Queens and Quail

 

1990: Penny Black Anniversary (1840-1990)

One miniature sheet, two Queens (Victoria and Elizabeth) with Britannia riding the waves.

1987: Victorian Britain (Design - Mike Dempsey)

Victoria makes an appearance with Prince Albert, the 'Great Eastern' steamship and the Victorian queen of cooking, Mrs Isabella Beeton with the frontispiece of her  'Book of Household Management' which was published in 24 parts from 1859-1861 and then in book form in 1861. Sadly after producing 4 children and a cook book she died at only 28.  The book however kept on growing without her and by 1915 it had become twice its length. Her recipes included quail

1965: Migratory Birds

but this one is running free.

Sunday Stamps A-Z and Q for Queens and Quail - See It On A Postcard 

High and Low

 See It On A Postcard's Thursday Postcard Hunt - People in a Landscape

A trip to Aix Les Bains, the 'Riviera of the Alps'. A rustic fence with a panoramic view of Lake Bourget and the Alps. A small child with his natty dungarees has prime position.

Edale Church, Peak District

The southern end of the Pennine Way long distance footpath where the village of Edale is the setting off point. The Parish Church stands as a way-marker en route to the moors. 268 miles (435km) later one will arrive at Kirk Yetholm in the Scottish Borders.

 Meanwhile in Wales two walkers relax on Little Orme enjoying the sunshine and the panorama of Llandudno Bay and Great Orme.  

O is for Olav

 

1958-69: Olav V

Olav V (1903-1991) ascended to the throne on the death of his father in 1957. He was the first heir to the Norwegian throne since the 14th Century who was brought up in Norway, but born in Norfolk to his English mother Maud.

1978: 75th Birthday of King Olav

A renowned sailor, who won a sailing gold medal in the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam and sailed throughout his long life. He was also a keen cross country skier 

1996: Centenary of the Olympic Games (Design - H Paulsen)

and as a young man competed in ski jumping competitions. . There is a statue of him called 'The Joy of Skiing' showing him on a ski trip with his dog Troll which is located below the Holmenkollen ski jump in Oslo. His down to earth style and easy manner led to him being nicknamed 'The Peoples King'.

Sunday Stamps A-Z - for Olav and Olympics - See It On A Postcard

 

In the Woods

 See It On A Postcard's Thursday Postcard Hunt looking at Scenery.. with animals

A handsome elk with its velvet antlers in summertime, when the living is easy

Illustrator - Jaana Aalto

 A wolf moon appears in January, when the days lengthen and the cold strengthens

 

Surprised! by Henri Rousseau (1891) 

A tiger stalks its prey in the warmth of a jungle as imagined by Henri Rousseau (he never left France). The first of his many jungle paintings it is also known as Tiger in a Tropical Storm. So warm but wet.  The rain and lightening are difficult to see on the card and better seen on this larger version.

Norwegian

 

1989: Norden - National Costumes (Design - Knut Løkke-Sørensen)

National Costumes of Norway - a woman's costume from Setesdal, in South Norway (known for its folk traditions) and a man's costume from Kautokeino (Sami/Laplander)

The Northern Lights. We are in a period of increased solar activity which is forecast to last until 2026 (I have managed to miss them all so far!) The Vikings believed the aurora was the light shining off the armour of the Valkyries who were  guiding fallen warriors to Valhalla, Odin's Hall. To the Sami they were a bad omen and thought to be the souls of the dead.

2014: Tourism - Oslo Viking Ship Museum (Design - Kristin Granli)

The Vikings, navigators nonpareil

Sunday Stamps A-Z for Norway, Northern Lights and National Costume - See It On A Postcard 

Darkness

 See It On A Postcard's Thursday Postcard Hunt is in spooky mood for  Hallowe'en or Black

A familiar story, a lone car on a lonely road. Will they reach their destination?

All Directions (Photo - Sarah Montgomery)

The mist descends, something moves in the dark...

 

Abandon by Meg Cabot

How will the story end? Its a matter of love and death...

The card was issued for the first of  a trilogy by Meg Cabot which was inspired by the Greek myth of Hades and Persephone.

 

Mushroom Mutitudes

 

2025: Mushrooms

A mushroom hunters delight, the Morel, excellent when cooked slowly.

From Malta, a cross thistle oyster mushroom or King Oyster, widely cultivated and native to the temperate humid areas of the Mediterranean.

2006: Mushrooms of Greenland II

Greenland Milk-cap Mushroom, I am assuming this species is edible to be included in the stamp issue, although many milk caps (Lactarius) are not.

 Definitely edible, a puffball, Calvatia cretacea, although in common with all puffballs  the interior has to be pure white otherwise it is past its edible stage. 

Sunday Stamps A-Z - M for Morel, Malta and Mushrooms - See It On A Postcard   

Golden Brown

 See It On A Postcard's Thursday Postcard Hunt is in autumnal mood and looking for brown

The golden brown of bracken in the Langdale Valley when the green of summer has disappeared. 

The Lost Spells (Artist - Jackie Morris)

A night flying Lime Hawk Moth, their caterpillar feed on on the leaves of lime, silver birch and elm but the adults don't feed at all. On the wing from May to July but only on warm nights. By now the caterpillar will be cocooned and overwintering.

 Over 26 million bricks created the largest brick bridge in the world. The Göltzshtal Bridge, built between 1846-1851,  spans the deep valley of Göltzsch, and is 78m (255 ft) high and 574m long, part of the Leipzig to Nuremberg line in Germany.

Looking at Leopards

 

1976: African Animals

Somewhere in Liberia's dense forests this leopard prowls, its agility and  physiology are also perfect for climbing trees. The leopards in West Africa are geographically isolated, once abundant their numbers have dwindled and become fragmented.

1981: Birth Centenary of Kalman Kitteberger (explorer and zoologist)

The largest density of leopards in Africa are in Zambia and South Africa

2002: Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories (Illustrator - Izhar Cohen)

How did the leopard got its spots (and the Ethiopian dark skin)?  The short short answer is  here

2001 Children's Books

 

Introducing Leopold the Leopard who is woken by the rising sun, but is the only one awake, so he decides to climb a tree to visit the sun. He climbs to the top meeting lots of friends on the way, but not the sun, which has risen too high in the sky. This is the story of  'Leopold and the Sun' by Stephan Brulhart. The stamp was used on a cover for the 2002 Geneva Book Fair.

Sunday Stamps A-Z - L for Leopard, Liberia and little Leopold - leap now to See It On A Postcard 

Shades of Red

 See It On A Postcard's Thursday Postcard Hunt in Autumn is looking for the colour Red

A maple leaf, renowned  for its vibrant autumn colours

 

A love heart sent anonymously in October 1906 to Mr H Noble, Engineer, on the merchant ship 'Manchester Importer', anchored in Salford Docks, Manchester. Much more romantic than

2015: Alice in Wonderland (Illustrator - Graham Baker-Smith)

 

the Queen of Hearts who has probably more in common with

 

a dragon.

Advert Cards

 See It On A Postcard's Thursday Postcard Hunt in Autumn looking for the colour yellow

The card shows Haverigg and the River Lazy slowly making its way into the estuary. Wastwater, England's deepest lake located in the valley of Wastdale with its legend of a banshee living there.  A ferry crossing the River Mersey and Manchester Town Hall. A Marie Curie Cancer Care charity "I'm supporting" postcard, they use a yellow daffodil as a symbol.

 

 Still in North West England, the cyclist is on Blackpool promenade, Blackpool Tower in the distance. The was a card promoting the Blaze Summer Programme in 2010 which featured new work linking art and sport, people and places.

'Taxi Driver'

A Volkswagen "See film differently" card an advertising theme that ran in the UK in 2007 and 2008, part of their support for independent cinema. You can't get more yellow than a New York taxi and here the film is summed up in two objects. The taxi driver Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro)  buys four guns and I'm assuming this one is from the famous De Niro improvised line "You Talkin' to Me" scene where he practices by aiming and looking into a mirror. 

I may be visiting the wrong places but it is rare to randomly come across modern advert postcards nowadays.

 So I will finish with its distant cousin the museum card. A replica of the 'Rocket' steam locomotive with its famous yellow livery. There have been many replica built and rebuilt of this locomotive designed by Robert Stephenson which won the Rainhill Trials of 1829. This year was the 200th anniversary of train travel 1825-1859 which included a replica running of this at the Shilton Railway Museum. The chimney is shorter than Stephenson's original to be able to run under bridges.

 

 

Autumn

 

2019: Autumn Greeting Stamp - Pumpkin and Grapes

Tsukimi, which celebrates the Autumn full moon, is one of Japan's cherished events, this year it falls on 6th October, a reflective time of year to go moon viewing. (The Autumn Equinox on the 22nd October has a day and traditions of its own and is a national holiday).

2015: Jersey Seasons - Autumn

Jersey Post shows the island in its autumnal light (photographed by Andy Le Gresket).

A time to walk and crunch through fallen leaves, see the sea in stormy weather and watch the wind rippling through the long sea grass.

Sunday Stamps A-Z - for Japan and Jersey - See It On A Postcard 

Orange

See It On A Postcard's Thursday Postcard Hunt is celebrating the colours of Autumn, this week -Orange

 

one of the colours of the Irish flag.

Welcome to the 2012 London Olympics - Cycling - London Eye

Sunsets

Valentine's Flower Series No. 16

and coreopsis, which with its postcard companion, scabious, are known for their long bloom time, continuing flowering into autumn.

Island Butterflies

 

1993: Butterflies - 21st Anniversary of the Manx Conservation Trust (Artist - Collen Corlett

Butterflies who have found their home on the Isle of Man. The cover features Small Tortoiseshells 

The stamps top - Peacock, Dark Green Fritillary and Painted Lady. Below are the Holly Blue and Red Admiral. The Red Admiral, unusually for a butterfly, sometimes flies at night.

2021: 70th Anniversary of the Manx National Trust

when the Garden Tiger Moth will be flying. The moth's striking black caterpillars are covered in long black and ginger hairs so referred to as 'woolly bears'.  The small island of the Calf of Man is a nature reserve and Bird Observatory.

1985: Flora and Fauna (Artist - Ian Loe)

Hopping over from the Isle of Man to the larger island of Ireland and a Marsh Fritillary, once widespread across Britain and Ireland but has declined in number and now mostly restricted to the west coasts of Britain and Ireland where it is sure to find its preference for wet meadows and boggy places.

Sunday Stamps A-Z - I for Isle of Man, Ireland and Insects - See It On A Postcard 

Scenes from History

 See It On A Postcard's Thursday Postcard Hunt is looking at History

Der Rütlischwur (The Rütli Oath) - by Ernst Stuckelberg

One of the murals in William Tell's Chapel by Lake Lucerene tells the story of the Rutli Oath which was taken at the foundation of the Old Swiss Confederacy by the three founding cantons. It is named after the site of the oath, the Rütli, a meadow above the lake. 

The Greek War of Independence from Ottoman rule. The city of Missolonghi was one of the first to rise against the Turks in 1821. Trying to get the city back the sultan sent troops to suppress the revolution, which failed. He sent a larger force in 1825 and a siege of the city began, lasting a year. The Greeks could not get food through the Turkish encirclement and people started dying. Eventually the citizens decided to secretly leave the city on the night of 10th April 1826 but their plan was betrayed and when they opened the gates in the middle of the night the Turks attacked killing all the women and children and most of the soldiers.   (The stamp is  a painting entitled 'Flight from Missolonghi' from the 1982 Europa theme of Historic Events)

A view that spans the centuries in Rome, not a chariot in sight but there are some cute 20th century cars. The Pyramid of Cestius, built outside the city walls in 18-12 BC as a tomb for Gaius Cestius stands between two ancient roads.  The entrance at that time was named Porta Osttiensis after one  of the roads.  The famous entrance shown on the card was built in the 3rd Century and is known as Porta San Paulo This is the gate the Ostrogoth entered breaking the Siege of Rome 549-50 and sacking the city. They were let in by hungry and disillusioned guards who believed the promises of the Ostrogoth that they would not be harmed. 

Hot Air Balloons

 

1997: For Us Children

The ultimate air mail arriving by the power of hot air.

1983: Bicentenary of Manned Flight

Left: - In 1859 John Wise carried 123 letters in his hot air balloon 'Jupiter', the first official airmail delivery for the US Post Office. Right: - The pioneering flights of  balloons during the Siege of Paris of which the The Neptune was the first to take off in 1870. Weight was of great importance because every balloon had to reach the altitude of at least 3,300 ft (1000m) in order to be beyond the range of the Prussian rifles. Neptune took off from the hill at Montmartre with three bags of mail weighing a total of 125g, and eventually landed in the grounds of Castle Cracouille at Evreux, 104 miles NW of Paris.

1983: Bicentenary of Manned Flight

  

Hungarian Hot Air Balloons for leisure. The captive observation balloon at the Budapest Exhibition in 1896 and the 1904 Balloon Chase Race. Balloon racing became quite popular at this time unfortunately I could only find a passing reference to Hungarian races but this paragraph of British events in 1904 gives the gist of the pursuit.

1989: International Young Inventors Exhibition, Plovdiv

 

Bright young minds travelling to Plovdiv, the tiger arrives by hot air balloon.

Sunday Stamps A-Z, this week it is H for Hungary and Hot Air Balloons - See It On A Postcard