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.

“Wind surfing on the Great Lakes is an ever increasingly popular sport enjoyed by young and old.” I don’t imagine that there’s too many days left this year for this activity, at least not on the Great Lakes; that water gets cold. This 1970s-era Plastichrome postcard arrived in my mailbox a few days ago; it’s 3.5″ x 5.5″, rather than the usual 4 x 6 inch cards that are popular today.

“While training, elephants enjoy their leisure time on a small river.” That description sort of implies that it is the elephants who are in charge and not the men. In fact, it looks as though the human leader is getting a reminder of that.

This postcard was sent to me by the lovely Linkenel, who herself lives in Chiang Mai Province, Thailand.

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.

“View of harpooner ironing a Sperm Whale. From The Capture a lithograph made in 1862 by Endicott & R. S. Gifford, corrected by Benjamin Russell.” What sort of corrections could have been required? Did the Giffords read Moby Dick and think all whales were white? Did they draw Captain Ahab’s leg in there somewhere?

This Plastichrome postcard, probably produced in the late 1970s or early ’80s, describes itself as “Classic Whaling Series #1″. I can’t help but wonder if there was ever a second card in the series. What’s neat about this postcard is that it came to me just the other day from a Postcrosser, who found it in an old bookstore.

Another tidbit from the card says that it was produced from the lithograph owned by The Book and Tackle Shop, and was in fact distributed by them as well. The Book and Tackle Shop was established in 1953, and still conducts business from Watch Hill, Rhode Island.

I had sent Jenna, my favorite Finnish Postcrosser, a postcard showing the observation tower atop Brasstown Bald, the highest point in Georgia, and received this in return, in yesterday’s mail.  After seeing the mountaintop tower (which needs no pillar to stand on in order to be above everything else), Jenna observed, “Your observation tower is a little bit different (from ours).”  Actually, even at first glance, I would say that it bears a striking resemblance to another American tower.  Here’s what Wikipedia has to say:

Näsinneula is an observation tower in Tampere, Finland, overseeing Lake Näsijärvi. It was built in 1970–1971 and was designed by Pekka Ilveskoski. It is the tallest free-standing structure in Finland and the tallest observation tower in the Nordic countries at a height of 168 metres. The tower opened in 1971 and is located in the Särkänniemi leisure centre. There is a revolving restaurant in the tower 124 metres above the ground. One revolution takes 45 minutes. The design of Näsinneula was inspired by the Space Needle in Seattle (emphasis added). The idea of a rotating restaurant was taken from the Puijo tower in Kuopio.

So Näsinneula was ours first.  Sorry, Jenna!

Also in yesterday’s mail was an actual greeting card, apparently sent in lieu of a postcard, from 12-year-old Arttu in Hämeenlinna:

I love these rare occasions when folks not only send me a postcard, but also write my blog entry for me.  But this card also marks a couple of firsts: not only is it my first card from Norway, but it’s also the first time anyone has sent me a postcard containing a message of nearly 300 words.  Anne was very descriptive with regards to her town and to the views on this postcard.  I’m guessing she was inspired by the stamp, which contains the first 30-40 words of Ja, vi elsker dette landet (“Yes, we love this country”), which is Norway’s national anthem.

Even wearing my glasses, I found it much easier to scan this card into the computer, rather than try to read it at arm’s length.  Anne writes, in part: “Here is a card for you from central Norway. The municipality of Verdal is about 95 kilometers northeast of Trondheim. We have a lot of rivers, lakes, woods and mountain areas. The name Verdal is very old. It means the valley with the tranquil river.

“Verdal has 14,000 citizens. About half of them live in the small city centre of Verdalsøra. But Verdal is much bigger, 1,543 km², stretching from the Trondheimsfjord to the border of Sweden. Verdal is most known for the historic site of Stiklestad. The battle at Stiklestad (on) July 29th, 1030 is one of the most important events in Norwegian history.

“The pictures are: Top left: Molana at Stiklestad Museum is built in the traditional building style of my area of Norway. Top middle: Verdal’s railway station. Top right: Part of old Verdal centre. Bottom: Part of Verdal, picture taken to the southeast. The dominant mountain in the background is Hermanssnasa, Verdal’s second tallest mountain (1,035 meters).

“Verdal is divided in two by the main river. Verdal has trade, agriculture, small and medium size businesses, off-shore industry and we export limestone. Both the E6 highway and the railroad connecting northern and southern Norway pass through Verdal. In addition, we have the road across the border to Sweden.

“…Now it is summer, and the days are long. We have 20½ hour(s) of sunshine at this time, and no real night at all.”  That’s it! She’s not sleeping and had time to write all this!  Seriously, though, I appreciate Anne’s time and effort even more than I appreciate the postcard itself.

“Bright sunshine, blue sky, rolling surf, and beautiful sand make Sea Isle City Beaches popular for families.”  That was the case for the family of my childhood friend, Mike Smith, who had moved from New Jersey to Wallingford, Connecticut, oh, must have been around 1979.  We kept in touch for a few years (and I can still recite what was then his address, including the ZIP code) but, being young, eventually concentrated our attentions solely on the friends in our immediate spheres.

Unfortunately, Mike’s family has apparently moved from the address they had back in 1982 and, of course, googling “Mike Smith” is an exercise in futility.  Mike, if you’re out there, stop by and say hi.

For Postcard Friendship Friday, a postcard from some new friends. This beautiful postcard arrived today from Elina, the photographer at Yaroslavl for Me.  She and Evgeny, two university students, felt that most of the information online about Russian life and culture was from an urban point of view, and decided to blog about life in the provinces.  Given that Yaroslavl is less than 200 miles from Moscow, I’m not sure how provincial it is; nevertheless, their observations, as well as the photos and the songs from local bands, are always interesting.

Elina tells me that this photo (which I presume that she took herself) is the view of Yaroslavl as seen from the bridge over the Kotorosl River.

The stamps, with a nice, clear postmark from Yaroslavl, feature the Tsarskoye Selo (Tsar’s Village), a collection of palaces outside Saint Petersburg.

Stop by yarfor.me and say hi; maybe Elina will send you a postcard and you’ll make a new friend, too. Once you’ve done that, don’t forget to check out the other blogs celebrating Postcard Friendship Friday.

“The Kunhar River, swollen by the glacier melt, meanders its way through the entire Kaghan Valley to join the Jehlum River at Muzaffarabad. The swift and foaming river is the live line of Kaghan Valley. At some places it becomes a raging torrent especially in the the lower part of the valley, while in upper part where the valley broadens, the river becomes calm and serene. Kunhar is stocked with delicious brown and rainbow trout fish which is considered to be the best throughout the sub-continent.”

I was having a hard time getting a sense of scale from the photograph, until I realized that the small dots in the lower right seem to be large grazing animals standing next to vehicle tracks worn into the terrain.

This terrific oversized (about 5 in. x 6-3/4 in.) card comes from Cheema; check out his collections of both postcards and covers.  The stamps are pretty cool, too. I am always fascinated by triangular stamps; to my knowledge, the US Postal Service has only issued three three-sided stamps in its history.  Looks like postage from Pakistan to me was 32 Pakistan Rupees, equivalent to about US$0.40.  Postcard postage from the U.S. to Cheema increased recently to 98 cents, equivalent to about 79 PKR.  He’s getting a deal!

This early postcard, probably around 1910-1915, features the Aare River gorge (Aareschlucht) near Meiringen, Switzerland.  Satellite imagery from the area is quite stunning, and the view from the ground today is equally as beautiful as it was a hundred years ago.

The first path to and through the gorge was built in 1888 and, naturally, admission was charged.  Interestingly, it was not Meiringen that received the original concession from the government; instead, it was the village of Villigen, which was over 120 kilometers away.  By 1912, electric lighting had been added, allowing the gorge to remain open to the public after dark, and the first restaurant was built and opened in 1928.  A flood in 1942 destroyed most of the paths, but these were rebuilt and additional roads to the gorge were added by 1947, resulting in a large increase in visitors.

From 1912-1957, a tram ran between the gorge and the towns of Meiringen and Reichenbach, home to Reichenbach Falls, also on the Aare River and the place where Sherlock Holmes met his death in A. Conan Doyle’s “The Adventure of the Final Problem”.

The fish seem wide-eyed and surprised at this young lady’s sudden appearance. “An underwater scene in the crystal depths of world-famous Silver Springs. Here the water is so clear that one can see easily to the bottom bowl and underwater pictures can be made successfully. More than 43 varieties of fish, turtles and shell fish may be seen through glass-bottom boats in this underwater fairyland of nature.”

This is a Colourpicture Publication, distributed by the Asheville Post Card Company. It was apparently manufactured shortly after the very first postcard postage rate increase (with the words “one cent” unceremoniously removed from the stampbox); that was on 1 January 1952.

Update: Thanks to Postcardy for reminding me that this month’s Postcard Scavenger Hunt is fish!  Check out other fish postcards posted by her and by others — sometimes touristy, sometimes funny, always interesting.

“Much of New Zealand enjoys a temperate Mediterranean style climate, with the northern region tending toward semi-tropical. Vacationers flock to our beautiful beaches during the Summer months.”  Of course, Gloria points out to me that “Winter is on its way and it’s getting colder.  Fortunately,” she says, “we don’t get snow.”

Also of note is that this card arrived on Anzac Day, which honors members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who fought at Gallipoli in Turkey during World War I.

This postcard, in the shape of Gran Canaria and mailed from Gran Canaria, made it all the way to me intact and, for the most part, undamaged.  There’s just a small crease threatening to cut off the peninsula in the northeast from the rest of the island, but it’s just been slightly bent, not folded.

Gran Canaria is one of the Canary Islands, an archipelago off the coast of Morocco and owned by Spain.  Yoli writes, “The weather is always warm and I love that because I hate cold! So if you haven’t been here yet, what are you waiting for?”

This week’s foray into Postcard Friendship Friday brings us to this gift from my postcard friend Eddy, who runs the excellent blog D’hier à aujourd’hui (From Yesterday to Today), which compares postcard images of the France of yesteryear with modern views of the same sites. This card, along with another turn-of-the-century French card, arrived a few days ago, but you get to see only this one today; I will save the other for Bastille Day.

This postcard, postmarked 24 August 1905, shows the top of the Fontaine Carpeaux in Paris’s 6th District.  The four maidens, created by sculptor Jean Baptiste Carpeaux, represent the “four parts of the world”: an African; an American Indian; an Asian; and a Caucasian.  They are posed as if they are turning the celestial sphere, complete with the signs of the zodiac, around the Earth.  Interestingly, the sphere was not created by Carpeaux, but by another sculptor, Pierre Legrain.  The fountain’s pool, not pictured, contains sculptures of horses emerging from the water, which were created by yet another sculptor, Emmanuel Frémiet.  But it is only Carpeaux’s name on the fountain.

The back of this card is even more fascinating:

The card is addressed to Monsieur et Madame Poulain (ancestors of Amelie, perhaps?) at 6 Rue de la Présentation in Paris, which is looking a little worse for wear today.  The message is in an antique hand, and seems to be misspelled and ungrammatical here and there in a language that I don’t speak well, but I believe that it reads something like the following (please feel free to correct me):

All my regrets at not being here yesterday to thank you for your strong support. I charge this card with the deed and will meet both of you for dinner tomorrow night Friday without fail.  I embrace you (both). Yvette.

I guess the modern equivalent is receiving an email that closes with the word “hugs.”  There’s also a postscript in the upper left: “Alice wants(?) me to hug you for her.”  Let us hope that Yvette kept her appointment, gave hugs all around, and didn’t have to send another apology.

I guess we’ll have to take the postcard writer’s word that this is in fact the view off Cape May.  For all we know, one could drive up the road an hour or so and buy an identical card that says “Sea Gulls Dip over Breaking Waves, at Barnegat Bay, N.J.”  Oh, wait — they couldn’t be dipping over Barnegat Bay.  Because then they’d be bay gulls.

Bad puns aside, this beautifully-colored card was produced by Tichnor Bros. Inc., Boston, Mass, probably in the late 1930s.  It’s a gift from Donna, who was happy to let me appreciate it and prevent the postcards from completely taking over her living space.

This is truly a beautiful card.  It depicts the Russarö Lighthouse near Hanko, Finland and was created by Kimmo Pälikkö. A working artist since childhood, he started creating postcards (in addition to his other works) in 1972.  You can buy postcards directly from his website; many sell for as little as €1 each, though it looks like there are some handpainted or limited edition cards that run into hundreds of euros.  I’m thinking of framing this card and hanging it in the bedroom, which already has a nautical theme.

Sini mailed me this card on 9 January 2009, writing: “In Finland we have a lot of snow right now and it’s very cold… I don’t like winter.”  No disrespect intended, Sini, but maybe Finland isn’t the place for you!

“This view presents (the) original Pass of the North (Paso del Norte). It shows the Rio Grande, Highway U.S. 80, the Canal and Santa Fe R.R. emerging from this famous pass. Across the river are seen mountains in Old Mexico and Mt. Cristo Rey with its “Christ the King” Statue overlooking the valley.”

It used to be possible to take Highway 80 from coast to coast but, with the advent of Interstate Highways, the entire portion of US 80 west of Dallas, Texas has been decommissioned.  It’s still possible to take Highway 80 from Dallas and head east, staying with it all the way to the Atlantic Ocean; you’ll end up at Tybee Island, Georgia.

It’s unusual to see the description on the front of the card instead of the back, but there it is.  This is a Curteich “C. T. Art-Colortone” postcard, number 5B-H345, manufactured in 1945, and in pristine condition thanks to Kay Anthony.

“Caused when charged particles from (the) Sun collide with atoms and molecules in the Earth’s atmosphere at the altitude of 90-250 km. Due to the collision oxygen and nitrogen are emitting auroral light.”

Annika was kind enough to send me this card from her home in Rauma, Finland, which is in the Region of Lapland.  I’m sure it’s fun to step out of one’s house at night and be able to look up and see this on a regular basis.

How about that stamp?  It is die-cut (cut to a pattern, not cut on a square) so that the flag extends beyond what would normally be the stamp’s edge.  Very cool.

“This view taken below Niagara Falls shows the American Falls on the left and Bridal Veil on the right. Under the falls lies the Cave of the Winds, formed by thirty feet of projecting limestone. This so-called cave is 100 feet in height and 60 feet in depth.”

According to the back of the postcard, this is a Colourpicture Publication, Boston 15, Mass.  Since the words “one cent” have been unceremoniously removed from the text “Place one cent stamp here” in the stamp box, we can surmise that the card was published no earlier than 1952.