A Box of Postcards

 By MJ Malleck// Update: Mystery Solved Thanks to an anonymous friend, the mystery of the secret code is revealed. Here's what the postcard writer wrote: "Well, what do you know all the way from New Orleans and in semaphore. We are fine and hope you are too."  The key to unlocking the code came from his knowledge that, in English, the only double letters at the end of words are ll or ss. Seemed likely that the 3-letter word (sixth word in) must be ill or all. The symbol used for the second letter in the first word is used twice as much as any other symbol, so almost certainly an E, the most common English letter. (My friend plays Scrabble too.) Making the first word, Well.  After an hour, he had it. For those who don't know what semaphore means (I did not) it is a method of visual signaling, using flags or lights. The Chappe-Code I mention in the original post, was an kind of signaling using towers with moveable arms. The Boy Scouts used to teach the two-flag system...

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.   ...

 by MJ Malleck  Today’s postcard is more of a Thank You card, sent from Owen Sound, Ontario to General Delivery in Kincardine, Ontario. The writer dates it “Thursday” and the postmark is unclear, but stamps in Canada were 8 cents in 1972. Thursday, June 22, 1972, is my guess. Kincardine is a beach town, and cottagers would be there by the end of June, although Lake Huron might not be warm enough to swim in. “Hi. Many thanks for the help on Sunday – what a day! I stayed up on Monday and finally got the oven cleaned. Do you want me to order up your draperies yet? Love. C. “ Owen Sound is north of Kincardine, on Georgian Bay. If the writer “stayed up” somewhere, they perhaps have a cottage north of Owen Sound, perhaps in Tobermory or even further. Their friend would understand the work involved in opening and closing a summer place. Only a fellow cottager would offer to help get a place ready. Does C sew and make drapes for her friends? The illustration on the card are flow...

MJ Malleck// I love the message in today’s postcard, it is addressed to “Betty & Kay,” and it feels a bit like a boast to one’s girlfriends, who you know will be delighted for your good fortune. Se ptember 29, 1977 Dear Girls: Two weeks in London! A gentleman friend to dine and go to the theatre with! (We do share the costs of dinners and most theatres) But it has been fun. To Norway on Sunday. Love Dorothy L. The phrase gentleman friend means suitor, or beau, or male lover. There is a short story by the Anton Chekhov called A Gentleman Friend which you can read here…. https://americanliterature.com/author/anton-chekhov/short-story/a-gentleman-friend Perhaps Dorothy and her “gentleman friend” went to see Jesus Christ Superstar at the Palace Theatre. While many religious groups spoke against the play, especially as like Godspell it did not depict the crucifixion, it seems that Dorothy was a thoroughly modern girl. She pays her own way! So, she may have wanted to see JC...

 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...

MJ Malleck// This postcard was sent to Owen Sound from Barbados in February, perhaps in 1968. We are enjoying the beautiful weather, hot with a glorious breeze all the time. Have “done” the island pretty well by car, the shops on foot and persuaded the men to take “the ladies” night clubbing occasionally. Pleasant fellow resorters. Went to a service in a little old Methodist Church on Sunday. Have seen the two O.S. nurses who have come down for a year to hospital here. A Bien tot. Grace and Al   The front is “Ruins of an old sugar mill with blooming frangipani tree in foreground” from the beautiful pictorial book “Barbados” by Hans W. Hannau.  The book was published in 1966 and had captions in English, French, German and Spanish.   Grace and Al were at the start of a trend, because in the 1970s Canada was the largest source of tourists to the island. In 1979 for example, about 97,000 Canadians visited. I have not been able to find out about what kind of an exc...

 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...

 by MJ Malleck /// Today’s postcard was sent from London, England to Owen Sound September 15, 1977, almost 45 years ago. It reads: Many thanks for driving us down to Malton. We got off in time in a 747 and arrived on time, Heathrow. London is bright and warm to-day. We are in Hammersmith but there is a free bus into the Bristol so hope to get into town tomorrow. Love Phil & Charlotte. Two stamps, purple 5p with Queen Elizabeth’s profile, familiar to Canadians from our coinage and stamps. Although, in the 70s, our coins show Queen Elizabeth facing left and wearing a small tiara. The full crown on these British stamps didn’t appear on our coins until 1990. And I find that this crown is actually called a diadem. It is a full circle and what Elizabeth wears for royal portraits. The George IV State Diadem or the Diamond Diadem, made for his coronation. With roses, thistles, and shamrocks as symbols of England, Scotland, and Ireland it was designed in 1820 and has 1,333 diamond...

MJ Malleck //  It's a stinking hot day for so early in the summer, and I'm in the middle of a writers' challenge called #1000wordsofsummer. To write 1000 words a day, but today I am stuck and then I remembered: The box of Postcards. Still in my closet, a better prompt a writer couldn't ask for.  I reached in and pulled, believe it or not on this day of 31 degree Celsius and a heat warning, this gorgeous card from Arizona. Clear, blue sky and palm trees. Taken in the 60s, a photograph, from a balcony it looks like (no drones for civilians then). No writing on the back. I'm struck by how much concrete pad is poured around the pool. There are shuffleboard courts. A few people sunning (I'm thinking of sunburns and no sunscreen) and the people look older. All the women in one piece, modest suits. Some of the men bald or grey haired. I can see two children in the shallow end, but one is sitting quietly on the edge. The back of the card tells me it is Del Webb...