Postes ALGERIE Pictorial Cover 1936-@937

POSTES ALGERIE between 1936-41 issued a set of 31  pictorial stamps. Six of those stamps were affixed to this cover in 1937. The cover was sent to Cambridgeshire, England from Arzew Oran, Algeria.

- 50c red - Algeria - 1937 World Expo Paris. Issued in 1937.

- 20c dark green - Sidj Bon Medine Cemetery at Tiemcen. Issued in 1936.

- 40c brown violet - Kings' Tombs near Touggourt which is located next to an oasis in the Sahara. Issued in 1936. 

- 25c rose violet - El-Kebir Mosque, Algiers is the great Mosque of Algiers was built in 1097 CE. Issued in 1936.

- 10c green - Admiralty Building, Algiers. Issued in 1936

- 65c red - Centenary of Constantine in 1837. Issued in 1937.

Sarawak Early Charles and Vyner Brooke stamps - 1889-1918

SARAWK, in 1841, proved to be subject to piracy and lawlessness until British adventurer James Brooke helped to subdue the rebellion, for which the Sultan of Brunei ceded Sarawak to him to govern. The Brooke dynasty lasted until Sarawak became a British colony in 1946, gained independence in July 1963 and joined the Federation of Malaysia in September of that year

The first stamp for Sarawak was issued 1 March 1869 with a portrait of Sir James Brooke, posthumously, as he died 18 August  1868.

As Sir James Brooke never married, the second White Rajah in 1868 was Charles Anthoni Johnson Brooke, his nephew and sister's son.

Sir Johnson Charles Brooke appeared on all Sarawak's stamp issues between 1871-1908. A  fourteen stamp typographed set was released between 1888-97 (four shown here).

The Kingdom of Sarawak became a British Protectorate in 1888, as did Brunei. North Borneo had already been a British protectorate since 1882.

With his passing in 1917, his son, Charles Vyner Brooke became the third (and last) White Rajah. Vyner appeared on Sarawak's stamps between 1918-1947.

The third "White Rajah", Charles Johnson's son, Sir Charles Vyner Brooke, was enthroned in 1917. An unwatermarked twenty-one stamp typographed issue for him was released between 1918-1923 (four early stamps are shown here).

Of interest the usual, shown here, 1c slate blue & rose (CV $2+) was also printed by mistake in slate blue & slate in 1918. This stamp colour combination was never released for use, but can be found in the philatelic marketplace.

Postes Republique Francaise Centre des Hautes Études sur l'Afrique et l'Asie Modernes

POSTES REPUBLIQUE FRANCAISE on 14 April 1986 issued a First Day Cover stamp marking the 50th anniversary (1936-1986) of Centre des Hautes Études sur l'Afrique et l'Asie Modernes, or the Center for Advanced Studies on Modern Africa and Asia (CHEAM). This red, green and black stamp with a face value of 3 F 20 c was intended primarily for simple letters to foreign countries. A total of 5,744,816 stamps were printed using gravure. They were available for purchase until 31 July 1986. Rene Dessirier designed the stamp.

The Center for Advanced Studies on Modern Africa and Asia, created in 1936 by the Popular Front and abolished in 2000, was known until 1973 as the Center for Advanced Studies in Muslim Administration.

As its initial name suggests, it was initially an intelligence, resource and training service for French colonial officials (including the military).

Since its creation, CHEAM  evolved several times (in 1958, 1973 and 1996). After decolonisation, it notably organised training for French diplomats and businessmen .

USPS "Let's Dance/Bailemos

USPS on 17 September 2005 issued four First Day Cover stamps dedicated to Latin Dances: Mambo, Cha Cha, Salsa and Merengue. The series was called "Let's Dance/Bailemos". The stamps were initially issued  in Miami, Florida, and New York. Ethel Kessler of Bethesda, Maryland designed the stamps. 

 

Four Latino artists present their personal interpretations of the dances.  

 

For the Merengue stamp, Rafael Lopez used a warm palette of colours, from red and orange to yellow and lime green, all suggesting the tropical sunlight and vegetation of the Caribbean islands  

 

Capturing motion in the billowing skirts of a salsa dancer, José Ortega used palm leaves to refer to salsa's tropical roots in the Caribbean, and a cityscape to suggest its New York City birthplace. 

 

In creating his design for the Cha Cha stamp, Edel Rodriguez juxtaposed the warmth of the dancers' suntanned skin and the sinuous line formed by their bodies with the coolness suggested by their white clothing and waving palm fronds.

 

Sergio Baradat evoked elegance in his design for the Mambo stamp. The red of a woman's dress offsets the nighttime purple and gold hues of the ambient light, while a drum-shaped moon seems to join the orchestra's saxophone and timbales. 

 

Designer Ethel Kessler borrowed the dance-school convention of step patterns for the margins of the stamps. All descriptive texts and headers are in English and Spanish. Sennett Security Products printed 70 million stamps in panes of twenty in the gravure process..  

 

Latin-American dances developed from a mixture of native American, European and African cultures. The mambo, for instance, came from the French contre danse and the Spanish contradanza (country dance), brought to French and Spanish Caribbean colonies in the eighteenth century. In addition, African slaves on the islands contributed their rhythms to these  dances.

 

 After World War II, the mambo became the rage in New York, coming north with Cuban musicians and tourists who had frequented Havana night spots. Dominican immigrants brought their national dance, the fast-paced merengue. People from Puerto Rico, Cuba, and Haiti brought their music and dances as well.dances.

 

The cha cha, a version of mambo, became a favorite in night clubs during the 1950s. A faster and more dramatic style of Latin dancing, called salsa, started in the 1960s in Latin night clubs. The disc jockeys would call out, “Salsa, salsa!” (“Spice it up!”).

 

 

 Source: Smithsonian National Postal Museum and Mystic Stamps

 

Correos Cuba Folklore Artwork by Concepcion Ferrant

CORREOS CUBA on 26 January  2000 issued four First Day Cover stamps entitled Folklore. The stamps featured the artwork of Cuban artist Concepcion (Concha)  Ferrant.

The stamps included:

"Rumba Caliente." (shown on this maxim card) face value 10; 

"Cachumba." face value 15;

"En Casa de un Babalao." face value 65;

"Tata Cunengue." face value 75.

Concepcion (Concha)  Ferrant was born on 28 February 1882 and studied at the San Alejandro Academy. Over lifetime she won prizes, certificates, medals and proved that a woman could paint as well or even better than her male colleagues.

The themes of Concha's oil paintings were mainly Cuban and European landscapes and Afro-Cuban elements. 

She won a competition for a position as a professor of artistic anatomy at the Academy of San Alejandro. She lived with great simplicity, dedicated to teaching, transmitting her knowledge with exemplary modesty to all who approached her in search of advice or an authoritative opinion.

"Beloved Daughter of Guanabacoa", a work for which she was awarded in 1943, is the same town where she died at age 87, on 27 May 1969.