Myriad philatelic content from around the world, such as first day covers, block stamp sets, maxicards, may be found at this website.
Friday, August 30, 2024
Deutsche Post Berlin Special 17 June 1953 Stamps and Cancellation
Deutsche Bundespost Berlin 200th Birth Anniversary of Bettina von Arnim
Paraguay Luposta 77 Berlin
Tuesday, August 27, 2024
USPS Legendary American Football Coaches
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
Monday, August 26, 2024
Deutsche Post East German uprising of 1953 (Volksaufstand vom 17. Juni 1953)
Companhia de Moçambique Definitive Stamps 1930s
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 Re-establishment of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra - 1950
Helvetia First Air Mail Stamps of Switzerland - 1923-1929
- 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)
Friday, August 23, 2024
Royaume du Cambodge Royalty and Airmail Cover - 1955
Tuesday, August 20, 2024
Bangladesh Post Assorted Cover Stamps
Sir Jagadesh Chandra Bose
Curzon Hall
Sunday, August 18, 2024
Deutsche Post 500th Birth Anniversary of Albrecht Dürer
- "Self-portrait of Dürer", 1500.
Deutsche Bundespost 500th Birth Anniversary of Albrecht Dürers
SingPost Assorted Cover Stamps and Special Independence Day Franking
Saturday, August 17, 2024
Friday, August 16, 2024
Nippon Post New Construction of Japan - 1947
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
Thursday, August 15, 2024
North Vietnam Me-Tri Radio Station - 1959
Wednesday, August 14, 2024
Deutsche Post 25th Anniversary of the 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]
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
Monday, August 12, 2024
USPS Wolf Trap Stamps
Deutsche Post Assorted Stamps
Australia Post Assorted Cover Stamps
Saturday, August 10, 2024
Indonesia Post 1st Anniversary of Hereoes of the Revolution
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
Vietnam Cong Hoa Saigon VHF Radio Statio
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.