If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 669

 

 

 

 

 

Yellowstone Bear World, Rexburg, Idaho

 

A product of Mountain West Prints, 2010, this postcard has a Yellowstone Staff photo of the entrance to Bear World.  There is no identity code number or letter; however, there is a blurb at the upper left corner on the reverse.  The blurb:  “Yellowstone Bear World is a unique drive through park with North American wildlife.  The park features bears, the majority being black bears of all ages and all colors.  Grizzly bears, wolves, bison, elk, deer, and moose are also found free ranging in a natural setting.  Yellowstone Bear World is located in Rexburg, Idaho.”  And, yes, the photo on the card is purposefully crooked. 

 

 

 

Two young black bears playing

 

This card and a few others were purchased on a recent trip from the gift shop of Bear World.  Cars are allowed to drive slowly, 2 to 3 miles per hour, through the grounds.  Car doors and windows had to be closed and no one may get out of their car.  We quickly saw why these rules were in place.  The animals are not caged, they can freely roam around and seem not to notice the cars that come through.  Any pictures we took had to be through a car window, so perhaps not as ideal as desired. 

 

 

 

An example of how close the bears come to the cars during the drive-thru

 

The first section of the park had several different animals, such as, bison, swans, elk, and deer.  About half way through there was a gate that an attendant opened which led to the bear enclosure where there were many bears meandering around or lounging in the shade.  The bears could freely walk across the road, thus the restriction on speed and keeping doors and windows closed as well as staying inside the vehicle. We did not count the bears but there seemed to be a lot of them.   There are both black bears and grizzly bears in the park.

 

Visitors can drive through those two areas as many times as they desire and the admission ticket is good for two days.  Also on the grounds is a small amusement ride area and a petting zoo.  Three times a day the park offers children and adults the chance to feed bear cubs and pet them in the petting zoo. This is the only place where visitors are allowed to feed the bears in Yellowstone and it is supervised by trained staff members.  An optional Wildlife Excursion is offered where an animal keeper takes adults and children on a large truck and explains interesting facts about the animals found in Yellowstone Park.  There is an additional charge for the excursion.

 

 

 

Bears resting in the shade

The bear enclosure includes feeding areas, and man-made shelters, like the one at the left in the picture, for the bears to rest in or climb.

For additional information, see:

 

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

https://yellowstonebearworld.com/

 

If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 668

 

 

 

 Charlotte, North Carolina, ca 2018

 

 

This is a used AGPostcards.com card with a photograph of Charlotte, North Carolina by Alex Grichenko.  A friend sent this card in 2018 and the estimated date of the photo is based on that.  The picture is of Uptown Charlotte and shows the skyline at night.  It does not have a blurb or any other information on the reverse except the publisher/printer/photographer.

 

Charlotte is the county seat of Mecklenburg County and has a population of almost 900,000.  It was named for Queen Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz who had become the queen consort of Great Britain and Ireland around 1761.   The city of Charlotte was sometimes referred to as “Queen City.”  Another nickname was “The Hornet’s Nest” by the British commander General Charles Cornwallis.  During the American Revolution he wrote that Charlotte was a “hornet’s nest of rebellion.”  

 

During the years between 2004 and 2014 Charlotte was among the country’s fastest-growing metropolitan areas.  The climate is subtropical and humid.  Spanish records from 1567 show that the Catawba Indians were the first known settlers in this area.  The early European colonists were primarily Scots-Irish Presbyterians or Ulster-Scot settlers from Northern Ireland.  There were also a smaller number of German immigrants who came before the Revolutionary War.  The arrival of Europeans also brought smallpox to the colony and resulted in the deaths of the majority of the Catawba who had no natural immunity to the disease. 

 

Today Charlotte has a modern-day banking industry and is second to New York City in the United States.  

 

Many thanks to friends M & D who sent the card.  

For additional information, see:

https://en.wikipedia.org.wiki/Charlotte,_North_Carolina

If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 667

 

 

 

 

Lynden, Washington, ca 2007

 

Published and distributed by Smith-Western, Co., Tacoma, Washington, this used postcard features a Kyle Smith photograph of the city of Lynden, Washington.  The code:  CT-2009A and a blurb are found at the upper left on the reverse.  The blurb:  “Located not far from the U.S.-Canadian border, Lynden is noted for its Dutch hospitality and is a major farming community.  Mt. Baker is in the background.”  As often people do when sending postcards of places where they live, the sender has inked in an arrow showing the located of their house. 

 

Lynden is found in Whatcom County north of Bellingham and about 5 miles south of the Canada-U.S. Border.  The town was founded by Phoebe and Holden Judson in the 1870s near the site of Squahalish, a Nooksack Indian village.  There is a statue of Phoebe in Lynden near the intersection of Front and 6^th Street.  Farms in the valley formed by the Nooksack River are mostly dairy farms or berry farms.  Rapsberries, strawberries, and blueberries are grown here.  There is a raspberry festival the 3^rd week in July.  Also the Northwest Washington Fair is held in Lynden in August.  The buildings in Lynden reflect Dutch heritage in their architecture.  The population is approximately 16,000. 

 

For additional information, see:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynden,_Washington

 

If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 666

 

 

 

 

 

Jacqueline sentada [Jacqueline seated], Paris, 1954 by Picasso

[photo by Rafael Lobato]

 

This week’s postcard features the painting by Pablo Picasso titled “Jacqueline sentada” or in English, “Jacqueline seated.”  The card is unused and was purchased at the Seattle Art Museum when there was a Picasso exhibit a few years ago.  The card is a product of the Picasso Museum.  The original painting is part of the collection of the Museo Picasso in Málaga, Spain.  The photograph of the painting is attributed to Rafael Lobato. 

 

Jacqueline Roque Picasso (1927-1986) is best known as the second wife and muse of Pablo Picasso.  She was 26 and he was 72 when they met in 1953.  They married in 1961 and had been married for 11 years at the time of his death in 1973.  Picasso painted more than 400 portraits of Jacqueline.  This painting with exaggerated features is recognizable as a symbol of his late paintings.  She is shown in a serene pose which is suggests tranquility and love.  One report said this work represented Picasso’s love and devotion of her. 

 

The photographer, Rafael Sanz Lobato (1932-2015), got his first camera at age 22.  He learned how to develop and print his own pictures.  In 1964 he joined the Royal Photographic Society of Madrid.  He is known as a post-war photographer who produced exceptional documentary photos that earned him Spain’s National Photography Award in 2011. 

 

The museum is located in the city of Málaga, Andalusia, Spain where Picasso was born.  It opened in 2003 with a collection of 285 pieces of his works donated by his family.  In 2009 this collection merged with another and became the Fundación Museo Picasso Málaga.  The building that houses the museum is the Buenavista Palace and was originally build in the 1500s for Diego de Cazalla.  It was declared a National Monument in 1939 and had been an arts museum from 1961 to 1997.  It was purchased with the intention of converting it to a museum featuring Picasso’s works. 

 

For additional information, see:

https://celebracionpicasso.es/en/noticia/piece-week-jacqueline-seated

https://en.wikipedia/wiki/Jacqueline_Rogue

https://on.spainculture.us/50-fotografias-con-historia/rafael-sanz-lobato/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museo_Picasso_M%C3%A1laga