United States Department Of Post Air Mail Beacon 1928

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF POST on 25 July 1928 issued a  5-cent airmail stamp,  featuring the beacon light atop Sherman Hill, Wyoming in the Rocky Mountains. The 5-cent denomination was the domestic rate for sending a letter via airmail at the time.

This particular cover is dated 5:30pm, 20 September 1928, posted from Springfield, Massachusetts to Livingston, Montana. It arrived at 7:00am, on 23 September 1928.

The design depicted an early airmail plane flying past a navigation beacon tower. This specific beacon was part of the Transcontinental Airway System, which used a series of lights to guide pilots flying at night.

As day and night airmail developed, the beacon system was expanded. The aforementioned beacon on top of Sherman Hill was built in 1925. At 8,600 feet above sea level, it was at the time reported to be the tallest airmail beacon in the world.

A photograph taken in the fall of that year (and later used on this airmail stamp in 1928) was snapped by Nebraska photographer Nathaniel Dewell. It showed the beacon tower along with the control hut and a giant concrete arrow in the ground.

The arrow used at these beacons were typically between 50 and 70 feet long and painted bright orange, making them clearly visible from today’s standard low altitude of the early airmail pilots. Most pilots of this era would fly at altitudes of 200-500 feet in order to navigate by these ground landmarks.  

Readers may notice a slight variation in the photo used for the stamp. In the original photo there is a biplane; on the stamp, it is  a single-wing aircraft. Why was plane changed? By 1928, biplanes were obsolete, so the photo was re-touched and the offending wing from the airplane removed. 

By the mid-30s, radio and radar were just two technologies, that completely revolutionised how pilots would navigate, making beacons and ground arrows redundant. The beacon on Sherman Hill in Wyoming went dark for good in 1934. So, for a while, there was indeed a “lighthouse on the prairie”.

Today, a small green cinder-block structure as well as a smaller mast is in the same location where the beacon tower once stood. Portions of the 100-year-old concrete arrow in the ground is still visible. Looking east toward Cheyenne, one can still make out the contours in the mountains from Dewell’s 1925 photo.

Source: Brande, Even.  "There Was Indeed a Lighthouse on the Prairie". Handel Information Technology Inc. Laramie, Wyoming. 2025.

Italian Colony of Eritrea

ITALIAN COLONY OF ERITREA postage stamps, issued in 1930, featured evocative images of African locations and colonial figures. Among three were the "Colonial Institute" or "Native Types" issue, depicting indigenous figures. 

 The stamps shown here include:

- The 2 centesimi stamp depicts an Eritrean Lancer on horseback. 

- The 5 and 10 centesimi stamps feature a standing native warrior with a shield and spear. 

- The 15 centesimi stamp shows a native archer. 

- The 25 centesimi stamp depicts a standing Askari (a native soldier from the Arabic askar), indigenous to Italian East Africa, who were  regular members of the Italian colonial troops in Africa.

USSR Defense of Leningrad 1942

Почта СССР (Post of the USSR) issued on 30 November 1942 a stamp entitled "Defense of Leningrad". It was the first stamp dedicated to the heroic defense of Leningrad in the series “The Great Patriotic War 1941-1945.” The stamp depicted Soviet soldiers participating in the Defense of Leningrad. The text on the flag translates to "Death to the German invaders". The artist/engraver was N. Borisov. It had a face value of 60 kopek and a print run of 2 million copies.

Lietuva "Allegory of Flight" in 1921

LIETUVA (Lithuania) issued in 1921 a set of seven airmail stamps. These were as the "Allegory of Flight" stamps and commemorated the inauguration of airmail service in Lithuania on 25 June of that year.

The stamps featured an allegorical design of a winged female figure (Victory launching an airplane, with the inscription 'ORO PAŠTO JSTEIGIMAS" (Airmail Establishment) on either side.

- Denominations/Colours: 

○ 20 skat (red-orange/green

○ 40 skat (blue/red

○ 60 skat (blue/green

○ 80 skat (yellow/green

○ 1auk (green/light brown

○ 2 auk (orange/light brown

○ 5 auk (grey/light brown

Belgie Post Cover

BELGIE POST cover received from a Belgian stamp collector included stamps of contemporary artwork by Joëlle Tuerlinckx and Ann Veronica Janssens, Belgian watercolour paintings of the villages Mélin and Deigné, a couple performing the waltz, Belgian International Judo Champion Robert Van de Walle, and two bird species -- "Mésange nonnette" (Glanskopmees) and "Pipit Farlouse" (Graspieper).

Belgie Post Cover

BELGIE POST cover received from a stamp collector in Belgium, included  stamps of Belgian King Albert II, the Belgium Academy of Philately, the"Belgica '06" International Stamp Exhibition 2006, and two birds -- "Rossignol Philomele Nachtegaal" (Nightingale) and "Pie Grieche Ecorcheur" (Red-backed Shrike).

Republique Française Cover

REPUBLIQUE FRANÇAISE cover received from a French stamp collector featured various designs, including Marianne de l'Avenir (Marianne of the Future), the Irish sailing ship Asgard II , Château d'Arnac-Pompadour, French Red Cross charity stamps of Pierre Mignard's 17th-century painting Madonna of the Grapes, and Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969.

Hrvatska Posta Cover

HRVATSKA POSTA (Croatian) cover received from a stamp collector in Croatia featured postage of the 50th Anniversary of Europa Stamps (CEPT) and ethno pattern of the Šestine folk costume in Croatia.

Osta Italia Cover of 1970s Stamps

 

Today, I received this POSTA ITALIA cover from a fellow stamp collector. The cover envelope featured: 

- Four 90 Italian lira stamps of "Completamento Rete Telefonica" (Telephone Network Completion), issued in 1970

- Umberto Boccioni (1882-1916) artwork titled "Woman at Table or Decomposition of the figure of a woman at the table with  a face value of 150 Italian lire, issued in 1975

- Artwork by Girolamo Di Castellana titled "Castellana Caves", depicting. 

 the interior of the Grotte di Castellana, a famous karst cave system in Puglia, Italy. It had a face value of 70 Italian lira, issued in 1977

- "Martyrs of Adreatine Caves" by Francesco Coccia marked the 30th anniversary of the Italian Resistance. The stamp carried a face value of 100 Italian lira, issued in 1975.

-  International Women's Year stamp had a face value of 70 Italian lira, issued in 1975

- Europa Majolica plate stamp had a face value of 150 Italian lira, issued in 1976

USSR "Liberation of the fraternal peoples of Western Ukraine and Western Belorussia" - 1940

USSR issued on 4 April 1940 a set of five stamps to commemorate the "Liberation of the fraternal peoples of Western Ukraine and Western Belorussia" (parts of Poland at the time) which occurred on 17 September 1939.

The set included various denominations and designs:  10, 30, 50, and 60 kopecks, as well as 1 ruble. 500,000 sets were printed. 

These stamps were part of a series intended to legitimise the Soviet annexation of the eastern territories of the Second Polish Republic, an action that was carried out in accordance with a secret clause of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact with Nazi Germany. The Soviet narrative presented the move as a protection and reunification of Ukrainian and Belarusian populations. 

The Soviets quickly began confiscating, nationalizing, and redistributing all private and state-owned Polish property. During the two years following the annexation, the Soviets arrested approximately 100,000 Polish citizens across Kresy.  

In August 2009, on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the Soviet invasion, the authoritative Polish Institute of National Remembrance announced that its researchers reduced the estimate of the number of people deported to Siberia to 320,000 in total. Some 150,000 Polish citizens perished under the Soviet rule.

Sarawak Centenary (1841-1941) of the Brooke Dynasty

SARAWAK on 18 May 1946 issued a First Day Cover marking the Centenary (1841-1941) of the Brooke Dynasty, depicting the three White Rajahs of Sarawak. Four different stamps in denominations of 8 cents, 15 cents, 50 cents, and $1 showed portraits of the three White Rajahs: Sir James Brooke (left), Sir Charles Brooke (right), and the last Rajah, Sir Charles Vyner Brooke (center). The postmark cancellation originated from Kuching, Sarawak.

This four-stamp set celebrating 100 years of "White Rajah" rule proved to be the last stamps issued before the Kingdom of Sarawak became a Crown Colony of Britain on 1 July 1946.

Sarawak is on the Island of Borneo. In 1841 Sarawak was proving troublesome and the British adventurer James Brooke helped to subdue the rebellion for the Sultan of Brunei, for which he was given Sarawak to govern. The Brooke dynasty lasted until Sarawak became a British colony in 1946, gained independence in July 1963 and joined the Federation of Malaysia in that September.

French Indochina - 1930s Definitives

FRENCH INDOCHINA 1-centime (brown) and 2-centime (green) issued from 1931 until 1941 depicted  "La Jonque" (traditional Chinese junk sailboat). They were part of 34 definitive stamps printed by Helio-Vaugirard in Paris using the photogravure process. The stamps were printed by the French postal administration and designed by O. Menti (E) and A. Dawassy.

FRENCH INDOCHINA 3-centime (brown), 4-centime, (blue) 5-centime (purple) and 6-centime (orange) stamps showed  "Ruines d'Ankor", two carved stone faces from the towers of the Bayon Temple in Angkor, Cambodia. It was  part of the "Local Motifs" series issued on 16 November 1931. This definitive series was printed by Helio-Vaugirard in Paris using the photogravure process. Designer / engraver was Antonin (Jean) Delzers (E) and Gabriel-Antoine Barlangue.

FRENCH INDOCHINA "Hoi-Hao" (Paddy Field) was part of a definitive series issued between 6 August 1938. It featured an illustration of a person working in a rice paddy field. The set included various denominations: 10-centimes (blue), 15-centimes (blue and brown) and 20-centimes (pink), and 21-centimes (green). This definitive series was printed by Helio-Vaugirard in Paris using the photogravure process. Designer / engraver was Georges Hourriez (E) and Nguyễn Phan Chánh.

BACKGROUND HISTORY 

French Indochina was officially known as Indochinese Union (Union Indochinese) after 1887 and the Indochinese Federation (Fédération Indochinese) after 1947. This was a grouping of French colonial territories in Southeast Asia that issued postage stamps between 1886 and 1949.

This group comprised three Vietnamese regions of Tonkin (north), Annam (center), and Cochinchina (south) with Cambodia being formed in 1887. Laos was added in 1893 and the leased Chinese territory of Guangzhouwan in 1898. The capital was moved from Saigon (in Cochinchina) to Hanoi (Tonkin) in 1902 and again to Da Lat (Annam) in 1939. In 1945, it was moved back to Hanoi.

After the Fall of France during World War II, the colony was administered by the Vichy government and was under Japanese occupation until March 1945, when the Japanese overthrew the colonial regime. After the Japanese surrender, the Viet Minh, a communist organisation led by Hồ Chí Minh, declared Vietnamese independence, but France subsequently took back control of French Indochina. An all-out independence war, known as the First Indochina War, broke out in late 1946 between French and Viet Minh forces.

In order to create a political alternative to the Viet Minh, the State of Vietnam, led by former Emperor Bảo Đại, was proclaimed in 1949. On 9 November 1953, the Kingdom of Cambodia proclaimed its independence. Following the Geneva Accord of 1954, the French evacuated Vietnam and French Indochina came to an end.

Cover Stamps Finland, Germany, Norway, UK and USA

Recent stamp covers received from Finland, Germany, Norway, UK and USA.