Berry, France

This card is from a fellow "Postcard Friendship Friday" friend Sheila, of A Postcard A Day.  She lives in England, but has a cottage in Berry. 

She's my postcard blogging hero, as she never misses a day, seems to have an unending supply of interesting and unusual postcards, features some cool widgets (the map of the world showing where the postcards from her most recent 100 posts are from is one particularly good one), and, as of today, has 869 followers.  Wow! 

At Thanksgiving, Sheila made a comment on my post about how she "yearned to taste pumpkin pie.  As we had exchanged a few postcards and I had her address, just for fun, I mailed her a box with all the ingredients needed to make a pumpkin pie, except the crust:  a can of pumpkin (recipe on the back), evaporated milk, and a little bag of pre-measured spices.  I assumed she would either know how to make or be able to buy a pie crust.  Haven't heard yet if she's received the box and/or made the pie, but I do know she's been traveling.  Can't wait to hear what she thinks! 

P.S.  Berry is a region in the dead center of France. The writer Balzac, author of "The Human Comedy" was from here. Berry was originally a province, until French provinces were reorganized into "departements" in 1790.

College Series - California Institute of Technology

My first job out of college was as a technical typist at Caltech, formally known as California Institute of Technology, in Pasadena, California.  I was working there and living at my parent's house to save money to go traveling in Latin America. The campus is beautiful - a mix of modern and less modern, often Spanish style, buildings, and a wide variety of vegetation. In the courtyards of more than one of the Spanish buildings are orange trees, and when they bloom in the early spring, the sweet fragrance wafts over the entire campus. Baxter Hall, which is the building in the postcard above, is the building where I worked.

Caltech is the west coast MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), with super smart, math and science oriented students, who are proud of their nerd orientation.  One of the great traditions of the school is senior ditch day, described by the Wiki as follows:

On Ditch Day, the seniors ditch school, leaving behind elaborately designed tasks and traps at the doors of their rooms to prevent underclassmen from entering. Over the years this has evolved to the point where many seniors spend months designing mechanical, electrical, and software obstacles to confound the underclassmen. Each group of seniors designs a "stack" to be solved by a handful of underclassmen. The faculty have been drawn into the event as well, and cancel all classes on Ditch Day.

Caltech is famous not only for their brilliant scientists, multiple Nobel prize winning professors,  and Einstein's time on campus, but also for their pranks.  Many of the pranks are directed toward MIT, but their two most famous pranks involved the Rose Bowl, which is also located in Pasadena.  Per the Wiki:

The two most famous in recent history are the changing of the Hollywood Sign to read "Caltech", by judiciously covering up certain parts of the letters, and the changing of the Rose Bowl scoreboard to an imaginary game where Caltech beat MIT 99-0. But the most famous of all occurred during the 1961 Rose Bowl Game, where Caltech students altered the flip-cards that were raised by the stadium attendees to display "Caltech", and several other "unintended" messages. This event is now referred to as the Great Rose Bowl Hoax.

My job was working for several professors in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences.  All this was pre word processing and computers, and as most of the professors were engaged in some form of econometric modeling (the economists) or voter choice behavior (the political scientists), all the papers I typed involved complicated equations, complete with a variety of numbers and symbols.   I was really good at this, both because I have always been a speedy typist and also because I took a fair amount of calculus in college and actually knew the symbols involved.

As first jobs out of college go, it was a great one.  The departmental politics were astounding.  The dalliances that went on were surprising.  I was lucky enough to get invited most Fridays to the faculty/grad student lounge, and sit at tables with brilliant scientists and grad students, drinking beer, listening to fascinating discussions, observing heated debates, and watching the huge variety of shenanigans that went on.  It was a blast.

Perhaps the most surprising time was when what I had thought was yet another Caltech "urban legend" turned out to be real.  I had heard rumors of a radio scientist who dressed like Robin Hood, a brilliant man who was perhaps a bit off, at least relative to your average man on the street.  I didn't believe this until one day, leaving work, a man walked right by me, complete with tunic, tights, pointed shoes and a felt Robin Hood hat.   Just one of many "only at Caltech" types of moments.

P.S.  It's Postcard Friendship Friday.  Check it out.

Friday the 13th

It's Friday the 13th.  Do you know what your superstitions are?  I am not particularly superstitious but a Friday the 13th does make me stop, for just a second, and think about the day.  The black cat thing doesn't bother me, as we had a black cat for 14 years and if I had worried about her crossing my path, I would have been unable to move around in my own home.

What about manatees?  Do you think it's bad luck if a manatee crosses your path? I can't imagine how. Manatees are gentle, slow moving herbivores, who are thought to be at least as intelligent as dolphins and whales.

Perhaps we should start a superstition that it is good luck if a manatee crosses your path.  This superstition might help minimize the damage inflicted on them daily by speed boats in their habitat.  From the Wiki:

Their slow-moving, curious nature, coupled with dense coastal development, has led to many violent collisions with propellers from fast moving recreational motor boats, leading frequently to maiming, disfigurement, and even death. As a result, a large proportion of manatees exhibit propeller scars on their backs. ....Often the cuts lead to infections, which can prove fatal. Internal injuries stemming from hull impacts have also been fatal.

Manatees hear on a higher frequency than what would be expected for such large marine mammals. Many large boats emit very low frequencies which confuse the manatee and explain their lack of awareness around boats.

In 2003, a population model was released by the U.S. Geological Survey that predicted an extremely grave situation confronting the manatee in both the Southwest and Atlantic regions where the vast majority of manatees are found. It states,

“In the absence of any new management action, that is, if boat mortality rates continue to increase at the rates observed since 1992, the situation in the Atlantic and Southwest regions is dire, with no chance of meeting recovery criteria within 100 years."

A 2007 University of Florida study found that more than half of boat drivers in Volusia County, Florida, sped through marked conservation zones despite their professed support for the endangered animals. ...84 percent of the 236 people who responded claimed to obey speed limits in manatee zones during their most recent boating experience, but observers found that only 45 percent actually complied.

If you've ever seen a film about these animals, or seen them alive, either in captivity or in the wild, you'd know how incredible they are and how terribly sad it is that the selfishness of humans is hastening their demise.

A shout out the Mystery Sender who sent this card, perhaps by chance or perhaps in response to my post on August 3 about beluga whales in which I mentioned that I thought the beluga whale and the manatee looked like distant cousins.  I imagine it wasn't by chance.


P.S.  It's Postcard Friendship Friday the 13th.  Check it out.





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The Jackalope

I've just returned from a fast and furious road trip from San Francisco, CA to Missoula, Montana and back.  2200 miles in six days.  As my friend Evelyn (who traveled with me) and her Moroccan husband, Hassan, would say, "wow wow wow".

There were several highlights including touring the Botero exhibit at the Reno, Nevada art museum (alas, they had no postcards of Botero's work); winning $70 on the slots in Jackpot, Nevada (if you click on the link, you'll see a picture of the casino); attending two parties in Missoula, Montana - one for my friend's 60th birthday under a full moon, complete with an incredible performance by Dan Hicks playing with the Mission Mountain Wood Band; driving along the Salmon River (the river of no return) through the Sawtooth National Recreation Area (spectacular);  visiting Crater Lake National Park (Crater Lake has the bluest water you've ever seen); staying with friends from high school, one in Genesee, Idaho and two in Bend, Oregon (always a treat); and last, but not least, finding a Jackalope postcard in Twin Falls, Idaho.

From the back of the postcard:  "The Fabulous Jackalope of North American.  Jackalopes are the rarest animals in North America.  A cross between a now extinct small deer and a species of rabbit, they are extremely shy and wild.  They possess the ability to mimic and their cries often sound human and tuneful.  Probably from hearing cowboy songs on lonely night watch.  None have ever been captured alive and this is a rare photo taken at their feeding grounds in the high country."  Not the best description of the Jackalope ever, but not bad.

 I particularly like the description from the Wiki: "... it is said to be a hybrid of the pygmy-deer and a species of "killer rabbit". Reportedly, jackalopes are extremely shy unless approached. Legend also has it that female jackalopes can be milked as they sleep belly up and that the milk can be used for a variety of medicinal purposes. It has also been said that the jackalope can convincingly imitate any sound, including the human voice. It uses this ability to elude pursuers, chiefly by using phrases such as "There he goes! That way!" It is said that a jackalope may be caught by putting a flask of whiskey out at night. The jackalope will drink its fill of whiskey and its intoxication will make it easier to hunt."

It's Postcard Friendship Friday, and if any of my fellow postcard people would like a jackalope postcard, let me know.  I have a few extra.

Nevada

What most people think about when they hear "Nevada" is Las Vegas. And while Las Vegas is Nevada's largest city, and fabulous in its own very cheesy, sleazy way, there's a lot more to Nevada than Viva Las Vegas.

A few years back, we took a family road trip from San Francisco to Aspen, Colorado which, because I had more time on my hands than usual before we left, was pretty specifically planned out. [Regular readers know of my fondness for road trips, but may not know that I often like to just see what happens, without planning.]  One of my goals for this particular road trip was to stay in non-chain hotels/motels only (a tad risky, I'll admit, but much more exciting), and to avoid the Interstates as much as possible.  To my children's great dismay, I succeeded. 

The postcard above left is from the Lariat Motel in Fallon, Nevada, where we stayed our first night.  Considering the age of the postcard (it has to date back at least to the 1970s, if not before, and our trip was sometime in 2001) and the condition of the room, it was pretty clear not much had changed in 30 years, including the bedspreads, furniture and carpeting.  But the motel had a killer neon sign and Fallon, Nevada is the beginning of the "loneliest highway in America" section of Highway 50 which we (okay, maybe just me) were excited to explore.  Road Trip USA describes Highway 50 across Nevada as follows:

Between Lake Tahoe in the west and Great Basin National Park on the Utah border, US-50 crosses more than 400 miles of Nevada’s corrugated country, climbing up and over a dozen distinct mountain ranges while passing through four classic mining towns and the state capital, Carson City. Early explorers mapped this region, Pony Express riders raced across it, and the long-distance Lincoln Highway finally tamed it, but the US-50 byway has always played second fiddle to the I-80 freeway, the more popular northern route across the state. Besides being a more scenic alternative to the mind-numbing, and therefore accident-prone, I-80, US-50 across Nevada has gained a measure of notoriety in its own right—it’s known as the “Loneliest Road in America.” As you travel along it you’ll see road signs, T-shirts, and bumper stickers proclaiming it as such.

Along this route, just outside of Middlegate, NV is one of the finest examples of shoe trees in the country.  Turns out there are currently at least 76 shoe trees on highways across America and it's worth keeping an old pair of tennies in your car, just in case you happen upon one.  On Highway 50, driving across the middle of nowhere at 75 miles per hour with very few trees in sight, the Shoe Tree first appears as an optical illusion.  As there aren't a lot of cars on this stretch of road, it's easy to decide to hang a U-turn and go back and check it out.  Don't miss it!

250 miles later, give or take a few, along the route of the Pony Express, you arrive in Ely, Nevada, whose main street is featured in the postcard, above right.   Ely is the gateway to Great Basin National Park, a national park I had never heard of before I started looking into a route for our trip.  In Great Basin National Park are the Lehman Caves, containing the most incredible collection of stalactites and stalagmites I'd ever seen.  The postcards below pretty much say it all.

Today is Postcard Friendship Friday.  You know what to do.

Imperial War Rooms

Two postcards from the Imperial War Museum which consists of five locations, three in London.  The most recent of the five is the Churchill War Rooms, opened in London in 1984.

Both of the postcards are reprints of  "public service announcement" posters of the day.  I can understand about eating carrots for your eyes, but it's not clear to me what "Save Bread and you save lives" and "Serve Potatoes and you serve the country" mean. 

Any thoughts?










P.S.  It's Postcard Friendship Friday.  You know what to do.

New York City Skyscrapers, III

While these postcards from the 1915 "New York City Skyscrapers Souvenir Folder" don't focus on any particular skyscraper, they do feature well-known intersections surrounded by skyscrapers.  In the upper left corner, Wall Street, looking pretty much the same today, with the exception of the cars and the clothes.  In the upper right corner, Herald Square,  known primarily by most non-New Yorkers from the line in the song Give My Regards to Broadway where the singer asks "remember me to Herald Square".  The flagship Macy's Store is also located here.  Next up, lower left, the intersection of 5th Avenue & 42nd Street, dead center of one of the most expensive shopping areas in the world and the location of the New York Public Library.  Finally, in the lower right, Times Square, nicknamed the "intersection of the world".  and well-known for the New Year's Eve midnight countdown and ball drop, the theater district, and its seedy past. Around the time of this picture, it became the eastern end of the Lincoln Highway, conceived  in 1913 as the first automobile road across the United States, starting from 5th & Broadway (part of Times Square) and ending in Lincoln Park, San Francisco, 3,389 miles away.  The route has been streamlined over the years, and is now 3,142 miles long.   [Road Trip Bucket List!]

P.S.  It's Flag Day and Postcard Friendship Friday.  Check out the posting (as well as the other postcard people's postings) for an interesting history of Flag Day.   

St. Patrick's Day

It's Postcard Friendship Friday, and the posting of postcards for St. Patrick's Day has begun, with the theme suggested by the event's new hostess.

Both of these cards were sent in 1911, and are part of my friend Debra's holiday postcard collection she got from her grandmother.

I had to look up the origins of St. Patrick's Day, and it turns out the Irish have been commemorating the day for over 1000 years.

This from History.com:  "St. Patrick's Day is celebrated on March 17, his religious feast day and the anniversary of his death in the fifth century. The Irish have observed this day as a religious holiday for over a thousand years. On St. Patrick's Day, which falls during the Christian season of Lent, Irish families would traditionally attend church in the morning and celebrate in the afternoon. Lenten prohibitions against the consumption of meat were waived and people would dance, drink and feast—on the traditional meal of Irish bacon and cabbage."

And so it could be said that St. Patrick's Day started as a way to get out of the restrictions of Lent, at least for a day! 

Also had to look up the significance of the harp, seen in both postcards.

From Wikipedia: "Until the end of the Middle Ages the Gaelic harp (the historical clarsach or Irish harp) was the highest status musical instrument of both Scotland and Ireland, and harpers were amongst the most prestigious cultural figures amongst Irish and Scottish kings and chiefs. In both countries, the harper enjoyed special rights and played a crucial part in ceremonial occasions such as coronation and poetic recital.  The main function of the Gaelic harp in medieval Scotland and Ireland seems to have been playing to accompany the recitation of bardic poetry in Gaelic or Irish.

And from Symbols of Ireland:   "The harp has long been a symbol of Ireland. Perhaps the legends of it's magical powers comes from the time when the bards would sing and tell stories of famous events to the Irish kings and chiefs.  During the early 1500s, under the rule of Henry VIII, the harp was first depicted on Irish coins. That tradition is carried on today and the harp is also used for other official duties such as the Irish state seal, official documents and uniforms."

Finally, it's too bad metalic silver doesn't show well on-line, as both cards are actually metallic silver where they look grey.

Erin go bragh!

Valentine's Day, III

This postcard is from 1910 or so, but in many ways it has a very modern feeling, almost like the graphics from the 1950s or 1960s. I had to enlarge it to figure out what was going on - it's Cupid as a blacksmith forging hearts, and the items that look like X's on the window sill must be tongs.

If you get the chance, enlarge it and take a look. It is incredibly 3-D, and Cupid's little cherubic body is beautifully sculpted/embossed.

Not only is it the Friday of a long weekend for many, today is Postcard Friendship Friday. Check out some of the other postcard blogs that are found there if you can!

Iceland

Another bucket list alert, this time for Iceland. I am intrigued by Iceland on a variety of levels.

One is its geographic isolation. Yes, there are more isolated places, but Iceland sits out in the middle of the North Atlantic, and only the North Atlantic Current keeps it from being friggin' freezing (to quote Dr. Evil).

Another is its geologic make-up. It is a land of volcanoes, geysers (although there are more geysers in Yellowstone than in all of Iceland), the largest water fall in Europe, and a more temperate climate than its latitude would suggest.

Finally, I'd just like to be in a place with names like "Reykyavik" and "Haukadular". I want to hear how these words, and others, sound spoken by the people who live there.

Before its financial meltdown in 2008, Iceland was ranked the most developed country in the world according to the UN's Human Development Index. It might not be #1 today.

The stamps on this postcard. were also interesting.

Wondering what "Brokk" meant, I looked it up, thinking it was a type of horse. It turns out there is only one breed of horse in Iceland, not surprisingly the Icelandic Horse, brought to Iceland by the Viking settlers in the 9th century. The horse is uniquely five-gaited and "brokk" is the name of its trot. It has never been bred with any other type of horse, and is the only horse that can live on grass alone. (At least that what the first site says - what about Wild Mustangs????)

Today is Postcard Friendship Friday, so if you have a chance, check out some of the other postcard sites.

Americana, Brazil

This postcard, which arrived through Postcrossing, shows the "Igreja de Santo Antonio", located in the city of Americana in the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil.

What's most interesting about this card is not the church itself, but rather the discovery of the city of Americana in Brazil. Turns out after the Civil War, a group of people from the Confederate states immigrated here, because they wanted to live where slavery was still legal. Wikipedia puts it more gracefully: "In Brazil, however, slavery was still legal, making it a particularly attractive location for former Confederates." About 10% of the population of the city are descendants of this original group, known as Confederados, and there is a Fraternidade Decendencia Americana which still meets quarterly, in a cemetary no less.

The group brought with them a watermelon called "Georgia Rattlesnake". Burpee Seed Company considers it an heirloom watermelon. I wonder if it's still grown today?

BTW, it's Postcard Friendship Friday, so check out the other postings from the participants.

The Union Jack

Today is Postcard Friendship Friday, and the theme is (loosely) the Union Jack. The hostess of PFF found some very cool Union Jack Converse High Tops on line, and is looking forward to wearing them.

In any case, my contribution to the theme is this postcard ad for the BMW MINI, first launched in April 2001. It was the successor of the original Mini (note deliberate difference in capitalization), produced by British Motor Corporation from 1965 through 2000. The original Mini was similar in cult status to the VW Beetle, although the VW Beetle predates the BMC Mini by almost 40 years.

Notice there is a head sticking out the driver's side (British driver side) window of the car. On the back, the card says "Helen Bell. Flag Maker." The only Helen Bell I can find is a folk singer in England. Conceivably, everybody (but me) knows Helen Bell, and this is a bit of a joke. The timing of the release of her first album, and her finalist status on the BBC Radio Young Folk Award in 2000 would coincide nicely with the release of the car.

Anybody know?

Saturn

This is the view of Saturn taken from 11,000,000 miles away by Voyager 1, in October 1980. It was the first high resolution image of the planet ever captured.

Saturn is the second largest planet, and is named for the Roman God, Saturn. It's ring system measures 170,000 miles across by about 1 mile thick. Pretty incredible, really.

I had a friend who worked at Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) at the time, from where they managed the flight of Voyager 1. She gave us all actual framed pictures of this same shot for Christmas that year. I still have mine, although it is very faded.

It's Postcard Friendship Friday - check out the plethora of other postcard sites, for a quick trip out of this world!

Thanksgiving 1908

The beginning of a series of Thanksgiving postcards from 1908-1911, from my friend Debra's collection.

What looks like grey lines on the corn and the turkey, is actually glitter and both cards are embossed. It is hard to see that in a scan. I particularly like the feather on the right.

Today is Postcard Friendship Friday, so check out other postcards blogs if you get a chance.