USPS "To Form A More Perfect Union" Souvenir Sheet

USPS on 30 August 2005 issued 10 First Day Cover stamps to mark the 40th anniversary of the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The set was called "To Form A More Perfect Union" which alludes to the opening preamble of the U.S. Constitution. The stamps traced the history of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States.

This souvenir sheet of 37-cent stamps "To Form a More Perfect Union" featured ten designs portraying key events in the Civil Rights Movement and various postmark locations where each occurred: the 1948 Executive Order 9981, 1960 Lunch Counter Sit-Ins, 1955 Montgomery (Alabama) Bus Boycott, 1964 Civil Rights Act, 1963 March on Washington, 1965 Selma (Alabama) March, 1954 Brown v. Board of Education, 1961 Freedom Riders, 1957 Little Rock (Arkansas) Nine, and 1965 Voting Rights Act.

This issue recognised the courage and achievements of the men and women who fought for equal rights during the years of the Civil Rights movement. The issue presented an artistic representation of several pivotal events from the 1948 Executive Order ending segregation in the military to the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Ethel Kessler of Bethesda, Maryland designed the stamps.

Source: USPS 

Hellenic Post 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles

HELLENIC POST on 30 April 1984 issued a set of five First Day Cover stamps to mark the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. The stamps showed an ancient Olympic stadium crypt, athletes preparing for the games, flute player with discus thrower and long jumper, and  Pierre de Coubertin.

Hellenic Post Aristotle Edition

HELLENIC POST on 10 July 1978 issued a set of four First Day Cover stamps honoring Aristotle. Postmark originated from Athens.

Around 387 BC, Plato (c.427–347 BC) founded his school in a part of Athens called Academy. Here he wrote and directed studies, and the Academy soon became the focal point for mathematical study and philosophical research. It is said that over the entrance appeared the inscription: 'Let no-one ignorant of geometry enter here' .

Plato believed that the study of mathematics and philosophy provided the finest training for those who were to hold positions of responsibility in the state. In his Republic he discussed the Pythagoreans' mathematical arts of arithmetic, plane and solid geometry, astronomy and music, explaining their nature and justifying their importance for the 'philosopher-ruler'. His Timaeus includes a discussion of the five regular solids – tetrahedron, cube, octahedron, dodecahedron and icosahedron.

Aristotle (384–322 BC) became a student at the Academy at the age of 17 and stayed there for twenty years until Plato's death. Fascinated by logical questions he systematized logic and deductive reasoning. In particular, he referred to a proof that that Ö2 cannot be written in rational form a/b, where a and b are integers, and he discussed syllogisms such as: 'All men are mortal; Socrates is a man; thus Socrates is mortal'.
            

In Raphael's fresco The School of Athens, Plato and Aristotle are pictured on the steps of the Academy. Plato is holding a copy of his Timaeus and Aristotle is carrying his Ethics.

Another stamp featured a map of Halkidiki, the birthplace of Aristotle, as well as the ancient Aristotle edition of Stagira.


Source: Hellenic Post, 1978

Hellenic Post 2300th Anniversary of Alexander the Great's Death

THELLENIC POST on 23 July 1977 issued a series of seven First Day Cover stamps dedicated to the 2300th anniversary of Alexander the Great's death. A special postmark cancellation of the great Macedonian king's profile originated from Athens for these two outstanding FDCs. Why the cachet of a mermaid? There is a Greek myth that the Mermaid was the sister of Alexander the Great. 

The stamps depicted respectively:

- a Roman coin with the Lighthouse of Alexandria (0.50 drachmas)

- Raphael's fresco "Alexander the Great placing the works of Homer on the tomb of Achilles" (1 drachma)

- Flemish miniature "Alexander the Great diving into the depths of the sea" (1.50 drachmas)

- Indian plate "Alexander the Great seeking the water of life" (3 drachmas)

- Coptic carpet "Alexander the Great on horseback" (7 drachmas)

- Byzantine manuscript "Alexander the Great receiving the oracle of his imminent death" (11 drachmas)

- Persian miniature "Death of Alexander the Great" (30 drachmas)

Poste Republique Francaise 25th Anniversary of Nazi Germany's Capitulation

POSTE REPUBLIC FRANCAISE on 8 May 1970 issued a First Day Cover stamp marking the 25th Anniversary of Nazi Germany's Capitulation in Berlin. Marshal de Lattre de Tassigny (1889-1952) represented France on the occasion. This grey-green and purple stamp was designed and engraved by Georges Betemps. It featured Marshal de Lattre and German capitulation in Berlin. An intaglio print method was used to issue 4,325,000 copies. Special postmark shows a profile of Marshal de Lattre, which originated from Paris.

The maxim card depicts the signing of the surrender in Berlin Karlshorst. Left at the table is Soviet Marshal Zhukov and at the head is German Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel. Representatives of the Wehrmacht surrender in Reims, Karlshorst Lueneburg, marking the defeat of Nazi Germany (1933-1945) after WWII.

Marshal de Lattre held a staff commission early in World War II, becoming commander of an infantry division in May 1940. After France collapsed in June 1940, he was imprisoned by the Germans but escaped to North Africa in October 1943. He then commanded the French 1st Army in the Allied landing operations in southern France (16 August 1944) and the subsequent drive across France and into southern Germany and Austria. On May 8, 1945, he represented France at the signing of the German capitulation.

Belgian Congo Ba-Tetele Woman

BELGIAN CONGO on 23 May 1942 issued three stamps, each with a different color and denomination, on a profile image of a Ba-Tetele woman. Waterlow & Sons Ltd. London printed between 400,000 to less than three million copies, depending on the stamp, using a Recess method. The same image of the Ba-Tetele woman, blue color with different border design, was issued in 1943.

The name "Ba-tetela" is now accepted as the name for people living in the region between Lusambo and the Upper Congo River, in the provinces of Sankuru and Maniema.  They live by  hunting-gathering ,  fishing ,  farming , and raising  cassava ,  bananas , and  kola nuts . They are understood to be related to the then "Wakussu" people who remained in Maniema only separating from them in the late 1800s after the arrival of  Arabs  and  Belgians  in the region.  Many understood as "Tetela" and some of today's Kusu are subgroups of the larger  Mongo  group. 

The Kusu people are concentrated between Kibombo and Lubao. In the mid to late 19th century they were under the rulership of the Kilembwe rulers and chief Kasongo Lushie where some came under the influence of Arab traders while the "Sungu" and other bilingual populations ventured inland towards the eastern section within the Kasai basin.

Source: Wikipedia

Belgian Congo Queen Astrid Fund for Children of Congo

BELGIAN CONGO on 29 August 1936 issued three commemorative stamps of the late Queen Astrid of Belgium. Multiple St. Edward's Crown Block CA printed only 500,000 copies using a Photogravure method. These charity surtax stamps were earmarked for the Queen Astrid Children's Fund of Congo. The image on the stamp depicts her with indigenous children during a visit to Congo with husband King Leopold III in 1933. 

The stamps were issued in three denominations: 2.50 F + 25c, 1.50 F + 10c and 1.25 F + 5c.

As Queen of the Belgians, to Astrid dedicated her time to raising her children and promoting social causes that brought her into contact with the Belgians. She was concerned by the situations of women, children, and disadvantaged people, not just in Belgium but Congo as well. During an economic crisis in Belgium in 1935 she organized the collection of clothing, money and food for the poor through an open letter, published as the "Queen's Appeal." Queen Astrid also visited poor settlements in Belgium. She was particularly interested in training women formally in childcare and healthcare.

On August 29, 1935, the King and Queen went for a last hike in the Swiss mountains before returning home. Their driver was sitting in the back of the Packard One-Twenty convertible; the King was driving and the Queen looking at a map. At approximately 9:30 am the Queen pointed out something to her husband, who looked away from the road. The car left the road, traveled down a steep slope, and collided with a pear tree. Queen Astrid had opened her door in an attempt to jump off but was thrown out upon impact, dying instantly after striking her head on the trunk of the tree while the car hit a second tree. She was only 29 years old, and the accident was a double tragedy as well, as Astrid was pregnant with her fourth child.

Source: Wikipedia 

Belgian Congo Definitives - 1931

BELGIAN CONGO on 1 April 1931 issued a set of 16 definitive stamps showing the people and land of Congo. The stamps carried a watermark with Multiple St. Edward's Crown Block CA.

 

The stamps featured here include:

-Sankuru River

- Kivu Kraal

- Sankuru River Rapids

- Uele Hut 

This beehive dwelling features a wood or mud frame, with thatched grass layered for roofing. The "Uele" natives here are defined by their location: namely the Uele River in the north-east section of the Belgian Congo. The Uele merges with the Mbomou, to form the Ubangi River, which in turn empties into the Congo.

- Flute Players

Flute and Mbira (Thumb Piano)

- African Congo Drum 

African Congo Drum 

- Musicians of Lake Leopold II

Congo Harp

Lake Leopold (until 1972, now Lake Mai-Ndombe) is a large freshwater lake. It drains via the Fimi River into the Congo. The lake takes its name from Leopold II, King of the Belgians. He was also known, less affectionately but more accurately, as the "Butcher of Congo".

- Batetelas Drummers

The Batelelas (Plural) or the Tetela people (singular) are an ethnic group between Lusambo and the Upper Congo River.. Today, they are engaged in fishing, farming, and cultivating cassava, banana, and kola nuts.

- Woman Preparing Cassava

Cassava, from South America, was introduced into the Congo basin in 1558 by the Portuguese from Brazil. The cassava can be grown on poor soils, and is a reliable crop during droughts, when millet, banana, and yam production decreases. Cassava is still a popular crop in West Africa, and it is mostly consumed domestically, with very little exported.  The edible, starchy tuberous root of the cassava is peeled, then pounded into flour as the stamp illustrations. They are a major source of carbohydrates, otherwise it is poor in protein or other nutrients.

- Mangbetu Woman

The Mangbetu live in the north-eastern Congo area, and are well known for their art and music (Mangbetu harp).

The Mangbetu speak their own dialect, which is a Central Sudanic language. They became ascendant over their neighboring Bantu speaking tribes in the late 18th century, probably because of their knowledge of iron and copper forgery.

For European explorers, the Mangbetu stood out because of their practice of elongating heads. Babies' heads were tightly wrapped with cloth or giraffe hide or bark (Lipombo). The elongation tradition diminished in the 1950s with increasing westernization .

- Mangbetu Chief

The Mangbetu, traditionally, believed in sorcery. When a person died, it was felt the cause was due to "the father's family". The father's relatives, then, had to compensate or appease the mother's family.

- Village of Mondimbi

-Canoes at Stanleyville

The canoes were dugout canoes from tree trunks (Teak preferred) in the Belgian Congo.

- African Elephant Loxodonta Africana

The Api Elephant Domestication Center in northeastern Belgian Congo was a project created to domesticate wild elephants for farming, namely plowing and clearing timber.  The Api Center operated from 1925 to 1932. The Elephants were this resistant, and were considered ten to twenty times stronger than oxen.

- Okapi Okapia johnstoni

This oddly shaped ungulate mammal, native to north-east Congo, is the Okapi.  Although, with its striping, it resembles a Zebra, it is actually related to the Giraffe family

- Baluba Chief

- Young  Irumu Woman

The stamp portraits of Congo natives, including this young Irumu woman, are among the best representations, but belie the cruelty inflicted upon the people during colonial times. Irumu is located on the Ituri river (downstream the river is named Arunmi), close to the eastern border of the Belgian Congo.

Deutsche Bundespost "10th Anniversary of German Displacement"

DEUTSCHE BUNDESPOST on 2 August  1955  issued a stamp on the theme "10 Anniversary of German Displacement".

The stamp was rejected in some of the then Eastern Bloc countries, considered revanschist. These countries included the German Democratic Republic, Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary. In the majority of cases, the stamps were returned with retour postmarks. However, blackening is known to have occurred in the German Democratic Republic and Hungary, and in a few cases, in the German Democratic Republic, there was also (attempted) tearing off of the stamp.

Sometimes returned items from the German Democratic Republic were blackened in the foreign exchange post office Hannover 2 to the effect that the stamp was covered up and the item was then sent again (successfully) to the German Democratic Republic.

The stamp was valid for postage until 31 December 1956.

Also affixed to this cover: ALLIED OCCUPIED ZONE OF BERLIN  on 10 June 1950 issued Postal tax stamp with a face value of 2 Pf. - (German pfennig). Wegener printed 4,294,967,295 blue coloured stamps using  Offset lithography. It had a watermark with Wavy Lines Diagonal [SR]. It  remained in circulation until 31 March 1956. 

All postal items (printed matter, postcards, letters, parcels and parcels) had to be additionally provided with one of the compulsory surtax stamps in the Allied (American-British) Bi-zone from 1 January 1948, otherwise the item was sent back to the sender, temporarily with stamped stamp "Back - tax stamp is missing" or similar note or with sticker. The compulsory surtax stamps were also used temporarily in the French zone, in the district of Lindau, in the Austrian customs exclusion areas and in Elten and the Selfkantgebiet. From 1 January 1950, compulsory use was throughout the Federal territory. On 1 April 1956 ended the use in the entire federal territory.

THE EXPULSION 

The idea to expel Germans from annexed territories had been proposed by Winston Churchill, in conjunction with the Polish and Czechoslovak exile governments in London at least since 1942. Tomasz Arciszewski, the Polish prime minister in-exile, supported the annexation of German territory but opposed the idea of expulsion, wanting instead to naturalise the Germans as Polish citizens and to assimilate them. Joseph Stalin, in concert with other Communist leaders, planned to expel all ethnic Germans from east of the Oder and from lands which from May 1945 fell inside the Soviet occupation zones. In 1941, his government had already transported Germans from Crimea to Central Asia.

Between 1944 and 1948, millions of people, including ethnic Germans (Volksdeutsche) and German citizens (Reichsdeutsche), were permanently or temporarily moved from Central and Eastern Europe. By 1950, a total of about 12 million Germans had fled or been expelled from east-central Europe into Allied-occupied Germany and Austria. The West German government put the total at 14.6 million, including a million ethnic Germans who had settled in territories conquered by Nazi Germany during World War II, ethnic German migrants to Germany after 1950, and the children born to expelled parents. 

Additionally, check out these related stamp and postcard issues:

Memory of Prisoners of War 

17th June 1953

Source: Wikipedia