The stamps were part of a series showcasing Japanese traditional performing arts, specifically Kabuki theatre.
Kabuki puppets are typically half-life size and manipulated by three visible puppeteers working in harmony with a narrator and musician.
It depicted early mail delivery in the Meiji era, showing a postal worker on horseback and a horse-drawn carriage, which began in 1871, contrasting past and present postal transport methods (within the card modern transport like rail and shipping is shown).
HISTORICAL CONTEXT:
The first modern postal service connected Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka in 1871. Baron Maejima Hisoka, who proposed the system and coined the Japanese word for postage stamp (kitte), is featured in an inset photo on the original card.
It was the first flight of the European Space Agency's (ESA) Spacelab module. Ulf Merbold was the first non-US citizen and West German to fly on a NASA space mission.
The USPS 13c stamp of the US Flag over Independence Hall on this postcard was from the Bicentennial Series, first issued on 12 April 1976. It featured the 13-star Betsy Ross flag above a depiction of Independence Hall in Philadelphia.
- Three 10-kopeck stamps from a 1970 series commemorating the Luna 16 robotic probe, the first mission to return lunar soil samples automatically to Earth. The stamps depict the probe's soft landing on the Moon, the return capsule launch, and its parachute landing back on Earth.
- A 4-kopeck stamp (date 1965) and a 10-kopeck stamp (date 1978/79) appear to be related to other Soviet space achievements or general postal use.
- A stamp with cosmonauts V.V. Kovalyonok and A.S. Ivanchenkov who spent 140 days in space as part of the Soyuz-29/Salyut-6/Soyuz-31 mission.
Jähn, an East German Air Force pilot, flew aboard the Soviet spacecraft Soyuz 31 to the Salyut 6 space station on 26 August 1978. He was accompanied by Soviet cosmonaut Valery Bykovsky. The mission was part of the Soviet Intercosmos programme and lasted for nearly eight days.
During his time in space, Jähn performed various scientific experiments. These included technical experiments with the MKF-6 multispectral camera for remote sensing of the Earth's surface, material science experiments on crystallization, like the formation, recrystallization, and the cultivation of a monocrystal. He also conducted medical experiments on how weightlessness affects speech, occupational psychological studies, testing the hearing sensitivity of regular crew members, biological experiments on cellular growth under weightlessness, and the connection between microorganisms with organic polymers and inorganic substances.
As of 2024, twelve German astronauts have travelled to space and conducted scientific research. Dr. Ulf Merbold was the first West German in space and the only German to have made the journey the most often -- three times
Bavaria maintained its own postal administration as a kingdom within the German Empire until 1920.
Prince Regent Luitpold was the de facto ruler of Bavaria from 1886 to 1912, acting as regent for his nephews, King Ludwig II and King Otto, due to their mental incapacity.
The orange 1-kopeck stamp features Czar Peter I; the green 2-kopeck stamp features Czar Alexander II; and the red 4-kopeck stamp features Czar Peter I.
The circular postmarks are dated "14. 11. 13" (14 November 1913) and appear to indicate the city of origin as "ГОРОД ТЮМЕНЬ" (Gorod Tyumen). They were used in Finland, which was a Grand Duchy under Russian rule at the time.
The postcard is addressed to Mr. H. Paanu in Turku, Finland.
The address is listed as Läntinenkatu 1a.
The stamps featured portraits of individuals recognised as fighters against fascism and images of the Ravensbrück National Memorial.
Notable Persons and Denominations included:
- Kathe Niederkirchner 10Pf+5 stamp
- Charlotte Eisenblätter - 15Pf+5 stamp
- Olga Bernario Prestes - 20Pf+5 stamp
- Maria Grollmuss - 25Pf+5 stamp
A special triangular postmark represents the concentration emblem worn by internees. It was used to cancel these stamps.
Historical Background
Ravensbrück Concentration Camp, located near Fürstenberg, was established in 1939. Over the course of the war, approximately 120,000 women and children, 20,000 men, and 1,200 female adolescents from over 30 nations were registered as prisoners. Tens of thousands perished from starvation, disease, medical experiments, and systematic mass killings, including gassing in the final months of the war. The site was liberated by the Red Army on 30 April 1945.
In 1959, a mass grave was established outside the camp wall’s western section, where the remains of prisoners from various burial sites were reburied. The bronze sculpture “Burdened Woman” (“Tragende”) by Will Lammert is at the heart of the memorial’s design and is still considered the memorial’s symbol. From May 1945 until late January 1994, the grounds of the former concentration camp except for the memorial area on the banks of Lake Schwedt were used for military purposes by the Soviet and later the CIS forces.
Hans Schweitzer designed these 'steel helmets' in remembrance of the dead from the First World War. Memorial Day was previously observed on 13 November of each year, but Hitler changed the name of the day from "War Memorial Day" to "War Heroes Memorial Day" and moved the date to 16 March each year.
The stamps were produced on coated paper on sheets (10x10), with swastika watermark, Perf K 14 and are either type 'x' (with vertical gum rippling) or type 'y' (with horizontal gum rippling).
Hans Schweitzer was a prolific Nazi artist (also known as Mjölnir, after Thor's hammer) who was also responsible for many of the propaganda posters printed during the 1930's, namely those depicting crude images of SA members standing heroically alongside Heer soldiers. After the war Schweitzer worked for the West German federal press designing posters for far-right organisations.
There was no special postmark or slogan postmark associated with this issue.
Disclaimer: In displaying this stamp I must stress I DO NOT advocate, NOR wish to glorify the regime of Nazi Germany or any present day fascist organization/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.
numerous stamps from Norway (Norge) with various denominations and designs, including flora, fauna (moose, birds), a steamship named "Skibladner," and a weather-related stamp is shown here. The stamps have values ranging from 1 krone to 600 krone.
The stamps are part of the long-running "Posthorn" series, which began in 1871 and is one of the world's oldest stamp designs still in use.
The design, originally by the German engraver Wilhelm von Hanno, depicted a post horn and the Norwegian coat of arms.
The event was notable for being the only time the Winter and Summer Olympics were held two years apart, following an IOC schedule change.
The Lillehanmer Games were widely regarded as the first "green" Games for their focus on environmental responsibility.
The postcard featured a pre-printed stamp on the right side depicting a "Venetian Woman" Venetian woman from a painting by German artist Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528). The stamp had a face value of 6+19 Pfennig.
There was a Special postmark as well as a slogan postmark used to accompany the issue of this stamp. Minerva the goddess of wisdom, war and the arts was shown standing beside a German eagle. The inscription reads "München Hauptstadt Der Bewegung Tag-Der-Deutschen Kunst-MCMXXXIX 16.7.1939" - 'Munich Main Town of the Movement, Day of German Art 1939'. The slogan postmark inscribed "Tag Der Deutschen Kunst 1939.
NAZI POSTCARDS
Nazi propaganda frequently utilised postcards as an inexpensive and effective way to disseminate visual imagery and rally citizens around common causes. Following the Nazi seizure of power in 1933, Hitler established a Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda headed by Joseph Goebbels. The Ministry’s aim was to ensure that the Nazi message was successfully communicated through art, music, theatre, films, books, radio, educational materials, and the press.
Postcards were an extension of the propaganda department to boost morale, glorify their military and political heroes, and commemorate special events and anniversaries.
Postcards were easier to disseminate than posters and political cartoons and the Nazi government saw in postcards a way to use visual imagery that could express opinions and rally citizens around common causes inexpensively and effectively.
Postcards were printed and sold throughout Germany and German-occupied territories. The postcards offered an affordable way to stay in contact with family and friends in an era before wide access to mass communication, and this common form of communication became interwoven with images of Hitler and party symbols.
Over a thousand different postcards connected to the Nazi Party in Germany were printed. By late 1943 the printing of postcards stopped due to extreme material shortages from the war.
It should be noted long before the Nazi regime came to power postcards were used for a similar purpose, and even after WWII as Germany and Europe emerged from the ruins of war postcards were used to convey a message of culture, history and rebuilding the nation.
(Source: Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Clark University)
Stamps:
- Goethe in the Roman Campagna" painting by Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein. Valued at 10 Pfennig with an additional 5 Pfennig surcharge (10+5).
- Alf Jönsson designed the stamp. Graphics by Staatsdruckerei Berlin. Valued at 30 Pfennig, with an additional 15 Pfennig surcharge (30+15) pfennig.
- Graphics by Staatsdruckerei Berlin. Valued at 20 Pfennig, with an additional 10 Pfennig surcharge (20+10).
Johann Heinrich. Lips Frankfurt am Main/Goethe Museum Hauserpresse (Hans Schaefer) Frankfurt am Main printed the postcard.
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The cachet on the envelope shows a rice farmer with a seedling.
Stamps on this cover:
- Vietnamese woman wearing a conical hat and carrying a child and a rifle. Text on the stamp, "Unbesiegbares Vietnam", translates to "Invincible Vietnam". It was issued in 1968 (or possibly 1969/1971 as part of a series) and has a face value of 10+5 Pfennig. The "+5" indicates an extra charge for a solidarity fund.
- Ho Chi Minh (1890–1969), the Vietnamese Communist revolutionary leader. The stamp was issued on 2 September 1970 to commemorate his passing.
- Solidarity and aid for Vietnam during the Vietnam War carried a value of 10 + 5 Pfennig. It was initially issued in 1969, and it was designed by Schütz.
The postcard with cachet of a water buffalo and armed Vietnamese man was a postal cover for the "Vietnam is not alone" exhibition, held from 15 March to 31 May 1968, at Postmuseum Berlin, East Germany (DDR).
The stamps were part of a series marking the centenary of Amundsen's achievement of being the first person to reach the South Pole on 14 December 1911.
The stamp on the left features a portrait of Roald Amundsen, a key figure in the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration.
The stamp on the right depicts a ship, likely the Fram, used in the expedition, and several dogs, which were crucial to the expedition's success.
The stamps carried a face value indicated as "14,00" and "17,00" in Norwegian currency (Kroner).
Roald Amundsen was a Norwegian sailor and polar explorer. In 1897/99, he participated in the BELGICA expedition , commanded by Adrien de Gerlache, which was the first expedition to overwinter in Antarctica.
He was the first to cross the Northwest Passage, aboard the GJOA , from 1903 to 1906. It should also be noted that he led the first expedition to reach the South Pole, between 1910 and 1912.
In 1926, Amundsen and his team flew over the North Pole in the airship NORGE , making him the first person to have reached both poles. He disappeared in June 1928 while participating in a search and rescue mission for Nobile and the crew of the airship Italia , which had crashed north of Spitsbergen on its return from the North Pole.
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The cachet on the card shows a montage of Wilt Chamberlain as a Laker, a Harlem Globetrotter, and the record-setting 100-point game, a feat accomplished on 2 March 1962. The nickname "The Big Dipper," which Chamberlain preferred, is prominently displayed at the top of the card.
Known by friends and fans as the “Big Dipper,” “Goliath,” or “Wilt the Stilt,” Wilton Chamberlain (1936-1999) stood a towering 7'1" tall. With such height and an arm span of over seven feet, he was built for basketball.
Chamberlain set several records in his first few years with the National Basketball Association (NBA). Although a formidable scorer, it was his defense that eventually won him a championship. In 1967, he averaged career-low points per game but led the league in rebounds, taking the 76ers to a title win that year. Again focusing on defense in 1972, he led the Lakers to their first-ever NBA title.
With numerous records, four MVP titles and two NBA championships under his belt, Wilt retired in 1973. His 1978 induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame forever memorialised Chamberlain.
The two Wilt Chamberlain stamps issued show him in his L.A. Lakers uniform and wearing his Philadelphia Warriors uniform. The extra tall stamps pay tribute to Chamberlain’s height – 7’ 1”.
The First Day of Issue ceremony took place during a Philadelphia 76ers game. Banknote Corporation of America for Sennett Security Products print d the stamps, using a Lithographed method.
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The card cachet includes a black and white portrait photo of a young Ted Williams in a Boston Red Sox uniform.
Ted Williams (1918-2002) was born in San Diego, California. He began playing professionally in 1936 with the San Diego Padres, then a minor-league team, and broke into the major leagues as an outfielder with the Boston Red Sox in 1939. In 1941, he hit for a .406 average. After 75 years, no other major leaguer has ever hit .400 or more over the course of a season.
He ranks among the all-time great hitters – 521 home runs, 2,654 hits, a .344 batting average, 2,021 walks, and 1,839 runs batted in. The legendary numbers were all the more remarkable for the five seasons lost to military service in World War II and the Korean War. Even his wartime duty was the stuff of legends – as a fighter pilot, he was wingman for future astronaut John Glenn.
His uniform number 9 was retired by the Red Sox in 1964, and he was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1966. Ted Williams died 5 July 2002.
