- The top-left stamp is part of a 2021 joint issue with Poland, featuring the Bochnia Salt Mine.
- The top-right stamp shows the Solana Ston, which are salt pans in Croatia.
- The bottom-left stamp is a traditional embroidered pattern from the Šestine folk costume.
- The bottom-right stamp features the Miljana Castle, a Baroque-style structure in Croatia.
The other stamps include older U.S. postage: one featuring a Native American figure and marked "USA 13c," and another with Abraham Lincoln, marked "USA 2c" and "AIR MAIL". The Air Mail stamp I recall using whenever I posted letters to radio stations in Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Asia. This would've been in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Phimai Historical Park Stamps: Several stamps depict the ancient Khmer temple complex of Phimai Historical Park in Thailand, known for its intricate architecture and historical significance.
National Day Stamps: Stamps celebrating Thailand's National Day, featuring an elephant, a significant symbol in Thai culture.
Other Thai Stamps: The image also includes stamps with other designs, such as those depicting historical or cultural scenes and possibly commemorating specific events or anniversaries related to Thai postal services.
- Two young greylag geese ("Tierkinder Graugans") which has a value of 70 cents.
- Trabant P50 automobile from 1961 which was part of a series for "Wohlfahrtspflege" (welfare). The Trabant P50 was a small, front-wheel-drive car produced in East Germany, notable for its duroplast body panels and two-stroke engine.
- Painting of "The Virgin of the Grapes" was created around 1640 by the French Baroque artist Pierre Mignard. The stamp depicts the Virgin Mary holding the infant Jesus, who is reaching for a bunch of grapes. The grapes in the painting symbolise the Eucharist and the blood of Christ, foreshadowing his sacrifice. The original painting is housed in the Musée du Louvre in Paris, France.
- "La Semeuse" (The Sower) stamp is a symbolic representation of Marianne, the national personification of the French Republic. The image shows a barefoot woman, Marianne, wearing a Phrygian cap and sowing seeds with a determined gait, while the sun rises and the wind blows, symbolising the spread of Republican ideals and liberty. The design was created by French numismatist Oscar Roty in 1897 for use on silver coins of the French Third Republic and later appeared on stamps in 1903.
- Marianne stamp designed by David Kawena and Olivier Ciappa. It was engraved by Elsa Catelin. It was printed by Philaposte (Phil@poste), using a recess method and paper with two phosphor stripes (left and right).
This stamp, with 84 Pfenning (later issues valued at 20 France) was affixed to a postcard dated 24 August 1947 commemorating an event in Saarlouis, Germany, related to Marshal Ney who was from this city.
The postcard was issued by the "Souvenir du Maréchal Ney, Saarlouis et environs" organisation for the handover of a flag by Governor Grandval on 24 August 1947, during the St. Louis festival. The proceeds from the sale of the postcard were slated to cover the costs of the festival.
The postcard featured an illustration of presumabl Stuttgart, with radio equipment and antennas.
The text "Hams always come back" and "Der alte Ham-Spirit lebt noch!" (The old Ham-Spirit still lives!) reflected the resilience and passion of German amateur radio enthusiasts after World War II.
The locked cage with vacuum tubes and the question "Wer hat den Schlüssel?" (Who has the key?) likely alluded to the challenges and restrictions faced by German amateur radio operators in the immediate post-war period.
The reverse side of the card is identified as a "Tagungs-Festpostkarte," which translates to "Conference-Festival Postcard," suggesting it was issued for this specific amateur radio gathering.
The circular postmark indicates "Stuttgart", 7-8.6.1947. It also mentions "deutscher Kurzweil Amateure Württ-Bad. Radia-P," suggesting this particular amateur radio event was held in the Württemberg-Baden region.
Background
In July 1947, this shortwave conference was held in Stuttgart, attended by around 500 radio amateurs from all over Germany, giving amateur radio a significant boost there.
Clubs were gradually authorised in other parts of Germany as well. First, the Hessian Radio Club (HRC), modeled on the Stuttgart model (even American officials considered this a precedent), then the Bavarian Amateur Radio Club (BARC), and finally the German Amateur Radio Club/British Zone (DARC/BZ). The radio operators in the French Zone had to wait until 1949, those in the Saar region until 1951, and those in the Soviet Zone until 1952 (this is a reminder for GDR nostalgics).
An important culmination of this development was the founding of the DARC (without any additions) in the fall of 1950, into which the aforementioned clubs and their members were integrated over time.
The cachet depicted a stylised globe with figures representing communication or postal services, symbolising the global reach of the UPU.
The cachet on this cover commemorates the premiere liaison Air France (first Air France connection) between Tahiti and Paris, specifically referencing the flight to Papeete, Tahiti.
It is addressed to "AIR FRANCE, 12 Bd Norodom, Saigon," indicating the routing or a stopover in Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City).
A circular postmark clearly shows "Papeete" and the date "28 - 3 (March) 1950," confirming the historical context of the inaugural airmail service.
Phimai Historical Park Stamps: Several stamps depict the ancient Khmer temple complex of Phimai Historical Park in Thailand, known for its intricate architecture and historical significance.
National Day Stamps: Stamps celebrating Thailand's National Day, featuring an elephant, a significant symbol in Thai culture.
Other Thai Stamps: The image also includes stamps with other designs, such as those depicting historical or cultural scenes and possibly commemorating specific events or anniversaries related to Thai postal services.
In September 1961, following the construction of the Berlin Wall, the Deutsche Demokratische Republik (DDR) launched an anti-Western broadcast campaign called "Blitz auf Natosender" (Strike against NATO Broadcasters), which aimed to prevent its citizens from receiving Western radio and television signals. The DDR's official youth organisation, the FDJ (Freie Deutsche Jungend), encouraged people to remove or damage antennas pointing towards the West, where "mental border-crossers" were living. People who did not voluntarily give up Western television and radio were to have their antennas sawn off or turned by force "towards socialism and peace".
Flora is depicted wearing a dress covered in flowers, symbolising the abundance and beauty of springtime. The painting is an allegory of spring, filled with mythological characters and symbolic meanings, celebrating love, peace, and prosperity. At least 138 species of different plants have been identified within the painting, showcasing Botticelli's meticulous attention to detail.
The painting originally adorned the summerhouse of the Medici family and is now housed in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence.
