Category: Postcards

History, Postcards

Boeing 314

by NeilEnnis 4 October 2009 No Comments Shortlink

A Postcard from Dan (http://airships.net) in Georgia. Dan is a kindred spirit who loves Ships, Airships Old Aircraft and postcards.

Thanks for the fantastic postcards, Dan. I’ve sent a couple more in reply.

The Boeing 314 aircraft operated between 1938 and 1946 for Pan Am and BOAC. She was nicknamed “The Super Clipper” by Pan Am.

This flying boat took off from and landed on water. She had an operational speed of about 300km/h as she carried 36 overnight, or 68 day passengers in luxury on trans-atlantic (New Yor / Southampton) and trans-pacific (San Francisco / Hong Kong) flights.

The seats could be converted into bunks for overnight accommodation. She also boasted a lounge and dining area, where meals cooked by chefs from four-star hotels were served.

An amazing aircraft, with levels of luxury and style that have not been seen since.

Postcards

Reading someone else’s mail from 1907

by NeilEnnis 31 August 2009 No Comments Shortlink

The Grave(Reverse)nant-y-glyn(Reverse)

In 1907, someone who we only know as “L” visited Colwyn Bay in wales and sent a postcard of a grave to “Miss Banfield” in Herefordshire.

A couple of years later, “L” visited Colwyn Bay again, and sent another postcard to Miss Banfield.  This time it was of a wooded roadway in country Wales.

A hundred years later, these postcards turned up at the markets in suburban Brisbane, and my mum, who knows I love postcards, bought them for me.

So we can now read these brief personal messages between these two people, both of whom are probably long dead.

This inspires me to keep sending postcards to the furthest reaches of the planet.  Who knows, one or two of them might outlive me, and someone in a century might be wondering who “Neil” was and why he sent such wierd postcards!

By the way, if you want to read what “L wrote to Miss Banfield, just click on one of the images above.  I managed to transcribe it.

The GraveNant-y-Glyn

Postcards

Hall of Great Harmony

by NeilEnnis 29 August 2009 No Comments Shortlink

A postcrossing post card from Xizhe in Shangai.

Xishe is on vacation at the moment, planning a trip next year to Greece.

The Hall of Great Harmony is part of the “Forbidden City” in Beijing, built in 1406 by the Hongwu Emporer, it served as the Imperial Palace of the Ming and Qing Dynasties for almost 500 years.

The city was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1987.

Thanks for the postcard Xishe!

Cruising, Postcards

Antwerpen

by NeilEnnis 29 August 2009 No Comments Shortlink

A postcrossing post card from Judit in Belgium

The ship in the picture is “Carina” (you might be able to see the name КАРИНА in cyrillic on her bow).

Length: 122m, 7600GRT, 328 passengers.

She is currently known as “Rochale One” and operates as a static ship for student accommodation in Amsterdam.

She was built in Nantes, France in 1977 for the then Soviet government and named “Aywasowski”. She operated cruises out of the Black Sea and the Mediterranean.

She was renamed Carina after she was bought by German company Phoenix Reisen in 1997. She changed hands again in 2000 and was renamed “Primexpress Island”, operating out of Cyprus.

The ship was impounded in the port of Limassol (Cyprus) because of unpaid bills.

She was eventually purchased by a consortium of three Dutch housing companies acquired the vessel, towed it to Amsterdam and configured it for use as hotel accommodation for students.

Her engines are kept in working order, so she is capable of sailing as and when needed.

Thanks for the fascinating postcard, Judit!