King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima

Groepsfoto koning Willem-Alexander, koningin Maxima, prinses Ariane, prinses Alexia en kroonprinses Amalia 

translation:
Group Photo King Willem-Alexander, Queen Maxima, Princess Ariane, Princess Alexia and crown princess Amalia

Foto: Jerry Lampen

postmarked in 2013 with three Netherlands stamp

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On 28 January 2013, Queen Beatrix announced that she planned to abdicate in favour of Willem-Alexander. The official programme for the abdication and investiture took place on 30 April 2013. After the abdication of his mother Queen Beatrix, Willem-Alexander was inaugurated as king on 30 April 2013.

So now Willem-Alexander (born 27 April 1967) is the reigning King of the Kingdom of the Netherlands which consists of the countries of the Netherlands, Curaçao, Aruba, and Sint Maarten. Upon coming to the throne he became the first male monarch of the Netherlands since the death of William III in 1890.

 

A Few Postcards from Savannah, Georgia, USA

Savannah, Georgia

Talmadge Memorial Bridge

This distinctive landmark is a fixed concrete span bridge over the Savannah River from Savannah to South Carolina on the other side.

Photo: Buddy Moffet

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Savannah Waterfront

A view of the Savannah River, with the historic Riverfront of Savannah in the background.

Photo: Ben Padgett

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Savannah, Georgia
Colonial Home on Washington Avenue

Springtime along Washington Avenue is abundant with colorful flowers.  Beautiful azaleas flourish along this stately Colonial-style home.

Photo: Bob Glander

All three postcards were bought in 2011.

Laugh and Live Longer - Chinese Proverb

Jede Minute, Die man Lacht, verlangert das leben um eine stunde
- Chinesisches Sprichwort

I was sent two translations:
Every minute you smile, your life will last an hour longer.
or
Every minute you laugh prolongs your life by an hour

unused, bought in 2011 in Germany

Ethiopia - Cows and Camels in the Afar Camp near Gewane

Qafar
Afar

Afar camp near Gewane
Rainy season 2009
Ethiopia

Photo: Pavel Mikes

This postcard is unused.

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The Afar (Afar: Qafár), also known as the Danakil, are an ethnic group in the Horn of Africa. They primarily live in the Afar Region of Ethiopia and in northern Djibouti.

The Afar are traditionally roaming farmers, raising goats, sheep, and cows in the desert.

Map of South Dakota

South Dakota
The Mount Rushmore State

"Great Faces, Great Places" From the jewel-like mountain lakes of the Black Hills in the west; to the wheat fields and abundant pheasants of the east, South Dakota really DOES have some of the greatest places people and "critters" you've ever seen!

This map postcard is postmarked in 2014 with a 34 cent hummingbird stamp.
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Here is one more..

South Dakota

Date of Statehood: November 2, 1889
Capital: Pierre
Population: 814,180 (2010)
Size: 77,116 square miles
Nickname: Mount Rushmore State
Motto: Under God, the People Rule
Tree: Black Hills Spruce
Flower: Pasque
Bird: Chinese Ring-necked Pheasant
Mammal: Coyote
Fish: Walleye
Insect: Honeybee

This map postcard is postmarked in 2014 with a hummingbird stamp.

A Polar Bear by Purple Flowers from Canada

Canada

Wapusk the Cree name for the great white bear.
A polar bear in fireweed looks like a puppy ready to play.

Wapusk le mot en langue crus pour designer l'ours blanc.
Nous devons prendre garde quand l'ours polaire sourit.

Photo: Dennis Fast

This beautiful postcard is postmarked in 2012 with a Canadian moose stamp.

Canada stamp 2012

From the series: Baby Wildlife

Moose 1.80

Islands of Tuamotu, Ahe

Tuamotu
Islands of the South Pacific

Ferme perliere dans le lagon de Ahe - Tuamotu
A Pearl Farm in the Lagoon of Ahe - Tuamotu Islands

unused, from 2012
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Tuamotu
Islands of the South Pacific

Coucher de soleil sure un motu de l'atoll de Ahe - Tuamotu
Sunset on a beach of Ahe - Tuamotu Islands

unused, from 2012

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The Tuamotus or the Tuamotu Archipelago are a chain of islands and atolls in French Polynesia. They form the largest chain of atolls in the world, spanning an area of the Pacific Ocean roughly the size of Western Europe.


Ahe, Ahemaru or Omaru, is an almost entirely-enclosed coral atoll, located in the northern Tuamotu Archipelago, just 14 km to the west of Manihi, in French Polynesia.

Ahe Atoll's ring shape is broken by only a single small passage into the lagoon.

Ahe Atoll has 441 inhabitants. The only village in Ahe is Tenukupara with approximately 100 inhabitants.

Geographically Ahe Atoll is part of the King George Islands (Iles du Roi Georges) subgroup, which includes Ahe, Manihi, Takapoto, Takaroa and Tikei.

There are several pearl farms in Ahe's lagoon.

Bosvogels (Forest Birds) from The Netherlands

 Bosvogels (Forest Birds)

1. Appelvink (Hawfinch)
2. Grauwe Vliegenvanger (Spotted Flycatcher)
3. Bonte Vliegenvanger (Pied Flycatcher)
4. Zwarte Mees (Coal Tit)
5. Koolmees (Tomtit)
6. Pimpelmees (Nun)
7. Merel (Blackbird)
8. Roodborst (Robin)
9. Vink (Finch)
10. Glanskop (Marsh Tit)
11. Staartmees (Long-tailed Tit)
12. Kuifmees (Crested Tit)
13. Zanglijster (Mavis)
14. Spreeuw (Starling)
15. Groenling (Greenfinch)
16. Winterkoning (Wren)
17. Goudvink (Bullfinch)
18. Heggenmus  (Dunnock)
19. Tjiftjaf  (Warbler)
20. Vuurgoudhaan (Firecrest)
21. Goudhaan (Goldcrest)
22. Gaai (Jay)
23. Zwarte Specht (Black Woodpecker)
24. Grote Bonte Specht (Great Spotted Woodpecker)
25. Gekraagde Roodstaart (Redstart)
26. Boomklever (Nuthatch)
27. Boomkruiper (Tree Creeper)
28. Zwartkop (Blackcap)
29. Fluiter (Whistler)
30 Ransuil (Long-eared Owl)
31. Bosuil (Tawny Owl)
32. Groene Specht (Yaffle or European Green Woodpecker)

I put everything into an on-line translator to write them in English.  I hope they are all correct!

This postcard is postmarked in 2014 from the Netherlands with two 'Willem-Alexander' stamps.  The sender writes that these are the birds found in the forests of Holland.

Netherlands (Nederland) stamp 2013

Inauguration of King Willem-Alexander - 1

Monument to the Titanic Engineer Officers, Southampton

Monument to the Titanic engineer Officers, Southampton.

This real photo postcard is unused.

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The Titanic Engineers' Memorial is a memorial in East (Andrews) Park, Southampton, United Kingdom, to those who died in the RMS Titanic disaster on 15 April 1912. The bronze and granite memorial was originally unveiled on 22 April 1914.

It features a bronze statue of Nike, the Greek Winged Goddess of Victory and carvings which represent the engineer officers of the ship, who died in the disaster.

The inscription down the center of the monument:

GREATER LOVE HATH NO MAN THAN
THIS. THAT A MAN LAY DOWN HIS
LIFE FOR HIS FRIENDS
ST. JOHN 15TH CH. 13TH V


TO THE MEMORY OF THE ENGINEER OFFICERS
OF THE R.M.S "TITANIC" WHO SHOWED
THEIR HIGH CONCEPTION OF DUTY AND THEIR
HEROISM BY REMAINING AT THEIR POSTS
15TH APRIL 1912.


ERECTED BY THEIR FELLOW ENGINEERS AND FRIENDS
THROUGHOUT THE WORLD

To the right is a list of the 35 engineer officers who died.

National Postcard Week - Mark Twain and Halley's Comet

National Post Card Week
May 2-8, 2010

A Tribute to the Year of Mark Twain
Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens)
November 30, 1835 - April 21, 1910

100th Anniversary of his death
125th anniversary of the publication of "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn"
175th Anniversary of his birth

Mark Twain and Halley's Comet
"I came in with Halley's comet in 1835.  It is coming again next year (1910), and I expect to go out with it.  It will be the greatest disappointment of my life if I don't go out with Halley's Comet.  the Almighty has said,no doubt: "now here are these two unaccountable freaks; they came in together -, they must go out together." - Mark Twain

Halley's Comet, visible from Earth every 75 to 76 years, put on bright shows in both 1835 and 1910.  It was visible at the time of Mark Twain's birth, and the perihelion (the point at which the comet is closest to the sun and the brightest) in 1910 was April 20, the day before Mark Twain died.

This postcard is unused and a limited edition No. 51 of 100

Easter Greetings Postcards featuring Birds from 1938 - He Has Risen!

A Happy Easter

Bird song heralds the gladness of spring

Joy to your heart may Easter bring

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Easter Greetings

The birds are singing carols gay

May joy be yours on Easter Day

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Legend of the Sand Dollar, From the Bahamas

The Legend of the Sand Dollar
Bahamas

There’s a pretty little legend
That I would like to tell
Of the birth and death of Jesus
Found in this lowly shell.

If you examine closely,
You’ll see that you find here
Four nail holes and a fifth one
Made by a Roman’s spear.

On one side the Eater lily,
Its center is the star
That appeared unto the shepherds
And led them from afar.

The Christmas poinsettia
Etched on the other side
Reminds us of His birthday,
Our Happy Christmastide.

Now break the center open
And here you will release
The five white doves awaiting
To spread Good Will and Peace.

This simple little symbol,
Christ left for you and me
To help us spread His Gospel
Through all eternity.

This postcard is postmarked in 2013 with a Bahamas stamp.

Bahamas stamp 2013

Royal Bahamas Police Force Band - 120th Anniversary 50 c

Cape Point Lighthouse in South Africa

Cape Point - South Africa

The lighthouse at Cape Point commissioned in 1850.  Rusted wrecks along the coast attest to the untamed fury of these tempestuous seas.

postmarked in 2013 with four South Africa stamps 

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Cape Point is a promontory (a prominent mass of land that overlooks lower-lying land or a body of water) at the southeast corner of the Cape Peninsula.  

Fishing is good along the coast but the unpredictable swells make angling from the rocks very dangerous. Over the years scores of fishermen have been swept to their deaths from the rocky platforms by freak waves.  The bay is also famous - or infamous - for its great white sharks, which hunt the Cape Fur Seals that live in the area.

Cape point is not the southernmost point in Africa; that is Cape Agulhas, approximately 150 kilometres (93 mi) to the east-southeast.

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The Lighthouse :  (the old lighthouse is shown in the above postcard) 

The new lighthouse is at a lower elevation (87 meters above sea level), for two reasons: the old lighthouse could be seen 'too early' by ships rounding the point towards the east, causing them to approach too closely. Secondly, foggy conditions often prevail at the higher levels, making the older lighthouse invisible to shipping. On 18 April 1911, the Portuguese liner Lusitania was wrecked just south of Cape Point on Bellows Rock for precisely this reason, prompting the relocation of the lighthouse.

South Africa stamp 2009

Annemarie Wessels (artist) 

Sooty Albatross 

(Phoebetria palpebrata)

Standard Postage

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South Africa stamp 2000 - 5 c

Palette surgeon

(Paracanthurus hepatus)

Chris van Rooyen 2000

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South Africa stamp 2010

Sascha Lipka (Photographer) 

Beadwork Lady Bird (Ladybug) 5 c

Iziko Collection 

From the Traditional African Beadwork series

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South Africa stamp 2010

Sascha Lipka (Photographer) 

Beadwork Bird 10 c

Iziko Collection 

From the Traditional African Beadwork series

What Excuse Have You Got

What excuse have you got for living?
Artist: Cobb X Shinn

This is postmarked in 1911 with a 1 cent stamp.

The sender writes:
Dear Friend Winnie.  I wonder how you are this morning.  I am cleaning and pressing cloths.  Sat evening Mrs. Rigg jumped out of the buggy and was hurt who she won't walk for a long time.  Wish you could see Harold Kenneth, we thing he's fine, he's been to town every Saturday evening since he was 3 weeks old, he is 9 weeks old Saturday.   When are you coming down? I am going to write you a letter later.

Chile - Easter Island and More

Saludos desde Chile
(Greetings From Chile)

Chile un pais de contrastes.

This is postmarked in 2009 with a 'preserve the polar regions and Glaciers' stamp from Chile.

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The sender writes, that the images are of Easter Island, a residence with a volcano in the background (typical view in the south of Chile) and an old church, probably in the north part of Chile.

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Easter Island is a Polynesian island in the southeastern Pacific Ocean. It is famous for its 887 extant monumental statues, called moai, created by the early Rapa Nui people. In 1995, UNESCO named Easter Island a World Heritage Site, with much of the island protected within Rapa Nui National Park.

Easter Island is one of the most remote inhabited islands in the world. The nearest inhabited land (50 residents) is Pitcairn Island 2,075 kilometres (1,289 mi) away, and the nearest continental point lies in central Chile, 3,512 kilometres (2,182 mi) away.
Easter Island is a special territory of Chile that was annexed in 1888.

Chile stamp 2009

Preservar las Regiones Polares y los Glaciares 

(Preserve the Polar Regions and Glaciers)

$ 470

Titanic and Olympic - Surpassing the Greatest Buildings

Surpassing the Greatest Buildings and Memorials of Earth
The White Star Line's New Triple-screw Steamers

"Olympic" "Titanic"
Largest and Finest in the World
(See Over)

the back reads:

Interesting Comparisons
read from left to right

1. Bunker Hill Monument, Boston - - 221 Feet High
2. Public Buildings, Philadelphia  - - 534 Feet High
3.  Washington Monument, Washington - - 555 Feet High
4. Metropolitan Tower, New York - - 700 Feet High
5. New Woolworth Bldg, New York - - 750 Feet High
6. White Star Line's Triple Screw Steamers Olympic and Titanic - - 882 1/2 Feet Long
7. Cologne Cathedral, Cologne, Germany - - 516 Feet High
8. Grand Pyramid, Gizeh, Africa - - 451 Feet High
9. St. Peter's Church, Rome, Italy - - 448 Feet High

This postcard is a pre-sinking Advertising Titanic / Olympic postcard

A Milk Mustache on Sarah Michelle Gellar

Revealing outfits and the undead.
What else can't most young guys get enough of? Calcium.  But there is a mouth-watering solution.  Milk.  It can help provide the calcium growing bones need to stay strong.  A real must.  Especially if you plan on sticking your neck out.

Milk
Where's your mustache?

Sarah Michelle Gellar 1998 National Fluid Milk Processor Promotion Board

This is an unused Go Card.

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Buffy the Vampire Slayer is an American television series which aired from March 10, 1997 until May 20, 2003.   The series narrative follows Buffy Summers (played by Sarah Michelle Gellar (born April 14, 1977)), the latest in a line of young women known as Slayers. In the story, slayers are chosen by fate to battle against vampires, demons, and other forces of darkness. 

Origin of the show:
Writer Joss Whedon says, "just the idea of some woman who seems to be completely insignificant who turns out to be extraordinary." This idea evolved into Buffy, which Whedon developed to invert the Hollywood formula of "the little blonde girl who goes into a dark alley and gets killed in every horror movie." Whedon wanted "to subvert that idea and create someone who was a hero."  He explained, "The very first mission statement of the show was the joy of female power: having it, using it, sharing it."

The Pocitos Beach in Montevideo, Uruguay

Montevideo  -  R. O. Del
Playa (beach) Pocitos
Uruguay

This postcard is postmarked in 1964.

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Pocitos is an upscale beach neighborhood  in Uruguay's capital city, Montevideo.

EuroDisney, Espace Information Center 1992

EuroDisney

Espace EuroDisney
Centre d'information
"12 Avril 1992"

translation from French:
EuroDisney space
Information Center
"12 April 1992" (the day the information center closed because the theme park opened)

unused postcard featuring Mickey Mouse

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Construction for the new Disneyland Paris (Euro Disney)  began in August 1988, and in December 1990, an information centre named "Espace Euro Disney" was opened to show the public what was being constructed.  Here, visitors were able to marvel at beautiful concept drawings for the new Resort as well as take a good look at tiny scale models of various attractions.  There was also shopping, food and a movie theater inside.

to read much more about this fascinating place check this out...
http://www.designingdisney.com/content/lost-treasures-euro-disney-preview-center-1990-1992

Jesus, The Fisher of Men

Fisher of Men
Jesus describes the one that got away.

This card was printed in 1996 by The American Postcard Co.

Denmark Multiview Postcard

Danmark (Denmark)

This postcard is postmarked in 2013 with two Denmark stamps.

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Denmark has a population of around 5.6 million people and the national language, Danish, is closely related to and mutually intelligible with Swedish and Norwegian.

Denmark (Danmark) stamp 2012

Europa 

Visit Denmark

Street Performers 12.00

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Denmark (Danmark) stamp 2010

Wavy Lines and Crown, Green, 200

Mail-Order Fashion Hunks

Image courtesy of the Advertising Archives, London from "Catalog Man:Mail-Order Fashion Hunks", published by Chronicle Books
 
The purple (cotton longlook Slimline fitting) shirt, has a matching suede belt with flower buckle.
You gatta love the 70's!

This postcard is postmarked in 2007 from Canada.

Navajo Indians, Sacred Sand Paintings, and a Hogan

Sacred Sand Painting of the Navajo Indian

Desert Medicine

Beautiful with symbolic figures and design these sand paintings are sacred to the Navajo.  They are a part of the elaborate rituals of their "Sings," or ceremonial chants and must be traditionally perfect.  Made with desert sands and minerals of different colors these sacred paintings are prepared under the directions of the Navajo Shamans or Medicine Men.  The work on them is begun shortly after sunrise and they are destroyed before sunset.

"From the Land of Enchantment"

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Here is a postcard of a painting in progress .....

Navajo Sand Painters

Using many colors of fine sand, these artistic Indians paint intricate and beautiful designs believed to heal the sick and afflicted members of their tribe.

A western ways color photograph by Ray Manley

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Navajo Mother and Child

An excellent Mother and Child study by the nationally known photographer H. Armstrong Roberts.  The Navajo Indians are extremely kind to children.  Their infants are strapped to the traditional cradle board at birth and when the mothers tires of carrying the baby in her arms -  she just fastens the cradle board to her back.  These Navajo babies are kept in cradles until they are large enough to creep and are usually happy and smiling.

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Navajo Indians and Their Hogan
The colorful nomadic Navajo Indians are located in extensive reservations in northern Arizona and and New Mexico.  Famous for their artistic Navajo rugs and silver jewelry, they live in primitive circular hogans and depend on sheep and cattle raising for their livelihood.

Kodachrome by Mike Roberts
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All of these postcards are unused.

National Postcard Week - Teacup Fisherman

National Postcard Week
30th Year
May 5-11, 2013

"Teacup Fishermen"
Stamp credits:
100 proof Press (children)
CMR (digital NPCW Cancellation Mark)
Sumac Designs (all others)

from Celine (my guess is she designed this using rubber stamps.  I think it is Wonderful!
limited edition 6 of 150