member attending on Saturday received their free copy (I was given an early option on which card I wanted, and I opted for the last – No 10). So, this is a superb free souvenir of Saturdays meeting, and another really-good example of why being a member of a society, club or study circle can provide some major benefits.
CONCORDE STUDY CIRCLE
40TH ANNIVERSARY
1978 – 2018
Published by
PETER COOPER
‘A COOPER DESIGN’
Ref: No. 91
Issued in a limited edition of 36 postcards
The above postcard image can also be fund on a normal sized postcard, but with a different reverse side layout, as depicted here. As I had received the large A5 version depicted above I also had to have an example of the normal sized version, and I had to be quick as well as I think a print run of 36 is very low.
17/09/2018
(NON-POSTCARD ITEMS)
WOODEN NOVELTY POSTCARD SIZED CUT OUTS
Published by
THE POP OUT CARD COMPANY
I found these unusual wooden cards (they are not postcards, but they come with an envelope and a small folded card which can all be placed inside the envelope and posted). When I saw these, they appealed to me. There was quite a selection available and as I could not resist them I bought three examples. It might have been the display that really caught my eye. You can see this for yourself as I have posted some photographs of the shops display as well. Each piece is a sheet of wood which has pre-cut pieces which can be popped out and then constructed into a model. Some are a little more intricate than others, but they are all fascinating. These are £4 each, but I think this is reasonable, especially as these were made in Madagascar – see what you think:
TELEPHONE BOX
The front of the packaged item
THE REVERSE SIDE OF THE ABOVE PACKAGED ITEM
PHOTOGRAPH
The box of different pop-out cards available.
TRAIN
The front of the packaged item
THE REVERSE SIDE OF THE ABOVE PACKAGED ITEM
PHOTOGRAPH
The box of different pop-out cards available.
FLAMINGO
The front of the packaged item
This has-to be the easiest of these pop-outs to put together, but the image was so appealing I had to buy this one as well.
THE REVERSE SIDE OF THE ABOVE PACKAGED ITEM
PHOTOGRAPH
Here you can see the display area which had pre-constructed little models from these pop-out wooden cards. I think it was these that appealed to me. Although not true postcards I still think that these will sit quite nicely in my novelty card collection, and why not as they are delightful items. I notice that my Flamingo one is shown here
17/09/2018
ISLE OF MAN
MAP POSTCARD
By
JULIA ASHBY SMYTH
Published by
LILY PUBLICATIONS LTD
RAMSEY, ISLE OF MAN
In their:
VISIONS OF MANN series
Ref: 32-2018
This is another of the Isle of Man postcards sent to me by my old friend Mark who lives there. This card covers all sorts of themes; Animals and Wildlife, Transport, Lighthouses, Castles and of course Local History. I think this is a smashing design and although map cards have gone out of fashion with collectors something as good as this card could get the map collecting going again.
17/09/2018
THE WIZARDING WORLD OF HARRY POTTER
HOGSMEADE
UNIVERSAL STUDIOS THEME PARK
FLORIDA
Postcards from the Postcard Pack exclusively sold at the theme park
Postal Used with the theme park exclusive
Hogwarts castle Postage Stamps
2018
Every year I go to Florida and visit the Universal Studios theme parks I post some postcards to myself using the parks exclusive Harry Potter themed postage stamps, only available at the Owl Post shop located in Hogsmeade in the Islands of Adventure Universal theme park. The exclusive stamp sheets are extremely expensive, way above the actual postage value of the individual stamps on each sheet, and you can only buy them in sheets of ten, not individually, and it takes three stamps to post a card to the UK (just one for inside the US). For this reason, I doubt many used pieces of mail, normally postcards I suspect, get offered up for sale by the receivers. This is because they are so unusual anyone knowing what they were would keep it and anyone else, like many people, would just dispose of the postcard at some point (after all it has their address on it, and people do not want this just handed out to any old person). At the Owl Post you can also have a special exclusive cachet applied. In recent years this was fading a bit, but this year it was nice and crisp so may have been replaced. I had this cachet applied to all my postcards. This year I just posted three cards. I depict these here for you, front and back (the fronts have previously been posted on the webpage when I showed all the cards available in the HOGSMEADE postcard pack.
This is one of my favourites from the pack
17/09/2018
MUNICH BY NIGHT
Published in Germany
Nr. Oa Verlag Fritz Witzig, Munchen
Die Qualitats Ansichtskarte
For many years, most of the 1990’s and into the early 2000’s these ‘AT NIGHT’ all black postcards were everywhere. You could find them all-across the UK for just about every area. The joke wore a bit thin quite quickly, but this did not stop their popularity. I have often wondered if I am the only person who collects these, after all the designs are less than interesting! I have a wide selection of different versions, with different basic designs. This one is from Germany and proves that the ‘AT NIGHT’ designs were not exclusive to the UK. This one was posted in 1992.
REVERSE SIDE OF ABOVE POSTCARD
This card was posted using one of the machine-printed stamp labels which were popular during the late 1980’s and 1990’s. Germany was one country which extensively used these stamp labels. They were tried in the UK and here were called ‘Frama; labels, but they were not a success and did not last for long (genuine non-philatelic examples of used UK Frama labels not common).
BLACK FOREST BY NIGHT
Published in Germany
By Unknown Printer – Publisher
Here yellow has been used to print the text area. Yellow became a popular colour to use on these all black ‘AT NIGHT’ postcards, but it never quite took over from the standard white printed text. This is another good example of how just about everywhere got their own ‘AT NIGHT’ postcard release (some areas more than one)
REVERSE SIDE OF ABOVE POSTCARD
This was either handed over personally after the trip or more likely sent under a separate cover/envelope. I like the comic message, which makes good comedic use of the black card image.
17/09/2018
SILVERCHAIR
FREAK SHOW
Published by
TJECK CARD
(TJECK MAGAZINE)
Copyright
1997
The text on the reverse side of this unusual postcard is quite extensive, too much to start playing around with translating all of it, but there was one section which clearly had the location of Florida in it, so I translated this bit:
“Because of his constant abuse his wife and one of the 1992 children hired an assassin who shot and killed Grady in his trailer in Florida”
So, this text appears to be about an American person, not a very nice one if he was abusive to his family, but I am not sure their answer to this was the right one. I assume Grady is the person depicted in this poster styled piece of artwork.
The text is Norwegian, so this I assume is the source country for this unusual postcard. Below I depict the reverse side and all its text so if you are interested in finding out more you can translate all of the story.
REVERSE SIDE OF ABOVE POSTCARD
17/09/2018
FALMOUTH
A PIECE OF JAMAICA’S HISTORY
Top Left – FALMOUTH UNITED CHURCH
Top Middle – CENOTAPH – for those who died in WW1 and WW2
Top Right – PERSIAN WATER WHEEL – first used 1799
Centre Right – WATER FOUNTAIN
Bottom Right – CRUISE SHIP PIER
Bottom Left – FALMOUTH COURTHOUSE
Published by
PENWINKLE
Ref: PC-FAL-02/ 260B
The Island of Jamaica was another stop of on our recent cruise. Falmouth was our port of call and from here we set off on an organised trip to a plantation house (which was interesting, but there were no postcards for it). I would probably have liked to have a look around Falmouth itself, but we were all strongly advised not to leave the immediate port area as it as not a safe place to visit, sadly. This postcard and the one below I bought from the highly sanitised (and well protected by security, and behind a well fenced compound area) shopping area immediately beside the ship docking area. This are lovely tourist postcards, but I only got to see the area during our drive through and from the ship, which was high enough to look down into the town.
FALMOUTH
A LITTLE PIECE OF JAMAICA’S HISTORY
Top Left – FALMOUTH CENOTAPH AND COURTHOUSE
Top Middle – ALBERT GEORGE MARKET
Top Right – FALMOUTH PARISH CHURCH OF ST PETER THE APOSTLE
Centre Right – FALMOUTH CRUISE SHIP PIER
Bottom Right – MARKET STREET
Bottom Left – THE BAPTIST MANSE
Published by
PENWINKLE
Ref: PC-FAL-01/ 260 A
The Falmouth Parish Church of St Peter the Apostle I could see from our cabin balcony (helped greatly buy the fact that I had my binoculars with me. These are two very nice cards for an area I would have liked to have a walk around, but, as stated, no one did because of the very strongly advised warning against doing so. I wonder if it is as bad as they kept going on about.
16/09/2018
COLCHESTER CASTLE
Published by
JUDGES LTD., HASTINGS
Ref: 14931
Colchester is a major town located in my home county of Essex here in the UK. Jo and I visited it early this year and enjoyed a walk around the interior of this well-known local castle located in the town. All of this makes it even weirder that I found this postcard for sale in the below mentioned stamp shop located in the Cayman Islands! I have now, having bought it, returned this card from its last Caribbean home back to its original home country and county.
16/09/2018
R.M.S. MAURETANIA
By
BERNARD W. CHURCH
Published by
J. SALMON LTD (Sevenoaks)
Ref; 4752
This is an artwork postcard of one of the most successful of the ocean liners. I picked this one up at the recent Stampex show for just £1.
16/09/2018
DIANA, PRINCESS OF WALES
CAYMAN ISLANDS STAMP SHEET
Published by
THE PHILATELIC BUREAU
(CAYMAN ISLANDS)
Our recent Disney cruise stopped off for a day at Grand Cayman. It was the one place we did not pre-book any organised trip for. So, we had a nice walk around the town instead. One of the places I did want to try and find was a shop we discovered online which is a stamp shop called ‘The Penny Black’ (2 Harbour Drive, George Town – There are photographs of the inside and outside of this shop on our connected facebook page, these were posted there when we were on the island). We found it by chance whilst just walking around and I am so glad we did. This is a fantastic shop and although, clearly, they specialise in postage stamps I also found a really-interesting range of postcards, both modern and old. Of interest to me were the official Cayman Island postcards like this one here. I have a large collection of Diana related postcards, but I had not previously seen this issue. Although I have always collected all the Diana postcards I have seen I have a particular-interest in those which were issued after her death in 1997. The stamp sheet depicted on this card was issued to commemorate her life and it was a sheet which was in a format used by other locations around the world in a combined connected issue.
REVERSE SIDE OF ABOVE POSTCARD
16/09/2018
LUZIANNE TEA
‘Take this card to your Grocer and get your FREE ¼ lb. Luzianne
Tea with purchase of 1 lb. Luzianne Coffee at regular price
AMERICAN POSTAL STATIONERY POST CARD
Official Postal Stationery Post Card with Private company advert
This was a postal stationery post card I found on a stall at a Flea Market in America on my recent visit. It should have become obvious by now that I do like postal stationery cards and this includes used copies. This one here is a posted copy and it was used in 1953. Considering I was in America and that this is an American item I really expected this to cost me more than the $1 it did. A bargain.
REVERSE SIDE OF ABOVE POSTAL STATIONERY POST CARD
Posted 1953
16/09/2018
UNTITLED ‘CAT’ IMAGE
Published by
A & M. B
Ref: No. 533
Isn’t this a lovely image? I picked this one up in America recently for just $5 which I still think was a bargain. It has an undivided back, so it is a very early postcard. This type of printed early postcard is very popular, and this is a superb example.
UNTITLED ‘CAT’ IMAGE
Published by
A & M. B
Ref: No. 533
This cat image is clearly a companion card to the one depicted above as it has the same number – 533. I think these are lovely cards and fine examples of how attractive the early postcards were.
REVERSE SIDE OF ABOVE POSTCARD
16/09/2018
WALT DISNEY WORLD
PERSONAL PHOTOGRAPH ‘PHOTOCARDS’
Printed from a machine located in the EPCOT theme park
Yesterday I depicted three of these ‘Photocards’ which depict me (I can-not apologise enough for that). Here I show you two others, but I can not tell you who these people are. I found these on the floor of the booth I was in. I mentioned yesterday my surprise that I received two ‘Photocards’ for my $5, when in the past I have only received one. Perhaps these people also thought they would only get one and therefore failed to wait and pick up their second photocard.
Here you have a ‘Belle’ from Beauty and the Beast (top) and an ‘EPCOT’ exclusive design. I like these photocard designs so it is nice to be able to add another couple to my collection, ones with designs which I would not usually have picked myself (and these are a smashing set of smiles).
16/09/2018
STAMP & COIN MART
&
MARK BLOXHAM STAMPS LTD
Free Postcard Set given away free with the
OCTOBER 2018 issue of ‘STAMP & COIN MART’ magazine
Issued by ‘Stamp Coin Mart’ magazine in association with Mark Bloxham Stamps Ltd
2018
THE WORLD’S FIRST ERROR “B BLACK” SG 12a
Ref: Collectable postcard 6 of 10
This card is my favourite of the latest set of five (the previous five were given away with a much previous issue of this magazine, they appeared on a previous webpage posting). I wonder if there is not a spelling error in the title though, it says: ‘B Black’ and I think it might have supposed to be ‘B Blank’ because the bottom two corners have the letter B in the bottom left corner and a blank square opposite it in the right corner. That is the error, the missing letter in this right-hand box
1840 2d BLUE MINT PAIR WITH WATERMARK INVERTED
Ref: Collectable postcard 7 of 10
1840 2d Blue plate 1 placed diagonally (perhaps suggesting a kiss) on printed invoice headed Postage Stamps in the hand and signed by William Wordsworth. Posted in Amble on Christmas Eve 1840 to Mrs Hannah Backhouse Postmistress of Kendal.
William Wordsworth (1770 – 1850) Poet Laureate (from 1843) was distributor of stamps for the County of Westmorland until 1842
Ref: Collectable postcard 8 of 10
THE TEDDY BEAR ERROR.
THE TOP STAMP IS NORMAL, THE BOTTOM ONE THE ERROR (VALUE AND QUEENS HEAD AT LEFT)
Ref: Collectable postcard 9 of 10
1841 PENNY REDS THE FIRST AND LAST PLATE (TOP PAIR ARE PLATE 1b THE BOTTOM PAIR ARE PLATE 177)
Ref: Collectable postcard 10 of 10
Obviously, this selection of images is most likely to appeal to fellow stamp collectors, they are after all the people most likely to buy the magazine they come with. I like these and I now they are a hit with other stamp theme collectors, and after all, they are free (at the moment at least)
Print 