Moominppapa at Sea

Postcard FI-2342261 from Finland shows an illustration of Tove Marika Jansson (August 9, 1914 – June 27, 2001), a Swedish-speaking Finnish author and illustrator from Moominppapa at Sea.

With her first book of the semi-autobiographical Bildhuggarens dotter (Sculptor's Daughter) in 1968, she had published six novels and five books of short stories for adults. However, in the PostCrossing world, she is best known for the Moomin cards with illustrations from her Moomin books for children.

The first Moomin book The Moomins and the Great Flood was published in 1945. However, it wasn't until the next two books, Comet in Moominland (1946) and Finn Family Moomintroll (1948), when Moomins gained a great deal of popularity.

Moomins had lived in Moominvalley for a while, until the family decided that they needed a change and moved to a lighthouse on a tiny island. In this Volume 7 of Moomins, "they find space to grow, and to do things they couldn't in their comfortable, cluttered valley home. As they discover their new home, the family also discover surprising, and wonderfully funny, new things about themselves."

Tove Jansson won the Hans Christian Andersen Medal in 1966 for her contribution as a children's writer.

Burg Giebichenstein und die Giebichensteinbrücke

Postcard DE-3903996 from Germany shows Giebichenstein Castle and the Giebichensteinbrücke bridge in Halle (Saale), an economic and educational center in eastern Germany, located in the southern Saxony-Anhalt state.

Giebichenstein Castle, seen on the right on the postcard, was a royal residence of Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor in the 9th century. It is used by the Kunsthochschule Halle (Academy of Arts) of the Burg Giebichenstein Art School.

The Giebichensteinbrücke bridge, also known as Kröllwitzer bridge, is one of three Saale River crossings in Halle, located in the north part of the city below Giebichenstein Castle. The Giebichensteinbrücke bridge in its current form was built between 1926 and 1928 as a replacement for a steel bridge with large truss arch from 1892. The bridge's main arch was blown up during the final days of World War II on April 14, 1945. It was re-built in 1949 and renovated from 1993 to 1995.

On February 13, 1990, an agreement was announced on a two-stage plan to reunite Germany.

United Nations Day

President Barack Obama, as every President of the United States has done each year since 1946, proclaimed October 24, 2013 as United Nations Day to commemorate the 68th anniversary of the 1945 Charter of the United Nations. 
Postcard US-2373503 to Russia, shows the United Nations Headquarters in New York City, arrived in 62 days. It was sent to the United Nations Postal Administration (UNPA) in New York City for mailing with the United Nations stamps on August 20, 2013. For procedures on how to send mails through UNPA, see my previous blog.

Some other postcards sent under a separated envelop on the same day, survived a mail catastrophe and arrived their destinations without any postmarks.

World Food Day

Today is the 68th anniversary of the founding of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in 1945. Many organizations such as the World Food Program have observed October 16 as the World Food Day since 1981. The World Food Day theme is "Sustainable Food Systems for Food Security and Nutrition" in 2013.

Postcard PL-496296 from Poland shows a variety of traditional food in Poland. It reminds us the food security and agricultural development is a global concern. Collaborative actions are needed in the struggle against hunger, malnutrition and poverty.

For more information, visit World Food Day USA.