St. Mary's Cathedral, Covington, KY, USA

Postcard US-3100095 to China was a 1940 vintage postcard showing the Roman Catholic St. Mary's Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption in Covington, Kentucky. Designed by Detroit architect Leon Coquard and built in 1895, its exterior was inspired by the Notre Dame of Paris in an one third scale replica. Services were first held in 1901. However, the construction stopped in 1915 with planned 52- feet or 16-meter tall towers un-built. Pope Pius XII elevated the cathedral to the rank of minor basilica on December 8, 1953.

The restoration of the Cathedral was recognized by the Cincinnati Preservation Association with a Preservation Award in 2002.

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.

Swim for Health in Safe and Pure Pools

Postcard RU-3152940 from Russia was a 1940 vintage poster commissioned for Cleveland Division of Health in Ohio, sponsored by Federal Art Project under the Works Progress Administration

According to Wikipedia, "the Works Progress Administration (renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration; WPA) was the largest and most ambitious American New Deal agency, employing millions of unemployed people (mostly unskilled men) to carry out public works projects, including the construction of public buildings and roads. In a much smaller but more famous project, the Federal Project Number One, the WPA employed musicians, artists, writers, actors and directors in large arts, drama, media, and literacy projects."

The poster was part of the Work Projects Administration Poster Collection at the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division in Washington, D.C. 20540. It promotes swimming as a healthy exercise by showing a man and a woman in a swimming pool.

North Cape, Norway

Postcard NO-102992 from Norway shows North Cape (Nordkapp in Norwegian), located on the northern coast of the island of Magerøya in Northern Norway and shown as a red pin in the following map. It is often mistakenly regarded as the northernmost point of Europe.

However, the neighboring Knivskjellodden point, shown as a green pin on the map below, is 1,457 meters or 4,780 feet farther to the north, which is sometimes considered the northernmost point of the entire continent of Europe.

Nonetheless, both of above points are located on an island. Cape Nordkinn (Kinnarodden in Norwegian), located on the Nordkinn Peninsula and shown as a yellow pin on the map, is the northernmost point of mainland Europe.

Regardless, North Cape is a popular tourist attraction with a 307-meter or 1,007-foot high cliff where visitors can watch the midnight sun or the panoramic views of the Barents Sea, part of the Arctic Ocean, to the north on a large flat plateau. The midnight sun can be seen from May 14 to the July 31 during which the sun reaches its lowest point above the horizon from 12:14 to 12:24 a.m.

Previously, I have featured the north cape in New Zealand in this blog.

S.A.S. Rainier III and Miss Grace Kelly

Outgoing postcard US-3128753 to Czech Republic was an original 1956 vintage postcard showing Rainier III, Prince of Monaco, and his wife American actress Miss Grace Kelly, Oscar winner for Best Actress.

Rainier III (May 31, 1923 – April 6, 2005) ruled Monaco for almost 56 years, which made him one of the longest ruling monarchs of the 20th century. He was credited for reforming the Monaco's constitution and diversifying the Monaco's economy from traditional gambling industry. When Rainier took the throne in 1949, Gambling accounted for more than 95% of the nation's annual revenue; today it has only 3% share.

Bee Rock Tunnel, Virginia

Outgoing postcard US-3125851 to Czech Republic shows the Bee Rock Tunnel, a former railroad tunnel located Appalachia and Big Stone Gap, Virginia. It was built in 1891 by the Louisville and Nashville Railroad. At 47 feet 7 inches or 14.50 meters, It was once known as the World's shortest railroad tunnel. However, it was soon realized that both the Westmoreland Tunnel (46 feet or 14.02 meters) in Gallatin, Tennessee and the Backbone Rock Tunnel (22 feet or 6.70 meters) near Crandull, Tennessee were shorter than the Bee Rock Tunnel. The Bee Rock Tunnel is now part of the Bee Tunnel-Roaring Branch Trail.

#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.