Wild Postcards

Yana sends this beautiful and atypical view of Red Square in Moscow. There’s also supposed to be a letter coming, according to the postcard; Yana says that she posted both a letter and this postcard at the same time, and is curious as to which would arrive first.  I shall have to write to her once I receive her letter and give her the results. (Oops, guess I should have waited to post this!)

The postcard was mailed on 15 February and arrived yesterday, without stamps. From the postmark, it is clear that there were two stamps (or more) attached to the card; I can still see and feel a trace of the glue. I don’t think they could have been swiped so cleanly; they must have slipped off in transit. What are the Russians making their stamp glue out of? Potatoes?

Don’t forget to check out the other blogs celebrating Postcard Friendship Friday today; they’ll stick to you!

Yana sends this beautiful and atypical view of Red Square in Moscow. There’s also supposed to be a letter coming, according to the postcard; Yana says that she posted both a letter and this postcard at the same time, and is curious as to which would arrive first.  I shall have to write to her [...]

“Between 1935 and 1943 the Works Progress Administration’s Federal Art Project printed over two million posters in 35,000 different designs to stir the public’s imagination for education, theater, health, safety, and travel. Due to their fragile nature only two thousand posters have survived. This contemporary design illustrates many of the WPA-era posters, including those of our National Parks.” And so, alas, it’s not a reproduction of an authentic WPA poster, but it did fool me. This brilliant re-creation is by Doug Leen and Brian Maebius.

This card comes from Marsha, who bought this card in Hawaii in January, and mailed it to me from Wisconsin in February.

Want to visit some other exotic places from times past? Check out today’s Postcard Friendship Friday.

“Between 1935 and 1943 the Works Progress Administration’s Federal Art Project printed over two million posters in 35,000 different designs to stir the public’s imagination for education, theater, health, safety, and travel. Due to their fragile nature only two thousand posters have survived. This contemporary design illustrates many of the WPA-era posters, including those of [...]

It’s a good thing Anita was on vacation here at lovely Swartswood Lake, New Jersey; she clearly needed one. I have two copies of this postcard, both sent by Anita; both were sent to her cousin, Miss Rose La Rocca of Brooklyn, New York; both were sent at the same time on the same day. Rose must have been scratching her head when these two card fell through the slot in her door.

Postcard the first: “To Rose, Having a wonderful time. It’s real lovely out here. I miss you all. Give regards to all home. I’ll be seeing you soon. Your cousin, Anita.”

Postcard the second: “Hello Rose, Having a wonderful time. How are your brothers, aunt, uncle, Grandma and you. I’ll be seeing you soon. Love, your cousin, Anita.”

Sure, she sounds nice, but Anita is obviously off her nut. I have a few theories:

Theory 1: Anita is being overworked back in Brooklyn, and ran out to the Garden State for some desperately-needed R&R. She wrote a dozen postcards home and just didn’t realize that she wrote to Rose twice.

Theory 2: This “Lake House” is a sanitarium, and the phrase “I’ll be seeing you soon” carries with it an implied threat of the Michael Myers variety. Note that she enumerates the entire houseful of relatives against whom she has a grudge.

Theory 3: In reality, Anita sent only one postcard. The second card is from one of those alternate universes, like in the last Star Trek movie.

I will be happy to entertain any other theories; please leave a comment. And once you’ve helped me figure out what went on here, be sure to check out the other blogs celebrating Postcard Friendship Friday today. Speaking of vacations — TGIF!

It’s a good thing Anita was on vacation here at lovely Swartswood Lake, New Jersey; she clearly needed one. I have two copies of this postcard, both sent by Anita; both were sent to her cousin, Miss Rose La Rocca of Brooklyn, New York; both were sent at the same time on the same day. [...]

The Gu-ge (or Guge) Kingdom was founded in the 9th Century, one of many feudal kingdoms in western Tibet. Situated on trade routes from India and Kashmir, the kingdom thrived until the 1650s, when it was besieged by Muslim invaders from the Ladakh kingdom in India. Today, there are no descendants.

The buildings are literally carved out of the rock, and many murals, statues and other artifacts survive today, to the great delight of Tibetan Buddhists.

Today is Postcard Friendship Friday; I wish the U.S. treated its friends a little better. All the “Free Tibet” signs and T-shirts have been put away. The Dalai Lama just visited Washington, DC and the President decided not to meet with him; instead, we lit up the Empire State Building in red and yellow to celebrate 60 years of Communist rule in China. Perhaps the Dalai Lama can take comfort in the fact that, lately, we’ve been snubbing all of our other allies, too.

The Gu-ge (or Guge) Kingdom was founded in the 9th Century, one of many feudal kingdoms in western Tibet. Situated on trade routes from India and Kashmir, the kingdom thrived until the 1650s, when it was besieged by Muslim invaders from the Ladakh kingdom in India. Today, there are no descendants. The buildings are literally carved [...]