BORING POSTCARDS

Sosonowiec - town in south part odf Poland, road crossing. Postcard from 1980.

ONE FROM BELGIUM...WITH A  LITTLE STORY.

Here is a Boring Postcard of the Kliniek St-Blasius in Dendermonde.

It is also a Boring Postcard of the Clinique St-Blaise in Termonde.

It is the same clinic in the same town, in the same country -- Belgium.

Belgium has 2-and-a-bit official languages. The two are Flemish (spoken in Flanders), which is very close to Dutch; and French (spoken in Walloon) , which is very close to French, although the French look down on Walloon French as they look down on Swiss French, Canadian French, etc.

(The 'and-a-bit language' is German which is spoken in a tiny bit of Belgium that borders, er, Germany).

Many of the towns have 2 names that are very different, which can cause problems when you are driving around, and you have a map that doesn't have both (or all) sets of names.

These are the same towns:

Mons and Bergen

Mechelen and Malines

Antwerpen and Anvers

Elsene and Ixelles.

And, of course Brussels and Bruxelles.

So, at last, here is the postcard...

I especially like the boring road intersection.

VEGETARIANS LOOK AWAY! BUT WHO SENT ME THIS? (Not Mrs Adams)

This is from Der Adamshurst Haus: "On US Route 14 near Ellisob Bay, Wisc. Catering to Tourists, business travellers and discriminating diners who want quality without lavish displays. Cozy cocktail loung featuring Danny 'on the ivories'. Open daily noon to midnight."

Those 'disciminating diners' obviously like enormous steaks (without (lavish displays' (of what?) of course

THREE MORE FROM MIKEL UNTZILLA

1. Fuertenventura, Canary Islands, Spain -- a bored camel

2.Hong Kong Live Guard Club

(Should that be 'Life' Guard? And are there any Dead Guards?)

3. Manuscripts from Mont St-Michel, France

'Figures de géométries' from the 12th century 'Traite d'Astronomie'

"Your relatives will envy you for such a pretty sight."

"That's why I chose this postcard."

Włocławek - cocktail bar in a hotel "KUJAWY". Postcard from 1977.

Leszno, school and gliding centre. Postcards from around 1975. City in western part of Poland, between Poznań (Posen) and Wrocław (Breslau). Leszno is the only city to have hosted the Gliding World Championships three times (1958, 1968, 2003). The open space on three sides of the 101-hectare grass airfield and the nearby extensive fields make gliding safe and comfortable.

I love this group! Thank you for starting it, Valentine Michael Herman! Keep 'em coming, y'all.

TWO 'CLASSICS': BORED BURROS (FROM ARIZONA) AND A BORING ROCK POSTCARD (FROM FRANCE)

SPELUNKING (or Caving): BUT WHICH WAY IS UP?

Here is a Boring Postcard from the Grottes (caves)  d'Isturitz et d'Oxocolhaye located 12 km from Hasperen and 20 kms from Carribo in the French Basque region.

It is a 'Basque curtain'. I can't work out if the curtian is pulled or not, or even which way is up (or down), so here are 2 versions of it.

TWO GREEK ONES FROM KATERINA

1. A bridge, ein brucke, un pont from somewhere in Greece

The only (slightly) interesting thing about this is the woman in the white dress, bottom right, who seelms to be washing some red clothes in the river

2. Hotel "Splenid Palace", Salonika

"Buildings along the waterfront Avenue Nikis in 1916," it sayss on the back.

"Thnakyou, Katerina" says Val

A 'PUNNY' CARD FROM RAY HALEY

What can I say?  Well, to begin with I suppose an explanation of 'otter' might be necessary for non-English speakers: it is some sort of pun on 'ought to'.

AlthoughI why the beast should be in Sunday school -- and not say the sea -- is beyond me.  Then the 'Love one another' is baffling as there is only one otter/ought to that seems to be asleep and so has no-one around to love (except in it's dreams).

But if you come from the capital of Canada* you might be able to make more sense of this than I can.

* Ottawa. Another pun: sorry folks, I couldn't resist it

A MIXED BUNCH OF BORING POSTCARDS

1. The Beach and Menhirs (but no Obelisk) at Carnac (Morbihan), France

2. Happy Diners at the Post Office Union Holiday Camp at Esterel, France

3. Crypt at the X1th Century Abbey at Uzerche, France

4; Street scene, Celle, Germany (Bradford can identify the cars)

5. Street scene, Ennistymon, Co Clare, Ireland (Bradford can identify the ladies)

TWO POSTCARDS OF MANHOLE COVERS 'From a series of 12 silkscreens --original size, 65 x 65cms by Paul Baars.

Thanks to Mother Brandow"

CHARWOOD MUSEUM, 10 HIGH ST, LOUGHBOROUGH, ENGLAND -- the backgarden thereof with some funny metalic things on the lawn and in the flowerbeds;

Thanks to Alan Brignull  for this.

Swinoujście (Swinemünde) - basen portowy - post card from 1980. 

Welcome Juanita! I hope you will be an active participant in the Group.  Please send me some Boring Postcards. Thankyou. Val

Welcome Axel! I hope you will be an active participant in the Group. Please send me some Boring Postcards of Barcelona, Catalonia,Spain and anywhere and everywhere else.. Thankyou. Val

Dear Mark, in Poland in 2016 there was published a book by Mikolaj Dlugosz "Summer in the city", which is a selection of 160 frames, from tens of thousands of frames that were taken by many photographers between 1970 and 1989 for the purpose of printing postcards. Photographers sent out into the field were given the same instructions - the criteria according to which the pictures were to be taken. This is why such works are coherent, even though they are the work of dozens of different authors working over a period of 20 years.

Few examples from a book by Mikolaj Dlugosz "Summer in the city".

'Just noticed that the postcards arrived from Greece,Val :-)

EDESSA is the name of the place and the river: Edesseos..

which flows through the town and becomes a high waterfall, famous in the Balkans, and a place to visit to see this wonder (which, if you have seen Niagara falls...this is a bit "boring")

Thanks Raphael, I will try and get this book to add to my collection, and hope that it's available. It's not available from Amazon Poland, France or the UK, but I'll keep on looking for it. Regards, Val

Wieluń, a fragment of a contemporary housing estate. Postcard sent in 1967. This town is located in central Poland, near Lodz. The city is sometimes called "Polish Guernica" due to the bestiality of the Luftwaffe towards civilians during the bombing raids on September 1, 1939. The raids began at 4.40 a.m., before Hitler declared war on Poland. The city was destroyed in about 70-75% - from the buildings of the market square only the former Piarist college survived. The complex of buildings of the All Saints' Hospital (the main building from 1840) and the synagogue from 1842 were also completely destroyed. The 14th century church of St. Michael was also seriously damaged, and after being robbed of its valuable monuments, it was blown up by the Germans in the spring of 1940. Now the same thing is happening in Ukraine.

Wieruszów - town in central part of Poland. Postcard from around 1975. Captivating is the airplane - cafe. The plane was brought in 1968 to celebrate the 600th anniversary of the city. The Lisunov Li-2P passenger plane, serial number 234 448 04, is a Soviet license Douglas DC3. The machine was removed from the LOT fleet list on November 4, 1968. Inside the plane there was a cafeteria of GS, which made the "non-light" one of the main tourist attractions of the city, and what's more, its business card. The café no longer exists.

I got a very boring postcard from Latvia.  Goggle translator says the words say -  New Community. 

THIS IS A SPECIAL BORING POSTCARD!!

It is the 100th Boring Postcard received from Mikel Untzilla, to whom I owe a 100 thanks.

It's an old postcard from the Soviet Union. I can't make out what it says.

Altogether I reckon that there are about 720 Boring Postcards here.

Mikel has sent me the most, followed by Mim with 93 (and soon to join the 100 Club) and Katerina with 65.

Thanks to one and all....and keep sending me them, please!

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT: "POSTCARDS FROM THE PAST", by Tom Jackson

Our Group focusses on the front of Boring Postcards. In his book "Postcards from the Past", Tom Jackson looks at both the front of Postcards (many of which are Boring), and the messages on the back -- many of which are hilarious. The latter, he says, are "part of a ghost story, odd messages from the past breaking through to speak to us years later."

Here are some of Jackson's Boring Postcards and Ghosts:

some boring BLUE on the way to Sigean :-)

TWO MORE FROM MIKEL UNTZILLA -- Nos 101 & 102

Fuerteventura, the Canary Islands

Not much happening on this beach, or on this Boring Postcard

Grand Trianon, Versailles Palace, France

TWO BLUE ONES FROM KATERINA

1. Avila Beach California

"Year-round seacoast playground, yacht harbour, ideal sailing and water skiing, deep sea and pier fishing. California's Safest Beach"

You can't see much, if any of the beach! None of the boats have any people on them. No wonder it's safe;

2.Nikiti, Halkidiki, Greece

Another empty boat

THREE MORE FROM MIKEL

1. Betencuria, Fuerteventura, Canary Islands, Spain

2. Le Basin du Doubs, Les Brenets, France

An old sepia cum b/w Boring Postcard showing...not very much

3. Changdeog Palace, Seoul, Korea

"Baby, it's cold outside."

Przysucha - lagoon Topornia. A place of rest for residents of Radom, a big city located about 100 km south of Warsaw. Postcard sent in 1969.

Boguszów-Gorce (Boguszów: German: Gottesberg; Gorce: German: Rothenbach) - a town in the Sudety Mountains, in Lower Silesia, in the southern part of the Lower Silesian region. Postcard sent around 1980, shows the market square, the monument and a general view of the town.

RUSSIAN BORING POSTCARD FROM EDVARD EGOROV

Thanks, Edvard!

I don't know where this is from cos I don't understand Russian.

I've recently become aware that Russia and the former Iron Curtain countries used postcards as a propaganda tool. This postcard is one of them --a clean building; lots of greenery; 2 vehicles in good condition; and not a single person in sight.

FROM GWENDOLYN HOLBROW -- lA FONTAINE HOTEL, GRAND CAYMAN, BRITISH WEST INDIES

Gwendolyn was kind enough to 'decode' the tiny writing on the back of the Postcard. It reads:

"Dear Barby, Have stamps and coins for you. No teenagers here! You would love shopping in Lincoln Mall in Miami. So many shops and so much nice stuff that it would take 2 days to see it all. The ocean swimming is wonderful. The ocean and sky would be beautiful to paint. I got 3 Viewmasters to  (??)  it. You can find big (huge?) conch shells here, but they smell so bad for several days! The coral is beautiful but deadly and sea sponges are abundant. Our beach is all sandy. You would really like the jet flight. See you soon: Love Dad and Mum (December 16, 1971)

Thanks Gwendolyn!

RUSSIAN BORING POSTCARD FROM EDVARD EGOROV.

 The building bears the red letters "Вперед к коммунизму " 
as a slogan calling for the fight for communism
 "Forward to Communism!" It is therefore partly a postcard 
with propaganda significance.

FOUR MORE FROM MIKEL UNTZILLA -- from a 'booklet ' of Brazilian Postcards; Thanks again Mikel!

Thanks Edvard. I've just got hold of a book called 'Brutal Bloc: Soviet era postcards from the eastern bloc' which has many good examples of propaganda postcards, with an emphasis on architecture. Regards, Val

IF YOU'RE A FRENCH SEAGULL YOU WILL PROBABLY FIND THIS POSTCARD INTERESTING, BUT IF YOU'RE NOT A FRENCH SEAGULL YOU PROBABLY WON'T FIND IT INTERESTING

(also Dutch bird lovers find French seagull postcards interesting. All seagull cards can be sent to me)

Heleen...itmay go in my Boring Postcard Exhibition in November. Then you can have it with pleasure. BUT remind me in December.

HOWEVER MUCH I PLAY AROUND WITH THIS POSTCARD

...it still comes out as a lot of whiteness with a few black dots.

It's a postcard of the pistes at Larche in the French Alps ("altitude between 1700 & 2000m")

BORING BEACH POSTCARDS FROM FRANCE -- THE FIRST FROM ILE ROUSSE, CORSICA; THE SECOND FROM CANCALE IN BRITTANY

STRANGE BORING POSTCARDS WITH VERY FEW PEOPLE ON THEM

1. L'Etang [lake] de Sassegnies, Berlaimont, France

2. Fugerei, Augsburg, Germany

3. Le pont sur la Sal, Le Bono, France

This shows Bono of U2 emerging from the river (bottom left). Or maybe it's Sonny Bono of Sonny and Cher. Get it? If so 'I got you babe'. If not, .....well never mind

A WEIRD LOCATION FOR A MUSEUM?

This is  'Le Musée' (altitude 1008m) at le Donon, Bas-Rhin, France. If this is the main path to the Museul, I bet they don't get many visitors and certainly no wheelchair or handicapped ones.

Maków Podhalański - 

The commune is situated in the Beskid Makowski and its southern part includes also a fragment of the Beskid Żywiecki. Particular villages are situated along the Skawa river and its tributaries. The railway line Cracow - Zakopane and the national road Wadowice - Nowy Sącz cross the area of the commune. There was an embroidery school in Maków from the end of the 19th century and the so-called Maków embroidery was and is widely known not only in Poland. Healthy, healing microclimate, whose properties were noticed already at the beginning of the last century. Postcard from 1976, Kolejowa street (Train street).

Maków Podhalański - Old Square. Postcard from 1976.

THREE POSTCARDS FROM JEAN-PHILIPPE GILLIOT. INTERESTING OR BORING? THE PANEL DECIDES....

J-P kindly sent me these Postcards and asked 'Are they Boring?' I put this question to the Executive Members Panel of the Group -- Do Ghi and Mr Boots, and this what they decided....

1. Steps in an old Village, Midi, Provence, France

Mr. Boots: this is very Boring. Don't post it.

Do Ghi: (no comment -- he took one look at it and went to sleep)

2. Street Scene,  St-Guilheim-le-Désert, Languedoc, France

Mr. Boots: OK, that one is Boring

Do Ghi: but don't post it

3;'Quiteness', Provence, France

Mr Boots: this one is interesting. Why is the cat basket open, And why is there a cat on the window-sill?

Do Ghi: no it's not interesting at all. Nor is it Boring. You are obsessed with cats!

Mr Boots: what do you expect? I am a cat!

And so J-P, as there was no agreement as to whether these Postcards are Boring or not, it is with extreme regret that I must tell you that they cannot  be posted here. But do, pkease, send some more for considertaion at the next meeting of the Executive Members Panel

Lublin - large city in south-eastern Poland - university district. On the photos: intercollegiate library, academic health centre, hotel for scientists, building of the institute of chemistry, academic sports centre. The buildings were constructed in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Postcard sent in 1980.