Orlando, Florida

I wonder if it's just nostalgia that makes me like these cars more than modern ones?

Corporal Eveline Lapan, a WAC stationed in Orlando during World War II, writes home to her parents:

November 4, '45

Dear Ma + Pa,

Got here O.K. at 1:30 P.M. Had a nice trip. Will write letter later. Everything  is different here. The girls only need 25 points to get out now, so plenty are leaving. Going to Lakeside with Marcello now.

Love, Evelyn

Note that she spells her name as Eveline at the top of the card and Evelyn at the bottom. I'm not sure why. As much as I love stamps, There's something pretty fun about military personnel being able to send a card with "free" in place of the stamp.

Does anyone have an explanation for the 25 points to get out?

The Kaiser's Military Manoeuvres - Elbing, Germany

You can't visit Elbing anymore, or at least no place that goes by that name. The northern German city of Elbing was severely damaged during World War II. After the war, the German citizens were expelled and the city was repopulated with Polish citizens and given the name Elblag.

I bought this card because I thought it was a beautiful street scene. I also found it charming because it looked like it had been sent from a group of international students to their teacher's wife.  Oh, but I was very wrong about that. I actually had written up the post based on that assumption when I decided to do a quick search of the name S.G. Shartle.

Samuel G. Shartle was not a teacher, but the U.S. Military Attaché to Berlin from 1909 until 1915. Although military attachés were not spies, they were the army's eyes and ears abroad at a time when there was no satellite photography or sophisticated electronic intelligence. Captain Shartle was a frequent guest of Kaiser Wilhelm at events and dinners, and especially the military manoeuvres of which Kaiser Wilhem was so fond. A New York Times article from September 16, 1909, entitled "Kaiser Sees Airship at Work with Army" starts out like this: Surrounded by a brilliant company, including the King of  Württemberg, the Grand Dukes of Baden and Hesse, Archduke Francis Ferdinand, Winston Spencer Churchhill, The Earl of Lonsdale, and Capt. Samuel G. Shartle, the American Military Attache at Berlin, Emperor William witnessed the dramatic appearance of the military dirigible balloon Gross II, which emerged from the clouds overhanging the valley of Tauber this morning.

A year later, and the Kaiser is once again holding his military manoeuvres, this time in Elbing, Prussia. Once again, Captain Shartle and other important international visitors were invited to observe. Captain Shartle took the opportunity to send a postcard to his wife in Berlin, which he seems to have passed around the table for others to sign as well. It was sent on September 9, 1910. If only I could make out all the names!
 

Here's what I've been able to decipher so far (with lots of big question marks, so please offer suggestions.) Some of the names are highlighted with links, in case you're interested in finding out more about them.

Greetings from

• Lt. Col. Pellé, French Military Attaché (updated 3/2/2011 -  Thanks to Peter H. from Australia for that information.)

• Von Palten ?

• L. Calderari (Maggiore Generale Conte Luigi Calderari, Commander of an Italian Infantry Division during WWI, but I'm not sure what his title was in 1910...Attaché?)

• A. Michelson (1907 Nobel Prize winner in Physics)

• Shartle  (U.S. Military Attaché to Berlin)

• Dorrin

• Alick Russell (British Military Attaché and son of Lord Odo Russell, 1st Baron Ampthill)

• Schenfelt  (update 3/1/11 - Gustav Oskar Von Schenfelt, Swedish Military Attaché - Thanks to PB in Germany for that information)

Hearty Greetings from

• M. Mehdi Khan   (presumably Malik Talib Mehdi Khan, Deputy Commissioner Ambassador to Kabul and former Prime Minister of the Princeley State of Bahawalpur)

• A. Lüttwitz (General Major Arthur Rudolf Freiherr von Lüttwitz, German Military Attaché to England and Russia, and during World War I, commander of several infantry brigades and divisions. Here's another picture of him - standing on the right.)

• Hironobu Ono (from Japan, but not sure who he was)

And then, the Turkish signature with the EB in the box appears to be none other than

• Enver Pasha (known as Enver Bey at the time or Ismael Enver Efendi.) He was the main leader of the Ottoman Empire in both Balkan Wars and World War I.

There is also a small illegible signature for which I have no ideas.

Finally, written very small at the bottom it says: Your husband behaved very well.

Here's a picture of Enver Pasha from a German postcard:

As a postscript, I also found this letter written to Time magazine from Col. Shartle in 1929:

May I call attention to an error in the title below the picture on p. 14, TIME, Nov. 25? It should read "Theodore Roosevelt and Friends," omitting "Kaiser Wilhelm," for he was not there. This picture was taken early in the morning, May 10, 1910, at the exit of the private waiting room of one of Berlin's railroad stations (Stettiner Bahnhof, I think), while the Colonel and members of the American Embassy there to receive him waited for their conveyances to come up. The crowd outside was cheering. I recall this occasion very distinctly and even more distinctly the actual meeting of Theodore Roosevelt and Emperor Wilhelm, which took place the next day at an entrance of the Neu Palais, Potsdam; the Emperor stepped forward and heartily greeted the ex-President as he alighted from his carriage. I happen to know, because I was present on both occasions—as the Military Attache at Berlin and, for the week of the Colonel's visit, his Aide. The four figures in the doorway, shown in the picture in question are, left to right, Theodore Roosevelt, myself, a German officer (probably an adjutant representing the Emperor), Irwin Laughlin (the First Secretary of the Embassy).
S. G. SHARTLE
Colonel, C. A. C. (Dol).


*Many thanks to Yasuko and Jens for the Japanese and Arabic translations for this post.*

Streetcar Sunday - Hong Kong, China

I'm hooked on the double-deck trams, so I had to show a card from Hong Kong, where they have a fabulous tram system and beautiful double-deck cars.

This card is probably only thirty years old, but the trams have changed since then. The one shown here is the same one that had been used since the 1930s. Hong Kong has had a tramway system since 1904, when it was set up by the British. The double-deck tram was introduced in 1912, with first-class seating on the open-air upper deck. Although it was great during fair weather, when it rained, the open-air seating didn't seem like such a benefit, so canvas tops were added by 1913. By 1925, the upper deck was fully enclosed.

Although service expanded and improved over the years, it was severely curtailed during the Japanese occupation in the early 1940s. After the occupation, only 15 cars were operational, but that number quickly rose to 63 by 1946. Eventually the first class fare was eliminated. Hong Kong trams have used advertising banners for a long time and continue to do so, generating  additional income for the system.

Hong Kong Tramway now operates six main routes with trams departing every 1.5 minutes during peak hours. You can also hire trams for private tram parties.  For more information, check out Hong Kong Tramways, Limited.

And here, courtesy of Susi, who has been hanging out in Hong Kong while her husband is in the hospital, is a current photo of the Hong Kong tram.