My Favorite Postcards

Neil Armstrong Home Coming Day at Wapakoneta, Ohio.  September 6, 1969, traversing the parade route in his home town, and greeting his fellow townsmen, is Astronaut Neil Armstrong, first man to set foot on the moon.

Photo by Floyd Hivnor

This postcard is unused.

Easter Promenade on the Boardwalk
Atlantic City, New Jersey

This postcard is postmarked in 1913 with a one cent stamp.

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The Easter Parade is an American cultural event consisting of a festive strolling procession on Easter Sunday. Typically, it is a somewhat informal and unorganized event. Persons participating in an Easter parade traditionally dress in new and fashionable clothing, particularly ladies' hats, and strive to impress others with their finery.

Sturgis
Motor Classic

Legendary Sturgis
Hundreds of thousands of biking enthusiasts from all over the world make Sturgis their destination.  As the sun goes down, the Bike Parade begins.
Black Hills, South Dakota

postmarked in 2013

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The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is an American motorcycle rally held annually in Sturgis, South Dakota, usually during the first full week of August. It began in the mid-20th century and was originally held for stunts and races, but has evolved into being a meeting for motorcycle enthusiasts from all over.

The first rally was held on August 14, 1938, by the "Jackpine Gypsies" motorcycle club, who still own and operate the tracks, hillclimb, and field areas where the rally is centered. The founder is generally considered to be Clarence "Pappy" Hoel. He purchased an Indian Motorcycle franchise in Sturgis in 1936 and formed the "Jackpine Gypsies" that same year.

Street Scrubbers, Tulip Time, Holland, Michigan
Photo by C.H. Geerlings

"It's Tulip Time in Holland Every Year in May"

postmarked in 1954 with a 2 cent John Adams stamp

the sender writes:
Dear Mother - You'd be quite at home here with your broom, cleaning up.
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Each May Holland hosts an annual Tulip Time Festival. Tulip planting and the festival began in 1928 when 100,000 tulips were imported from Holland and planted for the event. Currently six million tulips are used throughout the city.  It is normally held the second week of May, right when the numerous tulips planted around the town are blooming.  Activities at the celebration include three parades, one of which is the street scrubbing parade which officially opens the festival, fireworks, a Dutch Market, various shows and concerts, a craft fair, and klompen dancing.

 Viva Vigan Festival
Philippines
Vigan Ilocos Sur, Philippines (UNESCO World Heritage Site)
28th April - 7th May

the Vigan Festival guarantees a colorful celebration of Vigan's finest arts and traditions.  Some of the activities it showcases are: Binatbatan Street Dancing Contest, Boklan Art Contest, Abel-Iloco Fashion Show, Celasa parade and Contest.  The festivities display some of Vigan's indigenous materials such as Abel Iloko (native handwoven cloth), Burnay (jars), Damili, agricultural products and processed foods like longaniza, agnet and kankanen.

postmarked in 2011 with 5 fish stamps from the Philippines: 1) True Clownfish 2010 - 2) Striped Surgeonfish 2011 and 3) three stamps of the Manta Ray 2010

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The week long Viva Vigan Festival of Arts is held every first week of May. It is held in the historical town of Vigan, Ilocos Sur featuring various events that demonstrates the cultural inclination and historical significance of the place.

The Calesa Parade serves as the main attraction of the Viva Vigan Festival of the Arts. It features 100 calesas (horse drawn carriages used in the Philippines) decorated with different indigenous materials depending on the theme of the celebration.

M. Carrodius -
Squadron Formation King
Tebala Motorcycle Corps
Tabala Temple Aaonms
Rockford, Illinois
This unit participates in Shrine and Civic Parades.
Performs in Precision Maneuvers.

Reproduction postcard printed in 2003

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From their website:

The Tebala Shrine organization in Rockford, IL is affiliated with the Shriners of North America, an international fraternity of approximately half a million members which is best known for supporting the Shriners Hospitals for Children, a network of 22 hospitals that provide the highest quality care at NO COST.

In addition to member programs, the Tebala Shrine in Rockford organizes a number of community activities each year. These include the Shrine Circus in early summer, the Blackhawk Farms Vintage Classic in June, Jimmy Buffet Party, and the Karnival of Karnage haunted house in October.

As part of its mission, the Tebala Shrine in Rockford also provides financial underwriting and other support to children from the community who qualify for treatment at Shriners Hospitals.

Disneyland

Everyone Loves A Parade!
The gang's all here - Mickey, Minnie, Donald and their nephews too - all enjoying the colorful excitement of the parade marching down Main Street, U.S.A.

unused, from 1979

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Donalds newphes are Huey, Dewey, and Louie

Mickey's Nephews:

Morty and Ferdie Fieldmouse are Mickey Mouse's nephews. They first appeared in Floyd Gottfredson's Mickey Mouse Sunday comic strip continuity titled Mickey's Nephews (1932). Since then they have appeared in lots of comic strips and comic book stories starring Mickey Mouse and Pluto.

In pre-World War II Mickey children's books (not comics) produced by the Disney studio, the nephews were usually called Morty and Monty rather than Morty and Ferdie. Very early books contain three or more nephews with various names, including Maisie and Marmaduke. Morty's name, short for Mortimer, is possibly in reference to the originally planned name for Mickey, Mortimer Mouse and Ferdie (sometimes misspelled "Ferdy") is short for "Ferdinand."

Tampa, Florida
Gasparilla Parade

Arrgh, matey!

Gasparilla is a "holiday" that is unique to Tampa.  What used to be a one day event is now more than a month long including an invasion when the Pirates take over the City of Tamp, art festival, marathon and concert.

This postcard is unused and from 2009. 

Singapore

Major performance in Chinese traditional festival parade.
Photo: Hidetaka Mori

unused
(It has to be hard for the clowns to walk the entire route in stilts!)