My first card from Bosnia and Herzegovina comes from Sonja, a travel agent living in Banja Luka, and who was kind enough to tell me all about the different views on this card. At the top left can be seen a monument from World War II, and in the top center is the city’s Orthodox church. The large view at the bottom is the River Vrbas, which seems to be missing some vowels.

This very clear view of Westminster Abbey (with Big Ben in the background) comes from Aimee Dars, a prolific swapper extraordinaire. This card was sold in England but produced by a company in Barcelona. Next to the stamp box, it has the phrase “the friendship post card” in ten languages.

Omran sent me several nice cards from Tripoli last month; while I was able to blog about his postcard of a Libyan woman at Girls Go Postal!, I haven’t had a chance to post any of the others. But Evelyn’s A Festival of Postcards, 7th Edition provides a great opportunity to post two well-lit landmarks.

Pictured above is Saraya al-Hamra, the “Red Castle”, a fortress built into Tripoli’s ancient city wall and dates from at least the 16th Century. In 1988, it was renovated and reopened as the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Museum, a place where one can find Libyan cultural artifacts throughout history.

This second postcard shows Myadan al-Jazair Mosque, also in Tripoli. “Al Jazair” is Arabic for “the islands” and is also the Arabic name for the city of Algiers.

Linkenel in Bangkok, Thailand was kind enough to share with me this image of a reclining Buddha, which is in stark contrast to the standard image of a fat, jovial Buddha usually seen in American culture. According to the card, the existing temple was built on the site of an older monastery.

Like Buddha, it looks as though the postman has been lying down on the job, too; the card isn’t postmarked, but she dated it 24 September 2009, and it arrived on 12 February 2010. She sent this card about 20 days after I last sent a card to her – which she had already received by the time she sent this, as she references my card in her message.

Shirin sends along these vintage views of Singapore and reminds me that the Hotel Raffles, pictured at the top, is the birthplace of the Singapore Sling — meaning folks were sippin’ on gin and juice long before Snoop Dogg had something to say about it.

Also pictured are a Chinese junk, a snake charmer, and the Golden Sultan mosque. All of these things can still be seen in Singapore today — even a snake charmer, if you look hard enough.

Vicky sent me this amazing postcard from Hong Kong. Unfortunately, the postcard is completely in Chinese and Vicky’s message (at right), while adorable, did nothing to elucidate me regarding this view.

This building almost seems to be built into the rock. Am I looking at it right? What could this building be? It looks like there’s neon in the window so it may be a shop of some kind, or perhaps a teahouse. For that matter, it wouldn’t look too out of place in Diagon Alley.

I find this photo postcard of the St. Martin-in-the-Fields church at Trafalgar Square to be very striking.  What makes it more interesting is that it was taken from atop an empty plinth in the Square by Carol, who sent this to me.  As a participant in an art project entitled One & Other, which started on 6 July and ends on 14 October, 2,400 participants will each spend an hour on the empty fourth plinth in the square, and may do whatever they wish.  Many just stand around; many perform mundane activities; a few are outrageous.

You can read and watch more about the project, you can watch it live, and you can even go back in time and watch Carol’s time on the plinth, Sunday, 19 July from 3 – 4 AM.

When Natalia in Saint Petersburg, Russia proposed a postcard swap some weeks ago, I could hardly resist.  In exchange for a handful of postcards promoting social causes, she sent me several beautiful views of her city at night.  Serendipitously, these cards fit in very nicely with Postcardy’s Postcard Scavenger Hunt for July: Night/Lights.

The backs of these cards have large, bold titles in Russian and English, with smaller titles in German, French, Spanish, and Italian.  Then the photo and publisher credits are listed in English and Russian, along with the publisher’s logo.  As you might imagine, and like many Russian cards (and Soviet cards before them), this leaves very little room for any message you might want to send along with the card.

Without further ado, please enjoy these views of Saint Petersburg at night. 

Camp O-AT-KA is a summer camp for boys that exists still today.  It was founded in 1906 and has been on the same site in Sebago, Maine since 1907 .  This postcard might date from as early as 1910, based on the sturdiness of the card stock that was used (and the card is still like new), but I suspect that it’s probably from the early 1920s.

The camp was founded by the Reverend Ernest Joseph Dennen, an Episcopal minister from Lynn, Massachusetts.  He had developed a program which he called “The Order of Sir Galahad”, designed to teach the boys of his parish the virtues of “helpfulness, obedience, truth, chivalry, and service.”  The camp, in turn, was a reward for the boys who had worked hard to live up to these virtues.

Today, those virtues are apparently only for rich white boys.  Your boy can enroll in the camp’s two-week “starter program” for the low, low price of only $2,850.  If I were you, I’d go for the seven-week program: a real bargain at $7,700. Sure, running a big camp is expensive but, even adjusted for inflation, I went to camps of comparable size as a boy for about a tenth of the cost — and some of the values I learned were priceless.

“The most well-known wat (that is, temple — Ed.) in Chiang Mai, built in the 14th Century A.D. on the Suthep Mountain. The relic of the Buddha was placed inside the original pagoda when it was built.”  That relic is said to be the shoulder blade of the Buddha himself, found by a monk called Sumanathera after being told in a dream to search for it.  Michael Holland tells us more at Thailand for Visitors:

“According to this legend, a Buddha relic, which some say glowed, magically replicated just before it was about to be enshrined in the big chedi at Wat Suan Dok. The ‘cloned’ relic was placed on the back of a sacred white elephant, which was allowed to roam wherever it wanted.

“The elephant eventually climbed to the top of Suthep Mountain, trumpeted three times, turned around three times, knelt down and died. This was taken as a sign that this was the spot where the relic wanted to be, so King Ku Na built the original of the chedi on Doi Suthep.”

If you’re so inclined, feel free to take the tour:

This is my first postcard from Cambodia, courtesy of Zarah at Postcards Crossing.  There’s no need for me to say anything about this card; Zarah tells us all we need to know:

“These are… carvings of Apsaras and they are Khmer angels. They possess great beauty and are often portrayed as voluptuous beings.  Buddhists believe that Apsaras descend on Earth to replace the old ones already here guarding the Earth, once every Khmer New Year. This year the (Khmer New Year) was celebrated last April 14-16 and Cambodians welcome the new batch of Apsaras by offering food and lighting candles. A lot of Apsaras are carved in the walls and galleries of ancient Khmer temples such as Angkor Wat, and they are still in perfect detail and condition, as if (they) were carved only recently…. Hope you like it.”  I do, and henceforth you shall be known as ap-Zarah.

This postcard from Julia in Munich features a bronze statue of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals and the environment.  Almost invariably, he is portrayed with animals, usually doves.  I suppose I have seen hundreds of statues of St. Francis, placed everywhere from gardens to animal shelters, and they always delight me.

The name of the statue seems to translate as “Francis as Peace Offerings,” which I’m sure is an accurate transcription, but it isn’t getting the idea across to me.  The only story I know about St. Francis as a peacemaker is the episode involving the Wolf of Gubbio, but I don’t see a specific reference to that story in the statue.

This statue was created by Martin Mayer and is located in Munich on the Sonnenstrasse, which Julia describes as a “touristic pedestrian” area.  She also passed on her favorite quote, which I leave with you as your thought for the day: “Freundlichkeit ist eine sprache die Taube hören und Blinde sehen können (Kindness is a language which the deaf hear and the blind can see).”

This card came in the mail today from Yana, who has her own very fine blog of her postcards and stamps.  This card features a photo by Pavel Vorobyov of the Church of the Sacred Heart of Christ, the only Roman Catholic church in the Volga region.  It was constructed in 1906; this photo was taken in 2001 during what looks like sunset on a foggy day.

(I notice that this is the very first card I’ve posted from Russia; all of my other “Russian” cards, both posted and not-yet-posted, were technically produced by the Soviet Union.)

I’m also very interested in the stamps on this card, especially the portrait of Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin, a Russian landscape painter who lived from 1832-1898 and is still well regarded today.  Click on the image to see a larger version.  (I’m very proud of myself — I was able to sound out “I. I. Shishkin” well enough to google him on the first try.)  Shishkin painted landscapes, not portraits; this portrait of him was done by Ivan Nikolayevich Kramskoy (whose name I also sounded out, thank you very much) in 1880.  Kramskoy had painted Shishkin once before, in 1873.

“Stanford Memorial Chapel — located on the Campus of Stanford University, is considered one of the most beautiful churches in America. The extensive use of art mosaics for mural decorations combine to make it a structure more than unique in character, worthy of visiting and well remembered. This church was built as a memorial by Mrs. Stanford to her husband Senator Leland Stanford. Dedicated in January 1903. Only non-sectarian services are held.”

This is an obvious Curt Teich card (number 0B-H123, produced in 1940) but is marked only as being copyrighted by the Stanley A. Piltz Company of San Francisco as part of their “Pictorial Wonderland Art-Tone Series”. There is a little wear on the corners, but otherwise this card is in excellent condition. You should definitely click on the picture, so that you can marvel at the painstaking detail of this card’s colorist.

Here is a cheaply made, unvarnished postcard, circa 1960, from the Church of the Open Door in Los Angeles. At its heyday, it could seat about 4,000 worshipers. The building is no longer in existence, having been demolished in the 1980s due to earthquake damage. However, the church still survives today in its new home in Glendora, California.

I don’t know that we would refer to this as the Bishop’s Palace today; I believe that the correct term is the bishopric. Both buildings obviously bear the scars of German artillery taken by the town during the Battle of Verdun, which lasted almost the entire year of 1916.

Of course, anyone who has taken French lessons will probably recall Verdun as the home of the neighbor of le gentil garçon qui prononce bien.

In addition to the usual notices one would find on the back of a postcard in any language (that is, Post Card, This Side Reserved for the Address, This Side Reserved for Message), this one also says that Aucune inscription n’est admise du côte de la Vue — basically, you’re not allowed to write on the side with the picture. Through most of the first ten years of the 20th century, one was only allowed to write one’s message on the side with the picture, and ten years later the French won’t let us write on that side at all. Make up your minds!

You can find more French postcards (and others) at Cpaphil Vintage Postcards, whose webmaster (webmaîtresse?), Marie, was kind enough to send me a comment recently.

“One of Tulsa’s beautiful churches, located at 1115 South Boulder.” And it still is, although today they go by the name of First United Methodist Church. A Curt Teich card, number 2C-H1085, manufactured in 1952 and a bit yellowed with age.

This is a Curteich “C.T. Art-Colortone”, number 3A-H575, published in 1933 — but not used until 1941. “City Hall covers an area of 4½ acres and has a floor space of 14½ acres (that’s over 630,000 square feet — Ed.). The height of the tower is 548 feet and the width of the base is 90 feet. The site upon which the building stands was originally Center Square and was, early in the 19th century, the site of the original water works.” At the top of the tower is a statue of William Penn. Until about 25 years ago, it was illegal to construct any buildings higher than old Billy Penn.

“Bill” writes from the train station on December 23, 1941: “Dearest Marian, Am waiting for the 4:01 A.M. train for New York so I thought I would drop you a line. Good-by for now. Love Bill.” What’s interesting is that, only a couple of weeks after Pearl Harbor, the card (from which someone scavenged the stamp) already has a “Buy Defense Savings Bonds and Stamps” postmark.

This is an unvarnished card, probably circa 1960, from the Church of the Open Door in Los Angeles. The church was probably most famous for its red neon “Jesus Saves” sign on the rooftop. According to the card, the church had a seating capacity of approximately 4,000.

Unfortunately, the church building was damaged irreparably by earthquakes, and had to be demolished in the late 1980s. The “Jesus Saves” sign was saved, however, and now sits atop the Los Angeles University Cathedral. The church is also still in existence, having moved to Glendora, California in 1985.

The card also mentions J. Vernon McGee as the teacher of a weekly “Downtown Bible Study Class”. Dr. McGee was the church’s pastor from 1949-1970. He also created “Thru the Bible”, a five-year-long series of radio programs which teaches the Bible, cover to cover, 30 minutes at a time. Though Dr. McGee passed away in 1988, the program can still be heard on over 100 radio stations in North America, and via podcast and shortwave.

Two cards for the price of one today. Both of these cards were Made in the USA, according to the text in the stampboxes. They were published in Canada by Fach Enterprises and distributed by Temple City Drugs.

This card is described as “a view of the beautiful gardens surrounding the Mormon Temple in Cardston, Alberta.” But wait, there’s more!

This card is described simply as “a scene of the famed Mormon Temple….” — well, you get the idea.