Post Offices

I guess the days of monumental post offices are gone, as the U.S. Postal Service looks at closing 2,000 branches nationwide.  By the way,  in case you didn't notice, the cost of sending a postcard went up by a penny a few weeks ago. The rate is now 29 cents.  The cost to mail a one-ounce letter did not go up, and remains at 44 cents.
Here are some classic and monumental post offices.

And here's a not-so-classic mailbox in Portland, Oregon decorated by renegade artists:

Royal Engagements

There's a royal wedding that everyone's talking about, and there are souvenirs to be bought - from teabags to refrigerators! I am guessing that the souvenirs were a little more tasteful when H.R.H. Princess Elizabeth and Philip Mountbatten were engaged in 1946 - tea sets, candy dishes and what not. Here's the happy couple.

If I had been there at the time to edit this card, I would have suggested that they spell out Royal Navy or leave it off entirely. To me, R.N. always means registered nurse. Google agrees with me on this.

In 1981, Prince Charles and Lady Diana announced their engagement. Among other things, it was a souvenir bonanza.  Time magazine featured a picture of a coffee mug with Prince Charles' face on it and his ear as the handle. For some unknown reason I had to have one, so I enlisted the help of my brother who was studying at the London School of Economics. (I think my words were: "Get me one of those!") He claims to have walked all over London in search of this elusive prize. In fact he made it sound like a real chore, but as we all know it's good for a person to get up and walk a bit when he's been sitting at a desk for a long time. And don't you think it was worth it?

There's a verse on the back of the mug that reads:

Whatever beverage brims in this cup 
Thank God and Prince Charles when you pick it up. 
And as you quaff it bless that same Grand Planner 
Who gave him for a bride the fair Diana.

Carlos Dunkl

Recently I received a very nice email from Albrecht in Germany, wondering if he could send me a postcard to add to my collection. It's a postcard of the Viennese Parliament sent to Santiago, Spain in 1939, at the end of the Spanish Civil War, with a military censorship stamp. But what really struck me was the name of the card's recipient, Carlos Dunkl, aka Karl Dunkl...or was it supposed to be Dunkel?
 

Rudolf's message  in German wishes Carlos/Karl a right happy Easter, and discusses a package of books that was sent to him earlier, asking whether or not he had to pay duty on them.
The name of the recipient struck me because my great grandfather's name was Carl Dunkel. It took me by surprise, but as far as I know my great grandfather didn't spend any time in Spain. Here he is in Würzburg, Germany in the early 1940s. He was retired at this point, but had previously been Kriminal Kommissar (detective) in Berlin.  He does look a little bit like the German counterpart of Hercule Poirot, doesn't he?

This is not the first time Carl Dunkel has had a doppelgänger.  At one point, people he didn't know were greeting him on the street, but greeting him as someone else by a different name. Finally, he stopped one of these people and asked who they thought he was. I guess it must have been his natural instinct as a detective to track the other man down.  He knocked on the man's door and when the door was opened, both men were purportedly astonished at how much they resembled one another. Carl Dunkel was born in 1871 and died in Würzburg in 1953.

There are no doppelgängers over at Sepia Saturday, but you might find some rabbits.