ShangHai

It it very nice when someone on holidays cares enough to send you a postcard from their destination. In this case, not one, but two were sent by Bree (China) on 22 February. They landed here on 3 April. 

She was told at the post office that they had only one kind of stamp. Quite strange, because it was issued in 2004 (!). Both postcards bear the same, a beautiful illustration of a Yellow-bellied Tit (Periparus venustulus).

Celebration of Bulb Plants

Postcard sent by Heleen (the Netherlands), which celebrates the spring. It bears a matching stamp on the back:

The stamp belongs to the sheet issued on 1st March 2024, which mark the 75th anniversary of the garden of Keukenhof, in the city of Lise. The sheet has six stamps in three different designs: tulip,  daffodil and iris. Heleen has sent them all, on different pieces of mail.

They look gorgeous all together!

How Many Sheets Does Your Letter Has?

Two Pence unused Mulready letter sheet, blue, form a96

«Until the reformation of the postal service in 1840, envelopes were not commonly used at all when sending letters through the post. Postage prices were based on the number of sheets each letter contained, and an envelope was considered a sheet and so would therefore be charged accordingly. To avoi this extra cost, letter sheets were used; these were single sheets of paper that could be folded and sealed without the need for an envelope. In 1837, the social reformer Rowland Hill published a pamphlet outlining his proposed changes to the postal service (Post Office Reform: Its Importance and Practicability). Hill suggested a simplification of the whole system, with dramatically reduced prices based on weight rather that the number of sheets used per letter. Most importantly of all, Hill proposed a unifrom charge regardless of where in the country the letter was to be delivered, and with payment in advance (previously the costs would often be paid by the recipient of the letter). In 1840, Hill's proposals were accepted and two different methods of pre-payment were introduced -adhesive postage stamps, and pre-stamped letter sheets and envelopes.

    The artist William Mulready was commissioned to design the artwork for these letter sheets and envelopes. Hill had expected these to be more popular than postage stamps, but within days the overly elaborate designs with their images of Britannia with a lion at her feet, began to be caricatured and mocked. Hill wrote in his journal of his fear that there may be the need to 'substitute some other stamp for that design by Mulready' as 'the public has shown their disregard and even distaste for beauty'. The Mulready designs were quickly withdrawn and replaced by embossed envelopes. The envelopes featured the image of Queen Victoria based on a design by William Wyon. The Wyon penny envelope was an immediate success, but still could not compete with the convenience and flexibility of the postage stamp.»

James Ward, Adventures in Stationery

Sunday Stamps | Is Bamboo a Tree?

A Canadian stamp from 1994 featuring a Shagbark Hickory / Caryer ovale (Carya ovata). 

Two stamps from China (2013 & 2014) and one from Japan (2012), showing bamboo plants:

This is a post for Sunday Stamps. The topic today is Trees, Leaves.

Postbox Saturday | Bruges

A picture taken in 2018 in Bruges (Belgium).

Pink Spring Letters

Collages on envelopes sent by Laura (the UK).

Thursday Postcard Hunt | Columbus Union Station Arch

Not having any bus or tram or taxi at hand, I thought I could add a railway-related card to this week's Thursday Postcard Hunt. It shows the Columbus Union Station Arch (Arena District, Columbus, Ohio, the USA). 

The stamps on the envelope were issued in 2019 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Transcontinental Railway. They have some golden accents difficult to appreciate from a picture. I think some people took the central one for a label without face value, but it is a real stamp. 

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Thursday Postcard Hunt

April theme: TRANSPORTATION

• Week 1 - Boats, ferries
• Week 2 - Buses, trams, taxis
• Week 3 - Bicycles, tuk tuks
• Week 4 - Cable cars, gondolas

Everyone is welcome to share their postcards!

Fire Truck Letter

I participated last month in the new edition of Snail Mail My Email. I received the following e-mail to be transformed in a letter:

Dear Edison,

We cannot believe how fast you have grown in the past year and a half. We love how joyful, curious, and loving you are. Your laughs and hugs make our days, and we love your snuggles. We also love that you love trucks.

Love,

Mommy and Daddy

I was asked to include a truck, especially a fire truck. Here you have the front and back of my letter. Please, be indulgent... This is the first fire truck I have drawn in my life!

I hope Edison got it, and it liked the truck. Maybe he cannot read yet, but I like his parents wrote the word "love" so many times.

Go Beyond

Letter sent by Phillip (the USA).

Reading People

Slapende reiziger, by Charles Burki (1909-1994)

Solitude, 1815-1820
Mary S. Chapin

Postcards sent by Bryon (USA).

Sunday Stamps | Weather Maps

Today's topic in Sunday Stamps is The Sun or a sunny day. I uploaded a couple of weather maps on stamps:

A 202 stamp from Hungary, which celebrates 150th Anniversary of the Hungarian Meteorological Service.

A stamp issued on 1st February 2024, and belonging to the Royal Mail series Weather Forecasting, which marks the 170th anniversary of UK's national meteorological service. Barbara Edwards is is an English meteorologist who became the BBC's first female television weather presenter in January 1974.

Below, another one from the same set: 

Supercomputers and satellites help track the Earth's weather today

Postbox Saturday | Old Pictures

Sometimes, for #PostboxSaturday, I post pictures from trips that happened long ago. The post boxes above are, as you can see, in Vatican city... Or they were in 2017.

The picture below was taken in Aljezur (Portugal) ten years ago. 

Touchnote

Have you ever sent a postcard using one of those online services? I have never tried. 

I got this postcard from Heleen It took two weeks to arrive (13 March to 27 March). It was a nice surprise from Chicago, or the Netherlands, or Guernsey!

Thursday Postcard Hunt | Almost a Lighthouse

Some boats on this postcard from Breda sent by Heleen (the Netherlands).

The lighthouse in the canal is not a real one, meant to show the way to boats. It is a work of art by Italian architect and artist Aldo Rossi, placed in 1992. 

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Thursday Postcard Hunt

April theme: TRANSPORTATION

• Week 1 - Boats, ferries
• Week 2 - Buses, trams, taxis
• Week 3 - Bicycles, tuk tuks
• Week 4 - Cable cars, gondolas

Everyone is welcome to share their postcards!

Peace!

Some more stamps for the Peace Stamp project, received mint (from the Netherlands):

Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh)

Azerbaijan

Azores

Greenland

Guernsey