Los Angeles International Airport

Postcard US-6254988 to Malaysia shows Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).  With 87,534,384 passenger counts in 2018, LAX ranked fourth busiest airport in the world and the second busiest airport in the US.

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.

Happy Birthday to Blake Austin Griffin

Outgoing postcard US-3841691 to the United Kingdom shows the statue of mythical creature at the Mandalay Bay Hotel on October 16, 2014, wearing a Los Angeles Clipper jersey No. 32 which belongs to Blake Austin Griffin. Before playing for the Los Angeles Clippers, Blake Griffin played college basketball for the Oklahoma Sooners. Born March 16, 1989, he turns 27 today.

On Oct 30, 2014, the Clippers managed to hold off the Oklahoma City Thunder 93-90 in a season-opening game, although it couldn't build more than a 10-point lead. Blake Griffin scored 23 points, and made two free throws with five seconds left to the game.

1984 Summer Olympics Torch Station

Outgoing postcard US-3373220 to China was a stamped postal postcard for the 1984 Summer Olympics with an Olympic Torch Station postmark in Los Angeles, California on July 28, 1984.

The torch was lighted at 9:30 a.m. on May 8, 1984 on the lawn in front of the United Nations building, with the energy from the Olympic flame in Athens, Greece via a "heat reading" device and underwater cables. It then traveled 33 states in a 9,000-mile or 15,000-kilometer marathon relay from New York to Los Angeles in 82 days, passing through the hands of thousands of runners from all walks of life.

Since I had a layover at LAX airport in Los Angeles earlier today en route to San Francisco, I thought it would be neat if I could mail it from LAX. To my disappointment, I found out that there was no US Mail drop box in the airport. The closest U.S. post office was at 9029 Airport Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90009.

So the postcard will have to be mailed from San Francisco.

Volkswagen Samba Bus

Postcard US-3202842 from Los Angeles was a vintage travel postcard by Lantern Press showing a Volkswagen Samba Bus cruising along the Los Angeles coast. First produced in 1951, Samba-Bus, also known as Deluxe Microbus, was the most luxurious version of the Volkswagen Transporter T1 with panoramic windows and a fabric roof. It became popular as a hippie bus in the 1960s.

Need It, Want It, Got It

I found this GoCard I collected many years ago during a house cleaning that advertised Recycler Classifieds, a Los-Angeles-based classifieds-only newspaper, first started in 1973. Its print editions expanded into 10 regional markets including Los Angeles, San Diego, and Las Vegas by 1998.  Its digital edition Recycler.com was one of the first vast online classified advertisements communities with thousands of local ads covering cars, merchandise, employment, real estate and anything else. However, after several rounds of corporate buy outs, it missed the opportunity to compete with and stand out from other online sites such as eBay and Craigslist.

Postcard.com that produced this GoCard advertising is now a New York-based public benefit corporation with strives to achieve the highest standard for socially responsible businesses.

On a separate note, on this World AIDS Day in 2014, there is a #weareALLclean Shower Selfie Campaign that promotes HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention, and eliminatse stigma for those people who are infected by the virus.

1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles

Postcard US-2776584 to Belarus was a 13-cent stamped postal postcard issued by USPS, featuring a runner with an Olympics torch, for the 23rd Summer Olympic Games which opened in Los Angeles, CA 30 years ago on July 28, 1984.

In retaliation to the U.S.-led boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, 14 countries including the Soviet Union, Cuba and East Germany boycotted the 1984 Summer Games. Iran and Libya also boycotted for different reasons.

The Olympic Committee led by Peter Ueberroth imposed financial constraints on the games budget by using existing facilities as much as possible. As a result, the 1984 Summer Olympics became the first financially successful modern Olympic Games. Some of the profits were used to endow a foundation to promote youth sports in Southern California, educate coaches, and maintain a sports library.

Los Angeles hosted the Olympic Games previously in 1932.

From Los Angeles to Chicago

Postcard US-2738798 to the Netherlands shows a map of Route 66 from Los Angeles to Chicago. Also known as the Will Rogers Highway or the Main Street of America, U.S. Route 66 was one of the original highways within the U.S. Highway System. It was established on November 11, 1926 with road signs up the following year, originally ran from Santa Monica, California, through Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, to Chicago in a distance of 2,448 miles or 3,940 kilometers.

According to Wikipedia, Route 66 served as a major path for those who migrated west, especially during the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. It was officially removed from the United States Highway System on June 27, 1985 after it had been entirely replaced by the Interstate Highway System. Portions of the road that passed through Illinois, Missouri, New Mexico, and Arizona have been designated a National Scenic Byway of the name "Historic Route 66". Several states have adopted significant bypassed sections of the former US 66 into the state road network as State Route 66.

The map was originally created in 1956 with inserts showing such famous scenes along the route as Joshua Tree Forest, Hoover Dam, the Grand Canyon, the Petrified Forest, Indian War Dance, Will Rogers Monument and the Mississippi River. The postcard is available for purchase at Zazzle.