Sunday Stamps 'O4' USA, Great Britain

We had an athletic meeting from Stockholm on TV yesterday. This reminded me of the one time holder of six world records from the USA.

Owens name has become iconic as a result of his exploits in the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin.

The stamp comes from the Celebrate the Century series for the 1930s.

From Great Britain I have chosen an Ox-Eye Daisy from 1967.

As a boy in the 1940s I used to walk and fish in the River Chater in the village of Ketton in Rutland. In those days I could follow otter hounds as they went hunting along the river. I'm pleased to say that they never found any.

To say 'O' to other stamps please visit Sunday-stamps-o. 

A Lot of Flak - Sepia Saturday

Back in 1941 when young Gunter approached his local station I doubt that he would have seen a sight like that in this week's prompt.

After all he would catch a train from Berlin-Humboldthain and it probably did not look as peaceful as in 2010.

Berlin - Gesundbrunnen S Bahnhof, Humboldthain
(14 Nov 2010 - Peter Kuley - CC BY-SA 3.0)

Nor would the platforms have been as empty as this.

Berlin-S Bahnhof, Humboldthain 
(9 Oct 2012 - IngolfBLN - CC BY-SA 2.0)

On his way from Müller Strasse to the station he would not have had such a picturesque view of the park as this.

Berlin - Humboldthain Aussichtspunkte Bunker
(Andreas Praefcke - CC By-SA 3.0)

Back in 1941 the Observation Point Bunkers had a more sinister use. They formed one of the three blockhouse towers in Berlin for antiaircraft guns ordered to be built by Hitler in 1940 and used by the Luftwaffe to defend the city against the Allies air raids.

Flak Assistant - Berlin Gesundbrunnen Flak Tower, Humboldthain with two heavy flak guns - 1943
(Norbert Radtke Family Archive - by Henry Radtke)

At he end of the war the tower was partly demolished. Today it is inside Humboldthain Park.

I just wonder whether Gunter was as close as this to the towers when he took his train journeys.

Partly Demolished Flak Towers, Humboldthain
(Unknown date - source; Dario J Lagana, www.norte.it - CC Commons)

Gunter was a young man in 1941 and could travel by train at half fare third class between Berlin - Humboldthain and Berlin - Karow.

Gunter  and his permit for fare reduction 1941

Unfortunately I cannot make out his surname; he lived at Müller Strasse 1 and apparently was a gardener (Kleingärtner).

I hope he survived the war and that the Flak Tower protected him.

All aboard for more trains and train journeys at Sepia-Saturday-232.

"Farewell to the leeries" - Sepia Saturday

When I saw this week's prompt of a Glasgow street, I thought 'Oh. No!'

'I've done omnibuses and buses before.'

But when I looked closer this is what I saw.

The Glasgow Herald of 2nd September 1971 carried the headline, "Glasgow says farewell to the leeries."

Reading further it reported that the Lord Provost had lit the only remaining gas lamp in Glasgow for the last time. In 1780 street lighting was provided by 9 oil lamps and the first gas lamps dated from 1818.

We know that London had gas lamps earlier that that,Thomas Rowlandson (1756-1827) recorded the reactions to gas lights in Pall Mall.

Caricature - engraved by Thomas Rowlandson, 1809 from a drawing by Woodward

The dialogue reads:

Well-informed gentleman

"The Coals being steam'd produces tar or paint for the outside of Houses -- the Smoke passing thro' water is deprived of substance and burns as you see."

Irishman

"Arragh honey, if this man bring fire thro water we shall soon have the Thames and the Liffey burnt down -- and all the pretty little herrings and whales burnt to cinders."

Rustic bumpkin

"Wauns, what a main pretty light it be: we have nothing like it in our Country."

Quaker

"Aye, Friend, but it is all Vanity: what is this to the Inward Light?"

Shady Female

"If this light is not put a stop to -- we must give up our business. We may as well shut up shop."

Shady Male

"True, my dear: not a dark corner to be got for love or money."

All this reminded me of the 1940 novel by Michael Sadlier, later made into a film and even later a BBC TV series, called  'Fanny by Gaslight' - an exploration of prostitution in the Victorian London of the 1880s. But that's a different theme.

My researching for gas lights and men up ladders led me even further afield.

Stockholm Gas Light - Gustav Adolf Hallqvist tends his last light at Norrbro, 18 December 1953
(By Gunnar Lang)

Installation of lights in Berlin required more than one man and a much bigger ladder.

August Fuhrmann - Installation of Gas Lights in Berlin 1890

I have a vague recollection of houses in the village where I was born that were lit by gas, but can't think of where I have seen any gas street lights.

However anyone would remember seeing the greatest gas lights of all, wherever you are..

Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights
(Bear Lake, Alaska - US Air Force photo by Staff Sgt Joshua Strang)

In the Southern hemisphere you would see the Aurora Australis. Aurora are caused by solar particles colliding with gases (oxygen and nitrogen) in the Earth's atmosphere. It's the excited gas molecules that give the lights their colour.

To see what others have got excited about this week cross over to Sepia-Saturday-215.