The past is a foreign country, they do things different there. 04 Oct 2014 02:33:36pm
Seasoned Stamporama members will be familiar with
my penchant for photographing philatelic ephemera
only vaguely connected to collecting stamps.
For those with little or no life, but a smattering of curiosity,
I am compelled to offer a sampling of some snaps
taken this summer which illustrate that postal services,
while victims of instantaneous global communication,
still survive more or less.
Compact P.O. in Motovun, Croatia (my wife, Fran).
Postal scooter for mail delivery in Motovun where roads are steep
and little wider than sidewalks.
Mailbox, Ston, Croatia.
P.O., Vieste, Italy, with exterior electronic mail clerk.
Close up of electronic mail clerk.
Mailbox, Matera, Italy.
Mailbox, Isle of Capri, Italy.
Interior of P.O., Ravello, Italy. Note crucifix.
In Canada, religious icons are proscribed in most
public offices.
For the record, I am not now, nor have I ever claimed
to be a professional photographer.
Now, back to my stamps.
John Derry
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"Much happiness is overlooked because it doesn't cost anything. "
re: Going down the philatelic road with camera in hand
Awesome pictures ..... I took a picture of a post office in PEI this summer just because the postmistress went out of her way to find a pictorial cancel for me Good feelings great memories!!!
re: Going down the philatelic road with camera in hand
Thanks for sharing those pictures, John. I've been watching some videos of Southern Italy recently, and it was good to get a "philatelic" view of the area. The mail boxes are very interesting as well. BOB
re: Going down the philatelic road with camera in hand
At first glance I'd say there were many thousands of these all over the country, but then this may only be a memory and they may now be disappearing fast. This is an 'EviiR' box, so dating from the first decade of the last century, and nicely maintained in its Post Office red livery by the Sidmouth Town Council. I lived there from 1965-70, played cricket for Sidmouth CC, and visited regularly for the next 40 years.
re: Going down the philatelic road with camera in hand
@Guthrum,
The E VII R monogram sparked my interest for this one, because I realized it had to be over 100 years old. Later on the trip I also spotted some VR ones, even older of course.
Sidmouth is a charming town, we really enjoyed ourselves at the Jurassic Coast.
They who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety. -Benjamin Franklin 25 Sep 2015 09:26:23pm
re: Going down the philatelic road with camera in hand
re: Going down the philatelic road with camera in hand
What a fun retrospective.Heading up to my place in the backwoods of Penn.(U.S.A.) I used to pass by a regular mailbox next to a 30+foot pole with a mailbox on the top of it! There was an arrow pointing up, with a sign AIRMAIL next to it. Redneck humor, but I did smile every time.
Best,
Dan C.
re: Going down the philatelic road with camera in hand
There are tons of New Jersey snowbirds and snowflakes in our area and those Manatee mailboxes are also a common sight here. Maybe one of those folks brought one back north just for fun?
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"Just one more small collection, hun, really! LoL "
re: Going down the philatelic road with camera in hand
Hey Theresa,
After I saw Vinman's post, I googled manatee sightings far north. To my amazement, they've been spotted all over the eastern seaboard and as far west as Louisiana and Texas!
re: Going down the philatelic road with camera in hand
I arrived for NAPEX a few days early to do some site seeing. I stayed out of Washington, DC because it is crowded with kids on their end of the year school trips. Instead I took a ride on the Snickersville Turnpike, VA. It is a beautiful, scenic dive through Virginia's back roads. There is miles & miles of stone fences surrounding the beautiful estates that line the drive. I stopped to take a picture of this mailbox.
re: Going down the philatelic road with camera in hand
I wasn't sure what topic I would post this in, Philatelic Library, or Recent Acquisitions. I decided it fit on this thread best. This arrived in my mailbox today.
re: Going down the philatelic road with camera in hand
I just returned from a much needed vacation. We spent a week at Disney's Vero Beach, Florida Resort. It was a gift from my son for our 39th wedding anniversary. We took a ride on the highway that connects the barrier islands. I saw a variety of mailboxes. I stopped to photograph about twenty. These I found on the A1A highway between Vero Beach & Melbourne, Florida.
I'll add more later.
re: Going down the philatelic road with camera in hand
I've really enjoyed seeing the mailboxes from Vero Beach. We used to visit my in-laws there before we moved to Washington 15 years ago. It was definitely an interesting town.
After we moved here they came to visit us several times as it was a bit much for air fares for five of us to go there. We made it back one time as a group before the kids started college. I think I remember a stamp club advertisement in a local paper but they weren't meeting the week we were there.