Happy Halloween! Bram Stoker's Dracula, and more - maximum cards, circulated covers, etc.

I have created this maximum card by sending the stamped postcard (I have affixed the stamp) to the post office in Hollywood, California, ZIP code 90028.

This is the back of the first postcard.

This is a "musical" folded card, with Lugosi/Dracula's voice recording! :)

"Lugosi, the youngest of four children,^[3] was born as Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó in Lugos (at the time part of Austria–Hungary, now Lugoj in Romania), to Paula de Vojnich and István Blasko, a banker.^[4] He later based his last name on his hometown.^[3]"

^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lugosi}

See the stamp "Giving blood saves lives"? I thought I should use it on this cover. :)

I am one of the men in the above maximum card image. :)

These are 4 different attempted maxicards, scanned in one pass. I am still waiting for the Hollywood 90028 Post Office (Hello, Brenda J. or Postmaster!) to postmark them and return them to me, in my prepaid return envelope. Don't tell me you were sloppy enough to lose them! You did a good job in the past. :)

UPDATE: I just received those items, with courtesy postmarks from Aug. 4, inside a new Priority Mail envelope, not the envelope that I provided for return. Why the delay? Anyway, I'm glad I finally got them. Thank you! :)

I vant to suck yourr blood!

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Happy PFF (Postcard Friendship Friday)!

Please visit: http://thebestheartsarecrunchy.blogspot.com/

Romanian maximum cards: the Order of the Dragon connection between Sighisoara and Moldovita Monastery

Girl with the Dragon tattoo? Anybody can get that (the tattoo, that is).
How about men with Order of the Dragon induction?

"Central Sighişoara has preserved in an exemplary way the features of a small medieval fortified city; it has been listed by the UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. Each year, a Medieval Festival takes place in the old citadel in July.

View from Villa Franka

Sighişoara is considered to be the most beautiful and well preserved inhabited citadel in Europe,^{[citation needed]} with an authentic medieval architecture. In Eastern Europe, Sighişoara is one of the few fortified towns which are still inhabited. The town is made up of two parts. The medieval stronghold was built on top of a hill and is known as the "Citadel" (Cetate).The lower town lies in the valley of Târnava Mare river."

This 1997 series of stamps from Romania, with beautiful drawings, commemorates 550 years from the death of Vlad II Dracul.
"Vlad II (c. 1390 – December 1447), known as Vlad Dracul ("Vlad the Dragon"), was a voivode (duke) of Wallachia. He reigned from 1436 to 1442, and again from 1443 to 1447. He was the father of Mircea II,Vlad Călugărul, Vlad Ţepeş (also known as "Vlad the Impaler"), and Radu the Handsome. 
All four of his sons would at one time rule Wallachia. Vlad Tepes would go on to become one of the most notorious rulers in history."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vlad_Dracul

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sighisoara


Sighisoara, Romania - maximum cards (notice the different pictorial postmarks).

Order of the Dragon inductees include both Vlad II Dracul and his son, Vlad III Dracula.

"On December 12, 1408, following the Battle of Dobor[5]^[6][7] in which he slaughtered most of Bosnia's nobility, many who had fought the Turks ^[8] Sigismund and his queen, Barbara of Celje, founded the league known today as the Order of the Dragon.^[9][10] Its statutes, written in Latin, call it a society (societas) whose members carry the signum draconis (see below), but assign no name to it. Contemporary records, however, refer to it by a variety of similar if unofficial names, such as Gesellschaft mit dem Trakchen, Divisa seu Societate Draconica, Societate Draconica seu Draconistarum and Fraternitas Draconum.^[11] It was to some extent modelled after the earlier Hungarian monarchical order, the Order of St. George (Societas militae Sancti Georgii), founded by King Carol Robert of Anjou in 1318.^[10] It likewise adopted St. George as its patron saint, whose legendary defeat of a dragon was used as a symbol for the military and religious ethos of the order."

The edict of 1408 describes two insignia to be worn by members of the Order:

" ... we and the faithful barons and magnates of our kingdom shall bear and have, and do choose and agree to wear and bear, in the manner of society, the sign or effigy of the Dragon incurved into the form of a circle, its tail winding around its neck, divided through the middle of its back along its length from the top of its head right to the tip of its tail, with blood [forming] a red cross flowing out into the interior of the cleft by a white crack, untouched by blood, just as and in the same way that those who fight under the banner of the glorious martyr St George are accustomed to bear a red cross on a white field ..." ^[13]

The dragon described here, with its tail coiled around its neck, bears comparison to the ouroboros.^{[citation needed]} On the back of the dragon, from the base of the neck to the tail, is the Red Cross of Saint George, with the entire image on an argent field. The Order's dragon emblem has not survived in any original form, but it has been referenced on coins, art, and in writing."

Notice the Dragon on the outer, upper margin of this medieval saddle.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_the_Dragon

A fresco showing St. George slaying the Dragon, from the Moldovita Monastery, Romania - UNESCO World Heritage Site (Painted Monasteries of Bucovina/Moldova/Romania):

"The Moldoviţa Monastery (Romanian: Mânăstirea Moldoviţa) is a Romanian Orthodox monastery situated in the commune of Vatra Moldoviţei, Suceava County, Moldavia, Romania. The Monastery of Moldoviţa was built in 1532 by Petru Rareş, who was Stefan the Great's illegitimate son. It was founded as a protective barrier against the Muslim Ottoman conquerors from the East.".

"Stephen the Great, the King of Romania [MY NOTE: Prince/Voivode of Moldavia, actually] from 1457 until his death in 1504, fought 36 battles against the Ottoman Empire, winning 34 of them [MY NOTE: not too shabby :) ]. He was very religious and built churches after many victories. Stephen's illegitimate son, Petru Rareş, who ruled Romania [MY NOTE: Prince/Voivode of Moldavia, actually] from 1527-1538 and again from 1541-1546, promoted a new vision for Bukovina churches. He commissioned artists to cover the interiors and exteriors with elaborate frescoes (portraits of saints and prophets, scenes from the life of Jesus).

The best preserved are the monasteries in the towns of Suceviţa, Moldoviţa, Voroneţ, Humor, Suceava, Pătrăuţi, and Probota. Seven of them--including the Monastery of Moldoviţa--were placed on UNESCO World Heritage list in 1993."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moldoviţa_Monastery

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Happy PFF (Postcard Friendship Friday)!

Please visit: http://thebestheartsarecrunchy.blogspot.com/

First Day Cover (FDC): Dracula, founder of Bucharest, capital of Romania

This superb FDC was sent to me by my good friend Teodor Ghiatza-Melnic, from Romania. Thank you! :)
Read more in the text from 2 posts ago, and by clicking tag/label Dracula.

Also, from wikipedia (one of my most favorite websites, despite its imperfections):

"Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia (c. 1431 – December, 1476), more commonly known as the Impaler (Romanian: Vlad Ţepeş pronounced [ˈvlad ˈt͡sepeʃ]) or Dracula, was a three-time voivode of Wallachia, ruling mainly from 1456 to 1462.

Historically, Vlad is best known for his independent policy towards the Ottoman Empire, the expansionism of which he resisted^[4] and for the exceedingly cruel punishment he imposed.^[5]

In the English-speaking world, Vlad III is perhaps most commonly known for inspiring the name of the vampire in Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula.^[6]"

^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vlad_III_the_Impaler}

Maximaphily: 550 years since the first document mentioning Bucharest (București), capital of Romania

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I received today a letter with these VERY nice maximum cards, created by my philatelic partner and friend, Colonel (r) Dr. Ioan N. Daniliuc, First Vice-President of the Romanian Society for Thematic Philately and Maximaphily.

Thank you very much for these world-class maximum cards/ cartes maximum/ maximumkarten/ ilustrate maxime/ tarjetas maximas. :)

He took those pictures himself, had them printed as postcards, then processed them as maximum cards with the First day of Issue pictorial postmark. Beautiful!

As it happens frequently in Romania, the ink is of superior quality and it doesn't get smeared on the glossy surface of the postcard!

I wish I could say the same thing about the ink used at the post offices in USA, but...it's tough! :)

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"Bucharest (Romanian: București pronounced [bukuˈreʃtʲ] ( listen)) is the capital city, industrial and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at 44°25′57″N 26°06′14″E



, and lies on the banks of the Dâmboviţa River.

Bucharest was first mentioned in documents as early as 1459. Since then it has gone through a variety of changes, becoming the state capital of Romania in 1862 and steadily consolidating its position as the centre of the Romanian mass media, culture and arts. Its eclectic architecture is a mix of historical (neo-classical), interbellum (Bauhaus and Art Deco), Communist-era and modern. In the period between the two World Wars, the city's elegant architecture and the sophistication of its elite earned Bucharest the nickname of the "Little Paris of the East" (Micul Paris).^[4] Although many buildings and districts in the historic centre were damaged or destroyed by war, earthquakes and Nicolae Ceaușescu's program of systematization, many survived. In recent years, the city has been experiencing an economic and cultural boom.^[5]

According to January 1, 2009 official estimates, Bucharest proper has a population of 1,944,367.^[1] The urban area extends beyond the limits of Bucharest proper and has a population of 2 million people.^[2][6] Adding the satellite towns around the urban area, the metropolitan area of Bucharest has a population of 2.15 million people.^[3] Bucharest is the 6th largest city in the European Union by population within city limits.^[7]"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bucuresti