Brown is the least preferred colour of autumn, and yet that was expected to be the more predominant one this year due to our very dry, hot summer. So, here is a more elegant Brown.
vintage and contemporary postcards and stamps from around the world
23 October 2025
elegance of brown
22 October 2025
east wing
he said it wouldn't be touched...
The East Wing as it once was and will be no more after Trump's demolition crew set to demolishing it for the abomination of a ballroom.time for shelter
An old water tower pump clock tower in Norfolk

Originally built 1862 as a water reservoir. The clock was presented to the town in 1901 by Mary Pimm in honour of her late husband. After the war, the town clock was converted to its present use as a rest shelter.
The structure was originally built in 1862 as a water reservoir for the town. In 1901 Mary Pimm presented the clock to the town in memory of her late husband and after the war the town clock was converted to its present use as rest shelter. | |
19 October 2025
louis
Celebrating French history. Designed by Albert Decarie
The 'Sun King' with the Palace of Versailles in the background, into which he moved the court and government in 1682 making it the de facto capital of France. He reigned for an astounding 72 years and 110 days. born 1638, died 1715
An older Louis - Louis Hébert, born 1575 in Paris, died 1627 in Quebec City - was the first French apothecary in the New World. The stamp, designed by Clermont Malenfant, shows Louis surrounded by objects of his trade, including a mortar and pestle as well as a sprig of balsam fir and silverweed, both useful as herbal medicines.
18 October 2025
16 October 2025
15 October 2025
swing bridge
a popular tourist attraction
I would love to see this bridge in operation. It connects the Sundestrand (the only south facing beach in Germany) with the southern part of Wilhelmshaven13 October 2025
12 October 2025
kangaroos and koalas

The Antilopine kangaroos are found primarily in the north. The Reds are the largest. There are way more Eastern Greys than Western Greys. Both of these stamps feature Eastern Greys.
11 October 2025
09 October 2025
05 October 2025
justice
The French Palais de Justice is a much grander name than the English utilitarian sounding Courthouse
04 October 2025
02 October 2025
a taste of orange
simply mouthwatering

01 October 2025
29 September 2025
gaspé
This map is pre 1990s - the province abbreviation changed from P.Q (Province de Quebec) to the 2 letter Qc in 1991.
28 September 2025
indigenous
27 September 2025
25 September 2025
great wall
The Ten-Thousand Mile Long Wall*
Other names used in Chinese medieval records are 'ramparts', 'frontiers', 'barriers', 'fortresses', 'border wall'.
Built between the 3rd century B.C. and 17th century A.D. - so it took more than 2,000 years - as a series of fortifications. Which makes me wonder if anyone ever thought of the 'historical' significance of what they were building and if it might last anywhere as long as it has. Or they may have been too concerned with surviving the ordeal.
*It is actually more than 13,000 miles
24 September 2025
22 September 2025
nature park
21 September 2025
not always h
With four official languages in Switzerland, trying to fit Schweiz, Suisse, Svizerra, and the Romansch Svizra would take up most of the room on a stamp, so they settled on the Latin name 'Helvetia' (official name Confederatio Helvetica- why the CH as the international country code). Interestingly, in Irish Gaelic and Romanian, the name for Switzerland is closer to Helvetia than variations of Swiss.
'Croatia', on the other hand, is from the Latin name for the country. Hrvatska is derived from the Slavic name, which is used by the people themselves. The international country code is HR instead of CR because it was already taken by Costa Rica. I admit, I often initially mistake HR for Hungary
another country with a non English name on their stamp (we'll get to that one with 'M')
I found an interesting article explaining how Croatia/Hrvatska came to be. The original Slavic name was Horvatska, later into Hrvatska. Latin does not really pronounce the letter 'h', and starting the name with just an 'r' wasn't quite right, so they made it a 'ch' which became just a 'c'. A 'v' after an 'r' is easy for Slavic speakers but not Latin, so it was transformed into a vowel 'o'. So now we have a Slavic 'Horvat' which became Hrvat, which became a Latin 'Croat' with the usual Latin ending for Slavic countries 'ia'
20 September 2025
18 September 2025
where twines the path
Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park (est 2002)
14 September 2025
gabon
Gabon, on the west coast of Africa on the equator
stamp shows a colourful, but toxic, "sunset moth" their bright colours are a warning to predators
13 September 2025
11 September 2025
famous
Ava Gabor (1919-1995) here portraying Lisa Douglas with Arnold the pig, from the 1960s tv show Green Acres
07 September 2025
croaking
The Rana pretiosa - Oregon spotted frog - is the most endangered frog in Canada. There's only a couple hundred of them found in the lower section of British Columbia
The Anaxyrus fowleri - Fowler's toad- is an east coaster from the Gulf of Mexico to the Great Lakes, but is only found in Canada in a small section of southwestern Ontario.
In both cases, habitat loss from development and pollution are contributors to their decline.
A frog and a toad - at least he's a Fowler's toad - for stamps with an F
06 September 2025
04 September 2025
reading

Ot en Sien, illustrated by Cornelis Jetses
hopelessly old fashioned, and no longer read in schools, but I still have the books I collected to learn Dutch when I was living there.
02 September 2025
31 August 2025
egret
Audubon's depiction of these egrets was made 1827-38.
30 August 2025
28 August 2025
24 August 2025
3 - D
their website generously offers a virtual tour
I once knew someone with this name. Not surprisingly, she was always having to correct people - no, not Delia - and then having to spell it and it didn't help that she spelt it Daliah












































