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. ...

Thanks to your people I'm eating like royalty

by MJ Malleck// You may have noticed that I often find the “Canadian” connection when I am researching these postcards. Today I found a few. This is a card of the Ocean Dunes Motor Inn on 74 th and 75 th Ave North Myrtle Beach South Carolina. “Hi, Enjoyed our trip thanks to your people. The food here is just great. We are eating like kings. The golf courses are just great. Ted has played every day and I go out twice. Club houses and homes something to see. Weather cool but sunny. Getting a good rest and feeling great See you Thanksgiving. L. Ted & Bonnie.” There is no date, but the American Flag stamp (8 cents) is from 1971. And the mention of Thanksgiving makes me think this trip is taking place in September. I found an Ocean Dunes Resort and Villas, and a current photograph that looks almost exactly like this postcard. Now it is called the North Shore Oceanfront Hotel. Daily room rates are from US $69 to $500 for the Penthouse. I wonder if by CLUB the writer m...

Ehrwald, Austria: Hats Off to Pensions, Borders in the Air

Today’s postcard is from Ehrwald, Austria. February 19, 1958. It says: “ Dear Phil & Charlotte, Enjoying a skiing and sight-seeing holiday in Western Austria. The kids are enjoying the snow, we had so little of it in France. Our Pension is called Daheim, and it is like a ski lodge and much cheaper than staying at a hotel. Expect to go up to the top of Germany’s highest mountain on a cable car soon and intend to go to Innsbruck tomorrow. Took some ski lessons from a read Austrian ski champ but I still get stiff & sore. Must be getting old! Best Regards from Austria, Ted & Mildred.” Hard to know who wrote it and who is stiff, Ted or Mildred, as in 1958 women might have written correspondence but signed husband’s name first. (As it is also addressed to a couple, man’s name first.) This is pre-Air BnB era, so I am interested in the idea of a Pension being cheaper than a hotel. Apparently, from Fodor’s Travel, I learn that a pensione (spelt correctly with an e on the end i...

A Box of Postcards

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