Just a Christmas "Howdy"

A simple wish for the holiday. A blank postcard this time. Made in the U.S.A. No date. Some gold foil ink. No sure why images that look like Holland are married with a greeting like "Howdy"?

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Two Innovators in Lucerne: Eduard and Franz

by MJ Malleck// Today I’ve pulled a blank souvenir postcard depicting the town of Lucerne and Mount Pilatus in the distance. The town of Lucerne sits on the fourth largest lake in Switzerland, near to Mt. Pilatus, where legend says a dragon once lived. Perhaps the visitors took the 4,618-meter-long cogwheel railway from Alpnachstad (a village close to Lucerne by train) to the mountain peak. With a gradient of 48% (meaning it gains 48 feet in elevation for every 100 feet forward, disregarding the incline) it is the steepest cogwheel railway in the world. When engineer Eduard Locher suggested putting a railway on Mount Pilatus he was mocked, but his masterpiece was exhibited at the 1889 World Fair in Paris and is still in use today. He cleverly devised his system using two horizontally rotating cogwheels. Most of these systems (also called rack railway, or rack-and-pinion) put the toothed rail underneath the train, between the running rails. On flat surfaces, friction is enough. ...

Rome 1959: Fascist Architecture, Barefoot Running and Not Really Heatstroke

by MJ Malleck// Today’s postcard is written is a scrawling script, that in another generation, when cursive is no longer taught, will be hard to decipher. I got most of it, but I’m not sure what the one word at the top of the postcard says. (Not Saturday, May 10 in 1959 was a Sunday). Hazel smartly printed the mailing address. Rome, May 10 This is the best and we do so hope you two will be able to go with us next year. fine food. good hotels and lots of fun, and art. Love Hazel & Morty. The photo is a black and white of what looks like a football stadium. It says Roma Stadio Olympico. (On the other side, Olympic Stadium (English), Stade Olympique (French) Olympisches Stadium (German) The stamp was 35 Lires. I was curious why anyone would send a postcard of a sports stadium, from the city that holds the Coliseum and so many ancient wonders. Then I discovered that this stadium was part of the 1960 Summer Olympic Games, which Rome hosted. So, Hazel and Morty sound like they a...

That's Capital !

MJ Malleck // Two postcards today, because they were taped together. Never mailed, just saved. They are from Washington, D.C. One shows the White House and one the State Capital building. The serendipity always amazes me. This week even in Canada our eyes are on Washington. Roe vs. Wade, a precedent guaranteeing a woman’s right to abortion, was overturned by the US Supreme Court. And we are watching the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capital building! The United States Capital sits in spacious grounds on the crest of a hill, dominating the entire city of Washington, D.C. It was designed by Dr. William Thornton who was the winner in a prize competition. Thornton, who had been born in the British West Indies in 1759 became an American citizen in 1787. His design for the U.S. Capital was chosen by President George Washington in 1793 and he received $500 and a building lot in the city. He moved to Washington in 1794 and was appointed a...

A Box of Postcards

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