The Mail Monsters Project | 23

The Mail Monsters are smarter
than most people think.

These are so clever that they disappeared forever...

HitM | Painting the Little Houses

Another enjoyable submission for the Houses in the Mail project: a reproduction of Painting the Little House by Norman Rockwell (1921).

Four days ago, I received a sort of Christmas version of the postcard above: Christmas:Santa with Elves (1922), by the same painter. It appeared as a cover for The Saturday Evening Post.

This one not only arrived with seasonal Christmas and Kwanzaa stamps, but directly from the North Pole!

Update: And another one from the same painter!

Santa at his Desk

All these postcards sent by Bryon (the USA).

The Mail Monsters Project | 22

The number of Mail Monsters seems infinite...

And they take different shapes and sizes. For instance, Philippe show here his mail (orange colour), and a yellow mail monster, invisible to the naked eye, who is about to devour it.

But not all the Mail Monsters are this small...

Oh! Yes! I do believe in mail monsters! Oui, je crois que les monstres du courrier existent.

Mais ce ne sont pas des petites bestioles invisibles, ce sont des êtres humains, des employés de la Poste qui, parfois, ne transportent pas le courrier que je leur confie. (certes, courrier non réglementaire)

Heureusement, ils sont très rares. En 35 ans d'art postal, seules 4 ou 5 lettres ne sont pas parvenues à mes destinataires.

Only 4 or 5 letters lost in 35 years! Have you been that lucky?

HitM | Fantasy Houses

All kind of houses keep arriving for the Houses in the Mail project. Here, some houses from fantasy books...

This postcard sent by Bruno (PC) features a background painting for the film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1917), by Disney.

Postcard sent by Bryon (the USA), showing Hagrid's house. One of my favourite characters of Harry Potter books!

Postcard sent by Phillip (the USA) showing a house in Hobbiton, from The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R Tolkien. Illustrated by Alan Lee (1991).  And it arrived inside a no less fantastic envelope!

Remember to Post Early This Christmas

I don't know if it is too late, but I'm still posting Christmas/New Year mail.

Because the very day I sent the first batch, I received my first Christmas card, too. Of course... from a person I hadn't sent any card to. It doesn't matter how much you shorten your list, it always end up being longer!

I really love these 2018 Christmas stamps issued by Royal Mail:

Update: 

I got two wonderful postcards from John, showing the designs of this set:

Update 2:

And another one from Laura!

Roman Bath

One of my favourite theme for postcards (and in general!) is Ancient Rome. My friend Laura sent me these from the Roman Baths in Bath (England, the UK). The third one is quite curious!

The Great Bath

The pediment from
the Temple of Sulis Minerva

The owl and the helmet are attributes of the goddess whilst the central roundel bears the image of a powerful water deity.

Lead curse found in
the Sacred Spring in 1879

Romantic interpretations suggest that it records a girl -Vilbia- taken from her lover. Unsure to whom to blame, the plaintiff lists the likely culprits.

Sunday Stamps | Q for Queen

This stamp belongs to a set entitled Picture Book Animals, issued by USPS on 10 January 2006. 

Maisy's ABC (1194) is a book by Lucy Cousins. The main character is a female mouse who lives in an orange house with a red roof. She loves to paint and play with her friends. Her birthday is February 10.

In the same letter, I received another stamp from that set: Frederick, the main character of the book with the same name by Leo Lionni (1967).

I have not read any of the books. But, somehow, Frederick on this stamp seems to me the poor relative of Queen Maisy...

I added this post to Sunday Stamps, for the letter Q.

The Mail Monsters Project | 21

The Mail Monsters grasp a letter whenever they can.

Don't tell me I didn't warn you...

Hard Postal Work

Emptying the pillar box
John's picture

An Attack on the Exeter Mail in 1816
Stamp designed by Keith Bassford
and Stanley Paine, engraved by Csezlaw Slania,
and issued on 31 July 1984
Maxicard sent by John (the UK)

Distribution of the letter
(Self-delivering letters?!?)

From the French stamp series
The Journey of a Letter (1984)

HitM | Georgian Houses in Bath

The Royal Crescent is a row of 30 terraced houses laid out in a sweeping crescent in the city of Bath, England. Designed by the architect John Wood, the Younger and built between 1767 and 1774, it is among the greatest examples of Georgian architecture to be found in the United Kingdom. 

You can visit the number one and, see, for instance, the lady's room that appears on the postcard below... (I bet your bedroom is more or less like this!)

The Bath Assembly Rooms were designed in 1769 by the same architect. They are a set of elegant assembly rooms located in the heart of Bath in England which are now open to the public as a visitor attraction. On the postcard, you can see the Great Octagon Room, built in 1771.

The Herschel Museum of Astronomy is located at 19 New King Street. This well preserved house represents a middle-grade Georgian town house, typical of the homes of artisans and tradesmen of the city of Bath (but contrasting with Bath's grand visitor houses).

Postcards sent by Laura (the UK).

Happy Sinterklaas Eve!

Postcard arrived last year with a wonderful wonderful present (I didn't take any picture, sorry), from Heleen (the Netherlands).

If you are waiting for Sinterklaas to arrive... I wish you a lot of presents & chocolate!

(Almost) Ready!

So... most of my Christmas & Winter Holidays mail is ready to be sent!

(Most are letters and/or commercial postcards, but the foreground Santa is my drawing.)

Time for Christmas Mail Again?

Here some of the Christmas greetings I sent last year. Painted with watercolours pencils:

And made of catalogues:

Sunday Stamps | P for Police

For the letter P of Sunday Stamps I have chosen Police. Actually, this theme is not a favourite of mine. But I have recently discovered that the police is a very common theme for stamps collectors (?!), and I started to look if I have received any of those...

25 years of the Czech Police
Czech Republic, 2016
(More information)

London Police
United Kingdom, 1979

London Police
United Kingdom, 1979

Lighthouses on Stamps

On the back of an envelope, John included some lighthouses on stamps from other countries, for my pleasure.

The Netherlands

Pakistan

The USA

Germany