Meramec Caverns - Cave Interior

PDK Postcard # 8 - 2017

by Pete Klinger

Almost National Postcard Week

Yet another colorful photo from the collection.  This one I took in 2011.  Ever drive past St. Louis on I-44 "Meramec Caverns" signs start before the bypass, many miles before Route 66.  Then more and more, until you approach Stanton, Missouri.  Let me say, it's worth the stop to relax, ice cream shop, nice cool walk, somewhat hokey, but informative tour but if you've never done it, make the stop!  Beautiful formations, well maintained property, excellent lighting effects.  Step back in time to the days when many roadside attractions like this were along the National highways.

This postcard is postmarked in 2017. 

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A room within the cavern was used for Hollywood productions, most notably The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1973). In the particular movie, the site was used as the cave system where Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn find the hidden gold.

An episode of Lassie was also filmed in this part of the cave.

USA stamp 1920

Pilgrim Tercentenary 

The 300th Anniversary of 

the Landing of thePilgrims

2 cents 

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USA - stamp 1940

Famous Americans - Artists

Augustus Saint-Gaudens, 3 

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USA stamp 1992

Dr. Theodore von Karman

29 cents

Telescope at Parkes Observatory in Australia

Siding Spring

Coonabarabran

NSN 2357

A receiving dish of the Australia Telescope Parkes, NSW

Photo (CSIRO) 

This postcard is actually postmarked in 2017, however, the stamp on the front is postmarked from the First Day of Issue in 1992.  

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The Parkes Observatory (also known informally as "The Dish") is a radio telescope observatory, located 20 kilometres north of the town of Parkes, New South Wales, Australia. 

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The sender writes:

If it was not for the Parks Space Receiver Station your 1969 moon landing would have been different...

Here is what I found:

When Buzz Aldrin switched on the TV camera on the Lunar Module, three tracking antennas received the signals simultaneously. They were the 64-metre Goldstone antenna in California, the 26-metre antenna at Honeysuckle Creek near Canberra in Australia, and the 64-metre dish at Parkes.

In the first few minutes of the broadcast, NASA alternated between the signals being received from its two stations at Goldstone and Honeysuckle Creek, searching for the best quality picture.

A little under nine minutes into the broadcast, the TV was switched to the Parkes signal. The quality of the TV pictures from Parkes was so superior that NASA stayed with Parkes as the source of the TV for the remainder of the 2.5 hour broadcast. 

Australia stamp 1992

International Space Year

Spiral Galaxy NGC 2997

1.20

Disney Springs Resort Area and Hotels

Resort Area
Disney Springs Hotels
Welcome
The Magic Starts Here.

The sender writes:

We stayed here while we went to Epcot's Food and Wine Festival!  This was the cover to our welcome pack - I cut it off and made a postcard. :D

This is postmarked in 2016 with a Star Trek stamp.

USA stamp 2016

Space the Final Frontier

Star Trek 

Forever First Class

A 3D Postcard of Jellyfish

Jelly Jiggle
by Michael Searle 2014

This 3-D jellyfish postcard is postmarked in 2017.

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Jellyfish are found in every ocean, from the surface to the deep sea. Scyphozoans (true jellyfish) are exclusively marine, but some hydrozoans (an example is freshwater jellyfish) live in freshwater.

USA stamp 2016

Pets

Parrots

Forever a first class rate

A Novelty, Calendar Postcard from Hamburg, Germany

Hamburg 2017

Stell mich auf!  (Position me!) 

bitte umklappen (Please fold down)

This novelty postcard has a built in stand.  You can see the dots at the bottom where you tear and fold the strips back to make it so the calendar can sit upright on your desk.  

This postcard is postmarked in 2017 from Germany with the signatures of 17 members of a Postcrossing meet-up.  

Germany (Deutschland) stamp 2016

Castles of Germany 

Löwenburg Kassel, 90

You Look Gourd-geous

You Look Gourd-Genus

The sender writes:
You always look gorgeous!

This funny 'pun' postcard is postmarked in 2016.

USA stamp 2015

Coastal Birds

Frigatebird

Postcard Rate

The Tobago Cays, Saint Vincent and The Grenadines

The Tobago Cays

The Grenadines

Photo "Zenon" - N 107

This postcard is postmarked in 2017 with three stamps.

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The Tobago Cays are an archipelago located in the Southern Grenadines in the Caribbean comprising five small islands and extensive coral reefs. The cays - Petit Rameau, Petit Bateau, Baradal, Petit Tabac and Jamesby - are all uninhabited and are a popular tourism destination.

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Two of these stamps are on the postcard...

St. Vincent and the Grenadines stamp 1996

Plants, Croton ebureum

50 c

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St. Vincent and the Grenadines stamp 1996

Plants, Croton volutum

60 c

A 'Dirty' Postcard . . .

This should suit you!
It's a Dirty Postcard!

Published by Bamforth and Company
Comic Series No. 1965
Printed in England

This postcard is postmarked in 1964.

Great Britain stamp 1956

Queen Elizabeth II, Red

Postage Revenue 2 1/2 D

A Coracle Man in South Wales

Coracle Man, South Wales
One of the most ancient forms of water transport, known to be used in the primitive days of the Ancient Britons, the coracle is still employed on some waterways in Wales and Ireland.  These fragile-looking craft are easily carried on dry land and propelled on water by a single-bladed paddle.

Color Photograph by J.W. Tarrant, Esq.

This unused postcard is from 1927. 

The Birds by Alfred Hitchcock with Jessica Tandy

Alfred Hitchcock's
"The Birds"
(1963)

"It could be the most terrifying motion picture I have ever made!" -Alfred Hitchcock

Starring Rod Taylor, Jessica Tandy, Suzanne Pleshette and Introducing Tippi Hedren

This unused 'Radio Days' movie postcard was printed in 1985.

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Release Date: March 28, 1963

Movie Plot:
A wealthy San Francisco socialite pursues a potential boyfriend to a small Northern California town that slowly takes a turn for the bizarre when birds of all kinds suddenly begin to attack people.

Gulf of Porto, Corsica, France

Porto - Sperone

La Corse patrimoine mondial de l'Unesco

La roche rougeoyante de Porto au soleil couchant et le bleu turqoise de Sperone

From an on-line translator:

Corsica of Unesco World Heritage

The glowing rock of Porto at sunset and the turquoise blue of Sperone

Serge Gilbert

The sender writes:

Greetings from the Island of Corse. It is so beautiful here with very different landscapes, like rocks, forests, and beaches like in the Caribbean Sea.  The food is great as well of course.  

This postcard is postmarked in 2014 with two matching stamps from France.

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I copied this from the UNESCO website:

Gulf of Porto: Calanche of Piana, Gulf of Girolata, Scandola Reserve

The nature reserve, which is part of the Regional Natural Park of Corsica, occupies the Scandola peninsula, an impressive, porphyritic rock mass. The vegetation is an outstanding example of scrubland. Seagulls, cormorants and sea eagles can be found there. The clear waters, with their islets and inaccessible caves, host a rich marine life.

France stamp 2013

Marianne in Red

Lettre Prioritaire 

20 g

The Wind in the Willows

The Wind in the Willows
Collection

This unused postcard is from 1995.

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The Wind in the Willows is a children's novel by Kenneth Grahame, first published in 1908. It focuses on four animals, a mole, a toad, a badger and an otter, with human characteristics in Edwardian England. 

Three Postcards of Castillo San Cristobal in San Juan, Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico

Castillo San Cristobal

San Juan

National Historic Site

Castillo San Cristobal covers 27 acres and is the largest fortification ever built by the Spanish in the New World.  It's construction began in 1634, took approximately 150 years to complete, and was considered a masterpiece of 18th century military engineering.

Photo by J. Scott Graham

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Fort San Cristobal

San Jan National Historic Site, Puerto Rico

Projecting strength and power, Fort San Cristobal dates back to the early 17th century.  It defended San Jan from landward attacks and is the largest Spanish fortification in the New World

Photo: Richard Spenceley

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San Juan
National Historic Site

The troop quarters, finished in 1733, consisted of eight large vaulted rooms which housed soldiers stationed to guard Castillo San Cristobal.
Here, Spanish soldiers could rest and recreate with a game of dominos or cards after a hard day of work.  Just off the main plaza, one of these barracks has been refurbished to look as it did during the late 18th century, complete with beds, muskets, and uniforms.

Photo by J. Scott Graham
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All three of these postcards are from 2014.
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Castillo San Cristóbal, also known as Fort San Cristobal was built by Spain to protect against land based attacks on the city of San Juan. When it was finished in 1783, it covered about 27 acres of land and basically wrapped around the city of San Juan. Entry to the city was sealed by San Cristóbal's double gates. After close to one hundred years of relative peace in the area, part of the fortification (about a third) was demolished in 1897 to help ease the flow of traffic in and out of the walled city.

In 1983 This San Juan National Historic Site was declared an UNESCO World Heritage Site by the United Nations.