States Project | The Sooner State

I always feel curious about the US states nicknames. I found this explanation about The Sooner State:

In 1889, people poured into central Oklahoma to stake their claims to nearly 2 million acres opened for settlement by the U.S. government. Those who entered the region before the land run’s designated starting time, at noon on April 22, 1889, were dubbed “sooners.”

I like that on the back of this postcard appears Mr ZIP! There is also a postmark indicating it has been missent, but I am not sure about this point. It was postmarked on 10 December, and reached me on 23 January. 

See all the Bryon's States Project postcards.

2000 Mail Adventures

This envelope was mailed by my friend Lluïsa in Madrid (Spain) on 11 September 2017, or so the postmark indicates. It arrived in Morocco on 19 October. Five weeks seem quite a lot for a letter from Spain...

The fact is that, if you look closely, you can see two postmarks. The round with the wavy lines is one of the commonest of Correos (the Spanish Postal Service). On the left, a second one, made on 3 October (exactly at 15h 56). So?  

Maybe I am wrong, but I think that SWLF on the postmark stands for Sydney West Letter Facility. 

So... the letter made, let's say, a little detour. Some letters just want to see a bit of the world.

(This is the 2,000th post on this blog. Thanks for reading.)

Slow, Slow Letters

I am more or less used to letters and postcards travelling one or two months before reaching their recipients in Russia and China, especially when I post them in Morocco. It is the same for other distant countries. For instance, I was not surprised that those postcards from Jordan, Palestine and Mexico needed two months to reach my mailbox. To be honest: I was surprised they arrived eventually.

Long delays do not happen often when sending mail to Europe and the USA, or receiving mail from there. However, I sent a letter to the USA on 3 February, and it arrived on 19 March. As the recipient pointed out, it must be some kind of record... And at least four letters from the USA were sent several weeks ago, and they have not arrived (yet?).

This letter sent by Micu (Hungary) is the latest which has amazed me. I received it last Friday (18 March). At first I did not realised that it was actually sent long time ago. If you can see the postmark, you read: 7 December 2015. This was registered. The tracking service of Magyar Posta said that it was sent abroad two days later... But it arrived in Morocco in 15 March, according to Poste Maroc.

I am not sure because the blue postmark is not clear, but I think this one was missent to Algeria. What a long travel for the Smurf who was inside...!

Beatles Fans + Missent

This is my contribution for today's Sunday Stamps II. The theme chosen is Making Music.

This stamp by Royal Mail on January 9, 2007. It belongs to a miniature set of 4 x 1st gummed stamps showing Beatles memorabilia (like this toy guitar), from the collection of Pete Nash. I find fascinating that these stamps are not dedicated to the musicians or the music, but to the merchandising around them.

The stamp arrived on the back of this postcard sent by John (the UK): 

A bit wretched arrived, didn't it? Well, not strange if we consider that it was written on March 22, 2014; postmarked two days later... And arrived on May 19... 2015. Nothing serious:the Dragon decided to go for a stroll before landing in my mail box. Just to... Jamaica.

(Were we speaking about missent postcards...?)

Returned

I sent this letter to Oman before Christmas, and it was returned ten weeks later... from  the United Arab Emirates (?). So I put it in an bigger envelope and sent it again. And I hope this time it will reach the recipient's mail box safe and sound!

New Zealand - Singapore - Spain

This postcard was sent by Tarya from Auckland (New Zealand). But it arrived with a postmark from Singapore.