If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 620

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Arch of Constantine, ca early 1900s

 

This is an unused vintage postcard from the early 1900s with a divided back and a tinted or colored, black & white photograph of the Arch of Constantine.  It is hard to discern how the color was applied or what type of coloring was used.  It almost looks like a watercolor wash.  The card does not have a photographer or printer/publisher identified or a number.  There is; however, a blurb in the correspondence space that reads:  “The Arch of Constantine.—Erected by Constantine, the first Christian emperor in Rome:  is one of the great relics of Rome in the great and glorious past.” 

 

There is a figure standing in the arch on the right side of the card that provides some perpective as to the overall size of the arch.  The main arch measures 69 ft (21 m) high, 85 ft (25.9m) wide, and 24 ft (7.4 m) deep.  The two smaller arches are 38 ft (11.5 m) high, 21 ft (6.5 m) wide.  The entire structure is decorated in reliefs and statues that were removed from earlier triumphal monuments dedicated to Trajan, Hadrian, and Marcus Aurelius.  The portrait heads were replaced with Constantine’s likeness.  Constantine reigned from 306 to 337 with the arch built between 312 and 315.  The arch is on the route, called the Via sacra triumphalis, taken by emperors when they entered the city in triumph and is located between the Palatine Hill and the Caelian Hill.  The arch is not far from the Colosseum, a section of which can be seen at the right lower side of the card. 

 

For additional information, see:

 

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

 

If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 619

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lyon (France), La Cathedrale St. Jean, ca. Early 1900s

 

This unused Vintage L.L. (Levy – Leon) postcard features a black & white photograph of the Cathedral in Lyon, France called Saint-Jean-Baptiste, and dated early 1900s.  The card has a divided back but no identifying number on the front or reverse.  The top edge of the card is perforated as if the card was torn from a booklet or fold out collection of cards. 

 

The seat of the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Lyon, the cathedral is dedicated to John the Baptist.  There were ruins of a 6^th century church on this spot when construction of the cathedral began in 1180.  It was not until 1476 that it was completed.  Two crosses, one on the right and one on the left of the altar, date from 1274.  This building along with other historic sites in Lyon were added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1998.

 

One of the features of the cathedral is a 29 ft or 9 m tall astronomical clock dating from 1661.  This elaborately decorated clock indicates the date and position of the Moon, Sun, and Earth as well as the stars.  It replaced an earlier similar type clock that was made in 1383 but destroyed in 1562.  The clock has several figures that are automated, such as angles that strike bells, turn an hourglass, the Virgin Mary who kneels in the chapel and turns to the Angel Gabriel as he opens the chapel door and a white dove descends representing the Holy Spirit.  A Swiss Guard rotates around the dome.  A tune is played on bells and the hour is struck.  All movements of the figures cease at the sounding of the hour.  There are several YouTube videos showing the clock movements and views of the interior of the cathedral.

 

For more information, see:

 

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

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

https://youtu.be/99ifX1jS4_E   (Lyon Cathedral and Astronomical clock video about 4 min. long)

 

If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 618

 

 

 

 

 

 

Giant Pacific Octopus

 

This unused postcard comes from the Seattle Aquarium and was shared by Bob’s son who, with his wife and children, visited us this summer.  The Aquarium was one of several places they enjoyed while they were here. 

 

The blurb at the upper left corner on the reverse of the card says:  “Giant Pacific octopus:  The world’s largest octopus species is found throughout the Salish Sea—and even directly below our pier!  Learn about these fascinating, intelligent animals at SeattleAquarium.org/octopus.” 

 

The Salish Sea is comprised of Puget Sound (Seattle), the Strait of Juan de Fuca (San Juan Islands), and the Georgia Strait (Vancouver Island).  These animals are found in the North Pacific Ocean from Baja California (Mexico) up along the coastline from California to Alaska and across to Russia, Eastern China, Japan, and the Korean Peninsula.  They are best adapted to the cold, oxygen rich water found from the inter-tidal zone to depths up to 6,600 ft or 2,000 m.  The average large adult octopuses typically weigh about 33 lbs or 15 kg.  The arm span can reach to 14 ft or 4.3 m. Very large ones have been weighed at 110 lbs or 50 kg with an arm span of 20 ft or 6 m. 

 

Their diet consists of a variety of sea creatures, such as, shrimp, crabs, scallops, abalone, cockles, snails, clams, lobsters, fish, squid, and even other octopuses.  Their long tentacles or arms with suckers snare the food and the tough beak is used to bite into the prey. 

 

Astonishingly, the female lays between 120,000 and 400,000 eggs!  After mating, she can hold the spermatheca in her own body for several months until she is ready to fertilize them.  One of the female octopuses at the Seattle Aquarium waited seven months before laying her eggs.  The eggs are preyed upon by many other sea creatures and require the female to constantly watch over and tend the eggs until they hatch.  Unlike the males, the females only breed a single time in their life.  While she is tending and watching over the eggs and fighting off predators she does not eat and is believed to eventually die of starvation shortly after the eggs hatch. 

 

Ranked as the most intelligent of invertebrates, the Giant Pacific octopuses are often on display in aquariums.  It has been observed that they can recognize humans with whom they frequently have contact.  Sometimes they will respond by jetting water or changing body texture when they see a person they know.  They can solve simple puzzles, open childproof bottles, and use tools.  According the the Wikipedia article, “…they have been known to open tank valves, disassemble expensive equipment, and generally wreak havoc in labs and aquaria.  Some researchers even claim they are capable of motor play and having personalities.” 

 

Thanks R for sharing the postcard!

 

For additional information, see:

 

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

 

If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 617

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Fountain of Trevi, Rome, Italy

 

This is another unused postcard found in a jumble of cards at a local antique pavilion.  It features a black & white photograph of the Trevi Fountain in Rome, Italy.  The card has portions of the photo tinted a pink-purple color.  There is a blurb on the reverse: “The Fountain of Trevi, Rome.—This celebrated fountain is one of the gems of sculpture in Rome and is so beautiful and attractive that it is visited by everyone who has the good fortune to go to Rome.  Everybody who leaves Rome, dating back for many hundred years, throws a piece of coin in the fountain, saying a little prayer for their preservation and safe return, and it is said the good spirits of saints of Rome watch over those who perform this duty and bring them safely back to Rome.”  There is no information on the card giving credit to a photographer or the printer, publisher or distributor.

 

Nicola Salvi (1697-1751), an Italian architect, designed the Trevi Fountain but died before it was completed.  The remaining work was done by Giuseppe Pannini and others in 1762.  The fountain is 86 ft or 26.3 m high and 161.3 ft or 49.15 m wide.  It is the largest Baroque fountain in Rome and one of the most famous fountains in the world.  The name comes from the Latin, trivium, or intersection of three roads.  Several sculptors were hired to complete the decorations on the fountain.  The fountain has been refurbished and restored three times in modern history.  The most recent restoration included the addition of 100 LED lights to improve nighttime illumination. 

 

 Anciently aqueducts supplied pure water to Rome for 400 years.  During the 6^th century the aqueducts were not well maintained and some were damaged following the invasion of the Ostrogoths.  Later they were repaired.  Amazingly, the aqueduct could still be used now; however, the fountain recirculates the water today. 

 

For more information, see:

 

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

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

 

If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 616

 

 

 

 

 

W. VA 21, Hairpin Curve, near Grafton and Clarksburg, West Virginia

 

Rex Heck News Co. of Clarksburg, West Virginia printed and published this linen-type postcard using Genuine Curteich-Chicago “C.T. Colortone.”  The alpha-numeric code:  5A-H1979 is found at the lower right corner on the front of the card.  The photograph shows the road curving around a geological rock formation. 

 

This card has another one of nature's oddities or beauties.  There are lots of interesting rock formations in West Virginia.  Some are even named, although the one on this card is not.  It appears that when the road was being constructed the workers elected to leave the rock where it was and curve the road around it.  The title provides a clue to where it is located; U.S. Route 50, east of the towns of Grafton and Clarksburg, West Virginia.  Highway 50 runs from the border with Ohio to Virginia.  It was originally known as West Virginia Route 1.  Today it is part of Corridor D of the Appalachian Development Highway System.  Much of the roadway parallels the North Bend Rail Trail Park system, crossing the trail at three places. 

 

For more information, see:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Route_50_in_West_Virginia

 

https://theculturetrip.com/north-america/usa/west-virginia/articles/why-these-rock-formations-fascinate-west-virginia-locals/

 

If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 615

 

 

 

 

 

 

Devil’s Slide, Weber Canyon, Utah, 1940s

 

Usually, vintage postcards are 100 years old or older.  This unused card is not that old but it was identified as a vintage card dating from the 1940s by different sellers.  I found this one in a jumble box at an antique pavilion.  It is a linen-type card with natural color printed by the E.C. Kropp Co. and published by Ogden News, Co., Ogden, Utah. 

 

 

This is a souvenir card featuring a picture of the geological formation located near the border of Wyoming and Utah and called Devil’s Slide.  The Weber River flows between the freeway and the slide along I-84.  Parking and viewing areas can be found on both sides of the highway.  The river and a passenger train can be seen.

 

 

There is a short blurb at the upper left and the number 374 at the top right side, both on the reverse.  The information in the blurb is slightly different from more modern information: “Stretching imagination was not required to name the outcropping of porphyry, Devil’s Slide, rising from the water below and extending far up the side of the mountain in Weber’s Canyon, near Echo.  The two limestone reefs are 20 feet apart and stand out 40 feet from the general slope of the canyon side.”  Note:  The Wikipedia.org article, linked below, has the distance between the reefs as 8 ft or 2.4 m.  The card calls the rock both porphyry and limestone while the Wikipedia.org article just describes the rock as limestone.  Porphyry is a decorative granite or igneous rock that has crystals, feldspar, and quartz embedded in it.  For interested readers, Wikipedia.org includes a couple of legends about Devil’s Slide.

 

This is one of four other such formations in the United States, including in California and Montana called Devil's Slide.  Originally discovered by Utah settlers who were working on the Transcontinental Railroad in the 1840s, the Utah slide was also called “Gutter Defile.” 

 

For more information, see:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devil%27s_Slide_(Utah)

http://www.sentfromthepastpostcards.com/index.php/publishers/e-c-kropp-co/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porphyry_(geology)

 

If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 614

 

 

 

 

 

 

The George Wythe House, Williamsburg, Virginia

 

This is an unused postcard with a color photo by Walter H. Miller.  Miller was both a photographer and the publisher of postcards.  The number 2730 is found at the bottom of the center line on the reverse.  The blurb at the top left corner:  “The George Wythe House, Williamsburg, Virginia.  This house was erected in 1755 by Richard Taliaferro [Taliafero], father-in-law of George Wythe.  Wythe was a signer of the Declaration of Independence and the first law professor in America.  He was the teacher of Thomas Jefferson and Chief Justice John Marshall.”

 

The historic house is located on the Palace Green in Colonial Williamsburg, in Williamsburg, Virginia.  It was originally owned by Wythe’s father-in-law who later gave it as a wedding gift to his daughter, Elizabeth, and George Wythe in 1755.  Taliafero continued to live with them in the house until his death in 1779.  Wythe and Elizabeth also received life tenancy upon Taliafero’s death in 1779.  After Elizabeth died in 1787, George moved to Richmond, Virginia in 1791 to serve as a judge.  Ownership of the house changed hands several times before Colonial Williamsburg officially obtained the property in 1938.  In 1939 the interior was restored to the way it looked when the Wythe family lived there.

 

Prior to the Siege of Yorktown, General George Washington used the house as headquarters.  The property includes gardens and outbuildings, such as a smokehouse, external kitchen, laundry, poultry house, lumber house, well, dovecote, and a stable.  The house is on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places, is a U.S. National Historic Landmark, a U.S. National Historic Landmark District Contributing Property, and on the Virginia Landmarks Register.

 

For additional information, see:

 

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

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