"Age-Old Pictured Memories" - Time Out #163

My joy of writing began very early in my life, during simpler/gentler times in Our Town.

I'm sure my early habits were firmly set in-place under the guidance of my dear father, Col. C.H. Breedlove, who definitely had a flare for writing. He and I would travel all over our U.S. of A. in our 1950's un-air-conditioned, 4-door, Chevrolet Bel-Air cars, and enjoy each other's company, along with seeing all Americana's roadside sites. During our frequent travels, we would, of course, stop at many "service stations", as they were referred to then. When the station attendants would fill our family vehicle tank with the 20-something cents per gallon cost of leaded gasoline, clean our windshields, check our oil level, check our tire pressures, etc., all without us asking, my dad and I would go inside their stations. We might use their rest room facilities, but almost always bought ice cold soda pop for a nickel each from their coin-operated machines, and purchased some penny candies from various large jars. However, there was always something else we would purchase to document our visiting various locations. What else you ask? ?

Picture postcards, of course!

Sometimes, the Colonel, as my dad was affectionately known, would write on the cards in the stations, lick and attach the required penny stamp, and ask the station person to have the cards go out the next time the mailman came by. Sometimes, we would take the postcards with us, and mail them during the next few days of our trip, or when we returned home to Our Town. Occasionally, he would allow me pick out a few of the cards myself, and help me mail them to family or friends, after I had written my message on the card. Yes, I felt pretty special when he let me to do that "important" job of writing to my outside world, and I was always amazed these special cards would be delivered to the correct spot I wrote in the address area. I simply thought our entire U.S. postal system just had to be some form of magic?

So, throughout the many years since then, everywhere my travels have taken me all over Planet Earth, I have always looked for two major groups of items to purchase (1) postcards, some for personal keeping, but most for mailing to family and friends, and, (2) small magnets to attach to my huge magnet boards my bride, Debbie, has had specially constructed to hold them, easily now numbering over a thousand, and, rising with each trip!

As an aside, recently, Ms. Debbie was going through some old packed boxes since after 35 years of living in Point A, a little over a year ago, we moved but a few blocks away to Point B. Inside several of these packed moving boxes were stacks of letters, postcards and other correspondence, mostly dated throughout the 1960's. What absolutely fascinated my bride was how much my family and my friends wrote to each other during our summer trips, our various jobs out of Our Town, or from other towns all over our country where they had moved. Yes, dear readers of Our Town and far beyond, we actually wrote to each other; no texts, e-mails or other electronic transmissions, i.e., we used our hands and an ink pen! I'm sure that is hard to believe, huh?

Well, to help further put this entire process into a 2018 perspective, my postcard writing over time has paid BIG dividends for my bride and me. I have managed to influence many other people to send us postcards during their travels, wherever they happen to land during their adventures. Just like many of you out there, we absolutely LOVE to receive personal mail, especially when it is a beautiful postcard of a special place. For me,, it is an extra special time if we receive a card from a spot we have never visited. When this happens, that specific location immediately is added to my "must see" list for sure!

I also enjoy receiving cards mailed from the country where it was purchased, mainly just to see their particular stamps. Well, this summer, my Escondido, California, brother-in-law, Michael, took his extended family and friends, large group of 10 folks, to lovely Jamaica for a week. Michael is fully "plugged-in" to his own postcard-liking thing, too, so he mailed me one from the

"Don't Worry, Be Happy" colorful Caribbean Island nation. The attached island stamp celebrates the 50th anniversary of the birth of their famous musical artist, Bob Marley, and has a cost of $100 Jamaican dollars imprinted on the stamp. That amount in American money is equivalent to about 75-cents. I'm sure glad it isn't but about twice (35-cents) as expensive as mailing a postcard throughout the U.S.A., since Michael mailed it in Jamaica during his early July trip there. I received the beautiful card here a few days ago------THREE (3) MONTHS LATER!!!

That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.