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Titanic 1912-2012 (Canada)
An unusual entry among Titanic postcards, issued by Canada Post in 2012 with really a very large stamp of the vessel pre-printed on the reverse. Mailed in 2012 with postmark, and there is faintly visible orange postal barcoding on the front. Grade: 3
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Mort de Mme. Blanchard (1819)
Somehow it seems unusual that this card came from Ukraine, but so it did — five different stamps, two postmarks. Grade: 1
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Dresden – Frauenkirche (Germany)
The picture dates from 1952; the card is much newer, mailed in 2013 from Russia (not Dresden) with two large stamps and partial postmark. Grade: 3
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Beirut, U.S. Marine Headquarters bombing (1983)
We are also listing this unused Mike Roberts card CL-RR.#130 under “Lebanon” for clear reasons, though it was produced in and almost certainly for the U.S. market. A detailed caption. Grade: 1
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Oklahoma City National Memorial (USA)
9/11 may have overshadowed this on a national level, but definitely not in Oklahoma City. Unused card, with facts and statistics. Grade: 1
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“Destruction of Rebel Ram – ‘Arkansas’ – October 4, 1862”
Unused Dexter Press card 5016-D, serrated edges, showing artwork of a U.S. Civil War engagement. Grade: 1
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Meade, Kansas Historical Marker, Lone Tree Massacre
Unused “local” card 13124. Grade: 1
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Kansas Tornado (USA)
People do interesting things like drive their cars into tornadoes so they can get the perfect photo, which is often the last photo they ever take. We don’t know what happened here, but this was an event on March 13th, 1990, in Hesston and other towns. Unused card from 1990, aging noticeably. Grade: 2
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Wasena Park, Virginia Museum of Transportation, 1985 flood (USA)
Unused Mary Jayne card MJ730 (J14043) showing the effects of a flood in November 1985. Grade: 1
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South Asia Tsunami Disaster Relief (Hong Kong)
We’re not certain how the photo of Hong Kong’s old Kai Tak Airport fits in with the plea for tsunami donations, but here it is. Two unused cards are available. Grades: 1
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Schloss Brimont b. Reims (France)
Unused, old German postcard with perforated upper edge. We checked: the actual location, which you almost certainly know if you are reading this, is in France. For the “Disaster” element, Google will help you. Grade: 2
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Devastation of the Great Alaskan Earthquake of Good Friday 1964
Unused Plastichrome “Alaska Joe” card P59753 showing “One of 77 luxury homes demolished in the fashionable ‘Turnagain’ residential area” (of Anchorage). Grade: 1
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California Oil Wells on Fire
Unused, very old Edward H. Mitchell postcard 1541, heavily aged and with some abrasions as you may see in the scan. Grade: 3
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Historical Postcard Collections of Hong Kong (set of 32)
We’re supposing this set was produced in the 1980s, from old photos. The cellowrap is gone but all 32 sepia unused cards are still bound in, and span a vast and interesting cross-section of places and themes, military, education, cemetery, ships, construction, waterfronts … so much. We will list this set in several theme categories, though without further explanation, so if it’s in a category you can be certain at least one card (but not all) meets the requirements. You will hardly find this set anywhere else–very scarce now. Because a price sticker lies over the original printed price, we’re assigning Grade: 2.
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Great Alaskan Earthquake of Good Friday 1964
Unused Plastichrome card P59755, whose full caption reads: “Devastation of the Great Alaskan Earthquake of Good Friday 1964. The ‘Turnagain’ residential area overlooking Cook Inlet.” Grade: 1
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“Seawise University” on fire, 9 Jan. 1972 (Hong Kong)
First, about the card: unused, with some smudging around the edges and on the back. (Not serious, but there.) Now, about the event, we’ll borrow from Wikipedia’s entry about what had been the passenger and mail vessel RMS Queen Elizabeth: “Queen Elizabeth was sold to a succession of buyers, most of whom had adventurous and unsuccessful plans for her. Finally she was sold to a Hong Kong businessman, Tung Chao Yung, who intended to convert her into a floating university cruise ship. In 1972, while undergoing refurbishment in Hong Kong harbour, she caught fire under mysterious circumstances and was capsized by the water used to fight the fire. In 1973, her wreck was deemed an obstruction, and she was partially scrapped where she lay.” Grade: 2
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King Edward Hotel on fire (Hong Kong)
The fire was in 1929, on Hong Kong Island. The unused card probably dates from the late 1970s or early 1980s. Grade: 1
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A car burnt in rioting, 1967 (Hong Kong)
The unused card probably dates from the late 1970s or early 1980s. Grade: 1
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1906 typhoon (set of 9) (Hong Kong)
A set of nine unused B&W modern cards issued by the Hong Kong Maritime Museum and commemorating a disastrous typhoon in 1906. The bilingual captions don’t seem to want to reveal the exact date but it’s very easy to deduce that. Our scan shows four of the cards. Grade: 1
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Mabalacat, Pampanga, Barrio Dolores Church Destroyed by Lahar (Philippines)
This happened during the Mt. Pinatubo eruption. Unused postcard from 1998. Grade: 1
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Victoria, London Bridge (Australia)
We’ll take the caption’s word for it that these photos were taken one day apart. Unused card. Grade: 1
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Cairns (Australia), Flood waters in Lake St., 1956
Unused card from the Cairns Historical Society and issued by Cairns Museum. We should note, the photo is of a 1956 flood but the card is (right now, anyway) new. Grade: 1
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Cairns – Kuranda Railway 1886-1891 (Australia)
Unused contemporary 4″ x 8-1/4″ card issued by Cairns Museum. As the caption says, “Surveying and building a railway over rugged terrain through dense rainforest was an extraordinary feat”. Grade: 1
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U.S. Marine HQ in Beirut, Lebanon – 1983
Unused Mike Roberts card CL-RR.#130 (SC18582) whose caption details favourable public reaction to President Reagan’s assumption of responsibility for this bombing. Grade: 1
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Mostar 1992-1995 (Bosnia & Herzegovina)
Unused. Grade: 1
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Old Bridge (Stari Most) 1993, Mostar (Bosnia & Herzegovina)
Unused card, 4-3/8″ x 6-1/4″. This is the next in a series of (contemporary) dated cards showing the status of Stari Most over time. Our series ends in 2012. If you want more than one, we’ll discount the price a bit for you. Grade: 1
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Car 945 — 9-11 Survivor, The Shore Line Trolley Museum (Connecticut, USA)
An extensive caption detailing what happened to Car 945 on 9/11 in New York City highlights this excellent card, mailed in 2021 with four stamps (three postmarked). The postmark itself is a very large hand-cancel. Grade: 1
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Texas Oil Well Aflame!
We couldn’t describe it any better than that. Unused and significantly aging Plastichrome card P1296. Grade: 2
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Erie Canal derailment (New York, USA)
This unused card dated 1979 from William Gordon reproduces a photo from 1917 of a trolley derailment. The caption is a bit muddled in text but we get the point. Grade: 1