Easter Stamps

Sent by Micu (Hungary).

Mail Motorcycles

Today's theme of Maria's link Postcards for the Weekend is Transportation. I like especially trains. But also, everything related to the transportation of mail, of course!

This postcard from the Postal Museum in London was sent by John (the UK), . The back of the postcard provides some information about the picture:

BSA Bantam, 1970. The Post Office carried trials with motorcycles throughout the early 20th century. The BSA Bantam bikes are probably the best known and were purchased by the Post Office for telegraph and letters work until production ceased in 1971.

I had received a stamp from the same series (different model!):

A Pile of Mail!

Drawn envelope sent to Philippe (France).

Potterian Postcards

These postcards sent by Laura (the UK) would make the day of any fan of Harry Potter books... like me. But maybe I am not such a great fan: I didn't recognise the phoenix at first sight!

This one is the poster for the Christmas party (from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire). Alas... it landed in my mailbox one day too late!

HitM | Vakwerhuis

Vakwerkhuizen are the typical houses in the very south of the Netherlands, the southern part of the province Limburg, which is close to Belgium and Germany. And it arrived with matching stamps!

This is the second Heleen's contribution to the Houses in the Mail project (although it arrived first that her first!).

Not Just the Postman

«Al mediodía compruebo que no hay correo, en realidad nunca me llega una carta, ni una miserable señal de que existen los otros. Al principio creía que era Durán, el cartero, el que retenía esas cartas porque me odiaba. Pero pronto tuve que rendirme a la evidencia de que me odiaba la humanidad, no sólo Durán.»

Enrique Vila-Matas, Mac y su contratiempo

Women on Stamps | First

Queen Isabella I was the first woman to appear on an American stamp, in 1893.

The first American woman honoured on a USA stamp was, in 1902, Marta Washington,"considered to be the first First Lady of the United States", Wikipedia says.

Since then, there have been some stamps dedicated to first ladies. I have got (on the same postcard!) these two stamps of Eleanor Roosevelt, issued in 1963 and 1984 (there is a third stamp, issued in 1998. See it on Bob's blog):

Other first women on stamps:

Dorothea Erxleben
(1715-1762)
First female medical doctor in Germany

Bertha von Suttner
(1843-1914)
First woman solely awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
First Austrian laureate

Ida B. Wells
(1862-1931)
First black woman to be a paid correspondent
for a mainstream white newspaper

Frances Perkins
(1880-1965)
First woman member of the presidential Cabinet

Amelia Earhart
(1897 – 1937)
First woman to fly solo across the Atlantic


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For the new edition of Sunday Stamps-II A to Z, I have decided to show some of the stamps I have got on letters and postcards, related to one topic: women. This is the post for the letter F.

More women on stamps.

Spring Flowers on Postcards

The Supertrees of
Gardens by the Bay

Today's theme in Postcards for the Weekend link party is Spring. And I am glad to show first a postcard sent by Maria herself!

And a second one receive through the Postcrossing site:

Dandelion
By Константин Кокорин

Pas un aquarium

Ceci n'est pas un aquarium

This wonderful letter was sent from Keith to 30 (I guess) orange lovers. Actually, in the middle of the Autumn. But, as it said... Every day is a good day to celebrate orange! It took a bit to post here, but I replied the letter ages ago. I love every bit of the letter: the postcard, the French, the typewritten address... But, of course, the artistamps are a super gift!

Winter Wonderland

How to be British No. 50, by Martyn Ford. Postcard sent by Laura (the UK), especially appropriate for these cold days... even if the spring is supposed to be here!

HitM | Veerhuis

Meeresmuschel, by Britta Gotha

Heleen (the Netherlands) knows how much I love snails... so this has been her first contribution to the Houses in the Mail project. On the back, beautiful stamps of ferrymen houses ('Veerhuis').

The Swing and the Bleaching

Laura (the UK) sent me this postcard long time ago, a year or so. But it is still on my desk, and it makes me think of spring.

The Swing, 1767,
an oil painting by Jean-Honoré Fragonard

And so does the following!

Die Rasenbleiche ('Bleaching on the Lawn'), 1882
Max Liebermann

I added it to the album of Clotheslines, even if it technically, isn't...

German Flowers

I really like this series of definitive German stamps!

Johanniskräuter / Hypericum

Narzisse / Narcissus

Tagetes

Tränendes Herz /  Lamprocapnos

Tulpe / Tulip

Women on Stamps | Engineer

Lillian Moller Gilbreth (1878 – 1972) became the first member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in 1926 and was one of the first working female engineers to hold a PhD. Also, she was awarded a staggering 23 honorary degrees, was the first honorary member of the Society of Women Engineers, and in 1965 was the first woman elected to the National Academy of Engineering.

In 1984 the US Postal Service issued a stamp in her honour.

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For the new edition of Sunday Stamps-II A to Z, I have decided to show some of the stamps I have got on letters and postcards, related to one topic: women. This is the post for the letter E.

More women on stamps.

Greetings from Cambridge & Taipei

On this postcard sent by Laura (the UK) you can see: the silhouettes of King's College, King's chapel illuminated for Christmas and the Corpus Clock. I think they can fit in this week's Postcards for the Weekend topic: Sunrise/sunset.

While I was looking for appropriate postcards for this post, I received this one from Maria: a superb sunset in Taipei, with a view of the Taipei 101 Tower.

Go to Maria's post to see more beautiful postcards!

Spring Is Coming… By Train

NS trein - Verlengd InterRegio Materieel (VIRM)... And tulips!

Postcard sent by Heleen (the Netherlands).

Spring Is Coming

Lavender postcard sent by Laura (the UK).

HitM | 16 People

This is quite a special house I received for the project Houses in the Mail, because it is a 4-bedroom apartment shared by 16 people. It feels like home, the sender wrote, because we have a great communal atmosphere filled with lots of play and laughs. I do believe that!

Postcard sent by Rebecca (the USA).

I think that my favourite picture is the picnic table outside. Rebecca wrote that she sits there to paint and write letters. So I tried to draw it on the envelope I sent her back...

What Do You Do When You Do Not Know What to Write?

Postcard sent by Heleen (the Netherlands). Welcome to the Keep Calm Humble Gallery of postcards...

Women on Stamps | Dietrich & Droste-Hülshoff

Women in German History (Frauen der deutschen Geschichte) is a definitive stamp series issued in the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) and West Berlin from 1986 to 1990, and in reunited Germany 1990 to 2003.

The stamps were designed by Gerd and Oliver Aretz. The colour of the portrait is different, according to the color of the country name (Deutsche Bundespost, Deutsche Bundespost – Berlin, Deutschland) and denomination (pfennig, euro or both).

A friend from Germany sent me a bunch of those, and I must confess that I recognised few of the depicted women. Among those, there was Marlene Dietrich (1901 – 1992), an actress and singer that probably everyone knows. The stamp was issued on 14 August 1997.

And among the women I didn't recognise at all: Annette von Droste-Hülshoff (1797 – 1848),  a 19th-century writer and composer. This stamp is one of the latest in the series, and was issued on 27 December 2002.

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For the new edition of Sunday Stamps-II A to Z, I have decided to show some of the stamps I have got on letters and postcards, related to one topic: women. This is the post for the letter D.

More women on stamps.

Historical and Mystical Ireland

Postcard sent by Laura (the UK). You can see, clockwise from top left: 

• Skellig Michael (County Kerry). A Gaelic Christian monastery was founded on the island at some point between the 6th and 8th century and remained continuously occupied until it was abandoned in the late 12th century. The remains of the monastery, and most of the island, became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996.

• The monastery of Clonmacnoise (County Offaly), founded in 544 by St. Ciarán.

• The Poulnabrone Dolmen (County Clare). It dates back to the Neolithic period, probably between 4200 BC and 2900 BC.

• The Rock of Cashel (County Tipperary), reputed to be the site of the conversion of the King of Munster by St. Patrick in the 5th century.

• The Gallarus Oratory (Dingle Peninsula).

• Newgrange Megalithic Tomb (County Meath). It was built during the Neolithic period, around 3200 BC, making it older than Stonehenge and the Egyptian pyramids.

Today's theme in Postcards for the Weekend is Places of Worship. 

No Letters Back

«She told Bel about the singing tree and the three millions of stars in Aruwa, and she wrote messy, doleful letters home that she never sent because there was a shame in her unhappiness. In return, she received no letters back. Nne-Nne had never written a letter in her life, and Baba, ida assumed, had nothing to say to her.»

Diana Evans, 26a

Early in the Morning

Post office in Tarifa (Spain). I had published more pictures here, from a former trip to that village, the southernmost of continental Europe.

HitM | Friendship House

Really nice and full of details house, even a swimming pool (on the back). With carefully chosen stamps that I just love.

I usually don't publish the messages, but this time I had:

Sent with care by Valerie (the USA).

Postcards from Mars

You can go to this site to get a postcard from Mars. Spoiler: It will be a virtual one (but still very cool!). Keep in mind if you, as usual, wish to reply: sending an actual postcard to Mars can be a bit expensive...

(Thanks, FinnBadger, for the links!)

Women on Stamps | Couples

If it is infrequent to get a stamp featuring a woman, let alone a stamp featuring a couple of women. But I have got some. Like:

This stamp was issued by USPS on 17 June 1980. Helen Keller (1880-1968) was an American author, political activist and lecturer. She was deaf-blind. Maybe you remember her and her teacher, Anne Sullivan, because of the film The Miracle Worker. The persistence of the teacher in order to break through Helen's walls of silence and darkness impressed me when I saw the film (There is a film from 2000, but I saw an earlier version).

Kathleen Lynn (874 – 1955) was an Irish Sinn Féin politician, activist and medical doctor. Elizabeth O'Farrell (884 – 1957) was an Irish nurse and member of Cumann na mBan.

In January, 2016 An Post introduced 1916-2016, a Definitive Stamps Series based on the Centenary of the Easter Rising. The stamps were grouped into four categories: Leaders and Icons; Participants; Easter Week; and The Aftermath. The Lynn-O'Farrell stamp belongs to the Participants category. Three more women and a girl appear on the rest of the series, compared with only nineteen men.

On 17 July 2014, Royal Mail launched a set of stamps to mark the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, featuring the sports of swimming, track cycling, squash, judo, netball and marathon. Two more stamps (judo and swimming) show sportswomen too.

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For the new edition of Sunday Stamps-II A to Z, I have decided to show some of the stamps I have got on letters and postcards, related to one topic: women. This is the post for the letter C.

More women on stamps.