Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel comes home, plus Graf Zeppelin and Pan Am Clippers

Growing up, I had a strong attachment for the book Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel. I had passed many construction sites, some even with the little windows you look through, but I had never seen a steam shovel, and the idea was of glorious wonder, that out there, Marie Anne, the Steam Shovel existed, the way towns where circus’ visited annually existed. I didn't like the building, I liked the story. I read the book growing up in the woods of Surrey, BC, where there was only one paved road, and we would take a trip to visit the one annual circuit carnival, the P&E (Which still comes to Vancouver).

Perhaps I loved the book because I had already had been judged and found wanting, much like the start of the book. For Mike Mulligan each day grew harder as new shovels came and his beloved Marie Anne grew obsolete. So, Mike Mulligan bets all the pay that Marie Anne can build the basement of the new town hill in a single day instead of 100 men. It is attempts at the impossible that make it a favorite. Much like Buck and John in Chapter 6 of London’s Call of the Wild when he rashly bets all he owns and will own that Buck can break a thousand pound sled out of the ice and pull it 100 yards: "As you love me, Buck. As you love me," was what he whispered."

Or perhaps it was just red books, since Ferdinand the Bull was another favorite.

The secret, when you have no money, or very little is to make it count so much more. So, when an overlooked estate auction came up with a collection of Victorian, Edwardian postcards, I found Marie Anne, and for the first time, I sent myself a postcard, one to frame. As you can see it is a early 1906-10 postcard with hand added colour.

The Steam Shovel pictured here in Wyo. is an amazing machine, and it makes me feel that there is that passion and magic of being one of those who sees what can be instead of what is (and kudo's to all those who have restored found steam engines). I don’t need a ‘Mike’ in this postcard, just Marie Anne. When I read this as a child I identified with Mike, and Ferdinand when I read that book, and John when I read call of the wild. This is a type of reading which occurs about 1 in 20 in the population. But today, knowing myself and my life, I see myself not in Mike or John but in Buck, and Marie Anne, the one who will drive themselves beyond limits, drive to destruction for love. For those who have and haven’t read the book, the New German Film darling Werner Hertzog reads Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel, adding his interpretation of isolation and forbidden love (well, he was spot on with that one for me).

Perhaps I love the China Clippers and the Zeppelins because they seem to magnificent to have ever existed at all, however brief. It was a world which became small through the magnificant and wonderful: Giant Zeppelins going to the north pole, circling the world and regular service from Berlin to Buenos Aires in three days, Europe to NY in a day instead of five days.

The Graf Zeppelin, the original of the long term and genius designed ocean crossing flying ships. While all know of the Hindenburg (the panel to investigate in the US could never find the exact cause), no other unmodified Zeppelin crashed (Count von Zeppelin’s airships were taken as war booty and modified, some into aircraft carriers (the USA), while the UK tried to use a confiscated Zeppelin to go to India, but in adding more sections to the middle, caused a crash. The LZ-127, created in 1928, operated 590 flights cover over 1 million miles from 1928 to 1937. At 776 feet, it flew at 80 mph, though standard cruising speed was 73 miles per hour, faster than some planes of the period. This is a german unmailed early 1930's postcard of the Graf Zeppelin, who flew continuously, mostly on the Brazil to Germany flights. I found a sell off of Zeppelin postcards, and I put my two dollars in, and for some reason, this one was left behind, likely because it was in German. But the Zeppelins WERE German.

Linda, who read the caption, says the ‘Graf Zeppelin over its home town’ and you can see the Zeppelin hanger with the doors open below in Friedrichshafen. The first flight of the Graf Zeppelin was to the US, as it repeated the transatlantic flight of a Zeppelin in 1924 to deliver it to the US Navy (since all the Allies in WWI wanted the Zeppelins, and there was an odd number of Zeppelins, Count von Zeppelin promised a post war Zeppelin to the US). The Graf Zeppelin began regular service in 1930 to Brazil and Europe with stops in London, Spain, Miami and Berlin (including speedy airmail). It was the ‘age of wonders’.

In 1937, with the Hindenburg disaster, all airships were grounded, and after the US refused to sell the Helium to convert Zeppelins to fire safe travel, the age of one airship gave way to another.

The three Mars 130 Clippers, were specially designed as the largest flying boats by George L Martin Company, planned for the first trans-pacific Oceanic flight. They cost just under half a million each in 1935 and only the Philippines, Hawaii and China Clipper were constructed, while a fourth, the Russia Clipper, used a different and larger design. The public, who saw these constructed and flying felt amazement the way the Space Shuttle was watched in the 80’s/90’s, and called them all the ‘China Clippers’. On November 22, 1935 in hopes to prove that a trans-pacific regular service was possible, a flight took off with 110,000 pieces of airmail headed for Manila. Leaving San Francisco Harbor, where the new bridge was being built, the pilot realized that the M-130 would not clear the bridge, and so flew under it, and completed the take-off and flight. The flight navigator for the historic Nov 22, 1935 was Fred Noonan, who navigated and mapped many of Pan Am’s pacific routes. He wanted to start a navigation school and so worked on a world tour to generate interest. That world tour was with Amelia Earhart and they both disappeared July 2, 1937.

The Philippine Clipper started a round trip passenger service to Hong Kong in 1936. The round trip pacific flights of the three planes ended when put to military service in 1942, like the Zeppelin, the world war changed everything. Here, you can see the Philippine Clipper descending into Hong Kong (with the boat aspect, it was well suited to land where there was lots of water but few runways). This illustration is the front of a menu from the 'Clipper Service', an international experience as Pan Am, while starting in international routes, and a dream of a ‘plane in every airport in the world’, they did not get access to US routes until the 1970’s. But they continued to develop planes, including the ‘strato clipper’ which was double deckered, had a front view port, beds and hot meals, as well as a pressurized cabin from 1949 to 1960. These menu’s were sent to me from Brazil. I wish they were from the ‘Flying Clippers’ described below but I am sure they are later.

I kind of hope they are from the South American Service on the 32 and 44 seat Sikorsky S-42 which first started servicing the South America’s in the 30's. These mini-posters, which I got a while ago to serve as postcards were created to promote the southern routes and createdin the late 30’s (yes, these came from South America too, luckily postcards and mini-stiff posters are cheap to mail). These were known as the ‘Flying Clippers’ and started service a year before the ‘China Clippers’.

All this hearkens back to the days when flying was one of the great adventures, and ‘have you flown’ was something people compared, like other rites of passage. Home, childhood, dreams, drive, adventure, amazement: that is what postcards can remind me – little hand held memories.

Aussie/Oz: Necropolis & 1922 Qantas, Canadian Waterbombers, Ghibli Totoro Catbus and other wonders

Make a run for the fun! Yes, it is a Totoro taking off with a sack of acorns: those cute totoro, you can’t help but chase them. More on the fun Totoro’s later!

Thank you to the person who sent me a modern day postcard of Necropolis Station, later known as Mortuary Station, outside of Sidney.This was a train station in marble, carvings, gargoyles, stained glass windows and a bell tower for tolling the dead AND for announcing time to departure mentioned in the blog post “Necropolis: A tale of two Victorian cities”. After the war it was sold from the Sydney Necropolis (still open for business if you wish to be part of the largest Victorian graveyard city in the world) and sent by truck to Canberra where it opened as the All Saints Church in 1958. Here is the 'modern' postcard.It shows, like a bouquet of roses, that Terminus is developing a nice little cemetery of its own in Canberra.

Not only that, Linda found this 1922 postcard from Qantas, Australia’s oldest airline and the world’s second oldest continuous airline. Founded in 1920, the first aircraft was a Avro 504K which carried post, 1 pilot and 2 passengers. According to Wilkepedia, no new planes until 1926, so I went to Qantas directly, because I have an Armstrong Whitworth FK8 from 1922. Qantas took 871 passengers in two planes from 1920-1922, in the Avro 504K and a BE2E both war surplus planes which took a bit of maintaining (pieces would fly off mid-flight but 54,000 km were logged without incident by end of 1921). The Armstrong Whitworth is mentioned here at Quantas, where it was used on the NEW mail service from Charleville to Cloncurry. The AW FK8 carried pilot, THREE passengers and post going 70 mph. Except on the inaqural day, after three attempts, it couldn’t take off, and was found the revs were 50 down, just enough not to take off. So the G-Aude (pictured in the postcard above) was pulled out, it had opened the service the previous day, Nov 1, 1922. I think they had it in the shop for maintenance from yesterday’s flight of the same route. But on NOV 2, with the first paying passenger, some plane needed to get off the ground NOW. Let me know in comments or email if you want this postcard as it IS for the postcard project, and if you like it, it is going sent out to you!

Thanks to Aviatrix (who is now in Cambodia, making life better by building houses), I have a greater interest in finding rare airplane postcards. Like Linda’s find when I was ill: the world’s LARGEST operational flying boat, the Mars Martin (still in production), which seems to be based in my home town, Victoria. Originally the ‘big four’ they were bombers before being sold after 87,000 hours of flying and used for firefighting. Now the Hawaii Mars (bottom drop) and the Philippine Mars, side drop, continue in Canada to fight the dozens to hundreds of fires in BC and in other parts of Canada and the US. In her post on the Clipper Ship card I got her, she invited her readers to request postcards from me. And I would expand that to anyone who is interested in airplanes, whether a pilot or a lover or old or rare planes. Just email me (mpshiel@hotmail.com) and let me know the type of planes, trains, auto postcards you would like. I have two of the Mars Martin (and Linda is trying to find a couple more, so please ask email and ask for one! FREE!). The Mars Martin is an amazing plane, using 4 propellers and in coming down for a landing but keeping the speed at 70 knots, the two scoops below will suck up 7,200 US gallons of water (more than 1 ton a second) in 25 seconds. Due to the added weight, it is a practiced art to keep the Mars Martin at 70 knots, and take off with 7,200 US gallons of water and 600 gallons of foam concentrate. The foam concentrate allows for 21 ‘runs’ of precision drops low over trees (this postcard can be yours!) and then water pick-ups, each ‘run’ takes in total 15 minutes for a full drop, and reload, and ready to drop again. Here you can see a Mars Martin reloading the 7,200 US gallons of water (45 accident free years!)


Cool!

I also have a postcard of the Canadian Golden Hawks (the flight group before the snowbirds) and it will be sent to anyone who loves airshows and precision flying. So honestly, please let me know. Help me because I have these cool postcards and I want to get them to the people who are interested in them. So if you are interested, don't think 'Oh, I'm sure someone else will want it', just say, "Hey me, okay?" because you would be doing me a FAVOR. If two people want the same postcard, I will try to find another of it, or like it. Let me worry about that!

I also have some retro and rare car postcards, from the Cadillac to 1913 Electric cars and this Pierce Arrow postcard here,showing that yes, life is better, indeed, life seems to be better with a Pierce Arrow. I will admit the woman in the chair looks like she is saying, “Thanks Irene, that was a GREAT series of orgasms, I am just going to feel the glow.” While Irene, who is a Butch in the Sheets, is offering her tea with THAT smile of intimacy before the Pierce Arrow takes her home. I think that is called having ‘Lesbian Goggles’. All these can be yours!

But for those who like their women Noir, Hard Boiled heroines, there is a bunch of Femme Fatales postcardsI got them in recently and would LOVE to send them good home (or a 'naughty' one!) – just let me know.

Oh, and for those who Love the ocean, and the interaction of water and light, there is a series called Water Light Time. The book is out of print and costs $150, but they made some postcards (also out of print) and so if you love the sea, let me know so I can send them to you.

I like giving gifts. And thank you for those who send postcards and gifts, I think you know the joy that giving can bring. Sure these postcards may be a bit rare but what? I am going to save them for retirement? I asked Linda if she thought even if we got a different diagnosis, I was going to live a LONG time (like 4-5 years). Nope. So please, while I still have some energy, and I have these beautiful things to give away, lets get at it.

I like beautiful things too, that’s what my wishlist is about. It has everything from Ghibli’s Kiki stamps to put on postcards, to the series Lie to Me season 2 (finally out on DVD!).I did some research and found out why I like Lie to Me so much. The two writers (a female pair that write together) who wrote for Joss Whedon, and wrong the last seasons of Angel as well as Dollhouse Season 1 were pulled and put on Lie to Me instead of writing Dollhouse season 2. That’s because when Fox brought them in they told Joss they had got him the writers, but unlike the actors who were under Joss’ production company, Fox had signed the contract with the writers. So they renewed season 2 of Dollhouse but pulled the writers to create Lie to Me. I like these women writer (much like the woman who wrote Life, and the one who wrote Mercy – women writers seem to ‘click’ with me), they are intellectual but also emotionally challenging.

As for Linda, I work to get her stuff. Psssst! Don’t tell Linda but I recently ordered this amazingly adorable music box from Japan for her.It is from the Ghibli Studio’s film Kiki’s Delivery Service about a young witch who must learn away from home and stays with a family bakery while she learns to fly and does her delivery service. Here she is filling in on a slow day, a bit bored with her ‘familiar’, a cat called Jiji, who talks (if you haven’t seen the movie, please do! It has a Zepplin in it!).So please don’t tell her, I want it to be a surprise. Cool though.

I spent yesterday, when I wasn’t at the doctors working on people’s presents. Linda said last year I sent out loads of presents but didn’t get much connection in terms of Winter or Solstice gifts. And with us having two NEW medications to pay for (more on that tomorrow), she wants me to keep it simple. So I am trying to give out really cool postcards as gifts to START with. But I won’t know who to send what postcard to unless you tell me, okay?

On the wishlist, I also put books of animals up close (I got her Polar Obsessions book for helping with Ebay, she loved it – the guy has the only close pictures of Narwhales, plus he was taken under the wing of a mother sealion, who kept trying to feed him dead penquins), and romances. She has a new book on caregiving as I am getting weaker. I put up some Hello Kitty special wooden chopsticks, the new Pop Picture book (I like people to read to me when I go neuroblind or look at pictures when I lose language). But also a manga on BURMA (yes, Burma manga!) called Burma Chronicles. The manga, high rated and awards, is a story over time of the people of Burma observed from a husband who draws while his wife works there with Doctors without Bordersit is about $10-13. What amazes me, is while I have a hard time leaving the apartment I can still learn about the world! So I think if you want a glimpse into Burmese culture and life as it changes under the regime, as I do, this is one manga to get! Plus there is a manga about the Canadian North by a famous Japanese artist (what do they think of moose?), and The Next Continent, a story of Japan moving forward to making a moon base (I SO would love this, wouldn't you?): Japanese Science Fiction – I love it. Also on the wish list is a non-fiction book of stories by a psychologist, much like Oliver Sacks, a book I hope will help me understand some of my childhood, called: the boy who was raised as a dog – about childhood trauma. I was trained as a dog, which drew me to this, leg taps to heel, whistles to come, to walk 3 paces ahead, to be silent and on point. You may think it odd, but it is my memory and life. Recognizing yourself as property, as a thing to be used and what can come from that, in term of how you are treated and view yourself is hard. It isn't low self esteem, it is the knowledge that rebelling would probably result in being put down (Is this true? Probably not, but if a person is treated like a dog, and the dog is too much of a burden and put down, what does the child think they have to do to survive?). I want to read these stories and see.

A lighter note - Thank you, thank you to the person who sent the Skelanimal blanket. I can now wash my other one! And I LOVE it. I used it to keep me from getting frostbite yesterday as I took Indy to the Doctors and back. With the rigid suspension, Indy does far better than I on these horrid curb cuts (think of a stack of egg crates going to the doctor and comes back….mush). Wham, Bam, I am a pinball getting slammed back and forth and someone up there is happy I am racking up ‘bumper points’. And BOO to Linda to pointed to my leg and suddenly with intensity asked, "Is that a SNAKE?!" (God, to be unable to move limbs and have her do that!) It turns out she wanted to know if that was a skelanimal snake or not. I begged her, "Don't DOOOOOO that!"

Finally, something SOOOO cute and cool I had to show you for YOUR gift list. First is a set of Totoro puzzles. There are four, come in a special holder and they go from 15 pieces up to 80,so as your child improves and grows, so does the complexity. It is pretty reasonable ($39.95) on Amazon, imported from Japan. Adult puzzles from Totoro, Kiki and Laputa are about $12-18. But the best was kept until last: a CAT BUS. And not just a cat bus, but a cat bus with Totoro passengers! How 'too cool for school' is that?There is a large grey, a ghost white and a tiny white that is sewn into the door. You (or a child) can put the totoro’s or anything into the cat bus to give them a ride. The two smaller ones are connected by string, so they can’t get lost. This is the medium size, and there is a small size – but only one of each, so if you know a child who loves Totoro (and the only children who don’t need to see the film, My Neighbor Totoro!), here is the ultimate toy.

Tomorrow, I will talk about the dull stuff like pills and stuff, but today is for gifts, and stories. I hope you saw something you like (if so, let me know) or saw something you might like to get someone. Giving is fun, honest.

And remember, don’t tell Linda about the music box!