14/04/2020
THE CARTE UNIQUE
CERCLE CARTOPHILE
BORDELAIS
By
BARNARD VEYRI
Published by
CERCLE CARTOPHILE BORDELAIS
This is me in my postcard room during lockdown… actually, I have a bit more hair up top and a little less around my chin (he laughs). I have always though that the collector depicted here is how many non-collectors feel that we collectors look and act like, shut away with our collections, which in my case is not really the truth, I think…
14/04/2020
CENTENARY OF RMS TITANIC
1912 – 2012
Published by
POSTCARD INTERACTIVE COMPANY OF SYDNEY
Ref: cenT01
No count down this year, which we have done before, but I could not let the day pass without depicting at least one image of the great ship. The 14th April is the anniversary date for when the RMS Titanic hit the iceberg causing the damage which would result in her sinking in the early hours of the 15th, at 02.20am. This is a good example of how you can pick up Titanic themed postcards from all over the world. This one is from Australia.
14/04/2020
We live in terrible times, as was once said by someone famous somewhere, perhaps that could also be said about this current time.
MARK BLUM ….. RIP
14TH May 1950 – 26th March 2020
American actor from Theatre, film and television. Appeared in the Madonna film ‘Desperately Seeking Susan’
EDDIE LARGE ….. RIP
Edward Hugh McGinnis
25th June 1941 – 2nd April 2020
British comedian remembered best as part of the ‘Little and Large’ comedy duo who appeared often on television and had their series
TIM BROOKE-TAYLOR ….. RIP
Timothy Julian Brooke-Taylor
17th July 1940 – 12th April 2020
British television actor best remembered as being part of the comedy trio called ‘The Goodies’ who had series on both BBC and ITV
14/04/2020
HALF PENNY BROWN
QUEEN VICTORIA POSTAL STATIONERY POST CARD
BROWN PRINT ON THIN BUFF PAPER (CARD)
Higgins & Gage, World Postal Stationery Catalog
Section 7
Great Britain - Page 3
Reference No: 23
With Coat of Arms TYPE II
And
Die C stamp imprint
Issued 1887
Standard sized UK issue which was around for awhile and which is ‘fairly’ easy to source. This is a nice mint copy with just a little bit of speckling (foxing – the small darker brown spots on the front)
HALF PENNY GREEN
QUEEN VICTORIA POSTAL STATIONERY POST CARD
PRINTED TO PRIVATE ORDER
Higgins & Gage, World Postal Stationery Catalog
Section 7
Great Britain - Page 71
Reference No: 6
With Coat of Arms TYPE II
And
Die B stamp imprint
Issued 1901
This one is a different type of card although the only immediate visual difference is the colour of the printing, this time green instead of brown. Green printing in this format indicates this was a printed to private order post card, as all government/royal mail issued post cards were printed in brown. This one is a little harder to source than the one above and was around for a little less time.
13/04/2020
THE BICENTENNIAL OF AMERICAN
INDEPENDENCE 1776 – 1976
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 11p STAMP
Published by
ROYAL MAIL
Ref: PHQ 15
This is one of the early PHQ postcards issued by Royal Mail, number 15, depicting a single stamp issue released on 2nd June 1976. The reverse side of this ‘particular’ copy of this postcard is spectacular.
REVERSE SIDE OF ABOVE POSTCARD
The collector who produced this card applied a copy of the stamp depicted on the front and had this cancelled first day of issue with a special hand stamp: ‘U.S.A. INDEPENDENCE BICENTENARY – WASHINGTON, TYNE & WEAR – 2 JUNE 1976’. This postcard was posted to the personal assistant to the President at the White House in Washington. Here the postcard received the facsimile autopen signature of the then President Gerald R. Ford (President between August 1974 and January 1977). The round green coloured ‘FIRST DAY OF ISSUE – GREAT BRITAIN’ cachet is probably the personal cachet of the collector or dealer who arranged for this card to have everything applied. Personally, I think this was done by a dealer and therefore there is probably more than one of these, but if that is the case I suspect there are still very few, my guess is ten or less, but there is the possibility that is unique, not that it matters as it is a cracking item whatever.
13/04/2020
ZEPPELIN
JIGSAW PUZZLE POSTCARD
‘PUZZLE CARD’
Published by
L.M. KARTENVERTRIEB
HASENHEIDE 9-D-10967 BERLIN, GERMANY
I bought this packaged jigsaw puzzle postcard whilst I was in Munich some years ago, and not Berlin where the publisher seems to have been based (or is based). This appealed for two reasons, firstly because I collect original zeppelin carried postcards and secondly because I love novelty postcards.
If I am right, this depicts the Hindenburg flying over New York city (possibly the May 1937 flight which was well covered photographically).
13/04/2020
McDONALD’S SALUTES SCOUTING
BY SPONSORING THE
WORLD BOY SCOUT JAMBOREE
ON ABC-TV, FRIDAY, AUG. 18
(1967)
No Publisher or Printed details given
But I suspect this is a joint issue between McDonald’s and the US Scouting Association
This is one of those occasions when a postcard crosses two or more of my major collecting themes. The Scouting theme is obvious, and one which I collect because of my own connection with the scouting world. You could also add advertising through the McDonald’s association, but by far the best in my mind is the extremely unusual Television connection. Television is my biggest collecting theme and I am particularly taken with any that seem to have an unusual source.
THE REVERSE SIDE OF THE ABOVE POSTCARD
This has some nice additional items including a Cinderella sticker for ‘The World Scout Flag’ and one of the official ‘WORLD JAMBOREE 1967 – IDAHO, U.S.A. – FOR FRIENDSHIP’ event labels, probably sold at the jamboree. The collector has then applied the 1960 US Postage ‘BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA’ 4 cent postage stamp which has been cancelled with the ‘COUER D’ALENE. ID [Idaho] – AUG 1, 1967 – PM – 83814 – 1967 BOY SCOUTS XII WORLD JAMBOREE, FARRAGUT STATE PARK, IDAHO’ slogan cancellation. This is the date for the first day of this jamboree. The combination of items makes this a nice usage, and this was either someone’s personal souvenir or one of many produced by a dealer.
WORLD JAMBOREE 1967
IDAHO, U.S.A.
Official Cloth Badge with the Jamboree’s emblem.
Published by
NATIONAL SCOUTS OF AMERICA,
NATIONAL SUPPLY DIVISION
Ref: 13348-C
This postcard depicts the cloth badge that everyone at this jamboree would have been wearing to show that they were here at the jamboree, and after the event to show that they had been here.
THE REVERSE SIDE OF THE ABOVE POSTCARD
This has one of the official ‘WORLD JAMBOREE 1967 – IDAHO, U.S.A. – FOR FRIENDSHIP’ event labels, which has a very similar design as that shown on the badge. The collector has then applied the 1960 US Postage ‘BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA’ 4 cent postage stamp which has been cancelled with the ‘COUER D’ALENE. ID [Idaho] – AUG 1, 1967 – PM – 83814 – 1967 BOY SCOUTS XII WORLD JAMBOREE, FARRAGUT STATE PARK, IDAHO’ slogan cancellation. This is the date for the first day of
13/04/2020
1973 NATIONAL SCOUT JAMBOREE
MORAINE STATE PARK, PENNA
AUGUST 3 – 9
Natural Color [sic] Card Published by
MODERN-AD, BUTLER, PA.
Ref: 134844
A simple postcard published for one of the many different Jamboree events that have occurred throughout the last 100 odd years. This one depicts the poster board at the site.
REVERSE SIDE OF ABOVE POSTCARD
Although no stamp has been applied this card does have the special cancellation applied:
UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE, PA 161
AUG 3, 1973
FIRST DAY OF JAMBOREE
Having attended a few international camping events I am aware that the countries postal authority sometimes (quite often in fact) have a post office on site. I wonder if this was the case here and was how this card received this cancellation. The added cancellation does add extra interest to the card.
13/04/2020
THE GREAT EARTHQUAKE AND FIRE OF YOKOHAMA
Unknown publisher (to me anyway, the publisher may be named in Japanese text on the reverse side, but I cannot read this)
Made (Printed) in Japan
I bought the two postcards depicted here with no prior knowledge of this earthquake event, but the cards were quite cheap (far cheaper than I believed they were worth), so I acquired them. I also thought it would give me something to research, something I like to do with my historic postcards.
So, on the 1st September 1923 Yokohama suffered an earthquake that was 7.9 on the richter scale. The death toll from this earthquake was estimated at 140,000 with over half of the brick buildings and one-tenth of the reinforced concrete structures collapsing. The earthquake caused a major fire, which burnt down houses as well. The shock of the earthquake caused a tsunami which was 39.5 feet high at the location of Atami on Sagami Gulf, which destroyed 155 houses and killed 60 people.
It never ceases to amaze me that amidst all this disaster, damage and chaos someone took photographs and then someone also felt the need to record the event by issuing postcards depicting this damage.
13/04/2020
I AM COMING
Lithograph
Copyright 1900, The Courier Co.
Poster Collection, Prints and photographs Division, Library of Congress
“From THE AMERICAN COWBOY, an exhibition developed by the American Folklife Center, The Library of Congress, Washington D.C. and made possible by a grant from United Technologies Corporation, 1983 – 1984”
Produced by
THE POSTCARD GALLERY
Printed by
GARAMOND PRIDEMARK PRESS, INC
A rather nice Buffalo Bill (Col. W. F. Cody) advertising poster. I assume this poster was used to announce the future attendance of the Buffalo Bill Wild West Show in someone’s town or city. I have always been interested in what is called the ‘Wild West’ and its historic characters, of which Buffalo Bill is one of the most famous. In 2018 I got to visit his gravesite outside of Denver. It had not been on the days tour itinerary, but I was glad the guide took a short diversion so that we could see it.
13/04/2020
COLDITZ
DVD EXCLUSIVE POSTCARD SET - 2010
COMPLETE SET WITH PAPER BAND AROUND THEM
Published by
BBC
I obtained these from eBay, but they originally came free as an exclusive to the release of the series on DVD in 2010 (10 disc, Region 2 Box Set – released 15th November). The designs are identical to some of the original BBC Colditz promotional plain backed cards that were sent out to fans during the run of the series, but these ones here have a postcard back (which means you can distinguish between the originals and these similar newer cards).
The five postcards depict the following (please note that the numbering system is my own):
1) MAJOR HORST MOHN – Anthony Valentine (second series only)
2) HAUPTMANN ULMANN – Hans Meyer
3) KOMMANDANT – Bernard Hepton
4) PRISONERS OF WAR – Jack Hedley (LIEUTENANT COLONEL JOHN PRESTON), Robert Wagner (FLIGHT LIEUTENANT PHIL CARRINGTON), Christopher Neame (LIEUTENANT DICK PLAYER RN), David McCallum (FLIGHT LIEUTENANT SIMON CARTER) and Edward Hardwicke (CAPTAIN PAT GRANT)
5) COLDITZ OFLAG IVC
I remember watching this on television when it was first being shown, it was a favourite of my Mothers. It ran for two series with 28 episodes being filmed. Its original run was between the 19th October 1972 to the 1st April 1974.
Some of the series was filmed at Stirling Castle as understandably the real Colditz Castle was behind the wall and fencing of East Germany at the time of filming. I have had the good fortune to visit the real Colditz Castle when I was on a military history tour of Berlin. It was a long coach drive out to the Castle, but I have always thought it was worth the visit.
13/04/2020
CHARLES CARROLL – PATRIOT
U.S DOMESTIC RATE
POSTAL STATIONERY POST CARD
1982
Published by the
UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE
(The Postal Service Guide to U.S. Stamps 28th Edition Reference UX106)
This postal stationery post card from America has been used to collect a special cancellation for 1985. This simple postal stationery postcards were an excellent way of obtaining cancels which could clearly be seen.
13/04/2020
CARRY ON CRUISING
1962
Film Poster Postcard
Published by
LONDON POSTCARD COMPANY
Ref: CODE: LU546 (Series 5 set of 9)
Autographed on the front by
LIZ FRASER
I once had the pleasure of spending a whole day with the actress Liz Fraser. I was helping-out the London Postcard Company staff on their stall (in fact it was just one member of their management and myself). As their guest on their stall they had Liz Fraser and I sat with her, helping her with her section of the table. She very kindly signed a selection of postcards and a photograph for me. I had mentioned this day before when I sadly posted about her passing away in 2018. This is not one of the cards she signed on that day, but is one I acquired later, but seeing it always reminds me of that day, and I have previously depicted cards that she had signed for me.
NON-POSTCARD ITEM
LARGE SIGNED PHOTOGRAPH
Signed by
LIZ FRASER
When I was with Liz Fraser this was one of the photograph’s she had a stack of which she would sign for people on her part of the London Postcard Company’s stand. This was probably the most popular image from the selection she had with her.
NON-POSTCARD ITEM
LARGE SIGNED PHOTO-SHEET
UNIQUE ITEM
Signed by
LIZ FRASER
Also, on the stall with her Liz Fraser had an album of printed off images of her from her various films. These were not for sale but were there for people to look through as part of the experience of a visit to the stand. At the end of the day Liz removed this one and signed it and gave it to me as a gift. It is a nice memento of that day.
It is also worth noting that this is signed just 'Liz' and not her full name, which was her normal form of signing, this made it a little more special to me.
13/04/2020
THE AIRCRAFT PARK LOOKING TOWARDS DARTMOOR
TORBAY AIRCRAFT MUSEUM
Published by the Museum
Printed by
BENDLES (TORQUAY)
Name that plane! No, I cannot name them all here, but at the back on the left I think is a Gloster Meteor, the plane nest to it I’m not sure about, next is a de Havilland Vampire , then possibly a De Havilland Venom, and in the foreground an Autogiro type of flyer.
At the back on the right is a de Havilland DH 104 Dove 6 (thank god for the internet), then I think you have a Percival Provost T1, with the helicopter in the foreground being a Bristol Sycamore.
OK, I did better than I thought (assuming I am right on these), but that last one is annoying me, I think I should have been able to name it, but it’s eluding me.
13/04/2020
Yesterday I put some interesting (well, I think so) items on the ‘Miscellaneous Items’ Tab on the webpage.
12/04/2020
HALFPENNY POSTAGE
PRINTED TO PRIVATE ORDER POSTAL CARD
½ d DULL PINK PRINTED PRE-PAID POSTAGE STAMP MARK
Official Printed to Private Order Postal Stationery Post Card
Higgins & Gage, World Postal Stationery Catalog
Section 7
Great Britain - Page 71
Reference No: 1
This type of ½ d pink printed Queen Victoria postage stamp design was used between
1872 and 1896
This was the first Great Britain printed to private order style of stamp imprint that was authorised and used. Any company or organisation could apply for the use of this stamp imprint on an appropriately sized postcard. This one was used by a Railway company.
REVERSE SIDE OF ABOVE POSTCARD
A mint copy of a card designed to be used by the SOUTH EASTERN RAILWAY to obtain someone’ voting position on a parliamentary bill. The card has the date December 1883 which means this card was probably produced about half-way through the period that these ½ d printed to private order cards could be produced.
12/04/2020
YPRES
LE TANK – PLACE DE LA STATION
Tank on the Station Place
Published by
ERN. THILL, BRUXELLES
Could not resist this one for my ‘WW1 Tank’ postcard collection. Judging from the shell damage on the side of this tank it ‘definitely’ got hit by some big rounds. This is an absolutely smashing postcard image. This one cost me £2.50 early last year, and was worth every penny, I think.
12/04/2020
MUSEUM OF THE TERRA-COTTA
WARRIORS AND HORSES OF QIN SHIHUANG
XI’A’N CHINA
Probably the most famous archaeological find in China’s history, and, when travel is allowed, one if its biggest tourist attractions. It is a place that is on my ‘To-Do’ list. Depicted here is an interesting souvenir item sold at the museum.
PACKET/ENVELOPE FRONT
The special postcard depicted below is sold in its own little envelope styled packet, the front of which is depicted here.
MUSEUM OF THE TERRA-COTTA
WARRIORS AND HORSES OF QIN SHIHUANG
XI’A’N CHINA
3D POSTCARD
Published by the Museum
This scan does not do justice to how good this postcard is. It has a very high-quality 3D image which has amazing depth to it (which the scanner was never going to capture). The quality of this item is shown by it warranting its own little envelope packaging.
REVERSE SIDE OF ABOVE POSTCARD
This was posted from Southampton, but the year is hard to make out on the cancellation. I can read 11pm and the April part, and I think it’s the 21st of April, but the year section is unclear. The king George V stamp used here was issued (in different company formats) between 1911 and 1936. I think this might be 1913, but I could be wrong.
11/04/2020
“NOW THAT SID IS WORLD FAMOUS,
AND HAS MADE HIS NAME AT LAST.
HE HAS OPENED UP A SCHOOL,
TO TEACH ALL SNAILS TO MOVE FAST!”
By
MOTHIMAGES
2001
For children’s books and ePoems
Published by
BOOMERANG
PLANET BOOMERANG (The cards that used to be placed in schools)
I have mentioned before that Boomerang did exclusive card designs for placing in schools, and that these are often harder to source than the cinema and other location distributed cards. Not all of them are highly collectible of course, some are just a little weird, like this turbo-charged snail, mind you it is still over 15 years old now.
11/04/2020
BERLIN
SCHLOSSRUCKE UND ZEUGHAUS
‘Castle Bridge and (Amory or Witness House?)'
Published by
P.S.B.
Ref: Serie Pastell Nr. 712 (L/0518)
I 3822
I cannot remember where I sourced this postcard, but I do know it was before my most recent two visits to the city, so before I became a little more interested in views of it. There is no date attached to this one, but I think it is pre- world war II, but I don’t think by a lot. The photograph has a very light bit of added colouring, mainly the sky, a touch of blue to the cars and an attempt to make the trees and bushes look green.
Having dug this one out of an older box of mine I was quite pleased as I have walked along this very road and crossed this bridge a number of times, but now of course it looks a little different around this area.
11/04/2020
BEWARE
PENSIONERS HAVE THE VOTE
By
LEN ALDIS
Published jointly by:
GREATER LONDON PENSIONERS ASSOCIATION
GREATER LONDON FORUM FOR THE ELDERLY
SERTUC PENSIONERS COMMITTEE
NATIONAL PENSIONERS CONVENTION (L&SE)
A poster design which without knowledge of the source could be taken to mean opposite things, although clearly this one was designed to show the power of the pensioners and that any government not looking towards the elderly could come unstuck in any election. This looks to be a 1980’s postcard (possibly slipping into the 1990’s)
11/04/2020
BY BUS TO THE PICTURES TO-NIGHT
1935 POSTER
By
T. ECKERSLEY AND ERIC LOMBERS
Published by the
LONDON TRANSPORT MUSEUM
Ref: LTM 154
Oh, if only. It might be a little while yet before we can go back to any cinema as I suspect they may be one of the things to take some time to open up (unless they sort out some sort of social distancing re the seating). I do know that many feature films have put back their premiere and release dates, the new James Bond and Marvel superhero (Black Widow) movies are amongst these, along with Disney’s live action ‘Mulan’. Still, new movies will be back with us at some future point. This poster reminds us of how glamourous and enjoyable a night out at the movies used to be before World War II.
11/04/2020
OBERAMMERGAU
TOTAL MIT KOFEL UND NOTH
Published by
PHOTO-VERLAG H. KRONBURGER, OBERAMMERGAU
Ref: F4
The Oberammergau Passion Play is held every ten years, in the year ending with a ‘0’, so 2020 would have been the latest event, to have been held between the 16th May and 4th October to be precise, and due to be the 42nd Oberammergau. Unfortunately, and understandably this year’s events have been cancelled. They are not now due to be performed until 2022, with the premiere booked for the 14th May of that year. This is another event cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. Postcards have been issued for almost every event (possibly every single one of them during the postcard issuing era), sometimes in quite large collections and assortments, especially collectible are those showing the different performers chosen for each decade’s plays. Part of me wonders, what with the quite late cancellation, and knowing how long in advance some events prepare their postcards, are there any 2020 postcards that had already slipped into circulation or were printed up awaiting circulation. Will there be any available for collectors with a lean towards the unusual postcard, like myself? It might be worth looking out for these.
11/04/2020
THE BEAGLE THAT GOT AWAY
Animal rights protest postcard
Published by
JAY CARDS, LONDON
During the 1980’s a number of animal rights postcard issues were brought out, many of which were produced by an underground movement, which often means they are not produced to the quality of cards which were in the shops, as is the case with these ones although this card here and the two below are of a better quality than some I have seen.
The fur trade and the treatment of animals by factory farming (the subject of the below two cards) remain a point of contention with the public and are still areas where publicity is high and ongoing protests at farms and shops continues (often these days with a greater level of violence and criminal activity). Personally, I think any cruelty to any animal is a bad thing, but I also accept that animals are farmed for our food and I am a meat eater, so I stay away from this area of discussion.
Animal testing though has slipped into the background in more recent years. In the 1980’s when this Beagle card was released (or rather, circulated as I believe it was one handed out free at protests, events etc) this was much higher in profile. I believe the number of locations where it takes place has reduced, but it does still go on, but this one is one with an interesting dilemma (not where the testing of cosmetic products is done, as that is something wrong in its own way). Take for example the current search for a vaccine for coronavirus. On the news the other day it was mentioned that the search had moved on to a point where two viable vaccines were entering into the ‘testing on animals’ procedure. I have seen no protests about this, probably because any animal rights protester who did would be lynched, or more likely arrested for being outside protesting, if not done on social media, but then I have not seen any social media about this. So, animal testing continues, but is it right or wrong where medication is concerned? That’s a question I am not going to get caught up in arguing for or against.
FUR MEANS DEATH
Animal rights protest postcard
Published by
JAY CARDS, LONDON
IT SHOULDN’T HAPPEN TO A PIG
Animal rights protest postcard
Published by
JAY CARDS, LONDON