BORING POSTCARDS

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Comment by Katerina Nikoltsou (MomKat) on January 29, 2021 at 10:58am

REPULSE BAY, Hong Kong ...(wiki knows :-)

"The origins of the bay's English name have become extremely obscure. There are, however, many stories — none resting on any solid evidence that has so far been established. A typical example is that in 1841, the bay was used as a base by pirates and caused serious concern to foreign merchant ships trading with China. The pirates were subsequently repulsed by the Royal Navy, hence the name..."

It is considered the most expensive residential area not only in hong kong, but in the world! And Hemingway, as well as Marlon Brando have stayed at the Repulse Bay Hotel :-) Interesting...

Comment by Valentine Mark Herman on January 7, 2021 at 6:13pm

ANOTHER START-OF-2021 FROM JOHN GRAYER

Thanks, John.

FROM RUSSIA....

A very old b/w postcard. John says he found it on a sidewalk recycling shelf in Ixelles, Belgium, took it back to Helsinki, and mailed it to me in France. It has no caption or indication of what it's all about. Have fun working out what's it all about.

Comment by Valentine Mark Herman on January 7, 2021 at 6:10pm

THE FIRST ONES IN 2021 FROM MIKEL UNTZILLA

But first all of let me wish y'all a Happy, Hippy and Healthy 2021!

Freddy tells me that he is making good progress in finishing off the Boring Postcards book, and we should be able to announce details of it very soon.

And as 2021 gets underway, I hope to be able to re-start collecting Boring Postcards when the covid restrictions are lifted in France and things return to what we had before. (I avoid using the word 'n****l', because for me no such thing existed or will exist).

Here we go...

CLIFFS AT THE PRAIA DA PIEDADER,ALGARVE, PORTUGAL

It's nice to see people enjoying themselve on a beach on a warm and sunny day, when you are subject to a nightime curfew in France, and no-one in their right mind would want to go out anyway as it is freezing cold and very windy. (Not even Mr; Boots my cat wants to go out tonight)

REPULSE BAY, HONG KONG

Why 'Repulse' Bay, I wonder? Is it becasue it is repulsing? Or because it repulses people? (But it looks crowded and has lots of tall buildings/hotels). Or because...

RUINAS DE CATEDRAL DE CIADE VELHA, SANTIAGO, CHILE

This has a nice framed view of one-and-a-half old huts in very bad repair. A strange subject for a Boring (and even a non-Boring) Postcard.

Comment by Valentine Mark Herman on December 12, 2020 at 5:16pm

THREE MORE FROM MIKEL.....thanks, thanks, thanks.

1. LA Freeways

'The Santa Monica* Freeway as it leaves downtown LA and travels towards the ocean and Santa Monica.'

This one is a real test for our Automobile Expert Bradley. How many cars can you identify; Bradley?

(* Is Santa Monica the female equivalent of Santa Claus?)

2.  Hotel Europa, adrid, Espagne

And a (cake?) shop at the bottom.

3. The Edgar Allen Building, Biringham University, England

This building --originally a library, now an adinistrative building -- was not named after Edgar Allen Poe, but after the infamous Birmingham football (soccer, to you across the Atlantic) Edgar 'Killer' Allen feared by all opponents for his ankle-breaking tackles.

Comment by Katerina Nikoltsou (MomKat) on December 1, 2020 at 2:31pm

I didn't notice that those postcards from the States (via Greece) arrived,Val.

Too funny is the really really boring postcard from Jean-Marie (my niece)

to her Grandparents...there were 3 cards, but I kept 2 for my "Minnesota" page in my "50 States of the Union" postcard album!

(Hoping Brad will send me a few boring "Greetings from..." postcards from the Dakotas (both North and South would be nice , even one from Deadwood City?:-)

I have many, many postcards from Missouri, and St. Louis, Golden Arch, and  all that dill dip stain, too!

Comment by Valentine Mark Herman on December 1, 2020 at 11:00am

FIVE BORING POSTCARDS FRO HELEEN -- BEDANKT, HELEEN

1. Het Hoge Duin Restaurant-Hotel, Vugelvlucht, the Netherlands

Heleen asks, 'Is this a Postcard?'. Well, it looks and feels like one, so 'Yes'. Another question is, 'Is this a Restaurant-Hotel or a Flying Saucer?'

2. Ceci n'est pas un chien

Of course it's not, Mr Magritte -- it's a giraffe.

3. Parkhotel, Valkenburg, the Netherlands

I used to live near Valkenberg in the south of Holland, and must have passed this hotel -- on foot, bike, in car -- hundreds of times, but never went in it. It's on a very steep hill near the finish of the annual Amstel Gold cycle race.

4. Fijne Vakantie!

It means 'Good Holiday!' and is the sort of card sent during a pandemic from one virus to another before a vaccine is discoverd.

5.' Freedom must be cherished'

....is the title of the poem on the back of this card commemorating the end of WW2.

Comment by Richard Canard on November 17, 2020 at 6:03am

17.11.20 Dare Val M. H., ... Sir Bradford easily illustrates your earlier point about how boring postcards can actually be quite interesting---but then, I don't think that I would ever be capable of turning a postcard into a five page letter.  I enjoyed reading  these tidbits from Bradford's nostalgic St. Louis  days. SinCelery, Richard Canard  

Comment by Bradford on November 16, 2020 at 9:59pm

3. Gateway Arch, Jefferson National Expansion Memorial

The view is from the top of the Gateway Arch looking west.

At the bottom of the card, if you look at the the block just left of the one-block park, the middle building was the old Fur Exchange building, so named when furs trappers caught out west were brought back from the High Plains (where I live now) to vend.  It later became the corporate data center for Southwestern Bell which is where I worked starting in the late 70s.

The 4th floor corner window on the left side of that building is from where a co-worker and friend, Patti, once threw a rye bread dip after a holiday party around 1990.  It sailed and turned on its side such that the dill dip squirted across the service alley behind.  Mark, one of the janitors, walked out a few moments later to survey the scene, remove the detritus, but a dark stain remained for weeks.

It's also where one Ed Sullivan (not the TV star) walked over from his cubby to sniff Patti's hair as she sat at her desk.  She asked what it smelled like.  "An old washwoman's hair", was his smartass reply.  She promptly took a pair of scissors and cut off the bottom half of his tie.

Another time, I was running the evening shift crew processing bills, toll calls and such for over 2 million customers.  There was much snow on the ground at the time which made evacuation and head counts difficult after the building went dark so we convened at the Adam's Mark on the right side of the one block park.  Later, it was determined that a rat had chewed into a 440-volt power feed in the basement.  Computer folks talk about a "bug" when things don't go right, but this time it was a rodent that caused a problem.

Nowadays that building (was addressed 14 South 4th Street) is a Drury Inn.  A new data center was built on the 800 block of Chestnut in 1993.

The tall building next to it is where the CBS affiliate in St. Louis is headquartered.  I once saw a postcard mailed to Jack Carney from Phyllis Diller about 1980.  She was in the Bahamas and selected a card that depicted an ancient sailing ship with about a million sails on it.  Phyllis Diller wrote, "Dear Jack, / You'll notice I finally figured out how to dry contour sheets."  In that building's basement was one of the seven Fando's locations; a cafeteria open for breakfast and lunch.  In line you might see local celebrities as well as even more well-known folks like Hall of Fame sports broadcaster Jack Buck.

Comment by Valentine Mark Herman on November 16, 2020 at 3:20pm

FROM THE GARLIC CAPITAL OF THE WORLD, GILROY CALIFORNIA, BUT NOT TO MY STOMACH BECAUSE I'M ALLERGIC TO THE STUFF

"Gilroy...undisputed Garlic Capital of teh World, grows, processes and ships millions of pounds of garlic and garlic products each year. To celebrate bountiful harvests of the King of Flavors, known fondly as 'The Stinking Rose", Gilroyans each year hold their annual Gilroy Festival where, among a myriad of other activities, gourmet cooks, demonstrate the preparation of delightful recipes enhanced with garlic".

Not for me, Rose.

"(Isn't it hard to live in France and avoid garlic, Val?" "Yes, very hard. My stomach and I have no plans to visit Gilroy in the near or distant future".)

Comment by Valentine Mark Herman on November 16, 2020 at 3:11pm

SOMETIMES YOU COME ACROSS A BORING POSTCARD THAT MAKES THIS WHOLE PROJECT GREAT FUN.

AND HERE IS ONE FROM KATERINA.

Loading Iron Ore, Minnesota

A classic!

The back of the card is wonderful. The description reads " On Minnesota's 'Iron Range' iron ore is scooped up by large shovels and transported by truck and rail for conversion into steel."

It gets better in the message that Jean-Marie sent to Grandma and Grandpa in Cicero, ILL. "We're having a lot of fun -- we toured the Iron range yesterday and saw about 10 mines and as many iron ore mountains of stockpiled ore. These mines are about a mile across and two miles long. Paddy still hasn't caught any fish."

(Poor Paddy, he might be better off fishing in lakes or rivers than in iron ore mountains.)

Thanks Katerina!

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