A Happy Halloween!

Postcard US-6314090 from Maryland shows a vintage Halloween image from the early 20th century of a boy with his dog, checking out three funny pumpkins.

The US Postal Service issued four Forever stamps at the Milford Pumpkin Festival in Milford, NH on October 11,2019 for Halloween. The Spooky Silhouettes stamps feature a cat, two ghosts, a spider, and three bats rendered as black silhouettes against eerily backlit windows.

Point Wilson Light, WA

Postcard US-4002452 to Luxembourg shows the Point Wilson Light, an active aid to navigation overlooking the entrance to Admiralty Inlet, located in Fort Worden State Park near Port Townsend, Jefferson County, Washington. Built in 1914, the lighthouse was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 24, 1971.

Tortoise: Guinness Ad Campaign

Postcard US-4015876 to Germany shows "Tortoise" from a vintage Guinness ad campaign poster. The tortoise was an appropriate candidate to promote Guinness beer as a pick me up, circa 1936.

Western Horseman: July 1954 Cover

Postcard US-4002384 to Japan shows the July 1954 Western Horseman magazine cover. It captures that tense, explosive split-second after the chute gates open and the cowboy says "Turn 'im out!" This photo was shot by Clarence Coil, a frequent contributor to the magazine during the 1950s.

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.

Cassava Harvest

Postcard US-3957035 to Belgium shows a watercolor painting Cassava Harvest by Dorothy B. Hayes.

Cassava is a perennial woody shrub with an edible root, originated from tropical America and was first introduced into Africa in the Congo basin by the Portuguese around 1558.

Because Cassava is rich in carbohydrates, calcium, vitamins B and C, and essential minerals, and grows well in poor soils with limited labor requirements, it becomes the main nutrition source for 500 million people in Africa. It also provides food security during conflicts when the invader cannot easily destroy or remove the crop, since it conveniently grows underground. Roots can be harvested between six months and three years after planting. Africa accounted for 63% of Nineteen million hectares of cassava planted worldwide in 2007.

Although Cassava requires only 21% labor in terms of working days, compared to other staple crops such as maize, yam and rice, it does require intensive post-harvest processing as the roots are highly perishable and need to be processed for storage soon after harvest.

The postcard was produced by IITA-UNICEF Program on Household Food Security and Nutrition, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Ibadan, Nigeria.

IITA and partners just announced Cassava Innovation Challenge in which the Rockefeller Foundation would provide up to 1 million US dollars in grants for global innovations to enhance cassava shelf life,

Men's Gymnastics

This original artwork by Robert Peak was used for the design of the men's gymnastics stamp from the 40¢ international airmail block of four honoring the 1984 Summer Olympics. This stamp was issued at Los Angeles, California 33 years ago on April 8, 1983.

Update: the card was later sent to Belarus as US-3975285.

Toucan World Cup

Outgoing postcard US-3373322 to China shows a vintage color poster advertisement featuring Guinness and a football (soccer) supporting toucan with an Irish shamrock scarf, with a tag line "Lovely day for a Guinness."

As for the 2014 World Cup in the recent news, the last two of the 12 stadiums built for the purpose of hosting the Brazil World Cup have finally been completed, 10 months after the tournament ended, while at least four others have either turned into a parking lot, been used by homeless people, or become other white elephants. The waste fueled the continued controversies about the amount spent on the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics, which, as many protesters claimed, should have been used to deal with the poverty issues and to improve infrastructures in the country.

Cypress Trees on Point Lobos, near Carmel, California

Outgoing postcard US-3109079 to Russia shows Point Lobos, a rugged point of rocks at the southern end of Carmel Bay in California. It is thickly wooded with pines and cedars and strikingly picturesque with its gnarled and twisted cypress trees that fringe this rocky coast.