Tuula in Tampere, Finland sends this beautiful reproduction of a vintage Estonian card, showing the Tarvastu Bridge, near the city of Viljandi. I suspect that the border around the picture was embossed on the original, but this modern reproduction is not.

This scene is very reminiscent of scenes near my own home; there are a great many places over Lake Lanier where the only sign of man’s presence is a bridge like this one. Ironically, Lake Lanier is itself man-made.

Patty at Just Letter Rip stumbled across this blog and decided to send me a postcard.  (Always a good idea; you could send me one yourself.)  Of course, if you send something to Patty, too, chances are you’ll get something cool and crafty in return.  Patty exchanges both postcards and letters, whereas I usually get writer’s block when confronted with any writing space larger than the left side of a postcard.

This postcard shows “The Brooklyn Bridge seen from Brooklyn Heights soon after its completion in 1883.”  This looks like the kind of thing General George Washington could have used, when he was busy losing the first battle of the Revolutionary War (the Battle of Brooklyn, in August 1776).  The British destroyed two militias, but Washington was able to save the bulk of his force by rowing them across the East River under cover of fog, while the British lay siege to Brooklyn.

Before the battle, the British commander, Lord Howe, tried unsuccessfully to have a letter delivered to Washington to propose a meeting.  We presume today that Washington would not accept the letter because he doubted that any talks would be useful.  At the time, however, he used protocol as an excuse: officially, the British refused to recognize the Continental Army or Washington’s military rank, and so the letter was addressed to “Mr.” Washington.  Henry Knox, Washington’s artillery officer, wrote this account to his wife:

(Lord Howe) sent a flag of truce up to the city. They came within about four miles of the city, and were met by some of Colonel Tupper’s people, who detained them until his Excellency’s pleasure should be known.  Accordingly, Colonel Reed (Washington’s adjutant) and myself went down to the barge to receive the message. When we came to them, the (British) officer… rose up and bowed, keeping (on) his hat.

“I have a letter, sir, from Lord Howe to Mr. Washington.”

“Sir,” says Colonel Reed, “we have no person in our army with that address.”

“Sir,” says the officer, “will you look at the address?” He took out of his pocket a letter which was thus addressed:

George Washington, Esq.
New York

“No sir,” says Colonel Reed, “I cannot receive that letter.”

And you thought today’s postal addressing guidelines were picky.

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. 

This is an incredibly well preserved postcard, from Kay Anthony’s collection. The postcard would seem to agree with me: “A remarkable view of the downtown section of New York City’s world-famous skyline, a truly awe-inspiring sight.” The card was published by Alfred Mainzer, 118 East 28th Street, New York 16, New York.

Courtesy of Great-Grandpa Phil, here are two “Hershey Bar Cards.” According to the Hershey – Derry Township Historical Society, “Bar cards were inserted into the 5 cent milk chocolate and almond milk chocolate bars (from 1909 to 1918). These advertisements extolled the virtues and offerings of the chocolate factory, town, park, and school through their national distribution system.”

The cards are approximately 5-3/4″ by 2-1/2″ in dimension; Hershey bars apparently aren’t as big as they used to be. Based on the postcard backs (which are identical), these would seem to be two of the earlier ones. I’m guessing that, since both cards are creased, they probably spent some time in young Phil’s pocket before being added to his collection. I don’t know if it’s my imagination but, near some of the darker smudges on the cards, I could swear I can smell chocolate.

The original Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel was built between 1960 and 1964. It connects between Cape Charles, VA on the Delmarva Peninsula, and the cities of Virginia Beach and Norfolk in southeastern Virginia. Prior to the bridge-tunnel’s construction, one could either take a ferry (which, despite making as many as 90 crossings a day, was not enough to fulfill demand) or take existing highways up the coast of Virginia to the north end of the peninsula, a trip which is about 90 miles longer than the bridge.

According to the description, “this is an aerial view of the north end of the bridge looking toward Norfolk” or, in other words, the view from the peninsula.

As you can see from photos on the official CBBT website, there is now a second bridge running parallel to the first; the first bridge occasionally had to be closed due to ships colliding with the pilings. The pilings on the second bridge are spaced differently from the first, making a collision on both bridges unlikely. However, both bridges merge into the existing tunnels, as the construction of additional tunnels has so far been cost-prohibitive.

The last I heard, the toll was $12, but between the cost of tolls and gas on the mainland routes, it’s still the better option.

“Bridge Spanning Cuyahoga River on Ohio Turnpike.” I don’t want to be too technical, but it appears that the bridge pictured is spanning the Ohio Turnpike. Unless, of course, they built the turnpike on the riverbed. Hope they don’t get a lot of rain! Actually, what I think is happening in this picture is that, once one reaches the rise in the distance, there be the bridge — making this card woefully mislabeled. Blame our old friends the Tichnor Bros. of Boston 15, Mass., who manufactured this “Lusterchrome” card. (What, it doesn’t look lustrous to you?)

Great Aunt Esther sent this card off to Great-Grandma Lottie on November 17, 1958: “We are on our way to Peninsula on this side of Akron Ohio, to see a man that did work for Bill. He is not able to work anymore.” Come on, Esther; I’m not looking for a full biography or anything, but did you have to leave us hanging like that? Did the man lose a leg or something?