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,

The Sacrament of the Last Supper

Postcard US-3957031 to China shows a painting The Sacrament of the Last Supper by Salvador Dalí. Completed in 1955 after nine months of work, it remains one of his most popular compositions. Since its arrival at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. in 1955, it replaced Renoir's A Girl with a Watering Can as the most popular piece in the museum.

Woman with a Yellow Necklace by Picasso

Outgoing postcard US-3620822 to Thailand shows Pablo Picasso's 1946 painting Woman with a Yellow Necklace. It was a portrait of Picasso’s partner Françoise Gilot with overlaid geometry. The portrait, along with 42 other original works by Picasso from 1938 to 1962, is on exhibit at Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art. Opened on July 3, 2015, “Picasso: Creatures and Creativity” focuses on Picasso’s fascination with the human form.

Swedish Stamps around the Arctic Circle

I found this advertising card published by Postverkets Tryckeri in 1975 at a stamp show over the weekend, featuring Swedish stamps around the Arctic Circle.

On the top left on the card, a 70 Swedish öre stamp, issued on January 18, 1973, shows a mail truck; on the top right, a 35 Swedish öre stamp, circa 1967, features a painting of the Fjeld by Sixten Lundbohm, The Swedish fjelds, explains the difference between fjelds and mountains.

In the middle row, two 45 Swedish öre stamps, showing a lappkata (teepee) on the left and a reindeer herd on the right, are two of the five stamps from the Around the Arctic Circle set, circa 1970. At the center, a 35 Swedish öre stamp features a view of the Akka Mountains in the Stora Sjöfallet (Great Falls) National Park, circa 1970.

At the bottom on the left, a 1 Swedish krona stamp, circa 1974, features a Swedish overland postman on his northernmost rural delivery route against the background of Scandinavian landscape. Next to it, a 140 Swedish öre stamp, circa 1970, shows a a sled drawn by a reindeer. On the right, a 70 Swedish öre stamp commemorates the European Nature Conservation Year in 1970. The set contains two similar stamps featuring the River Trångforsen in Ljungan, Jämtland, but with different face values. The other stamp has a face value of 55 Swedish öre.

Öre is the discontinued centesimal subdivision of the Swedish krona. 1 KR = 100 öre.

On the back of the card, a tag line reads "Collect Swedish stamp motifs. Ask your dealer for Swedish Stamps."

When the Honeymoon's Over

Postcard US-3259468 to North Carolina shows a magazine cover, "When the Honeymoon's Over" by Western artist Bill Owens, for the Western Horseman's September 1987 issue. As do most of his paintings, this one shows a real cowboy, living and working in the contemporary West. Owen's artwork has appeared on the magazine's cover 29 times.

The Wheel of Time: Valerian K. Zholtok (1919-2000)

Postcard BY-1563582 from Belarus shows a still-life painting from a past exhibition the Wheel of Time. Valerian K. Zholtok (1919-2000) at the National Art Museum of the Republic of Belarus.

Valerian K. Zholtok was born December 13, 1919 in Zhlobin Gomel region in Belarus from a family of railroad employee. She graduated from the Vitebsk Art School in 1939, and had received many awards throughout her career. Many of her works are in collection of the National Art Museum of the Republic of Belarus, the Belarusian Union of Artists, Museum of Modern Art in Minsk, Belarus, and other institutes and individuals in UK, USA, Italy, Poland, Romania, and Japan.

Many of the plants in her paintings were grown by her own hands.

Blums Touring Boxing Troupe

Postcard AU-407109 from Australia featuring Maitland-born Les Darcy (1895 - 1917), one of the best Australian boxers of all time, in boxing pose on a boxing troupe canvas painting circa 1950. Les Darcy was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1993, the World Boxing Hall of Fame in 1998, and the Australian National Boxing Hall of Fame in 2003.

Blum’s Boxing Troupe toured Western Australian mining towns in the 1950s. This canvas decorated one of the tent walls alongside canvases featuring other famous boxers such as Dave Sands, Micky Miller and Vic Patrick.

Fur Traders Descending the Missouri

Outgoing postcard US-3139095 to Russia shows one of the most famous paintings by George Caleb Bingham, a 19th century American artist. Depicting American life in the frontier lands along the Missouri River using the Luminist style, the painting was originally entitled French-Trader, Half-breed Son. It reflected the reality of fur traders' common marriages with Native American women. However, the name was changed to Fur Traders Descending the Missouri to avoid potentially controversial when it was first exhibited. Painted around 1845, this art piece is now owned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

The stamped card was one of the EXTRAordinary Art Card series issued by USPS at the Saint Louis Art Museum in St. Louis, Missouri on May 4, 1990. It has a 15-cent postage pre-printed with a reproduction of the 1845 painting and sells for 50 cents at the time.

The liberty cap or Phrygian cap worn by the older man was the symbol of freedom and liberty commonly used in the 19th century. The animal in the boat was actually a bear cub, not a cat.

Better Late than Never

Postcard US-2849028 to China was a Welcome to Las Vegas card from the tropical themed Margaritaville casino inside the Flamingo in Las Vegas. It was mailed directly from USPS' Philatelic Center in Kansas City after it was sent in to obtain a first-day-of-issue postmark on the Nevada Statehood Forever stamp by mail on July 26, 2014, along with other cards. Due to the initial delay in selecting a card on my part and a longer-than-usual-processing time at the Philatelic Center in Kansas City, it took exactly 100 days for the card to arrive. Yet it is an encouraging sign, and I hope the rest of those postcards in that order will soon reach their intended recipients.

Southwest Cow Country Branding

Artist Charles Paris created this Southwest cow country branding scene for the Western Horseman magazine's June 1952 cover. Brands from some of the country's most famous ranches accompany his realistic painting above and below. The magazine sold for 35 cents per copy in 1952.

The postcard was sent to Germany as US-2869221. Previously, covers from August 1952 and July 1959 issues were featured in this blog.

American Papermaking 1690 - 1990

Postcard US-2849009 to the Netherlands was a postal stamped card to celebrate 300-years of American Papermaking from 1690 to 1990, issued by USPS at the annual meeting of the American Paper Institute in New York City on March 15, 1990. The American Paper Institute and the National Forest Products Association merged on January 1, 1993 and formed the American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA).

The card shows a painting of the Rittenhouse Paper Mill, established near Germantown, PA in 1690. The painting was based on black and white photographs, circa 1770, of the most recent mill that lasted until the late 1800s. The original paper mill, first in America, was washed away by flood in 1700;  a second mill constructed in 1702, was destroyed by a fire. A reproduction of the original Rittenhouse watermark is featured on the left side of the card with a note "This watermark appears on the first paper made in the United States on this site in 1690."

According to an article in Times-News from Hendersonville, NC on April 1, 1990 and an article in Lawrence Journal-World from Lawrence, Kansas on April 8, 1990, collectors had until April 12, 1990 to obtain the first-day cancellations. It also noted that the Postal Services gave preferential service to customers who bought cards at a local post office, self-addressed them before sending them in for cancellation. If customers preferred to have the Postal Service supply the card, they needed to send, for each card ordered, payment of 15 cents in the form of a check or money order and a self-addressed, peelable label to a New York City post office. Now a days, USPS sells a postal stamped card for the face value plus a mark up. For example, a Tree Stamped Single Stamped Card sells for 38 cents with a first-class FOREVER postcard rate (currently at 34 cents) postage.

Coincidentally, the postcard arrived in the Netherlands yesterday when the Dutch National Soccer Team defeated Costa Rica 4:3 in Penalties at the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

Every Rodeo Has One

Postcard US-2663919 to New York shows another amazing cover of The Western Horseman magazine from the July, 1959 issue.

According to artist Gordon Phillips, "Every rodeo has one," meaning that for the local cowboy who saves his money to enter his hometown rodeo, more often than not, cheers from the crowd will be his only reward. The magazine costed 50 cents per copy in 1959.

Middagsvila

Postcard FI-1840516 from Finland shows a water color painting titled "Mid-day Rest" by Kaya Hansson,born in Finland but currently living and working in Sweden. She is known for her farm and garden painting art. You can see her other postcards on PostCrossing and on eBay.

Sweden postcard to UK in 2000

Water Lilies by Monet

Outgoing postcard US-2776488 to CT, USA shows an impressionism painting titled "Water Lilies" by Claude Monet (1840-1926) in 1906. He was a founder of the French impressionist painting movement. Most of his paintings were of "en plein air" (in the open air) style impressionism landscapes.

This painting was one of many variations of water lily paintings that Monet painted in his flower garden in Giverny, France. The postcard was purchased at Zazzle.com. Another rendition of "Water Lilies" in 1907 was just sold for over $27 million at an auction on May 6, 2014.

Western Horseman

Outgoing postcard US-2651090 to Finland shows a vintage cover of the Western Horseman magazine's December issue in 1951. It is the magazine for admirers of stock horses,  featuring articles on Western horse riding, horse breeding, horse training, horse ranching, and horse care.

When illustrator Orren Mixer visited the magazine's offices in August 1951,  he was asked to paint a cover for the magazine's December issue. The painting arrived, still wet, on deadline day, just in the nick of time. The magazine sells for 35 cents a copy in 1951.

The postcard was from a postcard book purchased at the Cowboy Christmas Gift Show during the National Finals Rodeo in 2012.