Hometown

A photo taken by Xu Yong, a famous photographer interested in taking shots of local people especially in rural areas.  This one shows a typical roadside stand in a western village of China which is less developed and still retains some ancient lifestyles.

Large shops, little shops, and advertising

Chichester East Street in the 1970s.  It would have met with the approval of my great-aunt Gladys, as noted on the back by my father.  She judged the worth of a town purely and simply on whether or not it had a Marks and Spencer shop.   Apart from that, though, the street doesn't appear to have been overtaken by the large chains. Yet.  At the far end you can see the Market Cross or Chichester Cross.  (See also City Cross, High Cross, or Buttercross in Winchester)

Another card from the 1970s but this one shows the smaller shops that struggle against the might of the big chains on High Streets these days.  There is a movement to encourage small shops back but how successful that will be in these days of little time and not much more money, I really don't know. 

To see this pre-1902 postcard in more detail, you will need to click on the image.  It shows crowds of people waiting to get into Blackpool Central Pier to add to the crowds already there.  That much is probably visible without magnification, but the advertising is harder to see.  The signs are:

Bovril is King in the Kitchen
Sames Pianos
Mothers try Pritchard's Teething Powder
Kaputine for headache (safe, apparently)
Boots Cash Chemists

Well, Bovril and Boots are still around today and so is Central Pier, but it looks very different today.

Do visit Sepia Saturday and see how other people have interpreted (or not) the theme this week.

One potato, two potatoes**

If I'm honest, I had no idea what this card was showing until I read the back:
Señor pelando papas, Cuzco (Perú).  Then I had to go to Google Translate to discover that means "Man peeling potatoes in Cuzco, Peru".  The few words of Spanish I know don't stretch to peeling potatoes.

It may seem a little strange that a man peeling potatoes would be the subject of a postcard but potatoes are enormously important in Peru.  They were first grown in southern Peru 7,000 - 10,000 years ago and there are now 5000+ different varieties worldwide.  Of these varieties, 3,000 are found in Peru and nearby Andean countries.  Potatoes, the third most important crop in the world, after rice and wheat, could be considered the first modern convenience food. 

The International Potato Centre is located in Lima, Peru and there they hold the largest collection of potato varieties in the world.  They have a page of facts and figures worth reading.

**When I was a child we used the rhyme

One potato, two potato
Three potato, four,
Five potato, six potato,
Seven potato, more.

as a way of choosing who was "IT".

A post for Postcard Friendship Friday hosted on Beth Niquette's blog The Best Hearts are Crunchy.

Life on the Loess Plateau

The Loess Plateau is in north west China, a huge area about the size of France.  The soil, the loess, was created by glaciers 2 million years ago, and has been perfect for agriculture but very susceptible to erosion.  The distinctive yellow colour of the Yellow Sea and the Yellow River is the result of this erosion.  What was once lush forest is now a dry and desert-like area with a poor economy.

You can see a very interesting video on the area from China Green.

The people living there traditionally live in caves, but they aren't natural caves.  There are three types:  some are built into natural slopes sometimes at several levels;  some are built "standalone" with soil covering them up; and others are built into the walls of an excavated pit. 

The main advantage of this type of dwelling is that the temperature stays relatively stable - cool in summer and warm in winter.

Postcard Friendship Friday is hosted on Beth Niquette's blog The Best Hearts are Crunchy.

Following mother

I found this card in the local shop that is somewhere between a junk shop and an antique shop.  I think they would like to call themselves an antique shop, especially after having appeared on one of the television antiques programmes.  Maybe it would be churlish of me to disagree.

It is from Vietnam, sent in 2007 from someone who was trying to see the whole country in two weeks.  That seems very optimistic to me.  All the card says on the back is "Following mother to the field", also in French.  I often forget that Vietnam was once a French colony.  It looks as though they are in a rice field, weeding.  Back-breaking work.

I know a lot of people have terrible memories of Vietnam but now it appears to be a popular holiday destination.   I must admit I'd love to see it myself.

Kaunas

The central street in Kaunas, taken about some time ago apparently.  The sender tells me people dress very differently now.  They look fairly modern to me but I suppose I don't have the same perspective as an 18 year old girl.

The stamp is one I've received a few times now, Galileo Galilei, a physicist, mathematician and astronomer.  In fact I nearly trotted him out when the theme was astronomy.  He featured on one of the Lithuanian Europa stamps for 2009 when the theme was ..... astronomy!

A South Africa Township

The card doesn't specify which township this is and of course it's more than likely it isn't one in particular.  The sender says life in the townships is colourful and somehow people have combined African living with modern times.  It doesn't really matter where it is,the card transports me straight into The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency.