![Picture](/uploads/5/4/6/4/54641459/6-12-charlotte-bashew-web.jpg?250)
Postcards to my Grandmother
My great grandfather, Isadore Stanislav Hermann, Migrated to Australia from South Africa, some time in the first decade of the 20th century, leaving behind in South Africa, his older children, some of whom had already married, including my grandmother.
Either Isadore was not a good correspondent, or my grandmother was not a good hoarder, but none of his communications survived the passage of time.
What I have tried to do here is to collect some of the postcards that he could have sent home. Postcards from the three decades stretching from the before the turn of the century until about the mid 1920's. Alongside the original postcards, I am showing photographs of their modern equivalent - the views that would greet the eyes of my own grandchildren, almost one hundred years later.
My great grandfather, Isadore Stanislav Hermann, Migrated to Australia from South Africa, some time in the first decade of the 20th century, leaving behind in South Africa, his older children, some of whom had already married, including my grandmother.
Either Isadore was not a good correspondent, or my grandmother was not a good hoarder, but none of his communications survived the passage of time.
What I have tried to do here is to collect some of the postcards that he could have sent home. Postcards from the three decades stretching from the before the turn of the century until about the mid 1920's. Alongside the original postcards, I am showing photographs of their modern equivalent - the views that would greet the eyes of my own grandchildren, almost one hundred years later.
![Picture](/uploads/5/4/6/4/54641459/published/herman-family-group-adj-b.jpg?1547610853)
Regrettably some scenes can not be duplicated. Buildings have been erected in the century since the postcards were printed, or trees have totally obliterated the scene. Of course there are some scenes that are still like the original, and finding these gives me a buzz. Some scenes are totally gone and where I am reasonably sure that I am at the same location, I have included the modern scene.
To distinguish old from new, all the old postcards carry a thin black border as in the family photo. Modern pictures do not.
Postcards are sorted by state for Australian cards, and by country for all others.
In many cases I have multiple postcards of the same scene. One is shown with the modern equivalent, the balance are included in a gallery and a click on the picture will enlarge it.
This is a continuing work-in-progress. I would welcome any comments. email me
To distinguish old from new, all the old postcards carry a thin black border as in the family photo. Modern pictures do not.
Postcards are sorted by state for Australian cards, and by country for all others.
In many cases I have multiple postcards of the same scene. One is shown with the modern equivalent, the balance are included in a gallery and a click on the picture will enlarge it.
This is a continuing work-in-progress. I would welcome any comments. email me
Navigation
At any time, a click on any of the Floral icons shown below will get you to the header page for that state, territory or country.
NSW = Waratah - Grows as a large shrub that can reach a height of 4m and produces large inflorescences made up of many small individual flowers, surrounded by crimson petal-like bracts.
WA = Red and green kangaroo paw - Restricted to WA’s south-west, and are found nowhere else in the world. These strap-leaved plants produce bright red flower stalks that grow to about 1m and bear vivid green flowers.
VIC = Common heath - Victoria was our first state to adopt an official floral emblem and the pink-flowered form of this species was it. A slender, upright shrub growing to about 1m tall, the common heath produces stems lined with many tubular flowers that range from pale white to deep red.
SA = Sturt’s desert pea - Grows in sandy soils across much of Australia’s arid interior and is pollinated by nectar-feeding birds. Each inflorescence bears six or seven usually bright red flowers with black bulbous centres, which birds probe with their beaks to reach sweet nectar within.
QLD = Cooktown orchid - This orchid was selected during Queensland’s centenary celebrations in 1959 as the state’s floral emblem. An epiphyte that grows on the trunks of large trees, its natural range is restricted to the Cape York Peninsula in the far north, where it flowers for six weeks in autumn and winter. (Epiphyte=a plant that grows on another plant, especially one that is not parasitic)
NT = Sturt’s desert rose - Closely related to species of commercial cotton, this is not a rose at all. It’s a drought-tolerant shrub that is found on rocky slopes and in dry creek beds throughout Central Australia, and produces pretty mauve- and lilac-coloured flowers with red centres.
TAS = The Tasmanian Blue Gum - Eucalypts globulus, was proclaimed as the floral emblem of Tasmania on 27 November 1962. Eucalyptus globulus was first collected on the south-east coast of Tasmania in 1792-93 by Jacques-Julien Houton de Labillardiere (1755-1834) and described by him in 1799. Labillardiere was a keen collector of plants and animals and also recorded detailed accounts of the appearance and customs of the Australian Aboriginals he observed. His plant specimens are now housed in the Museum of Florence.
At any time, a click on any of the Floral icons shown below will get you to the header page for that state, territory or country.
NSW = Waratah - Grows as a large shrub that can reach a height of 4m and produces large inflorescences made up of many small individual flowers, surrounded by crimson petal-like bracts.
WA = Red and green kangaroo paw - Restricted to WA’s south-west, and are found nowhere else in the world. These strap-leaved plants produce bright red flower stalks that grow to about 1m and bear vivid green flowers.
VIC = Common heath - Victoria was our first state to adopt an official floral emblem and the pink-flowered form of this species was it. A slender, upright shrub growing to about 1m tall, the common heath produces stems lined with many tubular flowers that range from pale white to deep red.
SA = Sturt’s desert pea - Grows in sandy soils across much of Australia’s arid interior and is pollinated by nectar-feeding birds. Each inflorescence bears six or seven usually bright red flowers with black bulbous centres, which birds probe with their beaks to reach sweet nectar within.
QLD = Cooktown orchid - This orchid was selected during Queensland’s centenary celebrations in 1959 as the state’s floral emblem. An epiphyte that grows on the trunks of large trees, its natural range is restricted to the Cape York Peninsula in the far north, where it flowers for six weeks in autumn and winter. (Epiphyte=a plant that grows on another plant, especially one that is not parasitic)
NT = Sturt’s desert rose - Closely related to species of commercial cotton, this is not a rose at all. It’s a drought-tolerant shrub that is found on rocky slopes and in dry creek beds throughout Central Australia, and produces pretty mauve- and lilac-coloured flowers with red centres.
TAS = The Tasmanian Blue Gum - Eucalypts globulus, was proclaimed as the floral emblem of Tasmania on 27 November 1962. Eucalyptus globulus was first collected on the south-east coast of Tasmania in 1792-93 by Jacques-Julien Houton de Labillardiere (1755-1834) and described by him in 1799. Labillardiere was a keen collector of plants and animals and also recorded detailed accounts of the appearance and customs of the Australian Aboriginals he observed. His plant specimens are now housed in the Museum of Florence.