Gaza in the 1960s – postcards and phone calls

Over the years we have had an opportunity to read about Gaza many times. Currently there is concern by Israel over how to respond if the Corona virus outbreak becomes serious there.

Last August I read an interesting, well illustrated article about Gaza. It was published by PNR with the title “Here’s What Tourists Might See If They Were Allowed To Visit Gaza.” You may be able to access the article here.

One of the images was the reproduction of a vintage post card published by the Israeli publisher Phalpot.

Vintage postcard of sites in Gaza. Published in 1967 by Phalpot in Israel.

What impressed me about this postcard from 1967 is how similar the lower right photo was to a photo I made in 1968.

Gaza on the Mediterranean Sea in May, 1968. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.

For more information about Gaza I suggest you read my longer article about “The Significance of Gaza” here.

I have been close to the border of the Gaza Strip a few times but that was my only visit to Gaza. When I told my guide that I wanted to take the group to Gaza he insisted that there was not much to see. I told him that we would be happy to see the sand and the sea. We did.

Long before digital cameras and cell phones tourists bought postcards similar to the one above and wrote home to tell their friends what a great tour they were enjoying. It took about a week for a card to make it back to the United States. Sometimes we made it back before the cards arrived. Phone calls were so expensive that most folks did not make a call. I would usually call my wife from the first stop just to quickly say that we had arrived safely. And the tours were longer in those days–usually about two weeks in length.

Those were in “good old days.”