Children of Men

 

1995: 50th Anniversary of the United Nations

"We, the people of the United Nations ... together for a better world"

2024: The Who - Album Covers

The Who - My Generation, their breakthrough single (1965); Tommy the rock opera double album (1969); Who Are You (1978), the drummer Keith Moon died weeks after this was issued aged 32, and the sentiment of My Generation came true,  "I hope to die before I get old". Lastly, Face Dances (1981). their 9th studio album now featuring Kenny Jones on drums. Decades later and led by the band's surviving members Pete Townsend and Roger Daltrey  The Who are on their final North American run 'The Song is Over Tour' this year.

Sunday Stamps theme - Men Who Might Be Fathers at work and play - See It On A Postcard. 

Stone

 See It On A Postcards Thursday Postcard Hunt is looking for all things geological

The Stone, Bentham

Great Stone of the Fourstones or as it called locally The Stone or sometimes The Big Stone. A glacial erratic. There was once four of them but the others have disappeared having probably been used in the past for building stone.  This one survives because it marks a border between Yorkshire and Lancashire.  Someone in the past has carved 14 steps to the top for ease of access to enable everyone to gaze across the moorland.

The card was sent in 1908 and the sender was having "a grand time but such horrid weather. If you want to know what rain is come to Bentham, been wet through twice".

Fossil Cave, Naracoorte, South Australia

Maybe they should head underground.The limestone caves of Naracoorte classed as a World Heritage Site because their abundance of fossils and by the looks of it some stunning stalagmites and stalactites. Only four of the estimated 26 caves are open to the public to preserve the fossil record for research.

Crossings Illustrated

 

1994: Postman Pat Visits the Isle of Man (Design - Colleen Corlett)

 

Postman Pat and his black and white cat Jess are using the Green Cross Code to cross the road safety.  "Stop, look, listen, think". No sign of the Green Cross Code Man but we do have a policeman to remind them. The stamps issued with the mini sheet tells the story of Pat visiting his friend Ffinlo who takes him to well known locations on the Isle of Man.  The stop motion animation has been turned into stamps by one of Isle of Man post's popular illustrators Collen Corlett.

In the UK we have Lollipop ladies (and men but that doesn't have the allure of alliteration) who hold up their large lollipop shaped stop signs. In  Germany they are called Pupil Pilots and the stop signs on this card are a lot smaller.

1983: Children and Traffic (Design - Lilo Fromm)

An all action illustration complete with lollipop and ball is by the artist and children's book illustrator  Lilo Fromm,

Sunday Stamps theme - Illustrated, Engraving - See It On A Postcard 

Entrances

 See It On A Postcard's Thursday Postcard Hunt starts the month with the theme 'Details' - Architecture

Hahnetor Gate, Cologne

Here is where once kings entered Cologne on the way to the cathedral after being crowned in Aachen. Of Cologne's 12 medieval gateways three have been preserved. Hahnetor Gate stands at the west of the city on Rudolfplatz 

The main portal of Bern Minster considered one of the finest examples of Gothic sculpture in Switzerland and the only statues of the cathedral to survive the iconoclasm of the Protestant Reformation. Above the doors is the Last Judgment. The figures to the left of the door represent the five Foolish Virgins, the ones to the right are the Wise Virgins. In the centre - Justice. (Wikipedia has a photo of the rather more glitzy gold painted details).

Patriarchal Basilica St John Lateran, Rome

 The fancy facade of the Archbasilica of St John Lateran constructed by Alessandro Galilei although at the time (1733-35) the "monumental severity and palace character of the facade caused a scandal in Roman artistic circles" others did not take the same view and by the end of the century its neoclassical beauty was admired. 

Medley of Minibeasts

 

2009: Endangered Species (Illustrator - Roger Kent)

Creepy crawlers and winged wonders with a Emperor Dragonfly and Southern Wood Ant. Below them - Alpine longhorn beetle (found in beech forests) and an Apollo Butterfly

2003: Insects

A mayfly (Ephemera danica), and an aquatic beetle, Dytiscus latissimus, who before they dive collect air bubbles in their wing cases. The wing cases of beetles are called elytra and protect the delicate wings that are used for flight. Although Diving Beetles differ in many ways to their terrestrial cousins they have kept the ability to fly and use light reflection on water surfaces to detect new habitats. 

1992: Beetles

A violet oil beetle. Because they are reliant on solitary bees as part of their life cycle and depend on a healthy and diverse wild bee population with wildflower meadows they are classified as under threat.  They exude a yellowish oily substance from their leg joints when in danger hence their name.

2024: Spiders (Illustrator - Richard Lewington)

Do spiders count as creepy crawlers or do they move far too fast?

Sunday Stamps theme - Creepy Crawlers - scuttle over for more at See It On A Postcard    

Riding

See It On A Postcard's  Thursday Postcard Hunt is looking at Colourful Vehicles

Everybody Razzle Dazzle 2015 -  Design - Peter Blake

The 2015 Liverpool Biennial used the centenary of WW1 and its theme. One of the pieces of art was the transformation of the Mersey ferry Snowdrop.  It was pop artist Peter Blake's riff on the black and white dazzle painting of boats in WW1 intended to confuse the enemy. Although the Razzle Dazzle was only originally to last for two years it has become an attraction in itself. When I was last in Liverpool a couple of years ago she was still carrying its colours as passengers travelled across the Mersey from Pier Head to Seacombe and back. (Short video of the painting)

The more muted tones of of a London tram built in 1911 and modernised in 1938 in the Depot Yard of the National Tram Museum part of Critch Tramway village. As they say 'a grand day out' with tram rides, woodland walks and a historic pub. The Palm Toffee on the advert board was a break your teeth slab or bar of hard toffee with various flavours running through the middle, one of these being banana, the colour as vivid as the banner. They stopped making it in the 1970s.

Southern Railway 4-6-2 'City of Wells'

Still on the rails of a different kind the City of Wells built in 1945 and withdrawn from service in 1964 and rescued from the scrap yard by the  Keighley and Worth Valley Railway in 1971. Following restoration work it return to the rails in 1979 as seen here in West Yorkshire, or as they like to advertise it 'A Journey Through Bronte Country'.  Not all hyperbole as a package was dispatched from Keithley Station in 1847 to a publisher in London resulting in the publication that year of Jane Eyre.

Settlements

 

1996: Mankind Inheritance of Culture and Nature

The Old Town (Alstadt) Hamburg where three of its main churches are located

2003: The 1000 Anniversary of Kronach

The historic old town of Kronach, referred to as the Upper City which is located on a mountain spur (felssporn).  It was the birthplace c1472 of the painter Lucas Cranach the Elder.

1979: Landscapes

The island of Samothraki in the Northern Aegean. I think this may be Chora,the islands old capital nestled  on the slopes of Mount Saos. Samothraki's highest mountain,Fengari is where, according to legend, Poseidon watched the the fall of Troy.

Sunday Stamps theme - Cities/Urban - See It On A Postcard