#MakeSomeoneHappy

The Bellagio Conservatory & Botanical Gardens is partnering with Coca-Cola on Toys for Tots holiday gift drive. For each photo shared on social media with the #BellagioHoliday and #MakeSomeoneHappy hashtags, Coca-cola will donate one dollar to the charity campaign until the total amount reaches $50,000.

#BellagioHoliday, the mother polar bear and the three cubs are made of 37,000 carnations, #MakeSomeoneHappy

Postcard US-2615455 to Indiana was a polar bear shaped card bought at the Everything Coca-Cola Store on Las Vegas Boulevard.

North Pole Postmark Offered Through December 15

According to a news release from the U.S. Postal Service, once again, USPS is offering North Pole postmarks on holiday mail in 2014.

To receive the North Pole postmark on your holiday cards, you should:

• Purchase stamps at any post office.
• Affix the stamps to envelopes of your choice.
• Address the sealed envelopes, with the cards enclosed, to those on your mailing list.
• Mail them in a larger envelope,  box,  Priority Mail or Express Mail package to:

NORTH POLE HOLIDAY CANCELLATION
POSTMASTER
4141 POSTMARK DR
ANCHORAGE AK 99530-9998

Requests must be received in Anchorage by December 15, 2014 in order to ensure delivery by Christmas. The Postal Service receives hundreds of thousands of requests each year for North Pole postmarks from around the world.  The service is provided at no cost.  Each card or letter must have the correct amount of postage and be addressed.

Postcard US-2529937 to Taiwan shows a rubber stamp impression of polar bears sledding on a sleigh with a USPS Gingerbread House Forever stamp, before the card was sent in for cancellation last year.

Polar Bears and the Moon

Postcard US-2776626 to Poland shows two polar bears gazing at the moon, from a Coca-Cola advertisement campaign in 2002. You can read more about how the Coca-Cola polar bears came to life by visiting the Enduring History of Coca-Cola's Polar Bears; and see more polar bear posters and other Coca-Cola's advertising postcards.

If you get a chance to visit the Everything Coca-Cola store in Las Vegas, make sure to have your picture taken with the polar bear. You may even find the bear dancing!

Dawn Over Moscow

Postcard RU-2410688 from Russia shows a beautiful dawn over the Khoroshevsky District, part of the North-Western Administrative Okrug in Moscow where many historical and cultural monuments are located. In the middle of the picture on the card is the Triumph Palace Building, a 57-story 1,000-unit luxury apartment building that was once the tallest building in all of Europe at 264.1 m or 866 ft until 2007.

With a stamp featuring one of the three 2014 Olympic Winter Games mascots "the Polar Bear", the postcard's arrival coincides the closing of the Games in Sochi.

Open Happiness

I sent out Postcard US-2436388, titled "Open Happiness", to Austria today. It shows a specialty store "Everything Coca-Cola" on the Las Vegas Boulevard South near the MGM Hotel and Casino. There is a giant glass coke bottle built in the front of the building. It has a lot of Coca-cola branded merchandise, including postcards. You can also have your picture taken with their 7 ft or 2.1 m tall Coca-Cola polar bear in front of a green screen. Photos are available for purchase with various polar landscapes added during the post-processing. On the second floor, there are soda fountains where you can order the "Tastes of the World" trays that offer 16 international coke flavors.

Originally a Coke museum called "World of Coca-Cola West" in 1997, mirroring many of the extensive exhibits popular in Atlanta's World of Coca-Cola attraction. However, the museum was closed in 2000 and replaced by a full scale specialty store.

54th Anniversay of Alaska Statehood

Glacier in Alaska

President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Alaska Statehood Act on July 7, 1958. It led to Alaska's admission into the Union on January 3, 1959, becoming the 49th State. Juneau, the territorial capital, was formally recognized as the state capital, and William A. Egan was sworn in as the first governor.

These shaped cards were purchased in 2003 when I attended the ASPRS annual conference in Anchorage. The glacier shaped card has been sent to Taiwan.

The Polar Bears are the Cutest