19/06/2019

ROYAN

LE CLOCHER DE L’EGLISE NOTRE-DAME

ARCHITECTRE : G. GILLET

INGENIEUR-CONSEIL : B. LAFFAILLE

INGENIEUR : R. SARGER

ARCHITECTRE D’OPERATION : M HEBRARD  

Published by

M. BERJAUD

68, COURS DE LA MARTINIQUE, BORDEAUX

Ref: 4725

Royan is in France close to where my in-laws had a house and it is an area that I have visited quite a few times. During the second world war this town was one of the last places to be liberated, and the liberation came well after the rest of France was free. On January 5^th 1945 the town was bombed by allied bombers and the town was all but destroyed. The area also came under naval bombardment for five days commencing on the 15^th April 1945. There then followed further allied bombing raids with the Americans using napalm. These raids finished off the destruction of the town commenced on the 5^th January. The tragic outcome of these assaults were 1,000 civilian deaths on the 5^th January, with 23 German soldiers killed and a further 1,700 civilians killed in the April raids.

The town was rebuilt as an urban development during the 1950’s using a modern style of architecture, which you can clearly see if you visit here today.

Depicted here is the Royan Church of Notre-Dame built on the site of the original church destroyed during the bombing raids. This church was completed in 1958 and is constructed entirely from reinforced concrete. It took three years to build and it can seat some 2000 people. In 1988 the church was classified as a historical monument.

When I saw this amazing church I was taken with how much it looks like a large battleship, and this is what the church resembles in my opinion, and that of many others as I have heard it escribed as the Battleship Church. What you see here is what would be called the prow of the ship. As you drive down into the town from the church side you can see even more the battleship shape.  

REVERSE SIDE OF ABOVE POSTCARD

ROYAN

L’EGLISE NOTRE-DAME

Published by

COMPAGNIE DES ARTS PHOTOMEANIQUES, PARIS

LUMICAP

MEXICHROME

Ref: 2267

This cards image gives a better view of the battleship like shape of this church. This colour postcard was posted in 1967.

REVERSE SIDE OF ABOVE POSTCARD

EN AVION AU-DESSUS DE…

ROYAN (CHARENTE-MARITIME)

Published by

EDITION LAPIE – ST MAUR

Ref: 37

This cracking black and white photograph is the best one I have found on my trips through Royan and the surrounding areas. I think this one shows off best the battleship like shape of this large church. I have twice been inside it and it is worth a visit if you ever find yourself here in Royan (the town is worth a visit for its many seafood restaurants, all serving up fresh produce locally caught).

I shall return to this town as it is one of my favourite French locations, although, its older history is no longer contained within its buildings, but I think the architecture of the 1950’s is so modernistic and unusual that the town is worth coming too just to see all of this, and especially this superb shaped church.

REVERSE SIDE OF ABOVE POSTCARD

19/06/2019

BIRD’S-EYE VIEW

EXPO 74

WORLD’S FAIR

Official EXPO 74 World’s Fair Card

“EXCEPTIONAL OVERALL LOOK SHOWS THE EXPANSE OF EXPO 74 FAIRGROUNDS AND EXHIBITS”

Published by

(? Something) ENTERPRISES INC, MIAMI, FLORIDA

The EXPO 74 World’s Fair was held in Spokane, a city in eastern Washington state. Expo 74 was the first environmentally themed world’s fair and it ran for six months between the 4^th May 1974 and the 3^rd November. The main fairground area was located on Canada Island (although was called Crystal Island at the time and was later renamed Canada Island) and Havermale Island, which are the areas which I believe are depicted on this postcard. The motto for the event was ‘PROGRESS WITHOUT POLLUTION’ and ten countries took part with exhibits. The fair sounds like it was a success as it had 5.2 million visitors.

REVERSE SIDE OF THE ABOVE POSTCARD

This postcard was posted from the Expo 74 to the UK (a Sussex address) by a visitor to the event. They used the EXPO 74 US 10c official stamp (SG 1525 – issued, needless to say, in 1974) with a 1972 US 8c WILDLIFE CONSERVATION Fur Seal stamp (one from a set of 4 – SG 1469 - considering the environmental theme this seems an appropriate stamp so maybe it was on sale at the onsite post office) . These have been cancelled with the official ‘WORLD’S FAIR STATION – SPOKANE – WASHINGTON – 89274’ cancel dated 6^th July 1974. The handstamp incorporates the events official logo which can also be seen bottom left printed on the postcards reverse.

The combination of postcard, stamps, cancel and message written on it make this a nice little item, and well worth the 50p it cost me from a UK dealer (I wonder if this would have cost me more in the US)

18/06/2019

CROCODILE

3D IMAGE

Published by

DELUXEBASE LTD (UK company)

Ref: No. 8236 LIVE LIFE POSTCARD

(Made in China)

The image here is a bit blurry because it is a 3D image and scanners have trouble reproducing these, but I like them so much I keep trying to show them to you.

I bought this one in February of last year (2018) in a Rainforest Café shop attached to the restaurant located just outside the Disneyland Paris theme park. It was in their sale reduced by 50%, although this still meant that I paid 2 euro’s for it, but I think that was more than reasonable (certainly better than 4 euro’s!)

18/06/2019

VICTORIAN POSY

EAU DE TOILETTE

ESPECIALLY CREATED BY

PENHALIGON’S

FOR THE ASSOCIATES AND FRIENDS OF THE

VICTORIA & ALBERT MUSEUM

Published by

PENHALIGON’S LIMITED

41 WELLINGTON STREET, COVENT GARDEN, LONDON

This unusual modern postcard, although ‘Golden Age’ sized, came in a cellophane container/wrapper. I thought this was interesting so bought both this one and the one depicted below, which also came in a see-through wrapper. These appear to be some sort of promotional item for Penhaligon’s, which is a British Perfumers shop which has been established since 1870. Maybe the cards are in wrappers because they were contained within a product and needed to be protected from that products perfumed smell, or do the cards themselves smell - maybe they are soaked in the perfume that is advertised, that would be cool and now that I think about it that does make some sense (but I am not opening them to find out as that would take away some of the cards uniqueness). It’s possible, but I don’t really know as I bought these from a postcard dealer. I like them and they are unusual enough to maybe even fit into my novelty collection because of the wrappers (they definately would if they had their own perfume smell!).

PENHALIGON’S

FRESH FERN

The green scent of the English countryside

A RANGE OF TRADITIONAL TOILETRIES FOR THE DISCERNING GENTLEMAN  

Published by

PENHALIGON’S LIMITED

41 WELLINGTON STREET, COVENT GARDEN, LONDON

The second card I bought. I prefer this one over the card above, but then I think this has more interest because of the photograph of the shooter with his dog and handler. I also like the idea of a scent which smelled of ‘fresh fern’.

I would love to hear from anyone who has anymore of these cards, if there are any more, and receive any details of why they are in their wrappers. Do they in fact have a perfume smell? It would be great if they did.

REVERSE SIDE OF ABOVE POSTCARD

The two cards have the same reverse layout design

18/06/2019

BLUE LABEL

FYFFES BRAND

‘BANANAS’

1930’S POSTER

“Fyffes was founded as a company in 1888, specialising in fresh food products”

Published by

ROBERT OPIE

Ref: 01OS10

In Their-

OUT OF SCHOOL SERIES

Another poster advert postcard from the prodigious ‘Robert Opie’ collection. These are probably the most numerous postcards currently available, and I have often made light of Robert’s all conquering postcard production (try and find a museum anywhere that does not have one or more of his cards on sale!) It is probably therefore quite good that the cards have been superb

PHOTOGRAPH

Today I was watching an episode of Heston Blumenthal’s ‘HESTON’S GREAT BRITISH FOOD’, all about chocolate, and Heston visited Robert Opie in his museum of advertising. Here he can be seen showing Heston a range of old chocolate bars. So, if you wanted to know what Robert looks like…. here he is.   

18/06/2019

LINCOLN STATUE

Published for

WASHINGTON NOVELTY INC

Ref: C1861

“The great Lincoln statue dominates the Lincoln Memorial in our Nation’s capital. As the spectator circles the statue, the Great Emancipator appears stern, pensive or kindly, depending upon the angle of view. From any point, he gives an impression of tragic loneliness.”

(Text from reverse side of postcard)

Last year I visited Washington and got to see the Lincoln Memorial. It is every bit as impressive as one could expect, possibly more. I enjoyed my visit immensely so when I was back in the UK and came across this older (I’m guessing late 1970’s into 1980’s) postcard on a dealer’s stall I had to have it. I have mentioned before how my postcard collection is influenced by what I do, where I go and what I see, but then I suspect many collections are.

17/06/2019

SCHNECKENPOST

SNAIL MAIL

Published by

OPPEL & HESS, DARMSTADT

Ref: Nr. 48

German cartoon postcard showing a carriage being pulled by snails. This is a type of design which is very popular with the German public, and as a result many postcards like this were produced. This postcard was posted within Germany sometime after 1987 (I can’t quite make out the postmark date), but certainly during the late 1980’s.

REVERSE SIDE OF ABOVE POSTCARD

DIE VOGLEIN IM WALDE…

THE LITTLE BIRD IN THE FOREST…

Published by

OPPEL & HESS, DARMSTADT

Ref: Nr. 41

On this card you can see the full name of the artist – FRITZ BAUMGARTEN – so this allowed me to find out more about this artist. Baumgarten was a German illustrator of countless children’s books. He was born in 1883 and passed away in 1966. He produced numerous illustrations which were populated with forest animals, elves and fairies, much like the pictures on these postcards.

REVERSE SIDE OF ABOVE POSTCARD

This is another card posted in 1988 and here the sender has stuck some little bird stickers on the card to add some colour and interest (something ‘Postcrossers’ still do too this day). I bought all four of the cards posted here today together from one dealers stall. They were 50p each and worth every penny I think.

HARVEST TIME

Published by

SCHUMACHER GMBH, HAMBURG

Ref: Nr. 47

Another postcard issue showing a design from the same artist as the card above, although this one was issued by a different company.

REVERSE SIDE OF ABOVE POSTCARD

This one was posted in 1988

SURPRISE! SURPRISE!

Published by

SCHUMACHER GMBH, HAMBURG

Ref: Nr. 51

Another cracking design from this series of cards. I think these are delightful.

REVERSE SIDE OF ABOVE POSTCARD

Again, posted in 1988. I do like what the sender has done with this card. The stamp used is a ‘really’ nice one and has been cancelled cleanly, but the drawn flowers do add a little something to this card. In fact I think the sender has made this a nice unique little card.

16/06/2019

30^TH WICHITA INTERNATIONAL 2007

Design by

RICK GEARY

Published by

WICHITA POSTCARD CLUB

Another superb postcard design by one of my favourite American postcard artists (the top position is 50/50 between Rick and Ann Rusnak). This one also appealed due to the obvious military connections and theme.

16/06/2019

LA GUERRE DANS LE NORD

VERMELLES – DANS LES RUINES

LA VISITE DU PRINCE DE GALLES

WAR IN THE NORTH

VERMELLES – IN THE RUINS

THE VISIT OF THE PRINCE OF WALES

Publisher not known

(although there is a distinctive logo front bottom right and another in the bottom left corner on the reverse side, but I do not know the company either belonged to)

Ref: 15

I found this postcard a few years ago in a 50p box. It appealed to me because of my interest in military history and the postcards connected to wars. This is a first world war issue which doubly appealed because of the royalty connection. There is no date on this card, but I know that the prince visited the battlefields between January and September 1915 and although the prince was to visit again in further year’s I believe this photograph is from the princes 1915 period in France. This photograph clearly shows that the prince had quite an entourage following him around. There are some high-ranking French and British officers trailing behind him.  

REVERSE SIDE OF ABOVE POSTCARD

16/06/2019

WIEN – VIENNA

BEHA – VIENA – VIENNE

‘VIENNA – ST. CHARLES’S CHURCH’

Published by

COLORAMA

Ref: BESTELL-NR. PK VIE05

Vienna has some beautiful landmarks which are stunning to see and which no matter how good the photographer is a photograph just cannot capture but having said that the pictures that appear on good postcards are always better than my own attempts to capture the same structure. This one is a good example of such a situation. This church is truly stunning, and I wanted a ‘really-nice’ postcard image of it…. and this was the one I picked.

16/06/2019

OLD VIENNA

OLD VIENNA – DAS OPERNTHEATER 1885

VIENNA 1873 – WIENER STAATSOPER

Published by

LUKA BASIC EDITION

Ref: LAGR-WIG-103

This is one of the postcards I picked up whilst in Vienna on my most recent holiday. I do like to find cards which depict locations I am seeing as they were back in older times, especially during the Victorian era. This one was one of the best I found whilst travelling around the souvenir shops in central Vienna.

15/06/2019

COLCHESTER PAGEANT

STATELY DANCERS

Published as one of the:

JARROLD’S PAGEANT SERIES

Colchester is in my home county of Essex and I have visited it and worked there many times over the years. I do not specifically seek out postcards from its past, but when I come across cheap ones I try and pick them up. This one here was posted in 1911.

REVERSE SIDE OF ABOVE POSTCARD

This one has a message related to either some sort of competition or exam result. The message is dated 5^th July 1911. The stamp is cancelled with a Chelmsford double ring cancel dated 24^th July 1913 with no obvious explanation as to why there was such a delay.

15/06/2019

PHOTOGRAPH

INDIVIDUAL PHOTO POSTCARD MACHINE

BERLIN

6^TH MAY 2019

I came across this machine on my most recent visit to the German city of Berlin. Its located in Friedrichstrasse (to the south of Unter Den Linden). It was located outside of a newsagent styled shop and when I saw this, I knew I had to give it a try. I have seen similar type machines in the US in Disney World, but these are more like booths, whilst this machine is on the street itself.

This is a photograph of the machine taken slightly from the side.

PHOTOGRAPH

INDIVIDUAL PHOTO POSTCARD MACHINE

BERLIN

6^TH MAY 2019

A second photograph showing the machine head on

PHOTO POSTCARD

GRUSE AUS BERLIN

HEARTY GREETINGS FROM BERLIN

Machine produced individual postcard

COSMOCARD

This was a nice multi-view option which appealed to me because I visited many of the places depicted, and one of them includes an image of the TV Tower.

PHOTO POSTCARD

BERLIN

HEARTY GREETINGS FROM BERLIN

Machine produced individual postcard

COSMOCARD

Another multi-view option this time depicting night-time views of some of Berlin’s major attractions. Again, the TV Tower is included, but here it appears on two of the images.

PHOTO POSTCARD

HEARTY GREETINGS FROM BERLIN

Machine produced individual postcard

COSMOCARD

This one has a single Berlin view, but I had to have this one as it was the best view of the TV Tower amongst the options available. This is my favourite, although I think the others are more touristy and will appeal to those who are after an unusual souvenir.

PHOTOGRAPH

INDIVIDUAL PHOTO POSTCARD MACHINE

THE MAIN SCREEN WITH THE OPTION FILES

BERLIN

6^TH MAY 2019

You are given a choice of six main headings under each of which there are a number of options available. The main headings are:

GENERAL

CONGRATULATIONS

FAMILY/FRIENDS

FUN

LOVE

PARTY/SEXY

PHOTOGRAPH

INDIVIDUAL PHOTO POSTCARD MACHINE

THE MAIN SCREEN WITH THE OPTION FILES

BERLIN

6^TH MAY 2019

Close up of the screen. Personally, I think you need to pick the options in the GENERAL category as these were the ones which appealed to me and which had the nice views of Berlin landmarks.

The cost was as follows:

1 PHOTOCARD – euro 3.50

2 PHOTOCARDS – euro 7 (which seems a bit redundant considering what 1 card costs, but this was an option!)

3 PHOTOCARDS – euro 9. This was a better option and the one I used. I think 3 euros per card is a good price (especially when in the US I have paid $5 for a single card).

Are these worth the money? I don’t really care as I had fun using the machine and choosing my designs. I would ‘definitely’ use one of these machines again.

REVERSE SIDE OF ONE OF THE ABOVE POSTCARDS

13/06/2019

UNTITLED

‘SPITFIRES’

Published by

F. J. WARREN LIMITED

A ‘DUFEX’ POSTCARD

Ref: 501888

I have always liked the ‘Dufex’ postcards with their glitter shine and general novelty value. The company produced hundreds of designs throughout the 1980’s and 1990’s moving from a more silver look to the more modern all colour designs like this one. For anyone who likes the Spitfire fighter plane, the classic WWII British Battle of Britain plane, then this postcard is a cracker.

13/06/2019

TIERGARTEN SCHONBRUNN

WIEN VIENNA

Published by

SMILE GMBH, WIEN

Ref: 18503

My love of animal postcards is something that has never gone away so when I found this one on my recent visit to Vienna it was always going to end up in my collection. A nice selection of animals superimposed on a view from Vienna. I did not visit here, but still bought the postcard when I saw it in a tourist souvenir shop.

12/06/2019

NUTSHELL FAIRIES

THE NUTSHELL, BURY ST EDMUNDS

Design by

JOHN PULHAM

Published by

OVERDALE CARDS

Ref: OC31

I couldn’t attend the recent Bury St Edmunds postcard fair, but I am aware that each visitor received a copy of this postcard upon entry. It is one of a series of cards with designs by John Pulham which have been issued for the postcard fairs held here. Although I did not go I was kindly sent a copy by the fairs organiser (many thanks Lee).

11/06/2019

PRITTLEWELL

SOUTHEND-ON-SEA

Locally Published Postcard

Ref: 2558. 12.

The road you can see here is now dual carriageway with two lanes in each direction. The road has been widened on what is the right side of this photograph. This is a road I know well, especially as I have been driving along it every day for the past few weeks whilst I have been doing some part time work at a local school. I also know that this stretch of road was very popular with local postcard publishers as it appears on many different postcards. It is also a view that I like.  

10/06/2019

HELLO SUMMER

‘HELL – exam zone – O’

YOU ARE CLOSE TO VICTORY,

DON’T YOU DARE GIVE UP NOW!

YOU CAN DO IT!

Published by

GUILDCOH

We are almost at the end of the school exam period. This is the last full week of exams. I have been doing some invigilating work at a local school watching the year 11 students taking their ‘O’ and ‘A’ level exams. I just have until Friday then it all ends. It has been interesting seeing how the exams are set up and run and helping to do this. Being in this world for the last four weeks does add some extra amusement to the text on this card, especially when I see the exam coordinator trying to make sure all the right exam papers are in the right rooms and all the desks labelled and correctly set out. I am sure these few weeks do sometimes feel like hell.

To all those who have been, and are taking exams, and all those parents, grandparents and guardians who have kids taking or having taken exams over these few weeks I hope all has and does go well for everybody.

REVERSE SIDE OF ABOVE POSTCARD

10/06/2019

UNTITLED

Teddies on beach

Printed by

PEMBROKESHIRE EYE POSTCARDS

Printed by

HAVEN COLOURPRINT, PEMBROKE DOCK

Ref: 7020

Picked this one up recently at a postcard fair. I still like Teddies on postcard designs but as I have mentioned several times before they are not any where near as popular as they once were (although they do go through spells, so maybe they will come back round again!)

09/06/2019

A SOPWITH PUP LANDING ON

HMS FURIOUS

2^ND AUGUST 1917

“Commemorating the 50^th Anniversary - first aircraft landing on ship underway,

by Sqn. Cdr. E. H. DUNNING in a Sopwith Pup on 2^nd August 1917”

Proceeds in Aid of Naval Air Relief Fund

I bought a copy of this postcard many years ago from a stamp shop that used to be in my hometown (and that shop closed down more than ten years ago, if not much earlier). I always liked it, especially because of some special Cinderella stamp labels which were applied to the reverse side. Then, about two years ago I came across a number of these cards in a cheap box at a Stampex show in London. Looking at them I realised that they had different ships cachets on them. So, I bought them all and will depict the reverse sides of these cards below (remember they each have this same front photograph).

REVERSE SIDE OF ONE OF THESE POSTCARDS

This one has two special ‘50^th Anniversary first aircraft landing on ship underway’ airmail ‘Ship to Shore’ paid carriage labels and these have been cancelled with a special blue boxed cachet related to the 50^th anniversary.

REVERSE SIDE OF ONE OF THESE POSTCARDS

This one has a red boxed ‘H.M.S. BULWARK – AUG 2, 1967’ ships cachet applied. This one has also been posted using a 3d Queen Elizabeth ‘Wilding’ definitive stamp cancelled with a wavy line machine cancel dated 2^nd August 1967.  

REVERSE SIDE OF ONE OF THESE POSTCARDS

This one has a blue boxed ‘H.M.S. EAGLE – AUG 2, 1967’ ships cachet applied. This one has also been posted using a 3d Queen Elizabeth ‘Wilding’ definitive stamp cancelled with a B.F.P.0. (British Forces Post Office) LONDON cancel dated 2^nd August 1967.

You can also see that the two labels also have an EAGLE text addition in yellow underneath each pictorial aircraft image.

REVERSE SIDE OF ONE OF THESE POSTCARDS

This one has a blue oval ‘OPERATIONS OFFICER - H.M.S. EAGLE – AUG 2, 1967’ ships cachet applied. This one has also been posted using a 4d radar stamp cancelled with a B.F.P.0. (British Forces Post Office) LONDON cancel dated 2^nd August 1967.

REVERSE SIDE OF ONE OF THESE POSTCARDS

This one has two red oval ‘MAIL OFFICE - H.M.S. ALBION – AUG 2, 1967’ ship cachets applied. There also a blue boxed ‘H.M.S. ALBION – AUG 2, 1967’ ships cachet. This one has also been posted using a 3d Queen Elizabeth ‘Wilding’ definitive stamp cancelled with a B.F.P.0. (British Forces Post Office) LONDON cancel dated 2^nd August 1967.

You can also see that the two labels also have an ALBION text addition in yellow underneath each pictorial aircraft image.

REVERSE SIDE OF ONE OF THESE POSTCARDS

This one has a red boxed ‘H.M.S. HERMES – AUG 2, 1967’ ships cachet applied. This one has also been posted using a 3d Queen Elizabeth ‘Wilding’ definitive stamp cancelled with a British Forces Mail 9 cancel dated 2^nd August 1967.

You can also see that the two labels also have a HERMES text addition in yellow underneath each pictorial aircraft image.

So, these are the ones that I now have in my collection. I think these are great and there may well be even more different ships cachets on these, but I admit that the ones you see here are the only ones I have seen. One of these has a £6 pencil price on it, another £8, but I found these cards in a 50p box, and I was delighted to pick these up for such a low price.

09/06/2019

JAMAICA

THE RED-BILLED STEAMERTAIL HUMMINGBIRD

NATIONAL BIRD OF JAMAICA

Known to the locals as the ‘DOCTOR BIRD’

Published by

ISLAND IMAGES

Ref: JA107

On my one day visit to Jamaica last year I only picked up a couple of postcards, but this was my favourite.

PHOTOGRAPH

8^TH August 2018

This postcard rack is the one from which I obtained the above hummingbird postcard from. The card can be seen top right, although it was in the slot sideways.

09/06/2019

BAYEUX JUIN 1944

Published by

EDITIONS HEIMDAL

EDITIONS NORMANDES LE GOUBEY – CAEN

PRODUCTION LECONTE

Ref: 2784

After the D-Day landings, which we have been celebrating the 75^th Anniversary of today, Bayeux was liberated on the 7^th June. This multi-view French postcard celebrates the liberation and the subsequent visit by General De Gaulle.

06/06/2019

PEGASUS BRIDGE

GONDREE

Published by

THE CAFÉ GONDREE

Printed by

ARTAUD FRERES

As a prelude to the beach landings in Normandy on D-Day there was an air-borne glider assault on the bridge now known as Pegasus Bridge behind the beach landing area. The first liberated building was the home of the Gondree family which can be seen on the far side of the river in this photograph. This building is now a well-known café which is much visited by battlefield tour groups. The café is run by Arlette Gondree who was a child when the assault took place. She now runs the building as a café/small museum and gift shop. A large selection of exclusive postcards, and postcards by other publishers can be bought here and each has a large exclusive circular AIRBORNE – PEGASUS BRIDGE cachet on the reverse side.

When I visited here in 2004, I bought a large number of the cards and got to meet Arlette Gondree.         

REVERSE SIDE OF ABOVE POSTCARD

This has the cachet, a nice written message and has been posted using an exclusive and lovely ‘CAFÉ GONDREE – PEGASUS BRIDGE – LA POSTE private postage stamp. Finding one of these nicely used on a postcard like this is a real find., especially when it was posted in 2014 which was another anniversary year, the 70th anniversary (the card was also posted in June of that year - the 16th)