Called the Lady of the Night, this orchid, originally from Mexico, emits a “white floral” scent after dark. It is pollinated by moths. It belongs to Mark Allison, who thoughtfully texted me when this came into full bloom.
The Cunard R.M.S. Queen Elizabeth
Nice mid-50s Cunard postcard with an artist’s rendering of the original Queen Elizabeth, launched in 1938, but only carried troops until 1946, when it entered regular commercial service. The artist is C. F. Hopkinson, who actually worked for Cunard as an accountant, according to this posting.
United Mainliner
This nice postcard is from the late 1940s. United used that logo from 1940 to 1954. “Mainliners” were DC-3s. With world-wide production, some 16,000 of these planes entered service somewhere…and some are probably still flying.
RMS Scythia
A 1934 Cunard White Star postcard showing the Royal Mail Ship Scythia.
Artwork by Kenneth Shoesmith.
Oops!
In 2013, Broad Street UMC was replacing their steeple. This is the old steeple that they’d left out in the yard. I added a scoop of ice cream, which tends to rather resemble a baseball, for some reason.
Havana – Nassau
I live for finding these old airline handouts. This one, when folded, is 4 x 6.5″. It was issued in January, 1938. The mighty Pan-Am Clippers!
Mass o’ Vandas
These are on the side porch at a friend’s house. Fine color for this orchid, an epiphyte whose name comes from the Sanskrit word for this flower, vanda. Literal translation, I’m told, means “mistletoe” or, more generally, any parasitic plant.
Two Kids
This is a cropped version of a real photo postcard, printed on Artura stock that was made between 1910 and 1924. The image was very faded with moderate spotting and scratches.
A couple of things: I have heavily kicked up the contrast and the sharpness. I brightened the light reflections in the kids’ eyes, but I can’t correct the problem with the left kid’s left leg, as you view him. Notice that it looks like his leg ends before it even gets to the shoe. I enlarged it and it appears to be a lens aberration or a case of poor processing. Maybe he didn’t have a leg there…who knows?
Uncle Bob's Pix 