Canada: We by Yevgeny Zamyatin

****** Happy New Year! ******

Two weeks ago I would not have believed it, but now I have uploaded (nearly) everything I got in 2020. Today I got the last cards of this year: one from Canada and one from the USA.

The card from Canada shows a Penguin Classics cover of We by Yevgeny Zamyatin. We is one of the earliest examples of dystopian science fiction. Written by a Soviet dissident in the early 1920s, the novel describes a World of harmony and conformity within a united totalitarian state. While George Orwell named We as an inspiration for 1984, Aldous Huxley denied the same for Brave New World. This novel is definitely on my reading list. Just this year it was republished with an introduction by Margaret Atwood. The card was sent through official Postcrossing. Normally I do not really like the cards sent officially and rarely sent some this way, but this month for the Cards for Literacy campaign I was surprised by many great cards, which is why I will continue sending officially. 

Three interesting stamps were used. The one in the middle is from a set of Medical Pioneers (issued 10-09-2020). 

Thank You very much Katie!

USA: Monument Valley

Today I got two postcards: one from the USA and one from Canada.

The card from the USA is really huge and shows a sunset view of the Monument Valley. The Monument Valley is located on the border between Arizona and Utah. Located within the territory of the Navajo Nation, it is known for its vast sandstone buttes. Due to many appearances in movies it has become a symbol of the American West. 

A perfectly matching stamp was used on the card. It is from a set called O Beautiful about Scenic American Landscapes. The stamp in the middle is about the USA's engagement in World War I (issued 27-07-2018).

Thank You very much Marie!

cover from Ukraine

Today I got not only two postcards but also two covers including one from Ukraine.

Eight stamps about coat of arms of Ukrainian cities were used on the cover.

This was sent through official Postcrossing. In the cover was this maxicard of the Church of the Intercession of the Holy Virgin in Borsypil. Boryspil is a city of regional significance located in the Kyiv Oblast. A battle of the Polish-Russian War was fought near the town in 1920.

In the cover was however not only the maxicard but also some mint Ukrainian stamps. I will show all of them on my stamp blog in the next days, but this one I want to show here already today. It honours Frontline Heroes (issued 29-05-2020) and combines the current fight against Covid-19 with the war in the eastern part of Ukraine. 

 Thank You very much Natalia!

cover from Belarus

Today I got not only two postcards but also two covers including one from Belarus.

Next to the image of a bird a stamp of a big vehicle was used.

Inside was a postcard of the Maxim Bogdanovich Literature Museum in Minsk, that was sent as official card. This is one of the many museums about Maxim Bogdanovich, who is considered as one of the founders of the modern Belarusian literature. Apparently all texts in the museum are Belarusian only without English translation.

Thank You very much Larisa!

Italy: Museo Egizio in Turin

Yesterday I got two postcards: one from Italy and one from China.

The card from Italy is from the Museo Egizio in Turin. The Museo Egizio is one of the ten largest Egyptian museums in the World. Its collection dates back to 1824, when King Charles Felix of Sardinia bought over 5000 pieces of Egyptian art including statues, papyri, stelae and mummies. Would love to visit this museum one day!

Three older stamps were used on the card. The two right ones are at least Euro stamps, but the left one is a Lira stamp from 1975. 

 Thank You very much Giada!

China: Littlest Pet Shop

Yesterday I got two postcards: one from China and one from Italy.

The card from China shows a Panda of Littlest Pet Shop. I am sure I knew these as a child, but could not remember much more.

Not a proper collection, but I really like to see Germans on foreign stamps and thus this is a wonderful selection. The two stamps on the left celebrate the Birth Bicentenary of Friedrich Engels (issued 28-11-2020) and the right stamp deals with the Centenary of the Publication of the Chinese Version of The Communist Manifesto (issued 22-08-2020) bearing the image of Karl Marx.

Thank You very much Ruinan!

cover from the USA

On Tuesday I got a cover from the USA.

It was sent from Teutopolis in Illinois with a Santa Claus postmark and two more Winter Scenes (issued 16-10-2020) were used. However the most I like the third stamp. It was issued on 16th August 1974 and celebrates the centenary of the introduction of turkey red wheat in Kansas. I love this view with a train driving through a wheat field!

Inside was a postcard of a Powwow dancer. A powwow is a social meeting held by many indigenous communities.

Thank You very much Sam-Quito!

Japan: Totoro

On Monday I got a postcard from Japan.

It shows a scene from one of my favourite movies, My Neighbour Totoro by Hayao Miyazaki. This is an official card.

A selection of low value stamps was used as postage.

 Thank You very much Kevin!

cover from the USA

On Monday I got not only a postcard but also a cover from the USA.

Both stamps and postmark are red. The two right stamps are from a set of four about Holiday Delights (issued 24-09-2020) and the postmark also celebrates Christmas. This is thus a match in colour and theme. 

Everyone knows the Grand Canyon, but have you ever heard of Glen Canyon? I have not. A reason might be that it was flooded in the 1960s and is now mostly submerged beneath the waters of Lake Powell, a major vacation spot.

 Thank You very much Sam-Quito!

Austria: Belvedere

On Thursday I got a postcard from Austria.

It shows the Belvedere in Vienna. The Belvedere is a Baroque building complex that was built as a summer residence for Prince Eugene of Savoy. Today it is home to the Österreichische Galerie Belvedere, one of the most important art museums in the World. A highlight of the collection is The Kiss by Gustav Klimt.

One of Austria's Christmas stamps of 2020, two definitives and a special postmark from Oberndorf were used on the card.

Thank You very much Sibylle!

covers from the USA

On Thursday I got not only a postcard but also three covers from the USA.

On the first of them were three stamps about Commercial Aviation (issued 19-03-1976) and Winter Scenes (issued 16-10-2020). The sweet special postmark is from Rudolph in Wisconsin.

In the cover was a card showing the Apachen war chief Geronimo on a photograph from the collection of the Library of Congress. The Library of Congress is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the USA and one of the largest libraries in the World.

On the second cover are two stamps from a recent set about Fruits and Vegetables (issued 17-07-2020). These two show Eggplants and Figs. A third stamp deals with Energy Conservation (issued 20-10-1977). The postmark is from Castine in Maine, where one of the oldest post offices in the USA is located.

Inside was this postcard, which on the backside says "Visitors to New Mexico's pueblos are often rewarded with scenes like this."

At first I thought the same stamp was used on the second and third cover, but now I realise that this one is actually about Energy Development. Lemons and Blueberries from the Fruits and Vegetables are used as well. The postmark seems to be about Christmas, however I can not read the name of the town. 

The postcard in this cover shows Indian paintbrush growing from fossilized sand dunes.

Thank You very much Sam-Quito!

Germany: Vicky the Viking

On Wednesday I got three postcards from Germany.

One of the cards shows Vicky the Viking. Vicky the Viking is the son of Halvar, chief of the Viking village of Flake and unlike his village fellows Vicky is blessed with a sharp and imaginative mind which helps him and his fellow Vikings out of many tight situations. Originally created by Swedish author Runer Jonsson and known as Vicke in Swedish and Wickie in German, he appeared in seven books published between 1963 and 1994. His fame however he owes more to the German-Austrian-Japanese TV show Wickie und die starken Männer, which first aired in 1974.

I bought this postcard on Redbubble and sent it myself with the new Vicky stamp issued on 3rd December. I really like this stamp.

Germany: Ludwig van Beethoven

On Wednesday I got three postcards from Germany.

One of them shows Ludwig van Beethoven. I recently bought this card online and used it for one last Beethoven postmark.

We do not actually know, when Beethoven was born, but he was baptised on 17th December 1770. After many German special postmarks about Beethoven were available earlier this year, no new ones appeared after March. However now the date of Beethoven's baptism was celebrated with a new postmark that brings an end to this Beethoven Year that was sadly cut short by Covid-19 before it even really started. I used the Beethoven stamp that was issued on 2nd January.

Germany: Christmas

On Wednesday I got three postcards from Germany.

One of them is the annual Christmas card I sent to myself.

Like usual I sent it using the special postmark from St. Nikolaus. 

cover from the USA

On Wednesday I got not only three postcards but also two covers including one from the USA.

Three stamps were used on the cover. The left one is about the American Bicentennial and commemorates the French Alliance (issued 04-05-1978). The other two stamps are from a set of ten about Winter Scenes (issued 16-10-2020). The postmark seems to deal with Frank Capra's 1946 movie It's a Wonderful Life. 

Inside was a postcard with a desert view. This would definitely be too hot for me.

 Thank You very much Sam-Quito!

cover from Spain

On Wednesday I got not only three postcards but also two covers including one from Spain.

This year's EUROPA stamp (issued 14-05-2020) was used on the cover and it was cancelled with a pictorial postmark from Arnedo. 

Thank You very much William!

Germany: Maya the Bee

On Tuesday I got five postcards: four from Germany and one from the USA.

Three of the German cards again show Maya the Bee. I had ordered these cards on Redbubble, but when I first prepared the mail to the special postmarking centre for this month's stamps, they had not arrived. So they were sent on a later date. The first card I turned into a maxicard, the other two I sent normally.

Germany: Quote by Edgar Allan Poe

On Tuesday I got five postcards: four from Germany and one from the USA.

One of the cards from Germany shows a quote by Edgar Allan Poe. Edgar Allan Poe was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is widely regarded as a central figure of Romanticism in the USA and of American literature as a whole,

One half of the Boon panorama was used as postage.

 Thank You very much Lena!

USA: Denver Neighborhood Seed Company

On Tuesday I got five postcards: one from the USA and four from Germany.

At first sight the card from the USA seems to show Cucumbers, however it is actually an illustration of the Denver Neighborhood Seed Company project created by Denver artist Kenny Be. Inspired by vintage seed packets, landmarks of Denver are illustrated as colorful bigger-than-life garden vegetables and were displayed in the Welcome Pavilion of the first annual Denver County Fair in 2011. Knowing this, the cucumbers now turn into high-rise residence-towers. This is an official card.

A Global Forever stamp was used.

 Thank You very much Linda!

Friedrich Engels Cover from Russia

On Tuesday I got not only five postcards but also two covers including one from Russia.

An interesting stamp was used on the cover. It commemorates the 200th birthday of Friedrich Engels (issued 05-03-2020). Friedrich Engels was born on 28th November 1820 in Barmen, which is now a part of Wuppertal in the German State of North Rhine-Westphalia. He was a philosopher, historian, political scientist, revolutionary socialist, businessman, journalist and political activist and together with Karl Marx he developed the Marxism. Apart from Russia also China issued two stamps about Engels this year, but no stamp was issued here in his homeland.

Thank You very much Elena!

cover from the USA

On Tuesday I got not only five postcards but also two covers including one from the USA.

Three stamps were used on the cover. The stamp in the middle shows Paul Laurence Dunbar (issued 01-05-1975). Dunbar was one of the first African-American writers to establish an international reputation. For example he wrote the lyrics for the musical comedy In Dahomey, the first all-African-American musical produced on Broadway in New York in 1903. The right stamp honours Ruth Aiko Asawa (issued 13-08-2020), an American sculptor best known for her wire sculptures.

Inside was a postcard of the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center. The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center is a branch of the National Air and Space Museum and shows exhibits that were formerly stored away including the Space Shuttle Discovery. It opened in 2003. 

A used version of one of the four postcard stamps about coral reefs (issued 29-03-2019) was added to the card.

 Thank You very much Brandon!