Postcards

My Own “Vintage” Postcards

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Along with the money in that honeymoon album, there were several postcards purchased as souvenirs. The first ones I bought were of the Tokyo Tower, as our first stop on the trip was Japan. I don’t know why I bought so many of them. Maybe they were on sale, or maybe I was just thrilled to be there.


Of the 5 countries we visited, I only have postcards from three of them. The other two are just singular cards that came from the Philippines and Taiwan. Jeepneys were just the way to get around cities. They were born post World War II from the Jeeps the Allies left behind. Driving into Taipei from the airport, we saw this large ornate building off in the distance, but as it turned out, it was our hotel.

Miata World ’99 Revisited

Getting the Shot at Miata World ’99 in Dallas


Back in February of this year I took a photo album from 1989 off the shelf and scanned the photos I liked. I then used them to create five separate posts of content out of it.

Today I jumped ahead a decade to 1999 and scanned some images from the photo album of our trip to Dallas to a national Miata event. Most of these photos aren’t nearly as scenic as the 1989 ones. If you are new around here you might assume that all that Roadside America stuff from the recent April-May-June trip was something new, au contraire, I’ve been making road trips “meaningful” that way since the end of the last century. Postcards also played a crucial roll in this trip as well. See the – Slow Miata to Texas Tour

Souvenirs

We’re a big fan of postcards around here. I like to send them to people, sometimes unexpectedly, like when I used them to say Thank You for the Christmas cards I received last year. Unfortunately, the mailing of postcards has fallen by the wayside with the advent of cell phones and its companion “social media.”

Santa Fe Sally has been sending some to the last embassy she worked in Bern because they have a wall that is filled with postcards and she likes to add some to that. When she sends them it is not the old-fashioned way, put she puts a bunch in an envelope and mails that. We looked for some along the route of our last road trip. We looked in the places when we had a gas stops but never found any. Nothing in Paris, TX and you’d think we could have found one, what with the Eiffel Tower wearing a Cowboy Hat.

When I went grocery shopping this morning and I had to wander pretty much the whole store because they are remodeling and the aisles are half full and sometimes on different ends of the joint. Dang, I’d never noticed before that Fred Meyer carried souvenirs. Maybe because I never went down where they were. Or perhaps they didn’t before, but with the remodel they’ve added that stuff. Either way, forget gas stops for postcards, grocery stores seem the way to go.

Take a listen of my favorite song about souvenirs, Souvenirs, as sung by Suzy Boggus.

Hammond – Day 4

Today I was up before Sally and the sun, so I walked the three blocks over to get my caramel latte from PJ’s and then walked 4 or 5 blocks further to mail a baker’s dozen of the postcards I discussed yesterday before retracing my steps back to the Airbnb. Sally and I got our hairs cut at a little shop that she always goes to when she is in town.

 
Fried Chicken Showdown Results:
Saturday 1/11 – Zaxby’s 1/2 ☆
Sunday 1/12 – Popeyes ★★★★
Monday 1/13 – Piggly Wiggly Deli ★★★★★ !Winner!
Thursday 1/16 – Raising Cane’s ★★★★
Church’s, Chick-Fil-A & KFC were not nominated

I hope the crappy chicken at that particular Zaxby’s was a one-off because I always loved their fingers back in my Aiken days. Today was my first exposure to Raising Cane’s, and it was like my prior Zaxby’s experience. Those two are very similar in execution: breaded chicken breast strips, fries, buttered thick toast, and a dipping sauce. The differences are that Zaxby’s has straight fries, Raising Cane’s has crinkle fries, and Zaxby’s toast is shaped like a slice of bread, while Raising Cane’s is longer and narrower. There is only a slight variation in the dipping sauce.

Our afternoon was spent at the birthday girl’s house with Sally’s firstborn, Claire, a cruise ship pilot in Alaska, waiting for the younger son, Stuart, who works in advertising in Baton Rouge, to show, so the “kids” could drive an hour and a half east to Mississippi to visit with their disgraced father. Below is a photo of most of the players from 30 years ago in Lexington, Virginia, cutting down that year’s Christmas tree.


From left to right: Claire, Me (I still have that coat), Stuart & Sally

Hammond – Day 3

Yesterday we drove to Ponchatoula because the ladies wanted to do a little antiquing at a place called CJ’s Antiques and Collectables. While they were poking around, I was doing the same thing, only in another section of the store that had more of a guy vibe, automotive signs, license plates, NASCAR car models, etc. When I went to catch up with them, I stumbled on an open cabinet that was five feet high and six feet long that was sectioned into 6 x 6-inch segments that was stuffed with old postcards. Very few of them were already used, but that left hundreds of blank ones to pick through.

Before I left Oregon, I bought a couple of small packs of Thank You that I planned to send to everyone who mailed me a Christmas card in 2024 because I did not send out any cards for Xmas (the only card I did send, was a Hanukah card to my sister & her husband.) While perusing the plethora of vintage postcards a light bulb appears above my head, skip the thank you cards, let me send out my gratitude on old postcards of America and the world beyond. I bought 10 at a dollar each because that was my recollection of how many Christmas cards I received, but when I checked the address spreadsheet, I had highlighted a dozen. That number, plus the one I promised a neighbor back in Fairview, meant that I was three shy.

Fortunately, CJ’s was only a little less than 10 miles away, so Sally and I went back today to pick out 3 more cards. I took those purchased Thank You cards and traded them with the manager for three more postcards. While sifting through looking for three new old cards, I came across more than I needed, but wanted, so I paid for the three more. When I said a dollar, it really was $1.10 with tax, man I miss Oregon’s no sales tax.

If you would like to be sent one of those three remaining postcards, comment below with your name and address you will get a weird or obscure old postcard with a witty bon mat or your money back. Below is an example that I’m sending to a friend that I served with on CV-41, the U.S.S. Midway, back in my stint in Uncle Sam’s Yacht Club.

Slow Miata to Texas Day 14

AIKEN, SOUTH CAROLINA
Famous for its tree-lined streets and their names, Aiken abounds in flowers most of the year.
Bill,
Day 14 of 14 of the “Slow Miata to Texas” tour. Decatur, AL to Aiken, SC. 412 miles. A really long day in the saddle and mostly on the dreaded Interstate. OZ is a wonderful place, but there is no place like home. There is no place like home.
Brian & Donna, Aiken, SC		 Bill Kirby
The Augusta Chronicle
P.O. Box 1928
Augusta, GA 30903

Slow Miata to Texas Day 13

Greetings from ALABAMA
1. The birth place of Helen Keller, Tuscumbia. 2. Big Spring Park, Huntsville. 3. Wheeler Dam, North Alabama.
4. Vulcan, Birmingham. 5. Dock Scene, Mobile. 6. Bunker Tower, Anniston. 7. Denny Chimes, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa. 8. Azalea bushes in full bloom. 9. Noccalula Falls, Gadsden.
10. State Capitol, Montgomery.
Bill,
Day 13 of 14 of the “Slow Miata to Texas” tour. Memphis, TN to Decatur, AL. 215 miles. Today’s highlight was dinner 300′ up in the Renaissence Tower overlooking Wilson Dam in Florence, AL. Good thing the view was spectacular, because the food was so-so. Got to see the lock system go through a cycle for a barge heading down stream.
Brian & Donna, Aiken, SC		 Bill Kirby
The Augusta Chronicle
P.O. Box 1928
Augusta, GA 30903