Happy Halloween

 Halloween

Oh my! Do you s'pose that's really him?

Raphael Tuck and Sons "The Halloween" series of Post Cards No. 181

postmarked in 1911 with a one cent stamp

A Boy Carving a Pumpkin for Halloween with a Girl Watching

"Hallowe'en"

This is what I am doing today, getting ready for tomorrow!

This is vintage postcard, but I can't read the date it was mailed.  The stamp is from 1902.

Kozaks (Cossacks) from Ukraine

Kozaks

This postcard features a cossack riding a horse while holding a sword.

postmarked in 2013 with three stamps from the Ukraine

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Cossacks are a group of predominantly East Slavic people who became known as members of democratic, semi-military and semi-naval communities, predominantly located in Ukraine and in Southern Russia. They inhabited sparsely populated areas and islands and played an important role in the historical and cultural development of both Russia and Ukraine.

Buckhorn Curio Store in San Antonio, Texas

San Antonio, Texas, Where the Sunshine Spends the Winter

East Room of the Famous Buckhorn Curio Store.  Originally Buckhorn Bar - Established 1881

Partial interior view of the Famous Buckhorn curio Store, classed by tourists to more of a Museum than a store, for the countless numbers of horned animal heads displayed on the walls and ceiling of this unique establishment form a Natural History exhibit without equal.

Some of the outstanding specimens are: A Texas deer head with antlers containing 78 points, also a full body mounted of a Texas Long-horn Steer the horns of which are over 8 feet tip to tip. An African Gorilla full body mounted stands 5 feet 4 inches tall and the world's largest steer head is also displayed with horns measuring 7 feet 9 inches tip to tip, 11 feet along curve of horns and 21 inches around  base of horns.  The frames on the wall pictured on this card contain designs formed of the rattles of thousands of Diamond-Back Rattle Snakes.

A mounted Texas Armadillo is pictured along with Mexican hand-made pottery, drawn-work and Serape, representing some of the typical curios and souvenirs of the South-West and Mexico.

postmarked in 1941 with a USA 1 cent stamp

The sender writes that they sure do have a lot of interesting things in their collection.

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This is now the Buckhorn Saloon & Museum and is located at 300 E. Houston Street in Downtown San Antonio Texas.

Table Rock State Park in South Carolina

Table Rock State Park

Cabin #5, The swimming hole at Pinnacle Lake, Carrick Creek Falls, View from top of Table Rock

Mountain Elevation 3124'

unused, from 2011

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Table Rock State Park is a 3,083-acre (12.48 km2) park at the edge of the Blue Ridge Mountains in northern Pickens County, South Carolina. The park includes Pinnacle Mountain, the tallest mountain totally within the state.

Trails at the Park:
The 1.9-mile (3.1 km) Carrick Creek Nature Trail loops around two creeks with small cascades and waterfalls and displays wildflowers in season.

The 3.5-mile (5.6 km) Table Rock Summit Trail is moderately strenuous rising, 2,000 feet (610 m) above the trailhead and includes a shelter built by the CCC. At approximately 2.5 miles (4.0 km), the trail forks, the left fork following a ridge trail to Pinnacle Mountain and the right fork to the summit at 3,124 feet (952 m). The trail ends at an overlook with a view of Table Rock Reservoir and Caesars Head.

The park is the eastern trailhead of the 80-mile (130 km) Foothills Trail through the Blue Ridge Escarpment.

Botswana - Bogwera Initiation, Spoon Carving

Bogwera / Initiaion - Kgatla-a-Kgefela. 1982

Swa mophatong, bogwera ba betla roaso.

While in camp, many initiates make wooden articles such as spoons and stools.

Printed and Published in Botswana

postmarked in 2013 with a Botswana bird stamp 

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Bogwera is the ritual of young men going for one month alone into the wild to be initiated into adulthood.  

Botswana stamp 1997

Kurrichane Thrush, P 7.30 t

The 1983 War in Grenada

On October 25, 1983 Grenada was invaded by U.S. and Caribbean forces in response to urgent requests from six Caribbean countries to restore order and stop the spread of Marxist revolution in the region.  Since reporters were excluded from the landing operations, pictures such as this came to the U.S. from November 1 to November 5, 1983.  Two airfields and the campus of an American-run medical school were the first major targets.  American units took "minimal" casualties when about 600 Cubans working at the Point Salines airport put up unexpectedly strong resistance.  This picture shows a small part of the large cache of weapons seized by U.S. Troops.  Aso seized, were 12 Soviet-built BTR-60 armored personnel carriers, two were shipped to Andrews Air Force Base for display.  Also on display were twelve 2U-23 antiaircraft guns, 291 sub machine guns, 6,330 rifles and 5.6 million rounds of ammunition, (enough to equip two Cuban battalions for 43 days of combat.)  After a three day trip to Grenada, the congressional study grpup (typo on card - should have been group) concluded the move had been justified - even Tip O'Neil reversed himself!  Returning Army Rangers declared "It's great to feel wanted!"  as America showed a new pride in the military.  November 5, 1983

Colorphoto: Randy Taylor
Mike Roberts Color Productions

This postcard is unused. 

Deanna Troi from Star Trek, The Next Generation

Star Trek
The Next Generation
(Deanna Troi)

unused, from 1991

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Commander Deanna Troi is a main character in the science-fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and related TV series and films, portrayed by actress Marina Sirtis. Troi is half-human, half-Betazoid and has the psionic ability to sense emotions. She serves as the ship's counselor on USS Enterprise-D. Throughout most of the series, she holds the rank of lieutenant commander. In the seventh season, however, Troi takes the bridge officer's examination and is promoted to the rank of commander, but continues as counselor. As of Star Trek: Nemesis she is credited as "Deanna Troi-Riker" because of her marriage to William Riker.

Casting:
Marina Sirtis at first read for the role that would become Tasha Yar in 1986. She had, in total, five readings all with Gene Roddenberry and other executives.  Denise Crosby, who eventually won the role of Tasha, auditioned for the role of Deanna Troi. It was said that Marina Sirtis had a more "exotic" feel about her.
She was just about to return home, in debt and jobless, when she received "the phone call" alerting her that she had the role of Deanna Troi. She stated that if it had been an hour later she would have missed that call and been on her way to England. Sirtis' U.S. visa was expiring that day, and if she had stayed any longer, she could have run into legal trouble.
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One more, just for fun...

Nancy and Ronald Reagan, Caskets of Marines Killed in the Beirut Bombing

Nancy and President Reagan sorrowfully view the decorated caskets of Marines killed in Beirut, Lebanon Christmastime massacre at the foreign airport barracks.  While the Marines maintained a "Visible peacekeeping presence," they seamed more like "sitting ducks" to a Congress and other critics of the leadership of a few officers - including Army and Navy men. Although President Reagan insisted the Marines "have staying power", this horrifying slaying of 240 young  men started his administration casting about for a Lebanon solution that would work and not become a trap for the United States.  April 23, 1983 (maybe should read October 23, 1983? - also, why is the writer of this postcard calling this the Christmastime Massacre? - It was October, and there are no documents that I can find calling it that.)

Colorphoto: Michael Evans
White House

This postcard is unused.

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The Beirut Barracks Bombing (October 23, 1983 in Beirut, Lebanon) occurred during the Lebanese Civil War, when two truck bombs struck separate buildings housing United States and French military forces—members of the Multinational Force in Lebanon—killing 299 American and French servicemen. The organization Islamic Jihad, later known as Hezbollah, claimed responsibility for the bombing.

The blasts led to the withdrawal of the international peacekeeping force from Lebanon, where they had been stationed since the withdrawal of the Palestine Liberation Organization following the Israeli 1982 invasion of Lebanon.

Badlands National Park of South Dakota

 Did You Know?

Badlands of South Dakota
Badlands National Park is located in the White River Badlands and was called mako sica (mako, land and sica, bad) by the Sioux Indians.  The term badlands generally refers to an area that is difficult to travel through primarily because of the rugged terrain and lack of water.  The fascination landscape within the park erodes at a rate of about 1 inch per year, providing an ever-changing landscape.

The back of this postcard has a special postmark from Badlands National Park, Interior.

postmarked in 2013 with a USA flower seed packet stamp

USA stamp 2013

Calendula Flower 

Vintage Seed Packets

forever a first class stamp

Libreville Market in Gabon, Africa

Images du Gabon (Images of Gabon)
Marche a Libreville (Market in Libreville)

unused, but has writing on the back

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Libreville is the capital and largest city of Gabon, in west central Africa. The city is a port on the Komo River, near the Gulf of Guinea. As of 2005 it had a population of 578,156.

History:
The area was inhabited by the Mpongwé tribe long before the French acquired the land in 1839. In 1846, L'Elizia, a Brazilian ship carrying slaves for sale, was captured by the French navy near Loango. The slaves were freed and founded Libreville (French for "Freetown") in 1848.

Engagement of William and Catherine with Princes Diana's Ring

To celebrate the engagement of William and Catherine using the ring of his late mother

postmarked in 2012 from Great Britain

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The engagement ring of Diana, Princess of Wales is an engagement ring that was given to the then Lady Diana Spencer in her engagement to Charles, Prince of Wales in February 1981. The engagement ring consists of 14 solitaire diamonds elegantly surrounding a 12-carat oval blue Ceylon sapphire set in 18-karat white gold.

After the divorce of Charles and Diana, the possession of the engagement ring came back to the Prince of Wales. It remained at Kensington Palace. After Diana's death occurred, Charles took the mourning Princes William and Harry to the palace to select mementos from their mother's possessions. Prince Harry selected the engagement ring, whereas Prince William selected Diana's yellow gold Cartier Tank Francaise watch. They eventually exchanged mementos. Prince William decided to give his longtime girlfriend, Catherine Middleton, the engagement ring on October 20th, 2010.

Republic of Chad - A Man with Bowls and a Rooster on His Head

Republique Du Tchad
Le chef de danses

Translation from French:
Republic Of Chad
The head of dances

This postcard features a man with two bowls and a chicken on his head.
It is unused but has writing on the back.

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Chad is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is divided into multiple regions: a desert zone in the north, an arid Sahelian belt in the centre and a more fertile Sudanese savanna zone in the south. Lake Chad, after which the country is named, is the largest wetland in Chad and the second-largest in Africa.

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The music of Chad includes a number of unusual instruments such as the kinde, a type of bow harp; the kakaki, a long tin horn; and the hu hu, a stringed instrument that uses calabashes (gourds) as loudspeakers.

1000 Kisses for your Birthday

1000 Kusse zum Geburtstag
(1000 Birthday Kisses)

unused, bought in Germany in 2011

London, England's Regent Street in 1943

Regent Street, London.

Regent Street
A wide and handsome thoroughfare.   The symmetry of the buildings is a notable feature.  It is essentially a street of shops and is noted for its fashionable drapers, jewellers, etc.
(features double decker busses and vintage cars)

Postmarked from a soldier for free during World War II on September 3, 1943.  There is also a hand stamp saying this postcard has passed examination by a US Army Examiner.

The sender writes:
Dear Uncle: Sorry I haven't written, but you know how it is in the army.  I am getting along fine over here, and I'm taking advantage of all the opportunities to see the sites in London.  Hope you are getting along find.  Write whenever you can.  your nephew, Floyd

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Regent Street is one of the major shopping streets in London's West End, well known to tourists and Londoners alike, and famous for its Christmas illuminations. It is named after the Prince Regent (later George IV), and is commonly associated with the architect John Nash, whose street layout survives, although all his original buildings except All Souls Church have since been replaced.

The street was completed in 1825.

Every building in Regent Street is protected as a Listed Building.

The street is one of the locations on the standard UK version of the Monopoly board game.

Al Pacino

Al Pacino, New York City, 1992.
Photograph by Herb Ritts

postmarked in 2013 with a USA 'Building a Nation' stamp

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Alfredo James "Al" Pacino (April 25, 1940) is an American film and stage actor and director. He is well known for playing mobsters, including Michael Corleone in The Godfather trilogy and Tony Montana in Scarface, and often appeared on the other side of the law—as a police officer, a detective and lawyer. For his performance as Frank Slade in Scent of a Woman he won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1992. He had received seven previous Oscar nominations.

USA stamp 2013

from the series: Building a Nation

A Textile Worker

Forever a first class rate

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Here is one more postcard...

Al Pacino, West 26th Street Studio, New York, 2000

Photograph by Annie Leibovitz

unused, bought in 2011

Phuket Vegetarian Festival in Thailand

Phuket Vegetarian Festival

postmarked in 2012 with a Thailand 'Ao Maya' beach stamp

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The Phuket Vegetarian Festival is a colourful event held over a nine-day period in October, celebrating the Chinese community's belief that abstinence from meat and various stimulants during the ninth lunar month of the Chinese calendar will help them obtain good health and peace of mind.

One of the most exciting aspects of the festival are the various, (and sometimes gruesome) ceremonies which are held to invoke the gods. Firewalking, body piercing and other acts of self mortification undertaken by participants acting as mediums of the gods, have become more spectacular and daring as each year goes by. Men and women puncture their cheeks with various items including knives, skewers and other household items. It is believed that the Chinese gods will protect such persons from harm, and little blood or scarring results from such mutilation acts. This is definitely not recommended for the faint hearted to witness.

Loud noises are another feature of the Vegetarian Festival. Drums are played and firecrackers are randomly lit. People try to make as much commotion as possible in order to ward off evil spirits. In 2011, there were 74 injuries and one death reported during the festival. Perhaps surprisingly, it was not the self-mortifying rituals that led to most of these injuries but wayward firecrackers.

Three Postcard Set to Make an Alligator from St. Augustine, Florida

Souvenir of St. Augustine, Florida

I send you herewith the head of a Gator,
Watch for the mail - it will bring more later.


This city is the oldest continually occupied European settlement in North America.  St. Augustine was founded in 1565 by Don Pedro Menendez of Aviles, Spain who was sent to protect the Spanish Treasure fleets sailing along the coast of Florida.

Two-thirds I am here, in body and soul,
The next is the last and the Gator is whole.

St. Augustine, Florida
A stone fortress was built by the Spanish to protect St. Augustine from English expansion.  Construction of Castillo de San Marcos started in 1672 making it the oldest masonry fortification in the United States.  It stands today as a symbol of Spain's early colonization of our country.

This is the last Card I send you by mail,
The end of the Gator and then end of the "tale."

St. Augustine, Florida
To learn more about this "Tale" and others, visit the St. Augustine Alligator Farm and Zoological Park.  You can see 23 species of crocodilians, rare white alligators, exotic birds, and mammals.  Wildlife shows every hour 10 am to 5 pm.

All three postcards are printed in 2007 but postmarked in 2013.

Sea Caves of Pathos, Cyprus

Cyprus Sea Caves
Paphos

postmarked in 2013 with two Cyprus stamps

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Paphos (or Pafos), is a coastal city in the southwest of Cyprus. It lies on the Mediterranean coast.

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A sea cave is a type of cave formed mostly by the action of the waves of the sea causing erosion. They are found throughout the world.

Cyprus stamp 2013

100th Anniversary of the Cyprus Scouts Association 0,43

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The Cyprus Scouts Association is the national Scouting organization of Cyprus. It was founded in 1913 and became a member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement in 1961. SPK has 5,926 members.

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Cyprus stamp 2012

Refugee Stamp 0,02

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All mail sent out of Cyprus must carry a Refugee Fund stamp.

International Postcard Week 2013, Map With People of the World

International Postcard Week
October 6-12, 2013

Art by Rick Geary

the back reads:
Hello and Thank you for celebrating the first ever International Postcard Week!

My name is Brenda Perez and I have collected postcards for many years.  You can see some of my http://www.9teen87sPostcards.blogspot.com

For more information or to sign up for next year's International Postcard Week, please visit:
http://www.InternationalPostcardWeek.com

limited edition # ___of 250


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About the artist:
Rick Geary was born on February 25, 1946 in Kansas City, Missouri. He was initially introduced to comics readers with his contributions to the magazines Heavy Metal and National Lampoon.  He has also drawn a variety of solo comic books and graphic novels for various publishers.
The National Cartoonist Society awarded Geary its Magazine and Book Illustration Award in 1994.

Les Aristochats / The Aristocats - Walt Disney Movie

 Walt Disney
Les Aristochats

translation from French: The Aristocats

postmarked in 2013 from Germany

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The Aristocats is an American animated feature film produced and released by Walt Disney Productions in December 1970 and features the voices of Eva Gabor, Hermione Gingold, Phil Harris, Dean Clark, Sterling Holloway and Roddy Maude-Roxby. The 20th animated feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, the film revolves around a family of aristocratic cats, and how an alley cat acquaintance helps them after a butler has kidnapped them to gain his mistress' fortune which was intended to go to them.

The film is noted for being the last film project to be approved by Walt Disney himself, as he died in late 1966, before the film was released. It gained positive reviews on first release and was a box office success.

A Look at My Collection of 15,000 Postcards ...

Here is one large white cabinet filled with boxes of postcards.  You can see the blue lids to the boxes at the bottom.  They stay off so moisture doesn't get locked inside the plastic and ruin the postcards.  Each postcard (except the oversized) has its own archive safe plastic sleeve to keep it clean.
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Here is a look inside a few of the boxes.  They are by continent, then by countries.  If I have a lot of one city, then I will make a tab for that city.

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This is a hutch that is filled with my daughters collections, and all my cards that still need to be scanned and some of my boxed sets and postcard related items.  I have a few other large boxes that are filled with sets but they are packed away for right now.

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These are the postcard I use to swap or sell to make some money to buy other postcards!  They are all cards I bought in bulk, none that were sent to me.
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 Here are the boxes for my USA Collection.

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My USA collection is by state, then inside some of the states, they are broken up by city.

I hope you enjoyed this post.  I know I enjoyed taking the pictures and getting it ready. 

Vajont Dam Disaster in Longarone, Italy - October 9, 1963

Longarone - Vajont

Prima e dopo il disastro della notte del 9-10-1963

Fruher u. nach dem Ungluck vom 9-10-1963

Before and after the disaster in the night at 9-10-1963

unused postcard

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The Vajont Dam is a disused dam, completed in 1959 in the valley of the Vajont river under Monte Toc Mountain, 100 km north of Venice, Italy.

On 9 October 1963 at 10:39 pm, the combination of 'drawing-down the reservoir' and heavy rains triggered a landslide of about 260 million m³ of forest, earth, and rock, which fell into the reservoir at up to 110 km per hour (68 mph). The resulting displacement of water caused 50 million m³ of water to over-top the dam in a 250 meter (820 foot) high wave. Despite this, the dam's structure was largely undamaged — the top meter or so of masonry was washed away, but the basic structure remained intact.

The flooding in the Piave valley destroyed the villages of Longarone, Pirago, Rivalta, Villanova and Faè, killing around 2000 people and turning the land below into a flat plain of mud.  Many small villages in the territory of Erto e Casso and the village of Codissago, near Castellavazzo, were largely wrecked. Estimates of the dead range from 1900 to 2500 people, and about 350 families lost all members. Most of the survivors had lost relatives and friends along with their homes and belongings.

Stingray City in Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands

Stingray City
Grand Cayman

postmarked in 2013 from the Bahamas

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Stingray City is a series of shallow sandbars found in the North Sound of Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands.

It may be that stingrays began gathering in the area decades ago when fisherman returning from an excursion, navigated behind a reef into the sound, and cleaned their fish in the calm water of the shallows and sandbar area. The fish guts and squid were thrown overboard and the stingrays eventually gathered to eat the discarded guts. Soon the stingrays associated the sound of a boat engine with food. As this practice turned into a tradition, divers realized that the stingrays could be fed by hand.

Today, tour and excursion boats, along with private watercraft, gather at Stingray City in large numbers. Passengers enter the chest-high water to interact with the stingrays. The boat owners bring along with them pails of chunked-up squid meat, which they dispense by hand to the animals, thus attracting dozens of the creatures to the feeding spot.

Bahamas stamp 2013

Royal Bahamas Police Force Band - 120th Anniversary 50 c

Hand Over the Postcard .. (Newspaper Ransom Note)

Hand Over the Postcard and No One Gets Hurt

The back reads:
A Postcard a day
keeps the blues away

This is a postcard I designed for sale.  http://www.zazzle.com/9teen87
unused, from 2013

International Postcard Week card from Belgium - The Old Presbytery in Ham

Old Presbytery, Ham, Belgium

International Postcard Week
October 6-12, 2013

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Ham is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Limburg.
As of 2013, Ham has a population of 10,503 people.