Explorers

 

1934: Jacques Cartier - 400th Anniversary of 1st voyage to Canada

Jacques Cartier setting out to eventually arrive and explore the St Lawrence River and in the process name a country Canada.

1963: Martin Frobisher

 Martin Frobisher set out to find the North West Passage to the Orient. Like Cartier he would try to finance his expeditions by finding gold but both would have been wise to take a geologist with them to avoid disappointment when they arrived back with little of value.

1982: Birth Centenary of Sir Douglas Mawson

Jumping forward in time enter a geologist Douglas Mawson but his motivation was adventure and scientific knowledge however the famous 1911 Australian Antarctic expedition turned into a horror show, of which he was the only survivor. His book 'The Home of the Blizzard'  gives a vivid account of this experience.

1983: Explorers and Discoverers

The interior of Australia is unforgiving. The German explorer Ludwig Leichhardt successfully travelled there twice but he and his companions disappeared on his third expedition never to be found. He is remembered for his extensive natural history collection and notes.

Robert O'Hare Burke and William John Wallis became the first Europeans to cross Australia north to south in 1861 however it was not the most professional of expeditions and they died during their return but entered Australian mythology as "heroic failures".

Sunday Stamps theme this week - Mustaches for movember - explore more at See It On A Postcard

Market

 See It On A Postcard's Thursday Postcard Hunt in search of markets or cafes...

This week is another opportunity to show one of my London Transport Museum cards and this time we are 'Simply' heading for the markets, of which there are many in London.  The artist is Andrew Crocker who is an English landscape painter who also produces allegorical portraits. Another of his works commissioned by London Transport was 'Docklands' which can be seen here but it was never used.

I have always thought this was a postcard of a market but of course on closer inspection, despite the crowds, it is not and actually shopkeepers selling their wares inside as well as outside.  Could I claim this as cafe as it seems we have a couple enjoying the advertised Nettle Drink al fresco while smiling at the photographer.  The place is the coastal village of Heysham which also has a ferry port nearby which likes to call itself  'Gateway to the Irish Sea'.  I would date this postcard to the 1950s and has at least two postcard buying opportunities, a display stand on the left and a 'postcard shop' sign on the right. 

Public Buildigs

 

1970: Football World Championships

The impressive Stockholm City Hall, the tall tower is the one nearest the water (Lake Malaren) and is topped by the three crowns, Sweden's national symbol.

1980: 50th Anniversary of the National Hospital

If unlucky enough to be in hospital this looks to be a very pleasant place to stay. I think the building has been preserved but today there is a new National Hospital that dwarfs this one in size and no doubt equipment.

1988: Centenary of Urania Science Museum

This stamp shows both the old and new buildings of the Urania Science Museum in Berlin.

2000: Opening of Singapore Post Centre - History of the Central Post Office

The only way to end is with some post offices. The official launch in 2000 of the new Singapore Post Centre gave them the opportunity to celebrate their buildings from the

first in the 1800s when Singapore welcomed its first mail steamer but as volumes of post increased a new building was required and the General Post Office was built in 1897.

The GPO moved to the new Fullerton Buildings in 1928, which was also when the first airmail flight was dispatched from Singapore.  The mail sorting operation was eventually moved in 1998 to a new facility and then the shiny new SingPost Centre opened in 2000

Sunday Stamp theme - Public Buildings - visit  See It On A Postcard

Multifarious

See It On A Postcard's Thursday Postcard Hunt in search of multiples and multi views

 Henry Ford famously said his customers could "have any car so long as it is black" and in the same vein this card's multifarious cheese labels are saying that one can have any cheese as long as it is Camembert. A glass of  Calvados brandy  or cider made from Normandy apples might be nice too, perhaps while visiting the Maison du Camembert Museum.

A little more food variety on a Belgium card with some of the icons of the country - the twice fried Flemish frites and mayonnaise, mussels, chocolate, beer and lace.  The lace does seem an interloper on a food and drink card surely this should have celebrated the wonderful Belgium waffle instead.

Birds on the Map

 

1988: Fauna

The Eurasian Hoopoe perched between continents

Ferruginous Pygmy Owl breeds in Arizona, South Texas, down through Mexico, Central America and South America.  The Vulturine Guineafowl is the largest of its species and if startled it will run with those long legs rather than fly. It can be found in Central African forests

2000: Birds

(200) - Wattled Starling a nomadic bird found in eastern and southern Africa but its range is expanding. Like all starlings can be found in large flocks and often nests with other starling species (500) - Common Starling, (900) Red Billed leiothrix goes by many names such as Pekin Robin and Pekin Nightingale and its beautiful song can be found in Southern China and the Himalayas

(4000) Bearded reedling, as the name implies, found in Eurasian reedbeds (1000) - the Guianian cock of the rock nests on rocky cliff faces and caves in the humid forests of South America, the nests are constructed of  mud and plants. In photographs it looks a brighter orange than the stamp. (1500) Alpine accentor (the latin word 'accentor' means a person who sings with another). A robin sized bird of Eurasia and North Africa nesting in bushes or rock crevices.

Sunday Stamps theme of - Birds - fly over to See It On A Postcard for more feathered friends.

More Beer

 See It On A Postcard's Thursday Postcard Hunt is in search of a drink... 

An idyllic summer scene on the river and The Jolly Angler looks the perfect place to stop. One of the boaters is looking with anticipation at the landlord carefully pouring his beer.

Worthington's label symbol was created in 1863 and the postcard is of a showcard from c1895. Today the company is owned by one of large conglomerates.

For unlimited choice head to Belgium with a different glass for every type of beer. I am rather fond of their fruit beers.

In contrast  the Preston Teetotal movement, started by Joseph Livesey in 1832, encouraged people to take a teetotal pledge of abstinence from alcohol.  The Harris Museum in Preston holds a collection of objects of which this is one.

Agriculture

 

1941: Agricultural Development Plan

Surrounded by war  neutral Switzerland started their battle of self sufficiency with the Whalen Plan in 1940, its aim was to increase areas of cultivation in every available piece of land digging up sports fields and gardens. It is sometimes referred to as the 'Battle of the Fields'.  Before WW2 Switzerland imported 70% of its food from abroad, by the time it had ended the potato harvest had tripled, cereal doubled and vegetables quadrupled and with this bounty it managed to feed the entire Swiss population and 300,000 refuges. Switzerland was so successful that it became the only country in Europe that did not need to ration potatoes, vegetables and fruit.

1947: Allied Occupation Zones definitives

Once the war was over thoughts turned to reconstruction, the stamps of the sower and harvester were part of a set showing occupations that would work for that purpose and peace doves for hope. These stamps were used in the British, American and Russian occupation zones.

1965: 75th Anniversary Belgium Farmers Association

Another horse pulled plough, always a favourite motif for stamp designers

1950-54: Occupational Activities and Views

Iceland shows off its dramatic scenery with a tractor

2016: World Stamp Show 'NY16', Javits Center

Meanwhile a Guernsey cow is enjoying the sunshine, sometimes called the 'Golden Guernsey' due to its own and the milk's rich colour. The link with the New York exhibition cover is that Guernseys were first imported into the United States by two schooner captains in the 1830s and 1840s and would become the basis of the American Guernsey herd.

1993: Occupations - Cheesemaker

Happily where there is milk there is also cheese.

Sunday Stamps theme of - Agriculture - crops are growing at See It On A Postcard