Vintage Card Of The Month: 1961 Leaf Famous Discoveries & Adventures Lhasa The Forbidden City

This month’s VCoM is straight off of my Top 10 Wanted list, the 1961 Leaf Famous Discoveries & Adventures Lhasa The Forbidden City. This has to be one of my longest card names. The card comes from Leaf’s Famous Discoveries & Adventures release and was released during Leaf’s confectionary days.

The set consists of 50 cards and covers some of the most important adventures in the world including the adventures of Marco Polo, the first Moon rocket, the Vikings and Lindbergh’s solo flight over the Atlantic Ocean. The cards are also a bit larger than modern cards at roughly 2 ¾ by 3 ¾ in size.

The card is on my Top 10 Wanted list because of my interest in Tibet, as a Buddhist I have a cultural connection to the country.

The card front depicts the Potala Palace, which was the Dalai Lama’s home, towering above the city of Lhasa. Lhasa, founded around 650 AD, has been Tibet’s capital since 1642 and due to its elevation, 11,500 ft. above sea level, it has been extremely difficult to travel to before modern travel made it easier to reach.

The back includes a write up describing the history of the city through Western adventurers. Sadly the information is very one-sided. Tibet has been quite isolated following the expulsion of the Mongol invaders in the 1300s, its geography made that quite easy. When Westerners did make their way in to the country they were actually treated very well. The Tibetan people are friendly and even now still will invite foreigners in for Butter tea.

 

I hope to some day visit Lhasa.