Maisaka from "Tokaido Journey"

Postcard US-4002386 to China shows the sun over a torii (鳥居) on a 21.5cm x 32.2cm serigraph painting Maisaka from "Tokaido Journey" by William Zacha in 1982.

An entry from Wikipedia explains that a torii, which literally means bird abode, "is a traditional Japanese gate most commonly found at the entrance of or within a Shinto shrine, where it symbolically marks the transition from the profane to the sacred." They are a common sight at Japanese Buddhist temples as well.

Merged into the city of Hamamatsu in 2005, Maisaka (舞阪町) was a fishing town on the Pacific coast of Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. According to William Zacha, this torii is at the departure point for ferrying across the narrow stretch of water that connects Lake Hamana (浜名湖) with the ocean. It's a great fishing area, famous for eel.

Lord Baltimore Hotel, Baltimore, Maryland

Postcard US-3118723 to Hong Kong was a 1960 vintage linen postcard showing Lord Baltimore Hotel in Baltimore, Maryland. Designed by William Lee Stoddart in the French Renaissance style, the 22-story 289-feet or 88-meter tall hotel opened on December 30, 1928. The hotel has a brick veneer over a steel frame and a tower featuring a mansard roof of copper on the top.

The Lord Baltimore Hotel was noted for its voluntary ending of its restrictive guest policies in 1958 after the Baltimore City Council's failed attempt to pass an ordinance prohibiting racial segregation in public accommodations.

The original Lord Baltimore Hotel closed in 1982, and re-opened in 2014 as an independent hotel after a series of ownership changes. The hotel was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. Under the current ownership of Rubell Hotels of Miami, Florida, it had undergone a total renovation of guest rooms and restoration of the building's public spaces.

Wabash F7A #1189 Locomotive

Postcard US-3064218 from Illinois shows Wabash F7A #1189 locomotive, which was the last F unit built for the Wabash Railroad by General Motors Diesel (GMD) at London, Ontario, Canada in April 1953. As the last operating F7 on the Norfolk and Western, it was retired on September 18, 1979 and donated to the Monticello Railway Museum in 1982. One weekend a year, Wabash #1189 and CN #6789 get to run on the mainline track.

Berkeley Pit Panorama

Postcard US-2967625 to the Netherlands was a vintage card showing a panorama of the Berkeley Pit, an open pit copper mine in Butte, Montana. Ektachromes by Clifford B. Ellis.

The mine, once the largest truck-operated open pit copper mine in the United States, was opened in 1955 and operated by Anaconda Copper. The Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO) bought the mine in 1977, and it was closed in 1982. Approximately 320 million tons of ore and over 700 million tons of waste rock were mined from the Butte Hill.

Measured one mile long (1.6 km) by half a mile (0,8 km) wide with an approximate depth of 1,780 feet (540 m), the pit began to collect groundwater from the surrounding aquifers once it was closed as the water pumps in the nearby shaft were turned off. Pyrite and sulfide minerals in the ore and wall rocks met dissolved oxygen in the water, releasing heavy metals and chemicals including copper, arsenic, cadmium, zinc, and sulfuric acid. According to PitWatch, with the bottom elevation at 4,263 feet above the sea level and the water level at 5,318.49 feet above sea level as of July 30, 2014, the pit had filled a depth of 1,055 feet (321.6 m) with water that was highly acidic (2.5 pH level) since 1982. Current projections estimate that the Critical Level at 5,410 feet above the sea level, which is close to the natural water table, will be reached around 2023 when the pit water may reverse flow back into groundwater, polluting Silver Bow Creek and rivers downstream.

The Berkeley Pit has since become one of the largest Superfund sites. Clean up plans have been in place since the 1990s.

Space Shuttle Columbia

Twenty five years ago today, Space Shuttle Columbia lifted off on August 8, 1989 for a five-day mission STS-28. It was the 30th NASA Space Shuttle mission overall, the 4th secret military mission for the U.S. Department of Defense, and the 8th flight of Space Shuttle Columbia. It was also Columbia's first flight since STS-61-C in January 1986, the mission directly preceding the Challenger disaster.

The featured postcard shows Columbia's Crew Insignia for mission STS-4, the 4th NASA Space Shuttle mission overall, and also the 4th flight for Space Shuttle Columbia. The mission, launched on June 27, 1982 and landed a week later on July 4, 1982,  carried numerous scientific payloads and military missile detection systems. The insignia shows the Columbia trailing USA nation's colors in the shape of her flight number 4, representing the fourth and final flight of the test phase. Space Shuttle was officially declared to be operational thereafter.

Columbia was destroyed on February 1, 2003 during the re-entry of the atmosphere at the end of a 16-day multi-disciplinary microgravity and Earth science research mission STS-107.

Groeten van Terschelling

Postcard NL-2209353 arrived yesterday with greetings from Terschelling Island in the Northern Netherlands. Terschelling is one of the West Frisian Islands, home to about 8300 permanent inhabitants. However, the number of people can triple in tourist season.

On the left it shows square-shaped Brandaris, known as "the Tower" by local, the oldest functional lighthouse in the Netherlands. The lighthouse was built in late 16th century. Unfortunately, the interior is not open to the public.

The middle panel shows a 1982 Statue of "Het Stryper Wyfke", an old lady who deceived English troops and saved the island from burning down during Holmes's Bonfire in 1666. She made English troops believe that the silhouettes they saw in the distant where soldiers, while in fact those were of graveyards. 

A section of beaches can be seen on the right, with "Noordzee" (North Sea, the open ocean outside the island) written in the foreground. Terschelling is separated from the mainland by the Wadden Sea and can be reached by ferry from the mainland Frisian town Harlingen in 2 hours and from Vlieland by high-speed catamaran in 45 minutes.

Nevada State Museum, Las Vegas

Postcard US-2260954 to Finland shows the Nevada State Museum, Las Vegas. The 1982 Museum opened on October 28, 2011 at the Las Vegas Springs Preserve in Las Vegas, Nevada after it moved from its previous location in Lorenzi Park.

The museum's permanent exhibits include the development of Las Vegas and the natural history of the area. Many interactive exhibits explain how geology shaped the Great Basin and Nevada; how the early flora and fauna survived and evolved; what Native Americans, pioneers, early settlers, miners, railroaders, ranchers and entrepreneurs had contributed to this area. There are some unique artifacts from the Hoover Dam constructions, the atomic testing era and the different stages of Las Vegas as the resort capital of the world.

"Flores Familiares" is the current exhibit that highlights the Mexican heritage embroidery exhibit by Nevada Arts Council. 

The museum is open from 10 am to 6 pm, Thursday to Monday. It is currently participating in the Museums on US program sponsored by Bank of America that offers free admission to the Bank of America or Merrill Lynch credit/debt card holders on the first full weekend of every month. The free admission dates are September 7th and 8th, October 5th and 6th, November 2nd and 3rd, December 7th and 8th in 2013.

It is one of six Nevada State Museums operated by the Nevada Department of Cultural Affairs. The other five museums are: East Ely Railroad Depot; Lost City Museum, Overton; Nevada Historical Society, Reno; Nevada State Museum, Carson City; Nevada State Railroad Museum, Carson City; Nevada State Railroad Museum, Boulder City.