Knight Equipments

The State Hermitage Museum, St.Petersburg

These armor postcards are direct swaps from Nikolai  in St. Petersburg

Tournament (parade) armor. Ca. 1560 - 70

Gothic armor  1470 - 80

Brestplate of  an armor and Bourgignotte helmet

Knight Alonso and  his strong and obedient Alecto. On tournaments and battles the horse must carry and respond to a Knight's commands from leg pressure rather than reins. The Knight needs his hands to use his weapons and hold the shield

Battle for the throne and glory .  

Rohan Stables - Finland  - Kingdom without The Ruler.

Brave and Noble

Brave knight fights against terrible dragon.

Rudolf Koivu  (1890 - 1946) is my favorite illustrators with his magical pictures in childrens' stories and Christmas cards, princesses, princes knights and dangerous mystical creatures.

And now it's a good time to play with  paper dolls :)

Cowboys

Cowboy Rides off into the Sunset

The quintessential Texas Cowboy, perhaps no symbol is more synonymous - or more beloved - in all the Lone Star State. 

This cowboy comes from Jordan in Canyon, Texas

Distance: 8,068 km

Travel time: 16 days

Wild West Show, Sioux City,  Gran Canaria

From my sister-in-law on her vacation to Gran Canaria quite many years ago.

Real Photo Postcards

This old postcard was sent by Olga from Latvia. She chose this card for me as I like old photos and postcards.  This family lived somewhere in Latvian countryside and the photo was taken in  their garden in the 1930s.

Distance: 619 km

Travel time: 4 days

Old photo from the city of Rudolfov in  Czech Republic comes from Mirka in Březnice. A group of people standing in front of  an inn -  Hostinec u Listonoše

( Postman's Inn ? )

Rudolfov  is a small town in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic, located next to the city of České Budějovice. It has around 2,400 inhabitants.

Distance: 1,539 km

Travel time: 5 days

This is my entry to Maria's  "Postcards for The Weekend" at "Connections to the World-blog" and the theme for this week is Monochrome

"Once Upon a Time"

Stories from Hans Andersen's " Once Upon a Time"

Edmund Dulac’s illustration for "The Snow Queen", 1911

Milo Winter's illustration for "Thumbelina", 1916

Harry Clarke's illustration for "The Wild Swans", 1916

Hans Christian Andersen, often referred to in Scandinavia as H. C. Andersen ( 2 April 1805 – 4 August 1875) was a Danish author. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogues, novels, and poems, Andersen is best remembered for his fairy tales. Andersen's popularity is not limited to children; his stories, called eventyr in Danish, express themes that transcend age and nationality.

Andersen's fairy tales, which have been translated into more than 125 languages, have become culturally embedded in the West's collective consciousness, readily accessible to children, but presenting lessons of virtue and resilience in the face of adversity for mature readers as well. Some of his most famous fairy tales include "The Emperor's New Clothes", "The Little Mermaid", "The Nightingale", "The Snow Queen", "The Ugly Duckling", "Thumbelina", and many more.

My first  H.C. Andersen book from year 1956
Book cover illustration by Rudolf Koivu for the fairy tale of  "The Nightingale"

Hans Christian Andersen (1805– 1875 ) oli tanskalainen kirjailija ja runoilija. Hänet tunnetaan erityisesti saduistaan, jotka kuuluvat maailman eniten käännettyyn kirjallisuuteen. Andersenin tunnettuja satuja ovat muiden muassa Keisarin uudet vaatteet, Pieni merenneito, Todellinen prinsessa (myös nimellä Prinsessa ja herne), Ruma ankanpoikanen ja Lumikuningatar.

"Andersenin sadut eivät koskaan vanhene. Niissä on aina sama puhdas tuoreus, sama puhdas henki ja sadun ihmeellinen salaperäisyys. ( Anni Swan )"

This is my entry for Beth's Postcard  Friendship Friday.

Brothers Grimm

Postcard of Grimm's Fairy Tales, illustrated by Daniela Drescher. 

Direct swap from Mandy, Germany

The Brothers Grimm,  Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm Grimm (1786–1859), were German academics, philologists, cultural researchers, lexicographers and authors who together specialized in collecting and publishing folklore during the 19th century. They were among the best-known storytellers of folk tales, and popularized stories such as "Cinderella" , "The Frog Prince" , "The Goose-Girl", "Hansel and Gretel" , "Rapunzel", "Rumpelstiltskin","Sleeping Beauty", and "Snow White". Their first collection of folk tales, Children's and Household Tales, was published in 1812.

"Tähkäpää, Tähkäpää, laske alas hiuksesi!"
"Rapunzel, Rapunzel, Let down your hair to me."

Pikkuveli ja pikkusisko
Little Brother and Little Sister

Grimmin veljekset Jacob (1785 – 1863 ) ja Wilhelm Grimm (1786 – 1859)  olivat saksalaisia kielitieteilijöitä ja kulttuurintutkijoita, jotka keräsivät talteen vanhoja satuja ja julkaisivat useita satukokoelmia, joita kutsutaan Grimmin saduiksi. Ensimmäinen satukokoelma Kinder- und Hausmärchen julkaistiin 1812 ja se sisälsi yli 200 satua.
Alkuperäisissä julkaistuissa muodoissaan sadut ovat hyvin synkkiä ja väkivaltaisia. Nykyään saduista tunnetaankin yleensä vain niiden "Disney-versiot". Alkuperäiset kansansadut olivat kuitenkin vielä Grimmien versioitakin raadollisempia: Grimmit keksivät satukliseen "paha äitipuoli", kun taas kansantarinoissa omat vanhemmat muun muassa myivät Hannun ja Kertun noita-akalle..

Die cut paper scraps, Cinderella - My daughter's chilhood collection

Astrid Lindgren

Katto Kassinen
"The Kid and Karlson"  1968, 1970

Russian animation, Boris Stepantsev

Boris Stepantsev was one of the best directors of Russian animation of the Soviet era. Everyone in Russia cannot but remember and enjoy his eternal animated cartoon masterpieces about Carlson, Vovka in the Far Far Away Kingdom and the Nutcracker.

From Anna in Krasnoyarsk, Russia

Distance: 3,879 km

Travel time: 12 days

Karlsson-on-the-Roof 

Illustration Ilon Wikland

Vaahteramäen Eemeli

Emil of Lönneberga

Emil of Lönneberga is a series of children's novels by Astrid Lindgren, covering twelve books written from 1963 to 1997. Emil, the title character, is a prankster who lives on a farm in the district of Lönneberga in Småland, Sweden. The books have been published in 44 languages (2014). In most translations, the original illustrations by the Swedish illustrator Björn Berg are used.

Astrid Anna Emilia Lindgren (14 November 1907 – 28 January 2002) was a Swedish writer of fiction and screenplays. She is best known for children's book series featuring Pippi Longstocking, Emil i Lönneberga, Karlsson-on-the-Roof, and the Six Bullerby Children (Children of Noisy Village in the US), as well as the children's fantasy novels Mio min Mio, Ronia the Robber's Daughter and The Brothers Lionheart.

As of May 2013, she is the world's 18th most translated author and the third most-translated children's writer after H. C. Andersen and the Grimm brothers. Lindgren has sold roughly 144 million books worldwide.

Peppi Pitkätossu

My first Astrid Lindgren's book was  "Pippi Longstocking" but my favorite book was "The Children of Noisy Village ",  now it belongs to our granddaughter. My husband liked "Karlson-on the roof". I think our daughter's favorite was" Madicken"  and our son thought that Emil is the best.

Melukylän lapset