H is for Hollywood, Houston and Honeymoon Island

A journey across the United States of America, from east to west.

I would think the majority of people would know both Hollywood and Houston, but Honeymoon Island?  That one was new to me.  It was apparently once known as Hog Island but the name changed when some honeymoon cabins were built on the Island.  those cabins no longer exist, but the name remains.

B is for Biarritz and also for Bertie

I bought this vintage card on a whim because I collect neither cards from Biarritz (south east France) nor of royalty.  It shows King Edward VII of the United Kingdom strolling along "la Grande Plage". It doesn't look much like a beach to me, but that's irrelevant.  He apparently took a holiday each year in Biarritz.

The message on the back reads:

"C'est aussi que j'ai vu Sa Majesté le Roi d'Angleterre sur la plage aujourd'hui" [I also saw His Majesty King of England on the beach today]

And that I found interesting enough until I saw the date 24.4.10.  King Edward VII, or Bertie as he was known to his family, died in 1910  I looked up the dates.  He went to Biarritz in March 1910.  While he was there, he collapsed and stayed on longer than originally intended, not returning until 27 April 1910.

So he was spotted by the writer of this card just days before his return to London.  He died just 9 days later on 6 May 1910.

Malaysia

Songket is a brocade-like fabric woven in Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei.  It is traditionally woven on a part-time basis by girls and older women.  In Malaysia the main production is on the east coast, not far from from the traditional village shown on the postcard.

This is a post for Sunday Stamps, now hosted by Violet Sky at "See it on a Postcard!"

Arctic and Antarctic

Some years ago I received  a card from Chile but at the time didn't notice the stamp which I came across just the other day.  It commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of the Antarctic 1959.

The postcard above shows the way the Antarctic is divided up with the Chilean claim being to the left. I have another very similar one of the Arctic region.

I've previously posted two other Antarctic stamps, one from Port Lockroy and the other from Monaco.

This is a post for Sunday Stamps, now hosted by Violet Sky at "See it on a Postcard!"

Cannes

A view of Cannes on the south coast of France, the cote d'Azur, and a reminder of summer.  If I'm honest, that type of beach doesn't appeal to me in the lest.  There doesn't appear to be a square inch of free space.  Give me a deserted beach in the winter, that would be my preference.  In the background you can see a distant view of the Alps.

Beach wear

Newgate Gap in Margate where you can see, if you click on the image, everyone fully clothed and when sitting down they are on "proper" chairs.  I'm not sure how they managed to keep those chairs upright.  The card was sent in 1923 but I suspect it is an older image because the instructions for writing a message state "For inland postage this space, as well as the back, may now be used for communication."  That would date it to before 1909 or thereabouts.

Margate Beach, the Sands, pictured on a card dated 1917.  Now you will see many people sitting on the sand itself and the chairs are deckchairs.  People are still dressed in voluminous clothes and wearing hats.

Finally, Broadstairs Beach dated 1935.  Now we have people swimming and paddling and even one or two seem to be sunbathing.  I can't see too many hats or long and full skirts.

On a sunny day, both Margate and Broadstairs beaches can still be packed with people, at first glance not so very different from all those years ago.

A post for Sepia Saturday.  A click on the button will take you to the Sepia Saturday blog where you can find links to all the other people taking part.

Nida

The only word of explanation on this lovely card was "Nida", apart from the Lithuanian stamp.  That was enough for Googling though, and I found out that Nida is a resort on the Baltic Sea, on what is called the Curonian Spit, and the Curonian Spit is what you see on the card.  It is a long curved sand dune that separates the Baltic Sea from a lagoon.

The spit is special because the shifting sand dunes are under constant threat from the winds and the sea.  It isn't only sand though.  There are wetlands and forests too, and it is an important stopover point for migratory birds.  It is listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

Australia

For a change, they have named each of the sites shown.  From the top:

Heron Island, Great Barrier Reef
4 Mile Beach, Port Douglas
Welcome Bay, Fitzroy Island
Spirit of the Outback, Central Australia
Millaa Millaa Falls, Queensland

All so beautiful.

Pushing a pram on the prom

The promenade may be a little narrower and the road wider and busier, but Deal (in Kent, England) looks very much the same now as it did then.  I'm not entirely sure what "then" might have been, but maybe someone with an eye for fashion could tell me.  If you click on the image you will see a much larger one.  Although the pier looks the same as it does now, it must be different because it was rebuilt for the third time in 1954. 


You can still see parents pushing their children along beside the sea, although the prams do look very different now.  The most common sight though, is a child being carried while the parent drags/pushes a tricycle or scooter or something similar. No doubt they are failed attempts to encourage a child to move under his or her own steam.

A post for Sepia Saturday. A click on the button will take you to the blog.

Menton, Côte d'Azur

A postcard of Menton in the French Riviera, dated 1964.

A postcard, also of Menton, dated 1984.  I don't know how well you can see the cars, but I feel sure both pictures date from the same time in spite of one being sent 20 years later.  I decided to see what the are looked like today.

This is what Google Maps street view produced.  It's hardly changed apart from almost nobody is around.  I suppose it must have been mapped in the winter.  The cars look a little more modern this time.

Postcards from friends

I've been very lucky in the last few days - two cards arrived unexpectedly from friends across the Atlantic.

The first one I'm showing you came from Odie in North Carolina.  It's Bald Head Island, a wonderful looking island which "offers 14 miles of unspoiled beaches and more than 10,000 acres of salt marshes".  The disused lighthouse is affectionately known as Old Baldy.

The second came from Carmen of Carmen's Chronicles.  It doesn't just look like wood, it IS wood.  I've heard of wooden postcards before but this is the first one I've actually seen.  Strawberries are an obsession of Carmen's, she tells me. :)

It is approximately 4000 miles from where I live to North Carolina, and another almost 3,000 to Carmen in San Francisco.  I'm always taken aback by these distances.

Thank you both so very much for being so kind.

The London to Dover railway line.

Two postcards showing the same section of railway on the London to Dover route (or Dover to London, depending on your point of view).  The first one is dated 1907 and the second 1964, and it remains much the same today.  The main differences between the two cards, apart from the weather and the state of the tide, is the shape of the cliff which, like the cliffs nearer Dover, suffers regular landslips.

Although the railway line is still the same these days even though it now takes the high speed train, there have been major changes in this area most of which you can't see.  It is from beneath Shakespeare Cliff that the Channel Tunnel runs.

This is a photo I took myself about a year ago of the other side of the double rail tunnel seen in the two postcards.  The dual entrance is on the left but beside it there is another tunnel.  This one leads from the road above and allows visitors get to the large recreation area which has been made from the waste produced by digging the Tunnel. It is called Samphire Hoe, a lovely  nature reserve where you can walk, picnic, watch birds, butterflies and other wildlife.

A post for Sepia Saturday.  A click on the button will take you to the blog.

Anticipating summer

The sun came out today so I'm dreaming of summer seaside holidays.  I'm not sure what the mops are for but maybe they've been swabbing the decks.  The card came from Ukraine so I assume we're looking at the Black Sea.  The title of the picture is "Midday".

Cap Blanc Nez

On a clear day they can see England!  The cliffs near Calais in France, even nearer to Coquellles where the trains through the Channel Tunnel arrive, are part of the Nature Park of the Côte d'Opale.

From the back of the card:
By taking the trail you will discover this imposing chalk cliff rising to 134 metres.  On a clear day you will be able to admire the English coast and, to the south the Bay of Wissant and Cap Gris Nez.  

Cap Blanc Nez translates as Cape White Nose but probably comes from Blannest meaning headland of good colour.  It is almost over the point where the Channel Tunnel emerges and near the infamous Sangatte refugee camp which was closed in 2002.  Cap Gris Nez is maybe best known as the nearest point to England, 21 miles or 34 km.

The monument shown is of Hubert Latham who made the first attempt to fly over the English channel.  On the same day he became the first person to bring an aeroplane down on water.  There is another monument on Cap Blanc Nez to commemorate the Dover Patrol which kept the Channel free of U-boats during the First World War.

Two places in Wales

As it's St David's day the feast day of the patron saint of Wales, I've chosen two cards showing very different views of the country.  Both were issued as stamps during the 1980s.

The first, Stackpole Head, is a popular beauty spot on the south west cost.  The second is in the north east and is the aqueduct that carries the Llangollen Canal over the River Dee valley.  It is the longest and highest aqueduct in the British isles and is a World Heritage Site, though only relatively recently inscribed.

United Arab Emirates

This is another of my bric-a-brac shop finds.  There is a postmark on the back of the card from Dubai, dated 1995 but I see another on the front from Gatwick.  I'm not sure why that should have happened.  There is another on the back, over the stamp. 

The picture at the top on the left is Fujaira Fort built of mud bricks, recently renovated and restored.  Pictures I've found on the internet do look as though the renovation took place after this picture was produced.

I'd say that a lot has changed on Jumaira Beach too, unless this is either different from Jumeirah Beach or a section away from the modern developments.  I would have thought they would have been started by 1995.  Maybe it's an old card.

Australia and its beaches

Last summer Australia issued a beautiful set of stamps showing beaches around the country.  The card arrived the worse for wear with a stamp the Bay of Fires, Tasmania, also the worse for wear.  The images of the set come from the Australia Post online shop.

This is a post for Sunday Stamps, now hosted by Violet Sky at "See it on a Postcard!"

Usedom

The summer holidays are going to come to a crashing halt in the England and Wales when the A Level results come out this week and the scramble for university places starts.  That happened last week in Scotland.  The autumn term starts at the end of August or the beginning of September, depending on where you live. 

In France the schools go back in the first week of September but there I stop.  I don't know what happens in other countries.  I think some parts in the USA have already gone back to school.  Does the southern hemisphere work right through?  I suppose they must have their long breaks in their own summer.

The card shows a small seaside town, Heringsdorf, on the island of Usedom.  The island, in the Baltic Sea, lies on the border between Germany and Poland and is an extremely popular holiday destination.  It was very popular with the German Emperors which earned it the nickname "Bathtub of Berlin".

The White Cliffs of Dover

This postcard was my starting point for this week's Sepia Saturday, mainly because it shows a similar shaped car to the one in the prompt (they all look the same to me) and partly because it actually is sepia.  This card has a space marked for a 1d stamp which dates it at anything between 1918 and 1940.  Probably people who know about cars could date it more closely.

Note the castle, Dover Castle, on the skyline.  The keep is to the left and at the highest point you have the church and the remains of the Roman lighthouse.  They are still exactly the same to this day.

This card also shows Marine Parade and is probably the oldest of the cards.  It allows correspondence on the reverse, only for inland postage.  Correspondence on the reverse came into effect in the UK in 1902, but at varying times for the rest of the world until 1909.

With the wider angle, you can now see the white cliffs to the right of the castle.

A very similar view is shown in this reproduction of a 1924 card, though taken from the bottom of the slipway seen in the earlier card.  Otherwise the view is almost identiical.

Now moving closer to the eastern cliffs with the castle out of sight.  The building on the extreme left I am fairly sure is now the White Clliffs Hotel.  In front of it there is now a duel carriageway leading to the cross channel ferry port.

Finally, the most modern card, dating from 1997 showing the East cliff again, but now with the ferry port and a road sweeping down from the cliff above.  This road, the Jubilee Way, was built in 1977.  Otherwise, very little has changed over the years, fairly miraculous when you consider the proximity of mainland Europe and the bombs that fell during the war.

During World War I the town was the first place in Britain ever to be bombed, and the bomb was aimed at the castle.  In all, 184 bombs were dropped on Dover until the end of the war in 1918.  During World War II, the bombing was much heavier of course.  The first fell on 6 July 1940, and 2226 bombs later, the last fell 26 September 1944, averaging nearly two a day.  They estimate over 10,000 buildings were damaged and yet these along the sea front escaped.

You can find other old images and new reflections at at Sepia Saturday.