UK - The Baily Lighthouse

The Baily Lighthouse is a lighthouse on the southeastern part of Howth Head in Dublin, Ireland. It is maintained by the Commissioners of Irish Lights. The first lighthouse on this site was built in about 1667 by Sir Robert Reading, and was one of six that Reading had received letters patent to build from Charles II in 1665. The original facility consisted of a small cottage and a square tower that supported a coal-fired beacon. Parts of the original buildings remain. In 1790, the coal beacon was replaced with a set of six Argand oil lamps, each including a silvered copper parabolic and a bulls-eye glass pane. During this period, the lighthouse was maintained by the Revenue Commissioners.

In 1810, the Corporation for Preserving and Improving the Port of Dublin took over the operations. The original building's location was high on the headland, so the light was often obscured by fog. On December 5, 1811 a recommendation was issued that the lighthouse be moved south on the headland to Little Baily, or Dungriffen. A new tower and house for the keeper, designed by George Halpin Senior, the corporation’s Inspector of Works, was completed on March 17, 1814. The top of the tower stood 134 feet (41 m) above the sea, and the fixed white catoptric light was provided by a set of 24 Argand lamps and reflectors. Karen sent this nice card to me.

USA - 1959 Rambler Rebel

Cate from Austin, Texas sent me this nice card. The Rambler Rebel was an automobile produced by the American Motors Corporation (AMC) of Kenosh, Wisconsin from 1957–60, and again in 1966 and 1967. The Rambler Rebel debuted as a special model in the Rambler line showcasing AMC's big new V8 engine for the 1957 model year. It became the first factory-produced lightweight muscle car.

The Rebel name reappeared in the 1966 model year on a top-of-the-line Rambler Classic model. For the 1967 model year, AMC's entire intermediate line took the Rebel name. American Motors dropped the historic "Rambler" marque to become the AMC Rebel in 1968.
The stamps on this card are also very impressive. William Hart and Gene Autry were two very important actors in Wild West movies.
William Surrey Hart (December 6, 1864 – June 23, 1946) was an American silent film actor, screenwriter, director and producer. In 1917 Hart accepted a lucrative offer from Adolph Zukor to join Famous Players-Lasky, which merged into Paramount Pictures. In the films Hart began to ride a brown and white pinto he called Fritz. Fritz was the forerunner of later famous movie horses known by their own name, i.e., horses like Tom Mix's Tony, Roy Rogers's Trigger and Clayton Moore's Silver, etc. Hart was now making feature films exclusively, and films like Square Deal Sanderson and The Toll Gate were popular with fans. For his contribution to the motion picture industry, William S. Hart has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6363 Hollywood Blvd. In 1975, he was inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. On November 10, 1962, Hart was honored posthumously in an episode of the short-lived The Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Show, a western variety program on ABC.
Orvon Grover Autry (September 29, 1907 – October 2, 1998), better known as Gene Autry, was an American performer who gained fame as The Singing Cowboy on the radio, in movies and on television for more than three decades beginning in the 1930s. Autry was also owner of the Los Angeles/California Angels Major League Baseball team from 1961 to 1997, a television station and several radio stations in Southern California. Although his signature song was "Back in the Saddle Again", Autry is best known today for his Christmas holiday songs, "Here Comes Santa Claus" (which he wrote), "Frosty the Snowman", and his biggest hit, "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer". He is a member of both the Country Music and Nashville Songwriters halls of fame, and is the only celebrity to have five stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Finland - Moomins

Continuing from the previous post.

Finland -The Moomins

My Dear Friend Merja sent me these lovey maxicards. Of the Magnificent Moomins! The 2011 Moomin stamps show adventures of the much-loved Moomin characters from Tove Jansson’s picture book “The book about Moomin, Mymble and Little MY”. The different shapes of the stamps bring to mind the intriguing peepholes in the book. The stamps depict Moomin, The Mymble, Little My, Moominmamma, the Hemulen and Hattifatteners. Every stamp has a different form, some have soft edges, the others the angles. Aren’t they all really lovely? The discerning must have detected that one maxi card is missing. That is quite correct, one card has been a tad tardy in the post.

Belarus - 1950 Studebaker

Public reaction is what matters in the auto industry, and "The Next Look" 1950 Studebaker, featuring the company's signature "bullet-nose" look for the first time, was a winner -- more popular than even the 1947. Sales began in August 1949, nearly a month ahead of other 1950 cars. The 1950 models were Studebaker's most successful in terms of sales. Hundreds of dealers sent glowing telegrams describing announcement day: "Showroom crowded to capacity." "Public acceptance best ever." "Huge crowds, all agreed Studebaker still leads the way." "Showing a definite flop, showroom holds 100 people, needed room for 500!" Added in March 1950 were Champ Custom sedans and coupes with no hood ornament or rear fender shields, painted rather than chromed headlamp/taillight rims, and only a small round trunk handle/light assembly. They looked spartan, but at $1,419-$1,519, they were among the most affordable full-size cars around. Studebaker was targeting traditional low-priced leaders Chevy, Ford, and Plymouth, and thus advertised Champ Customs with the clever slogan "It's 4 To See Instead of 3!”. .Demand for the bullet-nose '50s proved so strong that Studebaker added a third shift at its large South Bend factory and ran its Southern California and Hamilton, Ontario, assembly plants at or near capacity. A 14-month model "year" (July 15, 1949, to September 27, 1950) produced 343,164 cars -- the most for any vehicle in Studebaker's long history. By the end of 1950, company employment was up to 25,000, a peacetime record. This card was sent to me by Dzianis from Minsk.

New Zealand - Cape Reinga Lighthouse

Cape Reinga Lighthouse is a lighthouse at Cape Reinga in the Northland Region of the North Island of New Zealand. It is owned and operated by Maritime New Zealand. The lighthouse is a common New Zealand icon and a popular tourist destination although the lighthouse itself is not open to the public. The lighthouse is at the Northern most point of New Zealand. The lighthouse was built in 1941 and first lit during May of that year. It was the last manned light to be built in New Zealand and replaced the Cape Maria Van Diemen Lighthouse, located on nearby Motuopao Island, which had been built in 1879. Accessing that lighthouse was difficult due to the rough seas in the area, so in 1938, it was decided to move the lighthouse to Cape Reinga for safety reasons. The complete lantern fittings from Motuopao Island were reused at Cape Reinga, though the new lighthouse was fitted with a 1000 watt electrical lamp instead that could be seen for 26 nautical miles (48 km). The lamp was powered by a diesel generator. In 1987, the lighthouse was fully automated and the lighthouse keepers were withdrawn. The lighthouse is now monitored remotely from Wellington. In May 2000 the original lens and lamp were replaced by a 50 watt beacon. The beacon is powered by batteries that are recharged by solar cells. The beacon flashes every 12 seconds and can be seen for 19 nautical miles (35 km). Russel sent me this nice card.

Finland - Coat of Arms

Merja gave me this card featuring a Coat of Arms figurehead from a Russian War vessel. The original is in the museum at Suomenlinna, Helsinki, Finland.