Thursday Postcard Hunt | Illustrations of Northern European Cities

Cologne (Germany)

London (United Kingdom)

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The London Eye on the South Bank of the Thames

is 135 metres high and gives a spectacular view of London by night.

Text and illustration: Jason Brooks

Canterbury (the UK)

Postcards sent by Bruno (PC) and Laura (the UK).

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Thursday Postcard Hunt
February theme: CITIES

• Week 1 - Asian
• Week 2 - Southern European
• Week 3 - Northern European
• Week 4 - North American

Everyone is welcome to share their postcards!

Follow Your Heart

Back of an envelope sent by Imma (PC).

Sunday Stamps | Waterfalls

Dark Hollow Falls, 
Shenandoah National Park, Virginia

For today's Sunday Stamps, dedicated to Waterfalls & Rivers, the three stamps I have got from the 2023 USPS series Waterfalls.

Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River
 Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

Grotto Falls
Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee

Rainbow of Letters

Letters sent by Laura (the UK).

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Sent by Laura (the UK).

Sent by Brian (Ireland), from a Postcrossing meetup.

Randomly Thinking of You

I got the rest of these stamps. They still strike me as a random pile of strange things nicely arranged (a pink cat? a sticking-plaster?). I feel better now that I know that, what I thought to be a vulcano, is actually a birthday hat!

According with the USPS site, these are not just random illustrations:

Capturing the excitement and delight of receiving a card in the mail meant just for you, Thinking of You features five stamps in a pane of 20 and a host of die-cut, self-adhesive messages — perfect to accompany letters or cards sent to brighten someone’s day. Each stamp is designed in fun colors with different whimsical images, including flowers, balloons, cute animals, sweet treats and symbols of good luck. Words of encouragement and thoughtful affirmations surround the stamps on the pane. Art director Greg Breeding designed the stamps with original artwork by Ellen Surrey.

Postcat, Postwhale...

Would you say this is cat mail, whale mail, bird mail...?

Postcard sent by Heleen (the Netherlands).

Rainbow

 Letter sent by Imma (PC).

Fancy a Hot Beverage? (1)

Letter sent to Heleen (the Netherlands).

(Original designs by Merle Goll. Just trying to learn how to draw by imitating great illustrators.)

Sunday Stamps | (Secular) Christmas

Some Christmas stamps I have got in 2022...

France

Netherlands

United Kingdom

United States of America

You can go to Sunday Stamps to see more (Secular) Christmas stamps.

Sunday Stamps | Heroes of the Covid Pandemic

Jessica Roberts - NHS Workers
Shachow Ali - Captain Sir Tom Moore

Raphael Valle Martin - NHS hospital cleaners
Alfie Craddock - NHS/my mum

Connie Stuart - The NHS
Ishan Bains - Doctors, nurses

Logan Pearson - Lab technician
Isabella Grover - Delivery driver

Stamps issued on 23 March 2022, drawn by Children (today's theme in Sunday Stamps!). Sent by John (the UK) on several postcards.

It Is Raining Cats and Dogs

Actually, it was yesterday, not today. But I love that idiom, and I have never the chance to use it in real life…

Postcard sent by Bryon (the USA).

A Rainbow of Full Colour Envelopes

Envelopes sent by Laura and John (the UK), Matt (the USA) and Pina (Belgium).

Some Rainbows Out

 

Letters sent to David, Phillip and Andy (the USA), Imma (PC) and Catherine (France).

Greenhouses

Coloured envelopes sent to John and Laura (the UK) and Phillip (the USA).

Rainbow Birds

Letters sent to Phillip (the USA) and Heleen (the Netherlands).

(Template from here)

Happy, Happy Post!

So many postal details on this letter from John (the UK)! (Forget the pen cancellation).

Channel Islands Box Green (1852-3)

One of two surviving Channel Islands boxes installed in Guernsey. It was one of the first pillar boxes to be introduced in the UK as an experiment in the Channel Islands in 1852-3. Anthony Trollope, who at the time worked for the General Post Office oversaw this trial. The success of these boxes triggered the introduction of pillar boxes on the Mainland later in 1853.

 

The Illustrated London News. 

Oct. 24, 1874

The fifteenth quarterly meeting of the friends of the Post Office Orphan Home was held in the library of the Eastern Central Letter-Carriers' Office yesterday week. Mr. W. Powley, the treasurer, occupied the chair; when seven orphans (children of letter carriers) were taken charge of by the committee and placed out with foster parents until they arrive at the age of fifteen; and weekly allowances were granted to the mothers of three children until they arrive at the age of five years, when they will be taken charge of by the committee.

1857 1st Nat. Standard Wall Box (Tintagel, Cornwall)

&

George V Type Wall Box

1980

Ballyroney, County Down, Northern Ireland

The illustration of this postcard is reproduced from a stamp designed by Terence Millington and issued by Royal Mail on 12 August 1997. Actually, I had got that stamp:

This was really...

So, thanks to the sender and...