Majestic

 

1965: Birds

Its that time of year when ones mind turns to holidays. Perhaps a trip to Malaysia where the locals might point out a Murai Gajah (Asian Fairy Bluebird) on a tree.

 

1994: Malaysian Airlines inaugural flight cover

 Fly out of Malaysia to Buenos Aires to dance the tango under a moonlit Brazilian sky.  Where next? 

 

Travel back in time to the 1950s and the Hotel Majestic in Acapulco, Mexico

 

 

A sea view from their rooms

 

Definitive 1950s: Architecture and Archaeology 

 

Buy a Michoacan Mask as a memento although a lot of these dance masks look very scary.

 

 

Catch some sport at the Mexico City University Stadium. Built in 1952, at the time the largest stadium in Mexico. It is now called the Olympic Stadium after hosting the 1968 Summer Olympics

1969: Tourism

Enjoy visiting the Pyramids in the ancient city of Teotihuacan (place of the gods).  Not built by the Aztecs or Mayans but an ancient race, origins unknown.

  

Sunday Stamps A-Z for Mexico, Malaysia and Majestic - See It On A Postcard 

Purple

 See It On A Postcard's Thursday Postcard Hunt is looking for purple

1935: Silver Jubilee

One of the extensive George V Omnibus editions of a common design celebrating his Silver Jubilee.  Issued May 1935 in Great Britain and spanning across her 54 colonies and four dominions coming to a total of 249 stamps. Collectors of these sets enjoy finding printing errors and  varieties such as extra flag poles.

On the card the fish basket is deep purple as is the clothing on the arm upper left. The card is of Scots College in Rome a seminary for the priesthood for the dioceses of the Catholic Church in Scotland. There are 20 stained glass windows created by Giovanni D'Aloisio. The one shown is behind the altar although the postcard cuts off the whole scene which includes the fishing boat. The full version can be seen on the header of Scots college's Facebook page. On the right is the miraculous catch of fish, the disciples are called to become fishers of men. On the left it says Ecce Agnus Dei - Behold the Son of God. The photo on upper left is of the Theological Library

How Green

 See It On A Postcard's Thursday Postcard Hunt in Spring colours - Green

Le Chambre D'Écoute - The Listening Room - René Magritte (1958)

There are two versions of The Listening Room by René Magritte, the green apple remains the same but in different rooms. In the 1952 version the room has a wooden floor and a glass window with a white surround. As can be seen in 1958 the room is now grey brick with an arched open-air window.

 The Slow Martch Tree (Careya arborea), native to the Indian subcontinent and Indochina, also known as wild guava. The fruit is edible but the seeds are poisonous. Many parts of the tree are used in  herbal remedies.

Settle-Carlisle Line Card No 57

A veteran class 40 locomotive crossing Arten Gill viaduct in Dentdale. It will be green all the way on this line. 

Kosmos

 

1993: Birds

Karemkerem is the Swahili name for Bee-eater and this one lives in the upland regions of East Africa.  

1976: Space Flight

Christina Koch, Artemis II crew member said "The thing that changed for me looking back at Earth, was that I found myself not only noticing the beauty of Earth, but how much blackness there was around it and how it just made it even more special"

A Korean artist brought a little bit of colour into Outer Space.

Sunday Stamps A-Z for Kenya, Korea and keremkerem - See It On A Postcard 

Yellow

 See It On A Postcard's Thursday Postcard Hunt for a spring and one of the colours that mark its arrival, Yellow

Bamforth's 'Tempest Kiddy' Series No 472 (Illustrator Douglas Tempest)

"Here's a spot of Good Luck ... A Double Dose for You" 

 A card sent in 1934 from 'Grandma', who was visiting the seaside resort of Blackpool, to Alison in Cheshire.

"In the Car" - Roy Lichtenstein

Fast forward to 1963 and fast cars, a Hitchcock blond  in the driving seat and her squared jawed companion. This large Lichtenstein painting is based on the comic book series 'Girls Romances'. (The original story graphic revealed -  Tony Abruzzo panel with speech bubble.)

SVR Poster Series No 6 - Kidderminster (Artist - Alan Reade)

A world away is The Falling Sands Viaduct carrying the Severn Valley Railway over the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal whose bridge has the more parochial name of Bridge Number 16.

J for Jays

 

1961: Birds of Woods and Fields

A Jay for J. Walking in the woods its screeching sound may be heard before being lucky enough to see it.

1963: Audubon's Birds Of America (Plate 96)

The Columbia Jay with more exuberant tail feathers

1988: Wildlife Preservation Trust

Alas I have no more Jays and change colour to the bright yellow of Rodriguez Fody, a sparrow like weaver bird, endemic to the small island of Rodriguez, an island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean

1993: Summer Birds

 Another small bird, the Dartford Warbler, it struggles in harsh winters when numbers have crashed in England but in recent times global warming and mild winters have resulted in increasing numbers and range. Seen on the stamp in its preferred habitat of heaths and gorse bushes.

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

Petite Pink

 See It On A Postcard's Thursday Postcard Hunt is celebrating the colours of Spring starting with Pink

A Flower Fairy Alphabet by Cicely Mary Barker

The Mallow Fairy will have to wait a couple of months for Mallows to flower but once they do they will be everywhere and the fairy will have long months to fly amongst them. 

The story is that wherever and whenever a seed sprouts a Flower Fairy is born, as the plant grows, the fairy grows. 

Peruvian Lilly - New York Botanical Gardens

The Peruvian Lilly has been grown in many gardens away from its South American homeland

A pink eared bunny for Easter Week