USPS Franklin D Roosevelt's Four Freedoms by Norman Rockwell and WWIi era Stamps

USPS in 1994 depicted Franklin D Roosevelt's Four Freedoms painted by American artist Norman Rockwell. The series was famously illustrated for Saturday Evening Post in 1943, which traveled across the United States to promote war bonds. 

President Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) outlined the FOUR FREEDOMS in his State of the Union Address to Congress on 6 January 1941.

FDR defined these fundamental rights as essential for people everywhere in the world:

• Freedom of speech and expression

• Freedom of worship (every person's right to worship God in their own way)

• Freedom from want (economic understandings for a healthy peacetime life)

• Freedom from fear (a worldwide reduction of armaments to stop physical aggression)

Roosevelt used the speech to challenge American isolationism and build support for aiding Great Britain and other Allied nations fighting the Axis powers in World War II.

These principles influenced the Atlantic Charter in 1941, the United Nations Declaration in 1942, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, which was championed by Eleanor Roosevelt.

Deutsches Reich Elderly and Children Charity Stamps - 1922

 

DEUTSCHES REICH (German Empire) in 11 December 1922 during the inflation period. These semi-postal charity stamps from the Weimar Republic era of the German Empire (Deutsches Reich), were issued to raise funds for the elderly and children (Alters- und Kinderhilfe).

Designed by Professor Johann Vincenz Cissarz, the stamps depicted a woman kneeling in a field next to a shovel while tending to a young sapling, symbolising growth, renewal, and care. The stamps had a waffle type watermark.

- Blue stamp - 6 Mark + 4 Mark surcharge for Alters- und Kinderhilfe / old age and youth welfare). 

- Orange/Red.stamp - 12 Mark + 8 Mark surcharge for Alters- und Kinderhilfe).

Belgie Stamp Cover

Belgian postage stamp cover received from a Belgian philatelic dealer.

Stamps shown: 

- Belgian Lion Rampant (Leo Belgicus) in 1 F (rose)  and 5 F (green) denominations 

- "Birds of Buzin" definitive series designed by artist André Buzin

- Europa sports-theme

- King Leopold III, issued in 1951

- 50th Anniversary of Belgian Television series, issued in 2003

- Belgian cattle breed

- 50th anniversary of the Royal Ardennes Horse Society (Société Royale du Cheval de Trait des Ardennes) and depicting traditional draft horses, issued in 1976

POSTI (Finland)150th anniversary of The Finnish National Theatre

 

POSTI (Finland) in 2022 issued a series of stamps celebrating the 150th anniversary of The Finnish National Theatre featuring the phrase "Sinä siellä!" ("You there!").

Shown is a performer or theatrical scene set against a swirling, patterned background with the shape of Finland in the top right corner.

Posti Finnish Artist Kim Simonsson

 

POSTI (Finland) on 7 September  2022 issued two postage stamps by artist  Kim Simonsson (born 1974). The left stamp shows  "Sleeping Girl Reading Moss" (2022), whereas the right stamp portrays  "Girl with a Bubble" (2008).

USPS Alden Partridge from “Great Americans” - 1985

 

USPS issued on 12 February 1985 an 11-cent honouring Alden Partridge, as part of the Great Americans Series.

Alden Partridge was seen as a controversial choice for a “Great Americans” stamp – he was once court-martialed for nearly launching a mutiny when he was replaced as head of West Point.  However, he went on to found Norwich University, the first nonmilitary school in the western hemisphere, as well as seven other schools. 

Designer Robert Anderson created the portrait on this stamp, based on an old engraving of Partridge in his fuss-and-feathers “Peacock” uniform.

USPS Dance Series - 1978

USPS Dance Series postage stamps issued by the U.S. in 1978. Each 13-cent stamp featured a colourful silhouette celebrating a style of American dance: Theatre, Ballet, Modern, and Folk.

Nippon Post Butterflies

 

• Left Stamp: NIPPON 60 (60 Japanese Yen). It features the Chestnut Tiger (Parantica sita), known for its translucent light blue-green wings and its remarkable long-distance migratory behavior across Asia.

• Right Stamp:  NIPPON 40 (40 Japanese Yen). It features the Great Purple Emperor (Sasakia charonda ), which is recognized as the national butterfly of Japan.

Cote Française Des Somalis - Somali Woman

 

COTE FRANÇAISE DES SOMALIS stamps issued from 1915/22. On the left side of the postcard is a A purple/rose 15-centime stamp. The stamp on the right is a blue 75-centime stamp. Each stamp depicted a finely engraved portrait of a Somali woman in traditional jewelry and dress, designed by B. Montader and engraved by G. Hourriez, which was one of the most appealing colonial pictorials of the early 20th century.

The antique postcard from French Somaliland (Côte Française des Somalis), now Djibouti, featured a scene labeled "12 - Martyre de Saint Pierre (à gauche) and de Saint-Paul (à droite)" (Martyrdom of Saint Peter on the left and Saint Paul on the right), flanked by the two aforementioned stamps from the territory. The illustration was credited to Cliché J. B. 

La Poste France Le siècle au fil du timbre – Société" Series d

 

LA POSTE cover from the 2000 "Le siècle au fil du timbre – Société" series depicts major 20th-century social milestones.

• 1901 Le lave-linge: Commemorates the invention/spread of the washing machine.

• 1944 Le droit de vote des femmes commemorates women's right to vote in France.

• 1969 Le premier pas sur la lune commemorates the Apollo 11 moon landing.

• Les congés payés commemorates paid leave holidays.

• Vintage red emergency fire truck "Véhicule de premier secours".

• Comic book character Fantasio from Spirou et Fantasio, running with a megaphone/clock.

Imperial Japan Military Postcard

 

GUJI YŪBIN FŪKAN HAGAKI (Imperial Japan Military Postcard) wasq postal mail designated for Japanese soldiers in the early Shōwa period (World War II era). 

These were official, often free-of-charge stationery items issued to Imperial Japanese soldiers during WWII to write letters home to family members in Japan or occupied territories.

The Japanese woman featured on this postcard is Kinuyo Tanaka who was a powerhouse actress and a pioneering director whose career spanned over 50 years. She starred in Japan's very first talkie film, The Neighbor's Wife and Mine (Madamu to nyōbō), a 1931 Japanese comedy film, and frequently collaborated with legendary directors like Kenji Mizoguchi and Yasujirō Ozu.

During the WWII era, postcards featuring prominent film stars and theatre beauties were highly popular inclusions in wartime military mail packets to boost the morale of deployed soldiers.

Additionally, Kintoto Cosmetics (a pre-war Japanese cosmetics brand that produced items like face powders and hair oils) sponsored postcards like this one.

As for the illustration of the soldier,  in the centre of the postcard, there is a caption or a morale-boosting poem designed to comfort soldiers serving in freezing northern regions (such as Manchuria or Northern China).

The poem reads In the freezing cold, even the cloak turns white. Protecting under the Orion constellation, it pierces the body, but holding the rifle, fighting spirit burns.

The facsimile of a green stamp at the top left of the postcard depicts a military helmet (Type 90 helmet) with a star emblem and a rifle/bayonet beneath flying aircraft.

[REVERSE SIDE]

Lyrics to wartime Japanese songs

Fluegel "Mass Crossing of the Rhine" & "Win the War" Stamp -1945

WORLD WAR II PATRIOTIC POSTAL COVER, produced by Captain Herman Fluegel, shows a cachet commemorating the "Mass Crossing of the Rhine" on 24 March 1945. A colourised map illustrates the Allied crossing of the Rhine river into Germany, accompanied by text detailing participating American and British-Canadian armies and the phrase "The Beginning of the End". A United States 3-cent "Win the War" postage stamp was affixed to this cachet.

OPERATION PLUNDER was a massive World War II military operation launched on the night of 23 March 1945, to establish a major Allied foothold across the Rhine River into the German heartland. Planned and executed by the 21st Army Group under the command of Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, it stood as one of the largest and most meticulously coordinated assault crossings of the war. 

The operation went practically like clockwork, completely fracturing the German defense north of the industrial Ruhr region. Within four days, the Allies consolidated a bridgehead 35 miles wide and 20 miles deep, capturing over 30,000 German soldiers.

This successful breach shattered Nazi Germany's final hope of a prolonged western defense, prompting high-ranking officials like Joseph Goebbels to declare that the situation in the West had entered a "deadly phase". It directly paved the final path for the Allied "blitz" toward Berlin.

Sverige Post John Bauer Nordic Trolls and Gnomes

SVERIGE POST on 16 February 1982 issued four stamps with Nordic motifs affixed to matching maximum cards  featuring the artwork of illustrator John Bauer (1882–1918) and engraved stamps by Czesław Słania. A special postmark originated from Jönköping, Sweden.

John Bauer's famous folklore and fairy tale illustrations shown here include:

- "Here is a piece of a troll herb which nobody else but me can find" (1912) — Depicting an enormous troll mother sitting near a small child in the forest. 

- "Princess Tuvstarr gazing down into the dark waters of the forest tarn" (1913) — One of Bauer's most iconic works, showing the blonde princess sitting at the edge of a reflective woodland pool. 

- "Leap the Elk and Little Princess Cottongrass" (1913) — Showing the massive moose ("Skutt") standing over the tiny princess resting on the moss. 

 - "En riddare red fram" ("A knight rode forth") (1915) — Featuring a small, shining knight riding a charging horse beneath a starry sky.

These scenes were originally published in the famous Swedish fairy tale anthology Bland tomtar och troll (Among Gnomes and Trolls).