Deutsches Reichpost Richard Wagner's Operas & Postcard

DEUTSCHES REICHPOST on 1 November 1933 issued the first stamps of the Third Reich. It was a set of nine semi-postal stamps depicting scenes from Richard Wagner's (1813-1883) operas. They were sold only in Munich and Bayreuth during the Wagner Festival. They were also the first German stamp issued to feature a swastika watermark. These stamps in my collection bear postmark cancellations from Munich and Berlin.

 (These three stamps I do not own at present. Each one is quite costly, owing that less than a million were printed.)

The nine designs are as follows (in German):

03 pts + 02 pts - Tannhauser.
04p + 02p - The Flying Dutchman.
05 p. + 02 p. - The Rheingold.
06 Pf. + 04 Pf. - Die Meistersinger von Nümberg.
08 pts + 04 pts - The Valkyrie.
12 pts + 03 pts - Siegfried.
20p + 10p - Tristan and Isolde.
25lbs + 15lbs - Lohengrin.
40lbs + 40lbs - Parsifal.

To my knowledge no updated stamp version(s) of Richard Wagner's operas have since been printed. This set was very scarce from the outset, largely because of the very low production figures. Only 265,000 sets were printed -- the lowest of all the Third Reich's commemorative stamp sets.Today, these stamps command a premium price amongst collectors in the philatelic world, especially the individual stamps of "Tristan und Isolde" (373,121 printed), "Lohengrin" (467,795 printed) and "Parsifal" (264,238 printed).

The set was designed by Alois Kolb (1875-1942). Printed by "Reichsdruckerei" (Berlin), using a recess printing method. There were two perforations runs: - Comb perforation, K 14: 13 (= type "A") - Comb perforation, K 14 (= type "B") These commemorative stamps were emergency aid issues. "Nothilfe", in German, literally means "emergency assistance". In the philatelic world, these types of postage stamps are known as "charity" or "semi postal" stamps, 

The year 1933 also marked the 10th anniversary of the first German Nothilfe stamps of 1923, which had been issued to provide emergency aid to the victims of the Rhine-Ruhr floods during that year.Before this Third Reich issue, there was a Wagner-themed set released in Austria from 1926. These stamps, designed by Wilhelm Dachauer, depicted scenes either from "Der Ring des Nibelungen" or in the "Nibelungenlied". These stamps celebrated the first performances of "Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg" (in 1871) and "Siegfried" (in 1887) in the Czech Republic as well as depicting Wagner himself.Much has been written that Adolf Hitler was an admirer of Wagner's music and saw in his operas an embodiment of his own vision of the German nation;

Another Wagnerian-themed set was issued in 1943 from the Nazi-controlled Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia.in a 1922 speech he claimed that Wagner's works glorified "the heroic Teutonic nature ... Greatness lies in the heroic." His favorite opera was "Die Meistersinger", and it is said that he could quote the entire opera from memory. Richard Wagner, while an extraordinary composer was also an avowed anti-Semite, which quite naturally curried favor with the Nazis. Despite his very public views on this topic, throughout his life Wagner had Jewish friends, colleagues and supporters.

Additionally, the Nazis used those parts of Wagner's thought that were useful for propaganda and ignored or suppressed the rest.While Wagner's Bayreuth Festspielhaus presented a useful front for Nazi culture, and Wagner's music was used at many Nazi events, the Nazi hierarchy as a whole did not share Hitler's enthusiasm for Wagner's mythological musings.

That said, Wagner's ideas were also amenable to socialist interpretations; many of his ideas on art were being formulated at the time of his revolutionary inclinations in the 1840s. Wagner's influence even on literature and philosophy is significant. The poets Charles Baudelaire, Stéphane Mallarmé and Paul Verlaine worshiped Wagner. And Friedrich Nietzsche was initially a member of Wagner's inner circle during the early 1870s, and his first published work, "The Birth of Tragedy", proposed Wagner's music as the Dionysian "rebirth" of European culture in opposition to Apollonian rationalist "decadence". And the list goes on.

Until his final years, Wagner's life was characterized by political exile, turbulent love affairs, poverty and repeated flight from his creditors. His controversial writings on music, drama and politics attracted extensive comment, not only in his lifetime but well into the 20th century. The effect of his influence spread beyond composition into conducting, philosophy, literature, the visual arts and theatre.

DEUTSCHES REICHPOST also issued a 6 Pf. + 4 Pf. postal card as the companion to the set of Wagner Opera Semi-Postal stamps.

The stamp imprinted on the card features a portrait of Richard Wagner. The picture on the front depicts the Festival Hall at Bayreuth.

Deutsche Post Stationary of Hamburg Airport

DEUTSCHE POST stationary of Hamburg Airport.
 

Israel Post 50th Anniversary of Kristallnacht

ISRAEL POST on 9 November 1988 issued a first day cover stamp markin the 5oth anniversary of Kristallnacht in Nazi Germany.

Kristallnacht  or the Night of Broken Glass, also called the November pogrom(s) was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party's Sturmabteilung (SA) paramilitary and Schutzstaffel (SS) paramilitary forces along with some participation from the Hitler Youth and German civilians throughout Nazi Germany on 9 and 10 November 1938.

The German authorities looked on without intervening. The name Kristallnacht (literally 'Crystal Night') comes from the shards of broken glass that littered the streets after the windows of Jewish-owned stores, buildings and synagogues were smashed.

The pretext for the attacks was the assassination of the German diplomat Ernst vom Rath by Herschel Grynszpan, a 17-year-old German-born Polish Jew living in Paris.
Rioters destroyed 267 synagogues throughout Germany, Austria and the Sudetenland. Over 7,000 Jewish businesses were damaged or destroyed, and 30,000 Jewish men were arrested and incarcerated in concentration camps.

To be fair, the vast majority of Germans rejected the violence perpetrated against the Jews. Verbal complaints grew rapidly in numbers, and for example, the Düsseldorf branch of the Gestapo reported a sharp decline in anti-Semitic attitudes among the population.

There are many indications of Protestant and Catholic disapproval of racial persecution; for example, anti-Nazi Protestants adopted the Barmen Declaration in 1934, and the Catholic church had already distributed pastoral letters critical of Nazi racial ideology, and the Nazi regime expected to encounter organised resistance from it following Kristallnacht.

Those who personally aided Jews were fined or confined to concentration camps.

Source: Wikipedia

Ukroshta Glory to the Armed Forces of Ukraine

UKROSHTA or UKRAINE POSTAL SERVICE  on 14 October 2022 issued six commemorative First Day Cover stamps and maxi cards honouring their Army, Air Force, Navy, Assault Troops, Special Operations Forces and Territorial Defense Forces. The set is entitled "Glory to the Armed Forces of Ukraine!" The postmark cancellation on these stamps is Crimea.

 

British Antartic Territory 75th Anniversary of Captain Scott's Arrival at South Pole

BRITISH ANTARCTIC TERRITORY on 19 March 1987 issued four first day cover stamps commemorating the 75th Anniversary of Captain Robert Falcon Scott's Arrival at the South Pole. The cachet depicts the Antarctic and Captain Scott. It was signed by Lord Edward Shackleton, son of Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton. The postmark cancellation originated from British Antarctica Territory.

Scott and his team completed their quest to reach the South Pole, only to discover Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen had arrived there first. He, Amundsen, was also the first to reach the North Pole. Scott and his team, exhausted and in poor health, failed to return to England and died at Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctic in March 1912.

Interestingly, when Scott and his party's bodies were discovered, they had in their possession the first Antarctic fossils ever discovered. The fossils were determined to be from the Glossopteris tree and proved that Antarctica was once forested and joined to other continents.

The stamps issued:

- 10p Captain Robert Falcon Scott 1868-1912

- 24p Hut Point and Discovery 1902-1904

- 29p Cape Evans Hut 1911-1913

- 58p Scott's Party at South Pole 18 January 1912

Oesterreich Post 50th Anniversary of the Anschluss

ŌSTERREICH POST on 11 March 1988 marked the 50th anniversary of a dark period in their history -- the Anschluss (Annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany). Hence,  the dark symbolism of the stamp's motif is intended to show clearly the far-reaching repercussions for Austria of 11 March 1938 when the National Socialists assumed power. This marked the beginning of a reign of terror, which was to last until April 1945. Upright resistance against this regime cost the lives of countless Austrians.

Many functionaries active in the Republic on this date, in so far as they were not able to flee abroad in time, were arrested and transported to I itially Mauthausen concentration camp. Together with prominent opponents of the National Socialists, some were later sent to Dachau. Figures indicate as many as 2,700 Austrians were executed as active members of the Resistance, 16,493 died in concentration camps, and 16,000 were murdered in Gestapo prisons. In total, crimes committed by the National Socialists in Austria until April 1945 cost the lives of 65,459 Austrian Jews.

 

The cachet depicts a well-known landmark on  Vienna's Ringstrasse. It lies on an empty lot, void of anything except grass and this monument. Known as Morzinplatz, it is where the Hotel Metropole stood from 1871 until the end of WWII. The Nazis occupied the Hotel Metropole and made it Gestapo Headquarters in Vienna in 1938. Untold numbers of people were tortured, killed or shipped to concentration camps from the building that no longer exists. After the war, the hotel was torn down and this monument erected; granite blocks from an Austrian concentration camp quarry surround the bronze statue depicting a surviving victim. The top block reads, "Niemals Vegessen" - Never Forget. The caption on the lower block states, "Hier stand das Haus der Gestapo. Es war für die Bekenner Österreichs die Hölle. Es war für viele von ihnen der Vorhof des Todes. Es ist in Trümmer gesunken wie das Tausendjährige Reich. Österreich aber ist wiederauferstanden und mit ihm unsere Toten, die unsterblichen Opfer."

Translated: "Here stood the House of the Gestapo. To those who believed in Austria it was hell. To many it was the gates to death. It sank into ruins just like the 'Thousand Year Reich'. But Austria was resurrected and with her our dead, the immortal victims.”

 

USPS Legends of Hollywood - Gary Cooper

USPS on 10 September 2009 issued a 44-cent, Gary Cooper com­memorative stamp -- the 15th in its Legends of Hollywood series. This first day cover stamp originated with a postmark cancellation from Los Angeles. The stamp was designed by Phil Jordan, using a portrait by artist Kazuhiko Sano, based on a black and white photograph of Gary Cooper taken by George Hurrell circa 1940.

Frank James Cooper was born on 7 May  1901, in Helena, MT, and spent his early years on his family’s ranch. For a few years in England he went to Dunstable School and then returned to the United States to attend high school in Helena. A practical joker, he was expelled for placing Limburger cheese on a radiator during a cold Montana winter. He later graduated from Gallatin County High School in Bozeman and attended Grinnell College in Iowa. He tried to start a career as a political cartoonist, but the endeavor provided little in the way of regular income. While Cooper was looking for steady work, he ran into two old friends who suggested he try being an extra in Western films. The job paid $10 a day to fall off a horse, and to Cooper this seemed like a great deal of money.

Cooper worked as an extra in several films before he found a casting agent who persuaded him to adopt the name Gary (the agent’s hometown was Gary, Indiana). Hollywood, Cooper was told, already had two Frank Coopers. He was cast in a small part in The Winning of Barbara Worth (1926). When one of the starring actors backed out at the last minute, the director gave the role of Abe Lee to Cooper. Though inexperienced as a lead, Cooper gave a convincing performance that was praised by moviegoers and critics. Soon after, Cooper signed a contract with Paramount Pictures.

From then on, Cooper’s career progressed quickly. His first starring role came just a year later in Arizona Bound (1927), and was followed by a brief but memorable part in the Academy Award®-winning Wings (1927). Talkies were beginning to replace silent films around this time, and while some actors had difficulty making the transition, Gary Cooper did it seamlessly. His first all-talking movie, The Virginian (1929), was a box office hit.

Although Cooper has been called a natural-born actor, he did not consider himself “an easy study.” He immersed himself in his characters until he seemed to become them, so much so that people often forgot he was acting. He recognised the camera’s ability to pick up small movements and subtle expressions. By underacting, Cooper actually stole the spotlight.

Over the course of his career, Cooper played opposite several leading ladies, including Clara Bow, Fay Wray, Ingrid Bergman, Audrey Hepburn and Grace Kelly. His character was usually a hero, whether a cowboy, captain, doctor, or soldier. Cooper was tall and handsome — “a man’s man…but a woman’s idol,” said director Frank Capra, who worked with him on Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936) and Meet John Doe (1941). Cooper’s starring role in For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943) pleased his friend Ernest Hemingway, who had him in mind while writing the novel on which the film is based.

In the 1940s, Cooper made a number of notable biographical films. His portrayal of U.S. Army Sergeant Alvin York, in Sergeant York (1941), won him an Academy Award®. In 1942, Cooper gave another memorable performance, as baseball slugger Lou Gehrig in The Pride of the Yankees. He reportedly liked making Westerns, because they reminded him of his early days on the ranch. His performance as Marshal Will Kane in the classic High Noon (1952) is considered by many to be his finest and won him his second Oscar.

Though he often kept to himself, Cooper was liked and respected in Hollywood, and actors and directors frequently sought him out for projects. All told, Cooper made more than 100 movies, including such other notable films as Morocco (1930), A Farewell to Arms (1932), and Beau Geste (1939). Gary Cooper died of cancer on May 13, 1961, just after his 60th birthday.

Source: USPS

Österreich Post "Niemals Vergessen (Never Forget)" Surtax Stamps 1946

 

ÖSTERREICH POST first introduced commemorative stamps in June 1946.  These included the first of many future issues of surtaxed pictorial and/or commemorative stamps whose purpose was to raise revenue for public charities, public celebrations, and for reconstruction projects.  Austria experienced incredible devastation during World War II, and with returning prisoners of war, impoverished and homeless civilians, and the damage caused by enemy bombings, an incredible amount of money was needed to care for the citizens.

As proven before, in Austria and other European countries, the surtaxed sale of postage stamps was a great way to raise revenues for these national causes.  To this end, eight surtaxed Austria stamps shown here were issued on 16 September 1946 for the Anti-Fascist Exhibition in Vienna. The theme of the exhibition was "Niemals Vergessen (Never Forget)", which refers to the 'Oesterreich Anschluss' (Nazi Germany's forced annexation of Austria in 1938.

These surtax also contributed to the funding for the exhibition. The allegorical stamps included:

 - 05 G. + 03 G. - Nazi sword piercing Austria.

 - 06 G. + 04 G. - Sweeping away Fascist symbols.

 - 08 G. + 06 G. - St. Stephan's Cathedral in flames.

 - 12 G. + 12 G. - Pleading hand in a concentration camp.

 - 30 G. + 30 G. - Hand choking Nazi serpent.

 - 42 G. + 42 G. - Hammer breaking Nazi pillar.

 - 01 S. + 01 S. - Oath of allegiance.

 - 02 S. + 02 S. - Austrian eagle and a burning swastika.

Additionally there were two other stamps prepared for this series, but they were never issued.  The Allied Occupation governments felt that these designs were too graphic and incendiary, and the release of these stamps was forbidden.

The few examples that are on the philatelic market today are very rare, and when they are offered for sale, the prices can vary wildly.

They are described as follows:

- 05 G. + 03 G. - SS lightening bolt striking a map of Austria.

- 06 G. + 04 G. - Skeleton with Adolf Hitler mask.

Deutsches Reichpost Anschluss of Austria

DEUTSCHES REICHPOST on 9 and 10 April 1938 issued first day cover stamps marking the Anschluss of Austria. The Österreich stamp is dated 9 April 1938; whereas the Deutsches Reich stamp is 10 April 1938. The Österreich stamp shows a Burgenland man (eastern Austria) in ethnic dress and surrounding countryside. The latter stamp depicts a Nazi Party Member and an Austrian farmer locking arms under the Nazi flag. The cancellation postmark for both stamps originated from Vienna. The postmark, as well as the postcard, states "Ein Volk. Ein Reich. Ein Fürher." (One People. One Country. One Leader.) On the Õsterreich stamp the cancellation postmark states "Greater German Reich". A schematické map of the two countries as one, emblazoned with a profile of Adolf Hitler and the national emblem of Nazi Germany, is depicted on the postcard. The towns on the map supposedly are places where Hitler delivered major speeches.

The word Anschluss is properly translated as "joinder," "connection," "unification," or "political union." In contrast, the German word Annektierung (military annexation) was not, and is not commonly used now, to describe the union of Austria and Germany in 1938. The word Anschluss had been widespread before 1938 describing an incorporation of Austria into Germany. Calling the incorporation of Austria into Germany an "Anschluss," that is a "unification" or "joinder," was also part of the propaganda used in 1938 by Nazi Germany to create the impression that the union was not coerced.

Nazi Germany's agents cultivated pro-unification tendencies in Austria, and sought to undermine the Austrian government, which was controlled by the Austrofascist Fatherland Front. During an attempted coup in 1934, Austrian chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss was assassinated by Austrian Nazis. The defeat of the coup prompted many leading Austrian Nazis to go into exile in Germany, where they continued their efforts for unification of the two countries.

In early 1938, under increasing pressure from pro-unification activists, Austrian chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg announced that there would be a referendum on a possible union with Germany versus maintaining Austria's sovereignty to be held on 13 March. Portraying this as defying the popular will in Austria and Germany, Hitler threatened an invasion and secretly pressured Schuschnigg to resign. A day before the planned referendum, on 12 March, the German Heer crossed the border into Austria, unopposed by the Austrian military. A plebiscite was held on the 10th of April, in which the ballot was not secret, and threats and coercion were employed to manipulate the vote, resulting in 99.7% approval for the Anschluss.

Disclaimer: In displaying this postcard and stamps I must stress I DO NOT advocate, NOR wish to glorify the regime of Nazi Germany or any present day fascist organisation/state. My sole intent is to illustrate the philatelic history of the period, one which I personally believe to have been evil and as such a plight in the history of Germany and their satellite allies at the time.

Source: Wikipedia

Deutsches Reichpost Comradeship Block 1939-1940

DEUTSCHES REICHPOST on 15 September 1939 commissioned (issued on 31 December 1940) 12 stamps entitiled "Comradeship Block of the Deutsche Reichspost" (Kameradschaftsblock der Deutschen Reichspost). It should be noted that this 'propaganda' motif was used between 1939 and 1944 issues of the comradeship block, but in different denominations and colours. Each stamp measured 10.2 x 14.8 cm. The stamps were designed by Maria von Axster and Werner Heudtlass. Deutsches Reichpost printed the stamps.

- 3+2 Mass rally in the Deutschlandhalle in Berlin (brown)- 4+3 Postal science week in Vienna (slate)

- 5+3 Reich professional competition (green)

- 6+4 Youth camp in Zeesen (black)

- 8+4 Performance Competition  (orange)

- 10+5 Gifted Selection (chocolate)

- 12+6 Off-Roader (red)

- 15+10 Post Sports (maroon)

- 16+10 Mail Protection (grey)

- 20+10 Glider Workshops (blue)

- 24+10 Mail Coach (lime)

- 25+15 Convalescent Home in Koenigstein im Taunusn (violet)

Deutsches Reich 1939 German Personalities -- Martin Luther

DEUTSCHES REICHPOST, during the Third Reich, published a series of propaganda postcard/postal stationery of German personalities in October 1939. Six postcards were  issued, featuring Martin Luther, Heinrich I, Frederick the Great, Ulrich von Hutten, Otto von Bismarck and Carl Peters. The postmark cancellation  on this Martin Luther postcard originated from Leinefelde, Thuringia and is dated 7 November 1939.

The Nazi regime, from 1933 till its demise in 1945, annually issued a series of propaganda/postal stationery postcards that highlighted current events, heritage, personalities and landmarks in Germany. The one shown here depicted not only an image of Martin Luther, but also highlighted an inspirational quote attributed to him, which would have been consistent with  Nazi ideology.

The caption -- as near as I can tell -- states, 'Ich suche nicht das Meine, fondern allein bes ganze Deutschlands Glück und feil" (I'm not looking for what's mine alone, but rather the whole of Germany's happiness and trustworthiness). Whether Luther actually said it or it was taken out of context from his writings, I do not know.

His translation of the Bible into the German vernacular (instead of Latin) made it more accessible to the laity, an event that had a tremendous impact on both the church and German culture. It fostered the development of a standard version of the German language, for which the Nazis would have deemed him a true patriot.

Similarly, in two of his later works, Luther expressed antagonistic views towards Jews, which would have played well with Nazi  doctrine. His rhetoric was not directed at Jews alone, but also towards Roman Catholics, Anabaptists, and nontrinitarian Christians.

Martin Luther (10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German professor of theology, composer, priest, monk, and a seminal figure in the Protestant Reformation -- most famously known for posting his "Ninety-Five Theses".

Luther initially sent the "Theses" enclosed with a letter to Albert of Brandenburg, Archbishop of Mainz, on 31 October 1517, a date now considered the start of the Reformation and commemorated annually as Reformation Day. Luther may have also posted the Ninety-five Theses on the door of All Saints' Church and other churches in Wittenberg—in accordance with University custom—on 31 October or in mid-November. The "Theses" were quickly reprinted and translated, and distributed throughout Germany and Europe.  Luther's ecclesiastical superiors had him tried for heresy, which culminated in his excommunication from the Catholic Church in 1521.

Deutsches Reichpost International Automobile and Motorcycle Exhibition 1939

DEUTSCHES REICHPOST on 17 February 1939, issued three special stamps for the International Automobile and Motorcycle Exhibition in Berlin.

The green 6 + 4 Pfennig surcharge shows the first two automobiles in the world, the Benz three-wheeler and the motorized carriage from Gottlieb Daimler, the world's first four-wheeled automobile. The other postage stamps also document German automotive history: the red 12 + 8 Pfennig, the motorsport highlights of that time, the two Silver Arrows from Mercedes-Benz and Autounion and the blue 25 + 10 Pfennig, a sensation at the time , already history today, the VW Beetle, a design by Ferdinand Porsche.

The cancellation postmark for this first-day card originated from Berlin-Charlottenburg for the automobile exhibition.

Deutsches Bundes Post 75th Death Anniversary of Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin

DEUTSCHE BUNDES POST on 6 February 1992 issued a first day cover stamp marking the 75th death anniversary of Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin.  This postcard features that stamp with FDC postmark cancellation originating from Berlin. It also includes a Friedrichshafen (Baden Wūrttemberg) postmark of Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin under a photo of Zeppelin LZ-127 flying over Cologne, Germany.

LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin (Deutsches Luftschiff Zeppelin 127) was a German passenger-carrying, hydrogen-filled rigid airship that flew from 1928 to 1937. Graf Zeppelin made 590 flights totalling almost 1.7 million kilometres (over 1 million miles). It was operated by a crew of 36, and could carry 24 passengers. It was the longest and largest airship in the world when it was built. It made the first circumnavigation of the world by airship, and the first nonstop crossing of the Pacific Ocean by air; its range was enhanced by its use of 'Blau' (blue) gas as a fuel. It was built using funds raised by public subscription and from the German government, and its operating costs were offset by the sale of special postage stamps to collectors, the support of the newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst, and cargo and passenger receipts.

Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin was the inventor of the rigid airship or dirigible balloon. He was born July 8, 1838, in Konstanz, Prussia, and educated at the Ludwigsburg Military Academy and the University of Tübingen. Ferdinand von Zeppelin entered the Prussian army in 1858. Zeppelin went to the United States in 1863 to work as a military observer for the Union army in the American Civil War and later explored the headwaters of the Mississippi River, making his first balloon flight while he was in Minnesota. He served in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, and retired in 1891 with the rank of brigadier general.

Ferdinand von Zeppelin spent nearly a decade developing the dirigible. The first of many rigid dirigibles, called zeppelins in his honor, was completed in 1900. He made the first directed flight on July 2, 1900. In 1910, a zeppelin provided the first commercial air service for passengers. By his death in 1917, he had built a zeppelin fleet, some of which were used to bomb London during World War I. However, they were too slow and explosive a target in wartime and too fragile to withstand bad weather. They were found to be vulnerable to antiaircraft fire, and about 40 were shot down over London.

After the war, they were used in commercial flights until the crash of the Hindenburg in 1937.

Ferdinand von Zeppelin died on March 8, 1917.

Source: Wikipedia

USPOD Abraham Lincoln Sesquicentennial

U.S. POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT (POD) issued a set of four stamps in their Lincoln Sesquicentennial Series between 1958 and 1959. The one cent stamp of Lincoln (shown in this Block set) was derived from the George Peter Alexander Healy's painting, "Beardless Lincoln". It was completed in 1860, soon after Lincoln's election to the Presidency. The first day of issue of 12 February 1959.  The postmark cancellation originated from Hodgenville, Kentucky, the nearest town to Lincoln's birthplace. A total of 120,400,200 stamps were printed by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, using a rotary press. It featured 10 ½ x 11 perforations, carried a value of one cent and was dark green in colour.

Lincoln was the first U.S. President to have a beard. He grew it after being elected, perhaps on the advice of an 11-year-old girl. Grace Bedell, of Westfield, New York, wrote a letter to Lincoln on October 15, 1860, during the Presidential election that year, urging him to grow a beard. She told Lincoln he would be “much improved in appearance, provided you would cultivate whiskers.”

Lincoln was so amused by the letter that he wrote back to her four days later. “As to the whiskers, having never worn any, do you not think people would call it a piece of silly affectation if I were to begin now?” he wrote. However, between the election and the time he took office in March 1861, Lincoln grew the suggested beard. Later, as he traveled from Illinois to Washington, D.C., he stopped in Westfield and met Grace Bedell.
 
Other reasons for Lincoln’s new fashion may include concerns about his youth. At age 51, Lincoln was the youngest person elected President at the time, and may also have added the beard to suggest maturity.

Source: U.S. Post Office Department

Ukrososhta 35th Anniversary of the Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster

UKROSHTA (UKRAINE POST) on 26 April 2021 marked the 35th Anniversary of the Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster with a first day cover stamp showing the Ukrainian landscape and nuclear power in the palm of a hand -- A Look Into The Future of Chernobyl. The cachet depicts the power plant as it was in 1986 when nuclear reactor number four failed to cool and went into meltdown.

The Chernobyl disaster, considered the worst nuclear disaster in history, occurred on 26 April 1986 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, then part of the Soviet Union, now in Ukraine. From 1986 onward, the total death toll of the disaster has lacked consensus; as peer-reviewed medical journal The Lancet and other sources have noted, it remains contested. There is consensus that a total of approximately 30 people died from immediate blast trauma and acute radiation syndrome (ARS) in the seconds to months after the disaster, respectively, with 60 in total in the decades since, inclusive of later radiation induced cancer. However, there is considerable debate concerning the accurate number of projected deaths that have yet to have occurred due to the disaster's long-term health effects; long-term death estimates range from up to 4,000 (per the 2005 and 2006 conclusions of a joint consortium of the United Nations) for the most exposed people of Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia, to 16,000 cases in total for all those exposed on the entire continent of Europe, with figures as high as 60,000 when including the relatively minor effects around the globe. Such numbers are based on the heavily contested Linear no-threshold model.

Source: Wikipedia 

 IN THE LETTERBOX FROM UKRAINE --ZAPORIZHZHIA!!! The region claimed by Russia but still under Ukrainian control. Received this letter and Ukraine First Day Cover stamp marking the 35th Anniversary of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Disaster.

The Ukrainian postal system is fantastic, but then almost all of the mail out of Ukraine is registered, which allows both sender and receiver to track it. MashAllah!