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The House on the Rock

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In the United States of America, The House on the Rock is one if not the greatest man-made tourist attractions. Located in Southwest Wisconsin in pretty much the middle of nowhere it is a massive multi-room museum of strange and unique collections. There are animatronic mannequins playing musical instruments, suits of armor, antique guns, maritime artifacts, circus paraphernalia, little tiny dolls, and enough weird stuff to fill you with nightmares for the rest of your life. Its bizarre and terrific. This postcard shows a viewing room that extends far above the tree line and converges to a point. I believe there is a mirror at the point and it creates a disorienting feeling as you are walking towards the end. So you are above the trees and you can see out, the walls are closing in, and you see yourself walking towards yourself. Trippy. The card captures the beautiful Wisconsin foliage. This card comes from Charles Products, Inc. There will be more The House on the Rock cards to com...
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The Jefferson Memorial

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The Jefferson Memorial! There is no greater city for postcards than our nation's capital, Washington, D.C.! The Jefferson Memorial is a fantastic site in D.C.. The picture shows the Japanese cherry blossoms in full and the water of the Potomac guarding the memorial. For anyone who has been to D.C., you know that this site is a little tricky to find. It is interesting that it was built away from the other major D.C. mall sites and as easy to miss. One of the reasons for that is that Thomas Jefferson did not always have the positive reputation he has today. The Louisiana Purchase was seen by his critics as government overreach. Then being the founder of the Democratic party as well as a slave owner haunted his reputation until Franklin Roosevelt came to power. FDR was instrumental in redefining Thomas Jefferson's reputation and making him a part positive part of the history of the Democratic party. Structurally it is gorgeous and resembles The Pantheon of Rome. Inside is a br...
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Mountains and a Cow

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This postcard hails from the American Southwest, Sierra County, New Mexico. According to the card, Sierra County is the "Oasis of the Southwest". This picture is hilarious. It doesn't look real at all. The cow, the brush, and the mountains look like they came from 3 separate pictures. It is almost like they layered the cow underneath the photo of the brush and erased the brush until the cow was showing. The lighting on the cow matches the mountains, but the proportions seem off. I don't know maybe it is me. Does anyone else think this picture is funny? Regardless, it is a representative postcard and Sierra County is gorgeous. The card notes that Sierra County is home to Elephant Butte Lake (the largest in NM), Caballo Lake, and the Rio Grande. The card comes from universepostcards.com, which is no longer active. The photo was taken by Judd Irish Bradley.
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From the UP of Michigan

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Here is a great postcard of the Grand Island North Lighthouse near Munising, Michigan. Munising is on the western end of the upper peninsula, but still east of Marquette. I found my way there after going north on 35, to 41, picking up 2 east for a bit, and then heading due north. Munising is a beautiful little town on Lake Superior. Picture Rocks National Lake Shore is up there and the cliff scenes are stunning. Photo taken by John Penrod. If you think those cliffs are nice, you got to see the whole lake shore! Privately owned lighthouse!
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Florida, Missouri

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It was a grey Saint Patrick's Day in my respective German-Irish Mid Western town and I wanted to avoid the vomit and insanity. So I jumped in my car and drove. I after several hours I found myself in Missouri and closing in on the birth place of national treasure, Samuel Langhorne Clemens (aka Mark Twain). At the shrine and museum they have the actual house Mark Twain was born, various artifacts from his life, and picture below the manuscript to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer . If you aren't a huge Mark Twain fan before seeing the museum you will be after. After seeing the museum I made my way to Hannibal where Mark Twain spent the majority of his childhood. 
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WWII Ship in Indiana

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I had to take a few business trips to Evansville, Indiana and one late afternoon when while waiting to catch my return flight I spotted this postcard in the airport souvenir shop. I was amazed to learn there was an authentic World War II ship at the Evansville waterfront. I didn't even know Evansville had a waterfront! Apparently the USS LST-325 spent time in the Mediterranean and supported the D-Day invasion of Normandy. Wow! The photos were taken by Billy Twymon and Tammy Tucker. What a delightful piece of Americana. How neat is that?
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Hubba Hubba!

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What can I say? I'm an old soul. Elizabeth Taylor in a bathing suit on the beach. Yes, please! I picked this card up in a used book store in Chicago. They had several pop icon and historical figures on postcards from fotofolio.com . I have this card, another Elizabeth Taylor, and a Primo Levi I will post some time later. I think this is a great picture that balances natural and staged beauty very well. Of course she is made up and supposed to look gorgeous, but the sun is in her eyes, the wind is mussing up her hair, and her skin is not touched up to be perfectly balanced in black/white tones. It looks real. According to the back of the card, the picture is from the film Suddenly Last Summer . The photographer is unidentified. It was "Made in Hollywood: Photographs from the John Kobal Foundation Archive, Santa Barbara Museum of Art © The John Kobal Foundation". Enjoy!
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