Brussels, Royal Palace

This first thing I noticed about this post card is that it looks like it was a black and white picture that they went back and colored. It's got a little "Pleasantville" look to it, the movie where everything goes from black and white to color. Which would be fitting since our post card came from 1959, about the same time the movie is set. I always try to find out who is on the stamp. I'm a curious girl. I found a stamp website that had this exact stamp on it and it said the person on the stamp was a "leader man." Seriously?! Come on stamp collectors, you can do better than that. Luckily, the next site I came to gave me some answers. This is King Baudouin. His full name is Albert Charles Leopold Axel Marie Gustave. Poor royalty, always stuck with these long crazy family names. Anyway, old Albert here was king from 1951 to 1993.

All Hands on Deck

These two pictures came out of the same book and are in excellent condition. Aren't these great! Everyone is up on deck. Maybe they were all getting seasick below. It's not exactly a Caribbean cruise though, is it. Look at those warm clothes and blankets. But it can't be miserable cold, they all have smiles on their faces. Isn't it curious, it's all women, other than the little boy. Do you suppose they are going on a trip or are they moving from their home country to somewhere else? Perhaps the husbands have gone ahead and gotten a job and a home ready and then sent for them. I think that was a fairly common practice way back when. Whatever their story is, I love the pictures they left behind. The little boy is a crack up. What a cute face. And the woman in the other photo trying to sleep, or just soaking up some sun and having a zen moment, love it. If only someone had written on the back of these pictures.

Kaj Munk "Neils Ebbesen"

Another Kaj Munk article. If you have not read the other Kaj Munk posts, I recommend doing so. This article ran in December 1945. Just for your reference, Kaj Munk was assassinated by the Gestapo in January 1944. This article is talking about a radio program that brought to life one of Kaj Munk's plays, Niels Ebbesen. It talks a little bit about it not being exactly the way Munk probably had meant for it to be put out there. The play is about a real Danish hero who lived in the 1300's who was known for his killing of Count Gerhard III. This act symbolized the beginning of the liberation of Denmark. Romantic Danish poetry and modern ballads praise Ebbesen as a freedom fighter. Munk used his play, Niels Ebbesen, as a direct attack on Nazism. And we know where that got him. I am more and more impressed by Kaj Munk. I can see why I find so many articles about this amazing man.

Valentine, The Movie

I guess going to the movies was a much bigger deal than it is now. This is a 10 page booklet all about this movie, Tine or Valentine. It gives the names of the characters and the actors who play them, a synopsis of the story, and pages of photo's from the movie. You can also see that our movie lovers saved their tickets, reserved seating and all. This is like going to see a show on Broadway. This would be amazing information to have. I cannot tell you how many times I've been in a movie, staring at one of the actors and its driving me crazy because I can't place where I have seen them before. Boom! Open my little guide book, and there I would find a name and a bio of everything they have done in the past. Of course, now days this would just be an app on a phone...hmmm. Not a bad idea, which probably means it already exists, in several variations. I guess I need to download.

Genova, Italy

Buongiorno principessa! Italy! Love Italy. And anything Italian makes me think of Roberto Benigni and his movie, "Life is Beautiful." Cobbled stoned streets, gelato on every corner. What's not to love? I will admit I have not been to Genova, but the pictures look amazing and I have promised myself that my next trip to Italy will include the coast. The post card is from 1980 and it has a lovely little stamp that looks like it has characters from Madeline, you know, lives in Paris in a house covered with vines, but it's probably not. Still, a cute stamp.

Christer Pettersson

I will admit that I took one look at this guys picture and thought he looked like a serial killer. I was feeling kind of guilty for stereotyping, and then I started to translate the article. Go figure, the guy's trial for murder was just about the start. He was being accused of killing the Swedish Prime Minister. I still feel a little bad about the stereotyping though. Anyway, Christer Pettersson was a Swedish criminal who was a suspect in the 1986 assassination of Olof Palme, the Prime Minister of Sweden. In 1988 he was convicted of the murder in district court but acquitted on appeal the following year. They said they didn't have enough evidence, no murder weapon for one. The PM was murdered while walking down a street with his wife in Stockholm. His wife later picked Christer out from a line up. After his release, he was compensated with $50,000 which he promptly blew on alcohol and drugs. He died of a cerebral hemorrhage in 2004. Right before he died, he contacted PM's son and said he wanted to meet with him. The son said he wanted to confess to the murder. The meeting never happened. After his death, associates of Pettersson's claimed that he had confessed to killing the PM but it had been a mistake. He had meant to kill a drug dealer who often walked down the same street and dressed in a similar fashion as the PM had been dressed. This was never confirmed. Don't you just hate it when you kill the wrong guy?

The Bad Boy

I usually have this thing about not posting two pictures in a row, but this picture slid out of a book today and I can't quit thinking about it. It could be the way it's so bent and used, but I really think it's the guy. He's got this cool, swanky kind of look to him that I just can't seem to shake. Like he knows someone is taking his picture, but he's not totally committed to it. He's too cool for that. You wanna look at me, here I am, in the flesh. It's the head tilt, the way his mouth is curled in almost a smirk. He's a bad boy. The kind you want, but your mother warns you about, which totally makes you want him more. And every girl out there wants a bad boy. I can see you shaking your heads, but it's true. Girls just have different lines drawn as to what dictates a bad boy. Girls, you know I'm right. You may not want a bad boy forever, but you still want one. We can't help it. Look at this guy. He's got cool written all over him, of course we want him! And I'm telling you, someone wanted this bad boy, wanted him badly. Carried this picture around with her, dreaming and wishing, likely for a long time. I don't blame her. There is something about him. Maybe it's his bad boy appeal, or maybe I just need to see that mouth smile. Wow, totally flabbergasted by an 80 year old picture.