If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 479

 

 

 

Rosendal Palace, Stockholm, Sweden, ca early 1900s

 

This black and white used postcard has a picture of Rosendal Palace, Stockholm, Sweden and has the date 19 September 19?4 or ?7 (not legible).  Because the back of the card is divided and the message is written on the same side as the address, the date is probably at least 1904/07 and possibly 1914/1917.  The stamp was removed and along with it the cancellation place and date so it is not possible to be sure of the date.

 

Built between 1823 and 1827 for King Karl XIV Johan, the first Bernadotte King of Sweden, it is located on an island in central Stockholm.  It was intended as a retreat from the formalities of court life at the Royal Palace. 

 

The original Rosendal Palace, designed by Fredrik August Lidströmer, burned down in 1819.  Lidströmer created drawings for the replacement palace but Fredrik Blom, another leading architect of the time, was commissioned to build the replacement.  It is known as the Karl XIV style in Sweden.  With the creation of the replacement palace in the 1820s the area developed into a stately residential area.  In addition to the main palace there is the Queen’s Pavilion and the Guard’s Cottage. 

 

When King Oscar II died in 1907, his heirs made the Rosendal Palace a museum to the life of Karl XIV Johan.  Today the palace is open to the public during the summer months. 

 

For more information, see:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosendal_Palace

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fredrik_Blom

 

If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 478

 

 

 

 

Sigismund's Column, Warsaw, Poland, ca 1950s

 

Dressed in armor with a sword in one hand and a cross in the other the statue of King Sigismund III Vasa stands atop a pillar in the photo on this unused postcard.  Wanda Tomcyzkowska is credited with the picture and the color card was produced by Mike Roberts of Berkeley, California.  The code, SC9945 is found at the lower left corner on the reverse. 

 

The original column was erected around 1644 in Warsaw, Poland under the orders of Sigismund’s son, King Wladyslaw IV Vasa.  In the beginning the column was 27 ft or 8.5 m high.  Today the entire monument stands 22 meters high or 72 feet tall.  The sculpture of the king alone stands 2.75 m or 9 ft tall.  The column from 1644 was made of red marble and was renovated several times.  A wooden fence surrounded the monument in 1681 and was later replaced with an iron fence. Then in 1854 a fountain was added.  A new column of granite replaced the marble column between 1885 and 1887.  Still later, around 1930, another renovation restored the monument to its original appearance and removed the fence and the fountain.  During World War II the bronze statue was damaged and the column was demolished.  After the war was over the statue was repaired and a new column made from granite was set up in 1949.  There is also a plaque with an inscription fixed to the pedestal.  The broken pieces of the original column can still be seen lying near the Royal Castle in Warsaw. 

 

The automobiles in the picture on the card suggest a date in the 1950s, which would mean the picture was taken not long after the 1949 repair work to the statue and the column replacement. 

 

For additional information, see:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigismund’s_Column

If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 477

 

 

 

 

Temple of Olympian Zeus, Athens, Greece, ca 1960s

 

The photograph on this unused postcard is credited to the Greek National Tourist Office.  The card was distributed by Curteichcolor, 3-D Natural Color Reproduction.  The number 7 appears the upper right corner on the reverse.  There is also a short blurb stating “Temple of Olympian Zeus, Athens, was regarded as one of the wonders of the ancient world comparable to the pyramids.”

 

An open-air museum today, the temple ruins are supervised and protected by the Ephorate of Antiquities.  Construction on the temple began in 6^th century BC. and was not completed until the 2^nd century AD, about 638 years later due to interruptions in the construction.  At one point it remained in an unfinished state for over 300 years.  When work was resumed it was under the direction of the Roman architect Decimus Cossutius who made alterations to the original design and used expensive marble instead of local limestone as the building material. 

 

Once the largest temple in Greece, originally there were 104 colossal columns and one of the largest cult statues in the ancient world.  In the 2^nd century Pausanias [in Description of Greece 1. 18. 6-9] mentioned the temple having a huge statue of the Roman Emperor Hadrian at the entry to the temple.  He also said this statue rivaled the colossi at Rhodes and described it as made of ivory and gold.  Additional statues made of stone, bronze, and marble were placed within the structure. 

 

  Glory was short lived; however, as it fell into disuse and was pillaged during a barbarian invasion in 247 AD.  Likely it was never repaired and was reduced to ruins.  After the fall of the Roman Empire the site was quarried for building materials to be used elsewhere in the city.  Sixteen of the original giant columns remain today.  It is still an important archaeological site in Greece. 

 

The temple ruins are located about 500 meters (0.31 miles) south-east of the Acropolis and about 700 meters (0.43 miles) south of the center of Athens, the foundations were laid on the site of an ancient outdoor sanctuary dedicated to Zeus. 

 

For additional information, see:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_of_Olympian_Zeus,_Athens

 

If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 476

 

 

 

 

Penang Skyline, Malaysia

This unused postcard with a photograph of the Penang skyline in Malaysia was distributed by S. Abdul Majeed & Co.  The number 100.208 is found at the lower left corner on the reverse.  The photographer’s name is not provided.

Penang is a state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia.  The state consists of two parts, Penang Island, and Seberang Perai on the Malay Peninsula.  The capital city of George Town is located on Penang Island.  The island and the peninsula are connected by two bridges.  Penang’s population was listed as 1,767 million in 2018.  It is known as the Silicon Valley of the East.  

The name Penang comes from the modern Malay name Pulau Pinang which means in English, The Island of the Areca Nut Palm.  Seashells, pottery, hunting tools and other artifacts indicate that this area was inhabited 5,000 to 6,000 years ago.  In the 1770s the British East India Company formed trade relations in the Malay Peninsula.  In 1786 Francis Light negotiated a cession of the island to the Company in exchange for British military aid.  The island was then renamed the Prince of Wales Island.  Unfortunately, Light acted without authority and could not make good on the promise of military aid.  As a result, the British East India Company ended up settling with the Kedah Sultan by giving him an annual payment of 6,000 Spanish dollars.  

Light founded George Town as a free port with the aim of luring traders away from the nearby Dutch trading posts.  By 1826 Penang, Singapore, and Malacca were incorporated into the Straits Settlements with George Town as the capital.  Soon Singapore took prominence over Penang, even so, Penang retained importance as a port and was a major tin-exporting harbor.  Following World War II Penang merged with the Federation of Malaya, now Malaysia, which gained independence from the British in 1957.  Today Penang’s economy is primarily oriented to hi-tech manufacturing.

Francis Light was born in 1740 in England.  He had a career in the British Navy and was a colonial official who was respected by his British peers as a fair and honorable man.  He was admired for his achievements and was a skilled negotiator.  He cared for the welfare of the people and had rice sent to the people when the island was hit by a famine.  Light died in 1794 from malaria and is buried in George Town. 

For additional information, see:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penang
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Light