Sri Lanka Post Let's Rise Up Defeating Covid-19

SRI LANKA POST in 2020  issued a  series of postal stamps called "Let's Rise Up Defeating Covid-19". Each stamp had a denominational value of LKR 90.00. Four stamps with envelope and souvenir sheet were released at that time. 

Sri Lanka Post 50th Anniversary of Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation

SRI LANKA POST on 5th January 2017 issued a  postal stamp to commemorate the Golden Jubilee of the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation. It had a denomination of Rs.10.00. Stamp designer was Mr. Pulasthi Ediriweera.

The Sri Lanka Broadcasting Service commenced on 22nd July 1924 as a test transmission. It was launched officially on 16th December 1925. The test transmission was initiated by broadcasting a speech made by the then Governor Sir William Henry Manning, addressing the Lanka Electrical Engineers' annual meeting. The broadcasting service was officially inaugurated by broadcasting the speech made by the then Governor Sir Hugh Clifford addressing the general public from his office situated at Fort.

On 5th October 1945 the Ceylon Broadcasting service was instituted as a separate government Department while arrangements were made to construct a new building for the Service at the Torrington Square.

The station was known by many names from time to time such as "Wireless Broadcasting" and "Colombo Broadcasting". It functioned under the purview of the Postal Department until 30th September 1949.

From 5th October 1979 it was made independent and came to be known as Radio Ceylon.

On 5th January 1967 the Department of Broadcasting was converted to a government Corporation by way of Act No.37 of 1966.

The Corporation was inaugurated by the Hon. Prime Minister and came to be known as the Ceylon Broadcasting Corporation.

On 22nd May 1972 with the enactment of the first Republican Constitution, the Ceylon Broadcasting Corporation was renamed as the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation.

On 5th January 2017 the SLBC celebrates its Golden Jubilee by relocating its core functional Divisions in a new Administrative Building to be declared open by H.E. President Maithreepala Sirisena and the Hon. Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe. A major Project aiming to renovate SLBC's studio complex was to have been completed by the same date.

Source: Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation and Philatelic Bureau - Sri Lanka

Brasil Correio Lufthansa Flight Brazil to Germany

BRASIL CORREIO on 17 August 1971 cancelled these Brazilian stamps with a special postmark commemorating the first Lufthansa jet flight from Sao Paulo-Rio de Janeiro to Frankfurt. It also marked the 40th year since air travel began between Brazil and Germany -- note the overprint of a Zeppelin (1930), prop-propelled aircraft (1934) and jet (1971).

Three Brazilian stamps are featured on this envelope:
1. "Cabeça de Homem" (A Man's Head) was painted by Brazilian artist Victor Meirelles de Lima (1832-1903) who is best known for his works relating to his nation's culture and history.

2. "Rabequista Arabe" (Arab Fiddler) was painted by Pedro Américo de Figueiredo e Melo (1843-1905) who was a Brazilian novelist, poet, scientist, art theorist, essayist, philosopher, politician and professor. He is remembered as being one of the most important academic painters of Brazil.

3. "Natal"  (Madonna & Child) is an old Christmas stamp (1969).

 

All three stamps were printed by Casa da Moeda do Brasil which is the Brazilian mint, owned by the Brazilian government and administratively subordinated to the Ministry of Finances.

Nippon Post Philatelic Week Issue -- Kanbun Beauty

NIPPON POST Philatelic Week issue for 1978 depicted the Kanbun Beauty. One in the set shows a woman in a chair holding a flower in her right hand, while the other illustrates a lady dancing lightly with some ornament. The stamp design was adapted from the original  Kanbun genre (1655 - 1673), which generally featured a single woman standing alone rather than a group of people.

 First day: April 20, 1978

Denomination: 50 yen & 50 yen (se-tenant)
Design: Kanbun Beauty
Lay-Outer: Yoshiaki Kikuchi
Color: Multi-color( 6 colors)
Printing: Photogravure
Size: 30 x 42 mm, vertical, each
Paper: White gravure paper, unwmkd
Sheet: i0 stamps (Z x S ),5 sets
lmprint: Printing Bureau, Ministry of
Finance, under the 1 Oth
Quantity: 47,000,000 (23,500,000 sers)

Nippon Post XVIII Olympiad in Tokyo 1964

NIPPON POST between 9 September and 10 October 1964 released their eighth and last series of stamps for the XVIII Olympiad held in Tokyo, Japan. This first day cover issue features the main stadium (10 yen), fencing hall (30 yen), indoor stadium (40 yen) and Komazawa hall (50 yen).  

Hellenic Post XXXII Olympics in Tokyo

HELLENIC POST (Greece) issued two miniature sheets (MS) on 2 June 2021 to commemorate the XXXII Olympics held in Tokyo (23 July to 8 August 2021). The MS first day covers included Kano Jigoro and a painting of the game of Hanetsuki and badminton birdie.

The 2.40 Euro miniature sheet shows Kano Jigoro (1860-1938) founder of Judo. He represented Japan at the Olympic Games between 1912 and 1936. Judo was first introduced at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. The MS also features a view of Tokyo communication tower with fireworks. Print run was 20,000. 

The second 2.40 Euro miniature sheet features a painting of the game of Hanetsuki and badminton birdie. Print run was 20,000.

Russian Post 100th Birth Anniversary of Soviet WWII Heroes (Married Couples)

RUSSIAN POST in 2021 issued a series of 100th birth anniversary stamps of Soviet WWII heroes, chiefly the couples A.F. Solomatina and L.V. Litvyak and S.I. Kharlamov and N.V. Popova. Shown here are two first day covers of these couples.

Alexey Frolovich Solomatin (1921-1943) was Squadron Commander (Captain) of the 296th Fighter Aviation Regiment/268th Fighter Aviation Division of the 8th Air Force on the Southern Front. By February 1943 he had claimed 12 individual and 15 shared kills, in 108 combats and 266 sorties. His unit was renamed 73 GvIAP (73rd Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment) and he was promoted Captain. While in 73 GvIAP, he often flew with Lidya Litvyak as his wingman. On 1 May 1943, he was awarded the title and Golden Star (no. 955) of Hero of the Soviet Union.

Lidia Vladimirovna Litvyak (1921-1943) was Senior Lieutenant in the 586th Fighter Aviation Regiment/9th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment/73rd Guards Fighter Regiment. Historians' estimate her total victories range from five to twelve solo victories and two to four shared kills in her 66 combat sorties. In about two years of operations (1941 till 1943), she was the first female fighter pilot to shoot down an enemy aircraft, the first of two female fighter pilots who have earned the title of fighter ace and the holder of the record for the greatest number of kills by a female fighter pilot. She was shot down near Orel during the Battle of Kursk as she attacked a formation of German aircraft. On 5 May 1990, by the decree of the President of the USSR of  for courage and heroism in the fight against the Nazi invaders, the first lieutenant of the guard L.V. Litvyak was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

Lidia Litvyak (nicknamed White Lily or White Rose) met Alexei Solomatin, her future husband, in the winter of 1943 when she was transferred to the 296th Aviation Regiment. Their family life consisted of encounters between missions and did not last long, as both died in combat missions. Litvyak was called the "White Lily of Stalingrad" in Soviet press releases; the white lily flower may be translated from Russian as Madonna Lily. She has also been called the "White Rose of Stalingrad" in Europe and North America since reports of her exploits were first published in English. 

Semyon Ilyich Kharlamov (1921-1990) was originally deployed with the 821st Fighter Regiment in 1942, in December that year he transferred to the 249th Fighter Aviation Regiment as a senior pilot. There, he flew for the rest of the war and quickly rose through the ranks from senior pilot to Squadron Commander. As a skilled reconnaissance pilot, he discovered, radioed information about, and photographed positions of enemy forces before Soviet advances, having to fly past intense anti-aircraft artillery and enemy fighter cover to complete missions. In September 1943 during the battle for the Taman Peninsula he documented a convoy of 300 enemy vehicles and barges in the port, enabling attack aircraft to close in on the target. Later on in the war he documented enemy positions on the Kerch peninsula before gathering information about enemy defenses on various rivers in Eastern Europe. On 23 February 1945 he was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union for his accomplishments. Throughout the war he piloted the Yak-1, LaGG-3, and La-5 fighters, totaled 575 sorties, 419 of which were reconnaissance missions, tallying four solo and two shared kills of enemy aircraft over the course of 85 aerial engagements. After the end of the war he married fellow military pilot Nadezhda Popova, who he met during the war and had received the title Hero of the Soviet Union on the same day as him

Nadezhda Vasilievna Popova (1921–2013) was a Squadron Commander in the 46th Taman Guards Night Bomber Regiment during the Second World War who achieved significant domestic publicity after completing 18 bombing sorties in one night with navigator Yekaterina Ryabova. Awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union on 23 February 1945 for completing 737 sorties, she was featured in Ogonyok magazine. By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of 23 February 1945 for courage and heroism shown in battles against Nazi forces, the First Lieutenant of the Guard, N.V. Popova was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

Nadezhda Popova and Semyon Kharlamov first met in August 1942, She returned to the unit after losing her plane during a combat mission, and he went to hospital after being wounded. By the end of the war, they had several chance encounters and eventually married shortly thereafter.

Source: Wikipedia

Russian Post 100th Birth Anniversary of Top Soviet World War II Ace

RUSSIAN POST in 2020 issued a 100th birth anniversary stamp of Soviet World War II fighter ace Ivan Nikitovich Kozhedub (1920–1991). Most historians have credited him with over 60 solo victories. Others claim he made his 61st and 62nd victories – his final claims of the War – over Berlin on 16 April 1945. Additionally, he is considered to be the highest scoring Soviet and Allied fighter pilot of World War II. Shown in this maxi card (one of only 10 printed) with the first day cover stamp is one of the Soviet aircraft he flew while in combat with Nazi Germany aircraft.

The aircraft he flew included the Lavochkin La-5 (operated in 1943–1944) and Lavochkin La-5FN (operated in 1944). Kozhedub is one of the few pilots to have shot down a Messerschmitt Me 262 jet. And, he allegedly shot down two USAAF P-51 Mustang fighters in a friendly fire incident 17 April 1945.

The story goes he encountered a group of American B-17 Flying Fortresses under attack by Luftwaffe aircraft. His aircraft was apparently mistaken by American escort fighters for the enemy and attacked. Kozhedub, having no other option, defended himself by shooting down two of the P-51s. As of this writing, the story has not been confirmed completely. Film footage exists that had been touted as Kozhedub's actual gun camera film from the event; however, the footage was shot using Zeiss equipment, which was used primarily by the Luftwaffe.

In April 1951, promoted to Polkovnik (colonel), he commanded the 324th IAD (Fighter Air Division) and dispatched to Antung airfield on the China-North Korea border to fly the MiG-15 during the Korean War in support of North Korean forces. He was not given permission to participate in combat missions. Under his leadership the 324th IAD claimed 239 victories, including 12 Boeing B-29 Superfortresses for the loss of 27 MiG-15s in combat and 9 pilots.

Kozhedub was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union three times (1944, 1944, 1945), seven Orders of the Red Banner, two Order of Alexander Nevsky, two Orders of the Red Star, Order of the Patriotic War First Class, and numerous medals. He was promoted to his final rank of Marshal shortly before retirement.

Source: Wikipedia

North Borneo State Stamps (1945-1947)

NORTH BORNEO STATE (Sabah, East Malaysia) issued a series of stamps between 1945 till 1947 depicting the people and fauna of the region. Script was written in English, Chinese and Jawi (Malay). The overprint "Labuan" (the north eastern island off the coast of Sabah) may be found marked on some issues in this set.

Japanese Occupation Stamps of Malaya (1944-1945)

JAPANESE OCCUPATION stamps issued between 1944 till 1945 depicted kampung houses, farming and rubber tapping in Malaya. Denominations were determined according to a different and single colour. Up until this time, from 1942-1944, Malaya stamps featured an overprint either in Roman or Japanese script stating "Dai Nippon" (Japan is Great).

USPS Silent Screen Stars

USPS in 1994 honoured the Silent Screen Stars Theda Bara, Zasu Pitts, Clara Bow. Harold Lloyd, Charlie Chaplin, Lon Chaney, Rudolph Valentino, John Gilbert and the Keystone Cops on postage stamps. The stamps were designed and drawn by Al Hirschfeld, and were issued in San Francisco, California.

Theda Bara (1885-1955) was a prominent silent film star of the early twentieth century. Bara is most well known for her role as a femme fatale, also known as a seductress. She played the character of the femme fatale for many of her prominent movies, including Cleopatra and Carmen. However, Theda Bara also enjoyed exploring different roles she could play with the characters she portrayed. Because of her iconic performances as a seducing woman, Theda Bara is remembered as one of the best actresses within silent film. 

The Keystone Film Company’s troupe of comic actors arrived in Hollywood the same day as the town’s annual Shriner parade. Seizing on the opportunity, Mack Sennett, the Keystone’s director, sent his star comedienne Mabel Normand into the parade. Clutching a baby doll, she began searching the ranks of Shriners for the child’s supposed father. In hot pursuit was Ford Sterling, playing the part of Mabel’s irate, two-timed husband. When a brawl erupted between Sterling and an embarrassed Shriner, the police came charging in to break it up. Meanwhile Sennett, who had set up his camera, captured the entire ruckus on film and sent it off to New York as the first Keystone comedy.  master of comic timing, Sennett used this formula of spontaneity and controlled confusion to create more than 1,000 short comedies.

Zasu Pitts (1889-1963) was another important silent film actress. One of Zasu Pitts most well known silent films was All Quite on the Western Front. Although she began her career in silent movies, Zasu Pitts transitioned to talking movies in the 1930’s and primarily performed in films with her comedic counterpart, Thelma Todd. Pitts had an extremely successful career on both the stage and the screen and she continued to act as late as the 1960’s. Because of her successful transition from silent movies to the “talkies” of the mid-twentieth century, Zasu Pitts is remembered as a remarkable and versatile actress. 

 Harold Lloyd (1893-1971) was a close rival of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton, He was one of the most popular comedians of the silent film era. A member of Mack Sennett’s comedy troupe, he experimented with various comic characters before creating the role of “Harold.” By 1918, the white-faced man in horn-rimmed glasses and straw hat had become Lloyd’s trademark. The first comedian to use physical danger as a source of laughter, he was known as the screen’s most daring star, often performing his own stunts. In his 1923 film Safety Last, he dangled from the hands of a clock several stories above a busy city street. In Girl Shy (1924) he took a thrilling ride atop a runaway streetcar. And in The Freshman (1925) - one of the most successful of all silent films - he stood in for the football team’s tackling dummy. Although his peak of popularity was during the silent film era, Lloyd made numerous sound motion pictures as well. In 1952 he was honored with a special Academy Award for his contribution to motion picture comedy.

Clara Bow (1905-1965) was perhaps the most influential female actress of silent film. She achieved national fame in the 1920s with her roles as a seductress and flapper in silent and talking films. Bow’s revealing clothes and spirited character in her films, greatly influenced American women’s fashion and societal roles during the 1920s. Clara Bow is remembered by American filmmakers to this day for her revolutionary effect on American women and society as a whole. 

 

Rudolph Valentino (1895-1926) was idolised as the “Great Lover” of the 1920s, Rudolph Valentino gained enormous fame for his passionate, romantic roles.  Although his performance in The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921) established Valentino as a star, it was his role as the desert warrior in The Sheik (1921), that gained him a national following - making him the most popular romantic star of the silent film era.

Charlie Chaplin (1889-1977) won international fame with his portrayal of the pathetic, yet humorous and endearing “Little Tramp.” During the silent film era he was often hailed as “the funniest man in the world.” The son of British vaudeville performers, Chaplin began acting at an early age. In 1913 he signed on with the Keystone Film Company. Instantly popular, his box-office appeal had become so great by 1919 that no studio could afford to hire him. So together with Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford, and D.W. Griffith, he formed the United Artists film corporation and began appearing only in films produced by himself, including such classics as The Kid (1921), The Gold Rush (1925), City Lights (1931), Modern Times (1936), and The Great Dictator (1940). 

Lon Chaney (1883-1930), often called the “Man of a Thousand Faces,” is best remembered for hi macabre characterisations on the silent screen. Born of deaf-mute parents, Chaney learned pantomime at an early age, and later became a prop man, director, and actor in his brother’s traveling show. Beginning his film career as an extra, he became an overnight success after starring in The Miracle Man (1919). During the next ten years Chaney earned a reputation as the finest character actor in films, playing such memorable roles as Quasimodo the hunchback in the Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) and the dual role of police inspector/vampire in London After Midnight (1927). But his greatest achievement was his characterization of Eric, the demented, acid-scarred musician who haunted the subterranean passages of the Paris Opera in The Phantom of the Opera (1925). A versatile actor, he also won acclaim for his realistic performances in Tell It to the Marines (1927), While the City Sleeps (1928), and Thunder (1929).

 

John Gilbert (1897-1936) learned everything there was to know about the movies - building sets, lighting, hand-tinting film, writing scripts, and directing - before he became an actor. In 1924 he joined the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studio, starring in many of the blockbuster movies of his day. The Big Parade in 1925 was his greatest triumph. Gilbert’s performance as a doughboy in World War I not only established him as the all-American boy, fearless hero, and romantic lover, but also earned him the Photoplay Award for 1926 (the predecessor to the Academy Award). In 1926 he starred in Flesh and the Devil with Greta Garbo. This seething melodrama established them as the greatest romantic team in Hollywood.  

Buster Keaton's (1895-1966) stoic manner and poker face was as familiar to movie-goers of the 1920s as Charlie Chaplin’s baggy trousers and derby hat. Born Frank Joseph Keaton, he began performing in his parents’ vaudeville act as the “Human Mop” when he was only four. A zany combination of acrobatics and miming, their act, known as “The Three Keatons,” helped him develop his life-long trademark - a never-smiling face. Following a successful stage career, Keaton entered film making in 1917. Creating some of the most elaborate gags in silent film history, his movies were both harrowing and hilarious - usually centering on his collision with natural disasters and mechanical monsters. But whatever befell him, Keaton’s classic deadpan character “The Great Stone Face” never showed fear or alarm. A writer, director, and actor, he produced and starred in 19 short films and 10 full-length features, including such masterpieces as The Navigator (1924), The General (1926), and Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928).

 

Source: USPS Archives

Selangor (Straits Settlements) Masjid Jamek Sultan Suleiman

In 1934 SELANGOR (Straits Settlements in British Malaya) issued a series of stamps commemorating the then-State mosque, Masjid Jamek Sultan Suleiman. The mosque was officially opened in that year whereas the cornerstone was set in 1932. At least 15 stamps of various denomination and colour, as well as three stamps of the Selangor ruler Sultan Suleiman, was released in 1934-35. Pictured here are 12 of those stamps. 

Perforated versions, in the shape of an arch, of the Masjid Jamek Sultan Suleiman stamps also exist, and these stamps command a premium price amongst philatelists.

During the Japanese occupation of Malaya in World War II (1942-1945) the Masjid Jamek Sultan Suleiman stamps, as well as other stamps in the Straits Settlements, feature an overwrite, stating ither in Japanese or Roman script, "Dai Nippon" (Japan is Great).

So, why the interest in these colonial-era stamps? It's like this, Masjid Jamek Sultan Suleiman and I have a personal history. When I embraced Islam (in 1987) it was one of the first mosques, if not the first mosque, where I performed my Jama'ah prayers. My wife and I prayed here regularly on Thursday afternoons during her pregnancy. And it was this mosque where our daughter first walked, ran and played.

Later, in the early 1990s, I wrote an article about Masjid Jamek Sultan Suleiman. I was so fascinated with its Art-Deco-Islamic architecture -- the only mosque to my knowledge in Malaysia -- I simply had  to find out more about its history. Eventually Malaysia Airlines   published the article in their in-flight magazine "Wings of Gold".

Although I no longer reside in Klang, and hence rarely visit this mosque, it remains amongst one of my favourite places of worship. It also summons up many wonderful memories of a simpler, more peaceful time for me.

Pos Malaysia Coronation of his Majesty Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah Alhaj

POS MALAYSIA in 2003 issued a series of three first day cover stamps and a presentation pack with these stamps marking the Coronation of his Majesty Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah Alhaj Ibni Almarhum Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah Alhaj, the IX Sultan of Selangor.

Usually when I purchase stamps it is the history of the person or event behind the commemoration that merits my purchase. I either admire the person or appreciate the historical significance of the stamp(s). My interest in the coronation stamps of his Majesty Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah was a personal one. 

In 2003, my wife and I had the honour and privilege to witness his coronation -- a process involving multiple ceremonies. It was strictly by invitation -- not an event open to the general public. It was reserved exclusively for royal family members, politicians, press corps and a few guests, we being  among the honoured guests. 

It happened that we had befriended one of his Majesty's uncles, and so we were able to attend one of the ceremonies held at Istana Alam Shah, the royal palace  in Klang, by invitation. It is rather ironic as a few years before I had obtained a letter allowing us to visit the palace so that I might  photograph and write about it. Unfortunately the letter did not carry sufficient power to allow us entry.

So, year after year, I walked and drove past this palace wondering about it, never imagining I would ever witness a royal coronation, let alone be inside the premises. Then, in 2003, we received several invitation cards (pictured here) for the coronation of his Majesty Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah. In fact, the mere fact that we were present was pointed out to me by one gentleman, also in attendance. He remarked in all his lifetime he had never been privy to such an occasion, and that we were both very fortunate. And indeed we were very lucky.

At this juncture I must extend my gratitude to our benefactor, Paku, who made it all possible. Thank you very, very much for inviting us to this rare and wonderful event. May Allah bless you for the kindness and generosity shown to us on that day and throughout all the years of our friendship.

 

INVITATION CARDS FOR THE CORONATION