If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 613

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bannockburn, Stirling, Scotland

 

A “Hail Caledonia” product published by Whiteholme Ltd of Dundee, Scotland, this unused card has a photograph of the statue of Robert the Bruce, King of the Scots, 1306-1329.  The statue was unveiled by Queen Elizabeth II on 24 June 1964, to commemorate the 650^th anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314.  The title and number 21984 are found at the bottom margin of the card.

 

South of the city of Stirling in Scotland is the town of Bannockburn.  It was named after the stream, or burn, that runs through the town and flows into the River Forth.  The area is especially known for being the site of one the pivotal battles fought during the Wars of Independence between the kingdoms of Scotland and England in the 13^th and 14^th centuries.

 

The massive bronze figure of King Robert I of Scotland is set upon a white granite plinth.  The king is dressed in light armor, holding his battle-axe, and astride his horse.  In 1964 the statue was commissioned by the Earl of Elgin.  Pilkington Jackson was the sculptor.  He used the measurements from Bruce’s skull that had been rediscovered at Dunfermline Abbey in 1818.  It is believed that King Robert I was probably about 6 ft 1” or 185 cm. tall as a young man.  At his written request, after he died, his heart was removed and buried at Melrose Abbey in Roxburghshire. 

 

The bronze statue was covered in a green patina so it was restored in 2013 in preparation for the 700^th anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn in 2014.

 

Also at this site is the Rotunda, Memorial Cairn, and Flagpole.  Sir Robert Matthew is responsible for the overall concept, with H.C. Clark designing the landscape scheme, and F.R. Stevenson as project architect for the buildings.  The Rotunda is a circular enclosure of concrete-block topped by a timber rail.  Massive, rough boulders at the entrance blend the natural and artificial landscape.  Openings at two places the visitor is provided with a view similar to that of the advancing army of Edward II. 

 

 

For additional information, see:

 

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

 

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

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equestrian_statue_of_Robert_the_Bruce,_Bannockburn

 

This last link is supposed to be on one line but it was too long.  It will need to be copied and pasted into a browser search field:

 

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Bannockburn,_Rotunda,_Memorial_Cairn,_Flagpole_And_Statue_Of_King_Robert_I

 

If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 612

 

 

 

 

 

Ramona’s Marriage Place, San Diego, California

 

This is an unused postcard published by M. Kashower Co. of Los Angeles, California featuring a tinted photograph of the chapel where Helen Hunt Jackson’s main character in her novel Ramona is supposed to have been married.  The number 5 appears to the left of the title at the top of the card.   

 

Specializing in comic cards, holiday greeting cards, and postcards, the M. Kashower Co., was in business from 1914 to 1934.  They published cards using several different printers including Van Ornum ColorprintCompany.  Based in Los Angeles, it should come as no surprise that many of the cards featured places in Southern California.  The company logo is found at the top of the center line on the reverse.

 

 

 

Logo used by the M. Kashower Co.

 

Casa de Estudillo or Estudillo House is a historic adobe house built around 1825-1827 in San Diego.  It was originally built by and belonged to the family of José María Estudillo and his son who were early settlers of San Diego.  It was considered one of the finest houses in Mexican California.  In 1906 the sugar magnate and businessman, John D. Spreckels, bought the house and restored it.  It was opened to the public in 1910 as a tourist attraction and is one of three sites associated with the story of Ramona designated as National and California Landmarks.  However, according to the novel Ramona was not married in this chapel but was married in the Adobe Chapel, another building located in Old Town, San Diego.  The Adobe Chapel is now a museum than can be rented as a wedding venue.

 

Poet and writer, Helen Maria Fiske Jackson (1830-1885), wrote the novel Ramona in 1884 to dramatize the federal government’s mistreatment of Native Americans in Southern California after the Mexican-American War.  The book was popular, attracted attention to her cause, and was estimated to have been reprinted 300 times.  “…most readers liked the book for its romantic and picturesque qualities rather than its political content.”

 

For additional information, see:

 

https://www.doaks.org/research/library-archives/dumbarton-oaks-archives/collections/ephemera/names/m-kashower-co

https://www.sohosandiego.org/reflections/2006-2/ramona.htm

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

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

 

If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 611

 

 

 

 

 

Seven Falls, South Cheyenne Canon, Pikes Peak Region, Colorado

 

 

This unused Sanborn Souvenir Co., linen-type postcard, has the number 2122 at the top right on the reverse.  It is a C.T. Art-Colortone card.  Colortone linen cards were issued and popular from the 1930s through the 1950s. 

 

Featured on this card is a photograph of the Broadmoor Seven Falls.  It is named for the seven levels to this series of cascading waterfalls.  A privately-owned tourist attraction that opened in the 1880s, it is located in South Cheyenne Cañon, Colorado Springs, Colorado.  The falls are in a 1,000 ft or 300 m granite canyon.  The water drops 181 ft or 55 m.  From the base of the falls to the peak there are 224 steps.  There is also a wheel-chair accessible elevator up to the Eagle’s Nest.  There are two hiking trails that are open from May through October that begin at the top.  One goes to Inspiration Point and a shorter trail goes to Midnight Falls. 

 

Only remote parking is allowed, no onsite parking is available but a shuttle service takes visitors from the Norris Penrose Event Center.  Seven Falls is on the National Geographic list of international waterfalls.

 

In 2014 The Broadmoor purchased Seven Falls and reopened the site in 2015.  Previously the property had been owned by the A.G. Hill family for 68 years.

 

For additional information, see:

 

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

 

If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 610

 

 

 

 

 

Hall of “Ten Thousand Pillars,” Trichinopoly, S. India, ca 1900s

 

This is an unused Plate & Co., Photographs (Ceylon) card with the number 341 printed at the left margin on the reverse side.  The title, printed in red, is on the front of the card at the lower left.

 

Plate & Co. founded in Columbo in 1890 by A.W. Plate was a leading photographic business in Ceylon.  The company still exists today.  Postcard publishing was most popular between the late 1890s and the early 1900s.  Plate & Co. was the first company on the island to begin publishing postcards.  The company’s output of cards grew to about one half million cards a year around 1907. 

 

There are several multi-pillared temples, with more than one called “Thousand Pillar Temple,” located in India.  The district called Trichinopoly was de-Anglicized in 1947 when India became independent and is known as Tiruchirappalli today.  It is located in South India.  Archaeologists have excavated Stone Age sites there indicating the area may have been inhabited since 3000 BC.   

 

There are several temples in Tiruchirappalli, and since only the pillars are named in the title on the postcard, it is not possible to determine exactly which temple they represent.  One such Hindu temple, the Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple, dedicated to a form of Vishnu that is located in Srirangam, Tiruchirapalli, Tamil Nadu, India.  The temple covers 155 acres or 63 ha, has 81 shrines, 21 towers, 39 pavilions, and many water tanks.  It is the largest functioning Hindu temple.  It has a Hall of 1,000 pillars made of granite with carved artwork.  I don’t know if this is the temple featured on the card, but it is an example of that type of temple.  Links are also included to a couple of other “thousand pillared temples."

 

For additional information, see: 

 

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

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

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

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

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

 

If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 609

 

 

 

 

 

 

The court of Justice-Aden [Yemen] and Minaret, ca early 1900s

This is an unused I. Benghiat Son postcard featuring a black and white photograph of the Justice Court and the Aden Minaret.  I. Benghiat Son was a retailer and producer of postcards beginning in 1907 and presumed to be the son of J. Benghiat.  The card title is printed at the center on the top of the card and the number 5007 can be found at the lower left margin.  On the reverse is “Carte postale, Hôtel de l’Europe, Turkish Shop, I. BENGHIAT SON, ADEN.”  It is believed that J. or I. Benghiat was the owner or had leased the hotel in 1905.  It is known that I. Benghiat ran the Turkish Shop around 1915.  The name of the hotel was later changed to the Marina Hotel with the Turkish Shop becoming M. Yahooda’s Universal Bazaar. 

 

Since 2015 the port city of Aden has been the temporary capital of Yemen.  It gets its name from the Gulf of Aden and is situated near the eastern approach to the Red Sea.  The city has a population of about 800,000.  Local legends state that Aden may be as old as human history itself.  

 

From 1838 to 1967 Aden was a British colony.  In 1964 Britain announced its intention to grant independence.  This was a time of civil unrest and rioting between the National Liberation Front and the Front for the Liberation of Occupied South Yemen.  All British troops were evacuated by the end of 1967 and Aden ceased to be colony of the United Kingdom.  It then became the capital of the new state People’s Republic of South Yemen.  When northern and southern Yemen unified the country was renamed the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen.

 

There were many mosques in Aden prior to the arrival of the British but not all have survived.  The famous Aden Minaret shown on the card is octagonal, 21 meters or 68 ft tall, has 6 stories, and a spiral staircase.  The Muadin climbs the stairs 5 times a day to issue the calls to prayer.  There is a light beacon on the top of the Minaret and it is believed that it may have served as a lighthouse during stormy weather in pre-Islamic times.  The Minaret was part of a large old mosque that demolished long ago. 

 

For additional information, see:

 

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

https://wikimapia.org/2503579/Minaret-of-Aden

https://peterpickering.wixsite.com/aden/hotel-de-l-europe

https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/BIOG220545