Deutsche Post Berlin Special 17 June 1953 Stamps and Cancellation

DEUTSCHE POST BERLIN on 17 August 1953 issued two West Berlin stamps commemorating the 17 June 1953 uprising. These stamps were not accepted in Eastern European (Communist) countries; letters franked with these stamps were either returned to the sender or sent with the stamps redacted.

The official First Day Cover came with the quote, translated in English here: "We will not rest nor relax -- I make this oath for the entire German people -- until all of Germany is reunited in peace and freedom." The quote was attributed to Federal Chancellor Dr. Konrad Adenauer on 23 June 1953 in Berlin. These special (propaganda) stamps were launched by the Senate Administration of Postal and Telecommunications Services in Berlin on 17 August 1953.

As for this particular card, these  stamps appeared with a special sports-related design franked with a Deutsche Post cancellation on 29 August 1953. It referred to track and field or "leichtathletik" event between England and West Germany at the Berlin Olympic Stadium.

The East German Uprising was a revolt that occurred in the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from 16 to 17 June 1953. It began with strike action by construction workers in East Berlin on 16 June against work quotas during the Sovietization process in East Germany. 

Demonstrations in East Berlin turned into a widespread uprising against the Government of East Germany and the ruling Socialist Unity Party the next day, involving over one million people in about 700 localities across the country. Protests against declining living standards and unpopular Sovietisation policies led to a wave of strikes and protests that were not easily brought under control and threatened to overthrow the East German government. 

The uprising in East Berlin was violently suppressed by tanks of the Soviet forces in Germany and the Kasernierte Volkspolizei. Demonstrations continued in over 500 towns and villages for several more days before eventually dying out.

Subsequently, in memory of the 1953 East German uprising, West Germany established the Day of German Unity as an annual national holiday on 17 June. Upon German reunification in October 1990, the holiday was moved to 3 October, the date of formal reunification. The extension of the Unter den Linden Boulevard to the west of the Brandenburg Gate, called Charlottenburger Chaussee, was renamed Strasse des 17. Juni ("17 June Street").

Source: Wikipedia 

Deutsche Bundespost Berlin 200th Birth Anniversary of Bettina von Arnim

DEUTSCHE BUNDESPOST on 21 February 1985 issued a First Day Cover stamps marking the 200th birth anniversary of Bettina von Arnim (the Countess of Arnim) (1785 –1859), born Elisabeth Catharina Ludovica Magdalena Brentano, was a German writer and novelist. The maxim card is based on a portrait of Bettina von Arnim by Ludwig Emil Grimm in 1809. The cancellation postmark originated from Berlin.

Bettina (or Bettine) Brentano was also a publisher, composer, singer, visual artist, an illustrator, patron of young talent, and a social activist. She was the archetype of the Romantic era's zeitgeist and the crux of many creative relationships of canonical artistic figures. Best known for the company she kept, she numbered among her closest friends Goethe, Beethoven, Schleiermacher, and Pückler and tried to foster artistic agreement among them. Many leading composers of the time, including Felix and Fanny Mendelssohn, Robert and Clara Schumann, Franz Liszt, Johanna Kinkel, and Johannes Brahms, admired her spirit and talents.

 

As a composer, von Arnim's style was unconventional, molding and melding favorite folk melodies and historical themes with innovative harmonies, phrase lengths, and improvisations that became synonymous with the music of the era. 

Source: Wikipedia 

Paraguay Luposta 77 Berlin

 

PARAGUAY on 6 September 1977 issued a set of eight First Day Cover stamps to commemorate the International Airmail Exhibition "Luposta 77" that was held in Berlin. The stamps highlighted the first Graf Zeppelin flights to South America in the 1930s. The  countries represented included: German women in traditional costumes, Uruguayan gaucho breaking a bronco, Paraguayan bella bottle dancer, Argentinian gaucho, Mexican bull fighter, Bolivian Indian in Diablo costume, Brazilian Mardi Gras dancer and American Plains Indian on horseback. A special postmark design, featuring zeppelin, balloons and planes, was affixed to the stamps originating from Asuncion, Paraguay.

USPS Legendary American Football Coaches

U.S. POSTAL SERVICE on 25 July 1997 issued a block set of First Day Cover stamps commemorating four legendary American football coaches: Pop Warner, Vince Lombardi, George Harris and Bear Bryant. The designer was artist Daniel Moore. A total of 90,000,000 stamps were printed by Ashton Potter (USA) Ltd. by Sterling Sommer, Tonawanda, New York, using a multicoloured offset print method. The stamps were issued first in Canton, Ohio.

Bear Bryant

Paul Bryant has been described as one of the top coaches in the history of American college football.  Coaching at several notable universities, he achieved his greatest success a the University of Alabama where his impressive record of 323 regular season wins, 85 losses, and 17 ties broke the record at that time for the most victories.

Pop Warner

Remembered by sportswriter Red Smith as “one of the truly original minds in football,” Pop Warner was one of the most influential coaches in the history of American college football.  Coaching at such prominent universities as Georgia, Cornell, Carlisle, Pittsburgh, Stanford, and Temple, he sported an impressive 319-106-32 record during his 43-year coaching career.

 An innovative coach, Warner did much to improve the game.  He originated the single- and double-wing offense formations, and is credited with developing the three-point stance, the screen pass, the spiral punt,t he unbalanced line, the shifting defense, and the rolling body block.  He was also the first coach to number players’ jerseys, and to use thigh and shoulder pads.

Vince Lombardi

One of the most successful coaches in NFL history, Vince Lombardi became a national symbol of single-minded determination to win.  Believing that “winning isn’t everything… but wanting to win is,” he embodied the ideals of honest-to-goodness hard work and reward.

Lombardi coached the Greenbay Packers from 1959 to 1968, during which time he led the team to six divisional championships, five NFL championships, and victories in the first and second Super Bowls.  In 1971, he was inducted into the Football Hall of Fame.

George Halas

George Halas’ contributions to the game of football are truly legendary.  A major force in the development of the professional football league, he helped transform the modern game.  In fact, his 1942 team is considered by some to be the greatest team in the history of US professional football.

During the 1930s, Halas revolutionized football strategy with his wide-open offensive style.  Not only did he revive the T-formation, but he also added a man in motion which allowed for a quick-opening attack and placed a tremendous burden on the defense.  He was also one of the first coaches to use film sessions and daily practices to prepare the team for games.

When he finally retired in 1968, he had coached the Chicago Bears for 40 seasons and had led them to seven league championships.

Source: Mystic Stamps

Deutsche Post East German uprising of 1953 (Volksaufstand vom 17. Juni 1953)

DEUTSCHE POST on 17 June 2003 issued a commemorative First Day Cover stamp marking the 50th  anniversary of the East German Uprising of 1953 (Volksaufstand vom 17. Juni 1953). The cachet on this FDC shows East Berliners throwing rocks at Soviet T-34/85 tanks from the Group of Soviet Forces based in East Germany (German Democratic Republic, GDR) in during the 1953 Uprising. Postmark cancellation originated from Berlin Central Post Office.

The East German Uprising was a revolt that occurred in the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from 16 to 17 June 1953. It began with strike action by construction workers in East Berlin on 16 June against work quotas during the Sovietization process in East Germany. 

Demonstrations in East Berlin turned into a widespread uprising against the Government of East Germany and the ruling Socialist Unity Party the next day, involving over one million people in about 700 localities across the country. Protests against declining living standards and unpopular Sovietisation policies led to a wave of strikes and protests that were not easily brought under control and threatened to overthrow the East German government. 

The uprising in East Berlin was violently suppressed by tanks of the Soviet forces in Germany and the Kasernierte Volkspolizei. Demonstrations continued in over 500 towns and villages for several more days before eventually dying out.

In memory of the 1953 East German uprising, West Germany established the Day of German Unity as an annual national holiday on 17 June. Upon German reunification in October 1990, the holiday was moved to 3 October, the date of formal reunification. The extension of the Unter den Linden boulevard to the west of the Brandenburg Gate, called Charlottenburger Chaussee, was renamed Strasse des 17. Juni ("17 June Street")

Source: Wikipedia 

Companhia de Moçambique Definitive Stamps 1930s

COMPANHIA DE MOÇAMBIQUE definitive stamps issued in the 1930s depict crocodile, elephant, giraffe, hippopotamus, zebra, rhinoceros, snake, lion, leopard, native man and woman, native habitat and Fortress of S. Caetano Sofala, dhow sail boat and Portuguese ship, and air mail monoplane found in the country at the time. Printer/Designer was Waterlow & Sons Limited, London.

The Mozambique Company (or, Companhia de Moçambique) was a oyal   company operating in Portuguese Mozambique that had the concession of lands in the Portuguese colony, corresponding to the present provinces of Manica and Sofala in central Mozambique.

The company was established on 11 February 1891, with a capital stock of about 5 million dollars obtained from financiers from Germany, the United Kingdom and South Africa. 

The concession was granted for a period of 50 years, during which the company could not only exploit the resources and existing manpower (partly through the chibalo system of forced labor) but also grant sub-concessions. The company was granted the exclusive right to collect taxes, but was itself granted a 25-year tax exemption. In return, the Portuguese state would receive 7.5% of the company's profits and 10% of the sold shares. The company was also required to settle 1,000 Portuguese families and provide education and public administration in its territory.

For decades thereafter, the company underwent many changes as a result of anti-colonial unrest and civil war. By 1972 the company was dissolved and Mozambique obtained its independence from Portugal in 1975.

Source: Wikipedia 

Deutsche Post Berlin Funkturm Berlin (Berlin Radio Tower) - 1954

DEUTSCHE POST BERLIN on 22 January 1954 issued a First Day Cover stamp of the Berlin Radio Tower and Exhibition Halls. This maxim card with stamp carried a special cancellation postmark from Berlin-Charlottenburg.

The Berliner Funkturm or Funkturm Berlin (Berlin Radio Tower) is a former broadcasting tower in Berlin, Germany. Constructed between 1924 and 1926 to designs by the architect Heinrich Straumer, it was inaugurated on 3 September 1926, on the occasion of the opening of the third Große Deutsche Funkausstellung (Great German Radio Exhibition) in the grounds of the Messe Berlin trade fair in the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. Nicknamed der lange Lulatsch ("the lanky lad"), the tower is one of the best-known points of interest in the city of Berlin and, while no longer used for broadcasting purposes, it remains a protected monument.

 

Source: Wikipedia

Deutsche Post Berlin Re-establishment of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra - 1950

DEUTSCHE POST BERLIN on 29 October 1950 first issued a set of two surtax (charity) stamps to raise revenue for the Re-establishment of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.  The harp with laurel branch stamp had a face value of 10+5 Pfennig; the choir of angels stamp carried a denomination of 30+5 Pfennig. Both stamps were designed by by Goldammer.

Helvetia First Air Mail Stamps of Switzerland - 1923-1929

HELVETIA (SWITZERLAND) first issued Air Mail stamps starting on 1 March 1923. The images were rendered in an Art Deco style.

Stamps shown here include:    

- 40c - grey & grey/violet - pilot at controls with mountains in background
- 45c - red & indigo - biplane    
- 50c - black & red - biplane    
- 65c - gray/blue & deep blue - winged Icarus in flight (first issued in 1923 as 10c, then 65c in 1924)
- 20c - green & light green - single-winged airplane over Swiss Alps (issued in 1925)
- 25c - dark blue & blue - single-winged airplane over Swiss Alps        
- 2fr - black/brown & red brown - a crane carrying a letter (issued in 1929)

Royaume du Cambodge Royalty and Airmail Cover - 1955

 

ROYAUME DU CAMBODGE  cover of Cambodian Royalty and Airmail stamps issued from 1954 till 1960. The postmark cancellation on this envelope was dated in 1960.

Shown left to right:

- 1960 - King Norodom Suramarit 

- 24 September 1954 - Mail Transport with Asian Elephant (Elephas maximus) and Plane

- 24 September 1954 - Cambodian Coat of Arms

1955 - Coronation of King Norodom Suramarit and Queen Kossamak

- 11 December 1957 - Air mail stamp of mythical bird, the Garuda

Bangladesh Post Assorted Cover Stamps

BANGLADESH POST cover stamps feature birds found in Bangladesh, Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose (radio microwave optics inventor, botanist, physicist and science fiction writer) and Curzon Hall  (University of Dhaka Botany and Science Faculty).

Sir Jagadesh Chandra Bose 

Curzon Hall 

Deutsche Post 500th Birth Anniversary of Albrecht Dürer

DEUTSCHE POST (DDR/East Germany) on 18 May 1971 issued three First Day Cover stamps commemorating the 500th birth anniversary of Albrecht Dürer. The stamps represented etchings/woodcuts created by Dürer. A special FDCpostmark was imprinted on the stamps.

The stamps featured on the FDC included:
- "Self-portrait of Dürer", 1500.

- "Three Farmers in Talk Around", 1497.

- "Philipp Melanchthon" (1526) (born Philipp Schwartzerdt; 1497 – 1560) was a German Lutheran reformer, collaborator with Martin Luther, the first systematic theologian of the Protestant Reformation, an intellectual leader of the Lutheran Reformation, and influential designer of educational systems.

 

Deutsche Bundespost 500th Birth Anniversary of Albrecht Dürers

DEUTSCHE BUNDESPOST on 21 May 1971 issued five special postal stationery cards with a value stamp "Signum Albrecht Dürers" and first day special cancellation. These postcards commemorated the 500th birth anniversary of Dürers.

 

"The Lady of the festival du Rosaire (fragment)” is created in 1506. His work typically featured detailed and intricate designs, which often incorporated religious themes.

"Self-portrait (or Self-portrait at 26)" is the second of Albrecht Dürers' three painted self-portraits and was executed in oil on wood panel in 1498, after his first trip to Italy.

 

 

"Val De Cembra Wehlsch Pirg", a landscape near Segonzano in the Cembra Valley.

"The Mass of the Angels" in Rennes. Pen in brown ink, circa 1512.

"Wing of a Blue Roller" (not shown) painted in 1512.

SingPost Assorted Cover Stamps and Special Independence Day Franking

SINGPOST cover stamps commemorating the 2000 Sdyney Summer Olympic Games and Dragon Boat Races appeared on this envelope, along with a special 2024 Singapore Independence Day postmark.

Indonesia Post Aviation Day - 1967

INDONESIA POST on  9 April  1967 issued three First Day Cover stamps dedicated to Aviation Day in Indonesia. The stamps had a face value of 2.50 Rp, 4 Rp and 5 Rp. A photogravure method was used to print the stamps. Perforation was 12½.

Republic of China (Taiwan) 50th Anniversary of the 7th of July Anti-Japanese War

GENERAL POST OFFICE OF THE MINISTRY OF TRANSPORT  on 7 July 1987 issued a set of six First Day Cover stamps commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the 7th of July Anti-Japanese War and seventy-six years of the Republic of China.

Nippon Post New Construction of Japan - 1947

NIPPON POST on 3 May 1947 issued a souvenir sheet highlighting the New Constitution in Japan. Stamps commemorating the enactment of the Constitution of Japan were issued in two denominations: a red 50 sen stamp with mother and child AND a blue 1 yen stamp showing a bouquet of chrysanthemums, as well as a small sheet (shown here) containing both denominations on one sheet on the same day. A total of 603,300 stamps were printed to mark the occasion.

After Japan surrendered on 2 September 1945, the Allied powers intervened to foster reforms within the nation. One of these changes was the development of the 1947 Constitution of Japan. It altered the relationship between state and society by introducing popular sovereignty. The constitution’s social reforms were transformative, designing a new role for the Japanese Imperial family, placing the nation’s military firmly under civilian control, and establishing new rights for women. 

 U.S. General Douglas MacArthur shaped the rewriting of Japan’s constitution. MacArthur created three principles to guide the drafting of the new constitution and set the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers staff (SCAP) to work. MacArthur wanted to make the emperor accountable to the Japanese people, eliminate Japan’s ability to wage war, and create a parliamentary system akin to the British system, abolishing the inherited power of Japan’s aristocracy.

 Post-surrender planning for Japan focused on the future role of Japan’s emperor. Some allies saw Emperor Hirohito as responsible for Japan’s military expansion across Asia and the Pacific. U.S. diplomat and Japan expert Hugh Borton, who helped draft planning documents for the Allied occupation of Japan, argued that retaining the emperor was the best means of gaining the cooperation of the Japanese people in the reform of their country.

The Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers’ Government Section, headed by General Courtney Whitney, was tasked with drafting the new constitution in one week. Colonel Charles Kades oversaw the drafting process, and his staff, many of whom were influenced by the New Deal, tackled the issues of women’s rights, land reform, and the breakup of the zaibatsu, Japan’s industrial and financial conglomerates. They also sought to establish democratic freedoms: those of assembly, speech, and religion.

On 20 June 1946, after the first postwar election, Prime Minister Shigeru  Yoshida (1946-1954) cabinet submitted the Bill for Revision of the Imperial Constitution to the Diet for its review. Hitoshi Ashida of the Liberal Party chaired the review committee in which ruling and opposition party legislators put forward their ideas, incorporating expert opinions from civil society advocates. Two ideas were incorporated into the draft: a commitment to ensuring an adequate standard of living for the Japanese people (Article 25) and an extension of free compulsory education through middle school (Article 26).

The Meiji Constitution had stipulated that only the emperor had the authority to revise Japan’s constitution. On 3 November 1946, Emperor Hirohito announced the new constitution, so that the Japanese people would see it as legitimate.

Source: Council on Foreign Relations

North Vietnam Me-Tri Radio Station - 1959

NORTH VIETNAM issued on 10 August 1959 a set of stamps commemorating Me-Tri Radio Station, transmission site for Radio Hanoi during the Vietnam War. That said, these block sets were postmarked Hanoi, Viet Nam, 2 September 1959. Bùi Trang Chước designed the stamps. Tien Bo Printing House used an offset bicoloured printing method to print these ungummed stamps.

For twelve days in December 1972 the U.S. bombarded Hanoi, Haipong and elsewhere. The Me Tri radio signal transmitter station of  Radio Hanoi (now The Radio Voice of Vietnam) was hit on the night of 18 December. Despite heavy property damage, Radio Hanoi broadcasts resumed after nine minutes in silence.

Declassified CIA files revealed equipment was initially received from Communist as well as Western nations, and the influx of equipment continued during the Vietnam War. The CIA viewed the increased communication system as a viable propaganda threat.

In recent years the transmitter site has undergone much upgrading. New equipment and an office tower for The Radio Voice of Vietnam occupies the site.

Source: Voice of Vietnam and CIA documents from 1969.

Deutsche Post 25th Anniversary of the Potsdam Agreement

DEUTSCHE POST (East Germany) on 2 August 1970 issued a First Day Cover triptych and special cancellation for the 25th anniversary of the Potsdam Agreements. The stamps featured the Cecilienhof Palace, Big Three Conference and Potsdam Agreement.

The Potsdam Agreement (Potsdamer Abkommen) was the agreement among three of the Allies of World War II: the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Soviet Union after the war ended in Europe on 1 August 1945 and it was published the next day. A product of the Potsdam Conference, it concerned the military occupation and reconstruction of Germany, its border, and the entire European Theatre of War territory. It also addressed Germany's demilitarisation, reparations, the prosecution of war criminals and the mass expulsion of ethnic Germans from various parts of Europe. France was not invited to the conference but formally remained one of the powers occupying Germany.

The Potsdam Conference also established the (provisional) eastern borders of Germany at the Oder-Neisse line and the fate of the new Germany.In July 1950, the GDR would recognize this border as definitive (Görlitz Agreement). It was not until 1990 that the Federal Republic of Germany formally accepted this line as the eastern border of the new Germany.

The Three Power Conference took place from 17 July to 2 August 1945, in which they adopted the Protocol of the Proceedings, August 1, 1945, signed at Cecilienhof Palace in Potsdam. The signatories were General Secretary Joseph Stalin, President Harry S. Truman, and Prime Minister Clement Attlee, who, as a result of the British general election of 1945, had replaced Winston Churchill as the UK's representative. 

Source: Wikipedia

SingPost Costumes of Old Singapore [Heritage Series]

 

SING POST on 22 May 1992 issued a set of four First Day Cover stamps depicting the Costumes of Old Singapore [Heritage Series]. The stamps were released in conjunction with the World Columbian Expo '92. Black & white sketches of ethnic groups and their costumes found in Singapore, circa 1910, were depicted, along with colourful fabric worn.

Stamps printed included:

- 20c - Chinese Family circa 1910 / Embroidery of a woman's samfu

- 35c- Malay Family  circa1910 / Batik print of a woman's sarong

- 75c - Indian Family circa1910 / Floral print of a woman's sari

- $2 - Straits Chinese Family circa 1910 / Beadwork of a woman's belé

La Poste France Bastille

LA POSTE FRANCE on 10 July 1971 issued a First Day Cover stamp commemorating the storming of the Bastille on 14 July 1789. Special postmark cancellation originated from Paris. Shown here is a maxim card affixed with the stamp.

 

USPS Wolf Trap Stamps

 

USPS assortment of cover stamps shown here depicts Wolf Trap Farm Park for the Performing Arts (block set), "Aging Together", Civil Rights Leader Whitney Moore Young and Commerce.

Deutsche Post Assorted Stamps

 

DEUTSCHE POST (DDR/East Germany) assorted 1961-1962 stamps, including images of Rudelsburg Castle on the east bank of the River Saale, Wartburg near Eisenach, Wernigerode Town Hall, Walter Ulbricht, Sophie Scholl and other Nazi Resistance members, Franz Liszt, fishing boats and fishermen, Leipzig, leisure fishing and canoeing, Lilienstein and  Brocken (Harz), Protected fauna in DDR, horticulture, 15th Anniversary of Socialist Unity Party Cosmonaut G. Titov in Berlin and pilot in cockpit of a MIG-17.

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Australia Post Assorted Cover Stamps

 

AUSTRALIA POST assortment of cover stamps included fauna and botanical gardens, horseback riding and cycling and heavy construction vehicle. One stamp of a beetle is from Norfolk Island.

Indonesia Post 1st Anniversary of Hereoes of the Revolution

INDONESIA POST in 10 November 1966 issued a set of ten stamps commemorating the First Anniversary of 10 national heroes killed during the attempted coupe by the "30th Sein do optember Movement”. Among the "Heroes of the Revolution" found dead in Lubang Buaya were General Ahmad Yani, Brigadier General D. I. Pandjaitan, Major General R. Suprapto, Brigadier General Sutoyo Siswomiharjo, Major General M. T. Haryono, Major General S. Parman, First Lieutenant Pierre Tendean.

 

The stamps served as part of a propaganda campaign for the Indonesian army to inflame public opinion against the the Indonesian Communist Party (Partai Komunis Indonesia - PKI), thereby leaving President Sukarno without a major ally.

In 1965, at the height of the Cold War, a communist victory in Indonesia seemed plausible. At the time,  the PKI was the third-largest in the world with three million members.

In that year, however, the systematic destruction of the PKI began. The Indonesian army destroyed the party after a group calling themselves the “30th September Movement” kidnapped six generals in a botched attempt to weaken the army. 

The movement involved only a select number of top PKI leaders, but it was used as a pretext not only to ban the party but to conduct a massacre of party members that claimed half-a-million lives. 

In the following years communists, alleged communists, and their families were frequently denied basic rights (e.g., the right to a fair trial, the right to equal opportunity in employment, and freedom from discrimination). Between 1969 and 1980, approximately 10,000 persons, primarily known or purported communists, were detained without trial on the island of Buru in the Moluccas.

In March 1966, against a background of student protests, the army forced Sukarno to delegate extensive powers to Suharto, now chief of staff of the army. With his new authority, Suharto banned the PKI and moved gradually to consolidate his position as the effective head of government. In March 1967 the Indonesian legislature installed Suharto as acting president, and in March 1968 he was appointed to the presidency in his own right. Sukarno was kept under house arrest until his death on 21 June 1970.

Some historians suspect Suharto had actually been informed of a planned coupe, but chose to remain silent in order to remove PKI members and sympathisers. PKI/September 30 Movement initiated the coupe fearing Sukarno's poor heath would weaken their foothold in Indonesian politics. Consequently, with Sukarno under arrest, PKI and September 30 Movement eliminated, the right-wing military wing and conservative businessmen threw their support to Suharto.

To this day, more than half a century later, communism is banned in Indonesia. The murders, torture and imprisonment of party members and their associates have never been accounted for.

Source: Encyclopedia Britannica and Wikipedia 

Nippon Post Ashinoko Air Mail Series

NIPPON POST  1995 issued two First Day Cover stamps (shown one from the set) commemorating the postal history in Japan. This was the 4th issue in the series (Ashinoko Air Mail Series). These were reproduced from air mail stamps issued in the 1930s, showing letters being stuffed in to a mail pouch and an aircraft flying.   Cancellation featured franking from the Yokohama Landmark Tower Post Office: Scenery of Minato Mirai 21.

Vietnam Cong Hoa Saigon VHF Radio Statio

VIETNAM CONG HOA  (Republic of South Vietnam) issued on 24 April 1966 two First Day Cover stamps commemorating the installation of the Saigon VHF Radio Station "Dai Vi-Ba Saigon". 

With gradual American escalation of troops from around 200,000 in the beginning of 1966 to over 500,000 by the end of 1967, South Vietnam required improvements to their communication system including the Saigon microwave station. Hence, the 1966 stamps were released for the anniversary of the inauguration of microwave radio, which facilitated better analog television and radio transmissions nationwide.

Poste Vaticane 400th Death Anniversary of Michelangelo Buonarroti

POSTE VATICANE on 16 June 1964 issued a set of five First Day Cover stamps marking the 400th Death Anniversary of Michelangelo Buonarroti. To commemorate the occasion four of his Sistine Chapel paintings and one of Michelangelo himself were printed for this stamp set. The cachet shows a portrait of Michelangelo, and the colour portion has a velveteen texture. Cancellation postmark originated from the Vatican.

The set of stamps of his paintings featured:

- Michelangelo Buonarroti - L10

- Prophet Isaiah - L25

- Delphic Sibyl - L30

- Prophet Jeremiah - L40

- Prophet Joel - L50

Ryukyu Folk Dances - 1956

RYUKYU ISLANDS (United States Civil Administration of the Ryukyus)  on 1 May 1956 issued a series First Day Cover of stamps dedicated to Ryukyuan Folk Dances.

Stamps included:

- Yanagi (Willow) Dance - Purple - 5.00¥

- Munjuru Dance - Blue - 8.00¥

- Nanamichiki Dance - Brown - 14.00¥

Ryukyu Islands Centenary Anniversary ofCommodore Perry's Arrival in Naha Harbour

RYUKYU ISLANDS on 29 May 1953 issued a set of two First Day Cover stamps to commemorate the 100th anniversary of American Naval Commodore Perry's arrival in Napha (Naha) harbour on 26 May 1853.

The first stamp in the set depicted Perry's meeting/reception with the Regent of Lew Chew at Shuri Castle. This occurred on 6 June 1853. This stamp is patterned after a lithograph in the official Narrative of the Expedition. The second stamp showed Commodore Perry's portrait and his squadron anchored in Naha harbour. The second stamp in this set featured a portrait of Commodore Perry and the port of Naha with a large Ryukyuan junk in the foreground and Perry's squadron in the background.

These two stamps were designed by the famous Okinawan artist, Shinzan Yamada who also produced a book with reproductions of his work to commemorate Commodore Perry's visit to Okinawa.

Three government cancellations  were issued for use on covers prepared to commemorate the centenary of Perry's first visit to Okinawa. Shown here are all of those cancellations.