Month: October 2017

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The party is over and no one cleaned up the mess

Welcome readers to todays offering from The Philatelist. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. We have an interesting story about how desiccated finery can lead to nostalgia.

Today’s stamp is from the early years of the Shah of Iran’s reign. You can see on the stamp a lot of Turkish and British influence. The Turk in the style of paper and the British in how the Royal is portrayed. Notice his dress is western and the portrait attempts to show him as a wise father figure. Some stamps from later in his rule show the Shah as an ageless profile. Much in the same way as Queen Elizabeth, and  Queen Victoria before her were displayed.

The stamp today is issue A71, a 5 dinar stamp issued by Imperial Iran in 1949. This was before the time of the Mossedeck coup but during when he served as one of the Shah’s appointed Prime Ministers. The stamp displays the Ramsar Hotel. It was part a 16 stamp issue that displayed various architectural landmarks that could be credited to the Shah. According to the Scott catalog, it is worth 25 cents cancelled.

The Ramsar Hotel, now known as the old hotel, was built in the 1930s in the resort town of Ramsar on the Caspian Sea. A newer larger wing was built next to it in the 1960s. When built the hotel was quite grand, however time has not been kind to it. It still photographs well and was built in a very good location that captures the natural beauty. The hotel today however is in disrepair, expensive and has a poor staff. The original 5 star rating is more like a 2 star if you believe the online reviews.

This situation helps one to see how a leader like the Shah can see his reputation rise in terms of nostalgia. With no restraints and ample oil revenue, great edifices of prosperity are built. The connected class enjoys this high life with nightclubs, imported food and wine, and fine cars. Their women wore miniskirts and had uncovered hair. A movement rises up calling this decadent and forces him from power. With him goes all the high living and western decadence. No new edifices of prosperity are built and the ones from the former time fall into disrepair like the Ramsar Old Hotel.

Here is where the rub happens. If the average person does not feel his or her own life better under the new system resentment can form. The Shah built things, what have you done? Likely there is a class of people that benefits from the current system but they must keep their own high living hidden in a way the Shah’s people never did. The style of the old times takes on a new respect. This is how it should be. The former regime was not all bad and the current regime is not all good. Despite what the partisan of each will tell you.

Well my drink is empty and it is time to open up the conversation in the below comment section. Have any of our readers stayed at the Ramsar Hotel, perhaps during the glory years? Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Celebrating the fascist newspaper, er no, make that stamp day

Welcome readers to todays offering from The Philatelist. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. We have a stamp today that demonstrates something that has happened quite a bit in stamp history. The politics of a place can change much faster that the stamps issued.

This is a strange stamp. The stamp originally celebrates newspapers, in particular the party newspaper of the San Marino Fascist party. Given the subject matter, I am amazed they were not just thrown away when the politics changed. Instead an overprint is added making the stamp a celebration of an officially declared stamp day. Has anyone seen two more divergent captions on the same stamp. It was a common issue in San Marino in 1943. There was another stamp to celebrate 20 years of fascist rule that when that rule came to an end right before the stamp came out  a lower case d was added to the stamp making it celebrate the end of 20 years of fascist rule.

The stamp today is issue A38, a 50 centessimi stamp issued by the city state of San Marino on July 1st. 1943. It is part of a two stamp issue honoring the newspapers of San Marino. The stamp is worth 25 cents in it’s mint condition according to the Scott catalog. It must be a common stamp to have such a low value and San Marino stamps have always been mainly produced for philatelists. With what was going on at the time of issue and the crazy overprint, The Philatelist finds this stamp seriously undervalued.

San Marino is a small, mountainous, landlocked city state that chose not to join Italy when a central government formed the Italian empire around 1870. Instead it continued to govern itself on principles derived from the Roman Republic. One aspect of this is that it has two heads of state at a time. It is one of the wealthiest places in the world per capita with finance and tourism being at the center of the economy. It is one of the only places where postage stamps are an important product.

During the two world wars in the 20th century, San Marino’s independence from Italy was most threatened. In World War I, San Marino announced herself neutral. Italy was angered and assumed San Marino would become a hotbed of Austrian spies. In frustration San Marino’s phone service was cut off. In World War II, despite San Marino’s fascist government, the country again declared it’s neutrality. Over and over. First the New York Times declared San Marino declared war on Britain. Not true. In July 1944, the British bombed San Marino assuming the Germans occupying surrounding Italy had entered San Marino. Not true. Then the battle for Italy came close to San Marino and the Germans entered San Marino to control a road and so to have artillery observers on the mountain. Units of the Indian army fighting with the British army pushed the Germans out after a battle and quickly left.

The politics changed in San Marino in an instant. Two days after Mussolini left power, the San Marino fascist party was deposed. In 1945, San Marino became the first country to freely elect a communist government. The Roman system stayed in effect through both extremes.

Well my drink is empty, and so it is time to open up the conversation in the below comment section. Was San Marino right to go ahead with this stamp after the government changed? Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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The streaked shearwater gets it’s stamp

Welcome readers to todays offering from The Philatelist. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. We have a lovely stamp to look at and talk about.

The look of todays stamp is exceptional. This is the case with so many stamps from Japan. Japanese stamps can be spotted by the word Nippon spelled out in western script on most of them. It is still possible to pick out Japanese stamps from other Asian countries by looking at the Asian characters. No I don’t expect you to learn how to read them. If you look at the characters, a stamp from Japan will always start with a simple rectangle with a straight lime through the center. You can see it in bold script in the bottom right corner of todays stamp.

When I first started collecting stamps 39 years ago, Japan stamp issues were about 80% of the Far Eastern Asian stamps in my collection. Today mainland China and South Korean stamps are much more common in the collections of newer collectors. Thankfully both Korea and China are nice enough to include their country name in western script. It is fun to think of the collectors from long ago who had to develop specialized knowledge to decipher their stamps. That was okay though, as stamp collecting was the hobby of kings.

Todays stamp is issue A1614, a 62 yen stamp issued by Japan in 1991. It is part of a 12 stamp issue that came out over a two year period displaying water-birds. This particular stamp displays the Streaked Shearwater. It is worth 35 cents cancelled.

The streaked shearwater bird measures 19 inches long and has a wingspan of 48 inches. It is known to fly behind fishing boats and feast on what the nets bring up. It is only native to the Pacific Ocean and is most common nesting on Japanese offshore islands.

It is estimated that there are 3 million streaked shearwaters in the world. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the bird is not endangered now or in the past. There is some fear of encroachment in their nesting areas, but so far so good.

Japanese stamps have always shown such artistry that they are a pleasure to take in. Politics are usually ignored on the stamps. Japan is a very homogenous country so the stamps can go all out on the shared history and culture. This is harder and harder to do in the west as the people do not have a common background. George Washington will mean a lot to an American who can trace his American ancestors back to independence. Only a tiny percentage of Americans can do that. Japan to date does not have such issues and is free to fully celebrate the history on it’s postal issues. I wonder if that means Japanese history buffs are more likely to collect stamps?

Well my drink is empty and so it is time to open up the conversation in the below comment section. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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The war is lost, maybe we could airmail ourselves out on the Condor

Welcome readers to todays offering from The Philatelist. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. We have an interesting story to tell of a great airplane whose stamp is tainted by defeat.

The stamp today has a fairly normal picture for an early years airmail stamp from anywhere. It shows a big 4 propeller airliner flying over an airport. When put into context, it is possible to see what a desperate and defeated image it really is. The plane is a German Condor airliner that captured the worlds imagination with the first direct flight from Berlin to New York and regular service to Argentina and Japan, both of which required several stops. It was the most advanced airliner in the world when it was introduced in 1938. By late 1944 when this stamp was issued, the war for Germany was soon lost.

One can see the desperation on the stamp. Germany instead of being referred to Deutches Reich, German Empire, as was common into the war years, it was now GrossDeutches Reich, greater German Empire. By then the area controlled by Germany was shrinking fast. The denomination on the stamp is increased by 66% as a mandatory contribution to the war effort. It is easy to spot the symbolism  of a famous, long range airliner taking off toward a break in the storm clouds to lift you away to some far off place, untouched by war.

The stamp today was issued in 1944 by the German Nazi government. It is an airmail stamp that commemorates the 25th anniversary of the German postal Air mail service, which started in 1919. The Scott catalog lacks listings for many of Germany’s later war years stamps. Most of the copies that are still around are mint. A good number were liberated at wars end and found there way into stamp collections having never been mailed.

The plane on the stamp is a Focke-Wulf FW200A Condor airliner. It flew at a speed of 220 mph and had a range of 2200 miles. It was designed by famed aircraft designer Kurt Tank. It was built from 1938-1944 and prewar a few entered service with Lufthansa in Germany and with Denmark and Brazil. The Japanese suggested a maritime patrol bomber version and also ordered airliners but these were kept in Germany at the outbreak of WWII. The armed version was used to good effect early in the Battle of the Atlantic until it was realized they were too valuable to risk having them shot down. After that they were regulated to transport duty including as Hitler’s personal transport and the airlift to Stalingrad. The last Condor flight to Portugal from Berlin happened in April 1945 just days before Berlin fell to the Russians.

Post war. no new Condors were produced although a few stayed in service in Spain, Brazil, and the Soviet Union. There is only one example of the Condor still in existence. The Lufthansa museum in Germany has an example pieced together from two examples that had crashed in Norway during the war. Norway had been reluctant to allow pieces of one of the planes to go back to Germany as they were using the wreckage as a war memorial. It was finally agreed to allow a minimum of parts to be taken to get one complete example of this historic airplane.

Well, my drink is empty so it is time to open up the conversation in the below comment section. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Celebrate the treaty but reserve your right to violate it.

Welcome readers to todays offering from The Philatelist. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. We have an interesting story to tell of ground breaking treaty that seeks to prevent groundbreaking and how the USA celebrates the treaty while reserving the right to violate it.

The drawing of Antarctica on the stamp is not very well done and this is a missed opportunity. The USA will do very few stamps ever featuring Antarctica. To mess one up therefore is a serious offence. The territory that Britain claims, in violation of the spirit of the treaty, produces stamps that better show off the landscape most of us will never see.

The stamp today is issue C130, a 50 cent airmail stamp issued on June 1st 1991. It was a single stamp issue honoring the 30th anniversary of the Antarctic Treaty. According to the Scott catalog, it is worth 45 cents cancelled.

The Antarctic Treaty was well worth celebrating in 1991 and every year. There were scientific stations popping up around Antarctica. These were set up by various countries and a few had started to make formal claims on land area in Antarctica. Antarctica has no native inhabitants and was an unspoiled and cold land. The nature of the expeditions of most of the countries involved service members and equipment from that nation’s military. The presence of armed men and conflicting claims potentially could have lead to an arms race and land grab.

This was a difficult issue to resolve. The 1950s were a time of cold war hostility. This was before there had been any treaty between East and West on arms limitations. There was one advantage however. The East was way behind the West in Antarctica and most of the claims were between a Great Britain that was sheading colonies rapidly and South American countries that could be expected to take the views of the Americans seriously.

The diplomats really did a masterful job with this treaty. All previous claims on Antarctica are frozen without any agreement to recognize them. Scientific outposts are allowed by all signatories of the treaty. Military members and equipment are allowed to be used but all signatories agree to leave them unarmed. All relevant nations signed the treaty and has such it was the first cold war arms control treaty.

The claims were frozen not ended. This was probably why the USA reserved the right to make a claim on Antarctica at a later date. The USA then and now possesses great expeditionary power projection military capability. This is beyond any other nation. So a threat to make a claim on Antarctica from the USA is potentially destabilizing. That has proved to be an effective tool to keep new claims from ruining the treaty. There is a annual meeting of signatories to address issues that come up. Lately they have mainly been about lessening the environmental impact of the outposts on Antarctica.

Well, my drink is empty and so I will pour another so I can raise it up in honor of the Antarctic Treaty and those hardy souls from the many nations that go there to learn more about the world around us. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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The trains or the people

Welcome readers to todays offering from The Philatelist. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. We have an interesting story to tell about economic choices.

The stamp today is from post independence French West Africa. The French influence was quite great in the countries themselves. In terms of the stamps however, compared to the British Commonwealth there was less influence from the former home country. The stamps usually do have some of the vibe of the cold war period nonaligned movement. This stamp is a little bit of an exception to that by showing an old railway car from the French period.

The stamp today is issue A198, a 100 franc stamp issued in the Ivory Coast on May 17th, 1980. It is part of a four stamp issue that displays the train line in the Ivory Coast over time. This stamp shows a passenger car from 1908. According to the Scott Catalog, the stamp is worth 60 cents cancelled.

Ivory Coast is a former French colony on the coast of the Atlantic ocean near the Equator in the tropics. Despite the name, the main industries are cocoa beans, rubber, and oil production. There is also a fair amount of trade that passes through the Ivory Coast on the way to land locked countries to the north such as Burkini Faso. These areas were all formally part of French West Africa and during the colonial period a train line was built from  the port of Abidjan up through Ivory Coast into Burkini Faso.

All of this has left the country in a better state economically that many other African nations. The Government has used the growing GDP to fund large development projects such as a train extension to a new mining area and a new subway system in Abidjan. The problems come in with the rapid population growth and the additional migration of people of foreign countries has left a situation with many seemingly left behind economically from the growth. The instability from this causes periodic uprisings that then choke off economic activity.

Trouble like this flared up again in 2017. The military took to the streets demanding back pay that was owed. Shots were fired near commercial port facilities. this lead to outside companies quickly leaving. The government quickly paid the back pay due the military and they returned to barracks. However the civil service than went on strike demanding the back pay it felt it was owed. It remains to be seen what effect this will have on development goals. Not meeting those goals will leave more people behind and around we go. What is the answer to this? A liberal might suggest more public sector employment and a big push in family planning. Perhaps the more conservative might suggest a wall and better project management. In my opinion they both are correct.

Well, my drink is empty and so it is time to open up the conversation in the below comment section. What is the correct tradeoff between todays needs and a better future? Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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A new train station for a suddenly important city

Welcome readers to today’s offering from The Philatelist. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. We have an interesting story of a partition, a blooding split, a famine and yet an attractive, unique, necessary  piece of infrastructure is constructed.

The stamp today is Bangladeshi, but looks post independence Indian. That India had a big influence on Bangladesh is obvious, even in the stamps.

The issue today is issue A70, a 1 Taka Bangladeshi stamp issued on December 21st, 1983. The stamp displays the Kamalapur Train Station in Dacca. It is part of a 10 stamp issue depicting various architecture around Bangladesh. According to the Scott catalog, it is worth 40 cents cancelled.

As the British faded from India, the decision was taken to partition the land area. This was a controversial decision at the time and quite the bloody mess as people suddenly found themselves on the wrong side of a line. Something like 14 million people were displaced by bloody and shameful ethnic cleansing. While none of the sides are blameless, the British drew the line. The man who drew the line refused payment for his work after seeing the trouble that boiled over after. It is worth noting though that there are today many Muslims in India, but virtually no Hindus in Pakistan. Make of that fact what you will.

A Eastern portion of Bengal elected to join with Muslim Pakistan. They were widely separated geographically, but also racially. The East Pakistan people were Bengali with a different language and ethnicity. They soon felt like second class citizens and in 1971, with Indian help had a successful war of independence from Pakistan.

Already with partition, the East Pakistan city of Dacca became much more important as an administrative and economic center. One problem with this was that the train did not go there. So by the early 60s while under the Pakistanis, an extention of the train line was begun. In Dacca, a local university of engineering and technology had started a school of architechture and brought in 5 American instructors. Among them was Robert Boughey. Mr. Boughey was selected to do the railway station in what everyone understood was going to be a major transportation hub in an important world city. The design was for a large station with a mid century modern look that included a roof that resembled a mosaic of lotus blossom shaped umbrellas. The station opened with much fanfare in 1969, two years before independence. Mr. Boughey is still with us and went on to design several other important buildings in Dacca and also in Bangkok. The Kamalapur train station is still in use today.

Bangladesh is a growing populous country today with a large textile industry and many workers around the world. It maintains good relations with virtually all the world’ s nations except Pakistan.

Well, my drink is empty, and so it is time to open up the conversation in the below comment section. Have any of our readers traveled through the Kamalapur  train station? Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Thiers, tourist please look up the hill, not down

Welcome readers to todays offering from The Philatelist. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. We are going to talk today about a stamp encouraging tourism to a place most of us have not been.

A few words about the attractiveness of the stamp. The use of the bright colors is very evocative to me of the south of France. If it were possible, the texture of the paint would show on the stamp to add to the feel of the impressionist movement in painting. All in all, visually a very good job on the part of the French postal authority.

The stamp today is issue A705, a 1.70 franc  stamp issued on October 9th, 1976. It displays the high-town part of Thiers and was part of 6 stamp issue showing tourist sites around France. It is worth 25 cents cancelled according to the Scott catalog.

Thiers is located in the department of Puy-de-Dome in the central southeastern part of France. The town was begun around 1000 AD. The current population is around 11,000 and has been in gradual decline for a long time.

The town relies mainly on tourism of the older high-town.  There is a tradition of fine knife making in the town which continues to a small degree and is remembered by a museum in the town. The mountains and nearby rivers also place the town in a pleasant area.

In the research on this stamp, I came upon something I found disturbing so I hope you will excuse I little rant. I mentioned earlier that this ancient town had suffered a population decline over many years. That should have prevented what happened in the 1950s but did not.

The old town is on a hillside and adjacent to it is an area of small factories where the knives the town is known for came from. This part is picturesque and no doubt is a powerful draw for tourists. In the 1950s, a lower city was developed. This part is especially known for it’s big box supermarkets. It is literally, and no doubt figuratively, looked down on from the older high-town.

Why such development is allowed in a town with a declining population is beyond me. Some may say it would not have happened if it did not fill a need. I am indeed not calling for a war on supermarkets. I do wonder if more talented architects and more carefully considered city planners could have seen to it that the development of the low-town could have blended in and complimented the architectural achievements that exist in Thiers up the hill.

Alas, as in so many places all over the world, this was not to be. I think it is safe to see that it will be a long time before the low-town is honored with a postage stamp or is sought out by a tourist. We can rejoice that the high-town is still here to enjoy.

Well, my drink is empty and it is time to open up the conversation in the below comment section. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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A friend and ally who wears a sash.

Welcome readers to todays offering from The Philatelist. So don your sash with your national colors, slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. We have an interesting story to tell. Too bad we have no ball to attend.

This is a big attractive stamp. The colors are bold with a lush green that matches the green on the subjects sash. In fact a version of the same portrait used on the stamp is the person’s official portrait on Wikipedia. It is very large stamp, perhaps too large to buy a sheet of and use to mail letters. This stamp is instead made for collectors. 45 years on, I believe few collectors will be able to name the luminary on the stamp. I believe this is just as true in Paraguay, as the fellow on the stamp is Brazilian.

The stamp today is issue A250, a 50 centavo stamp issued in Paraguay on November 8th, 1972 to commemorate the Presidential Summit of the leaders of Paraguay, Brazil, Argentina, and Bolivia. This stamp is of Brazilian President Emilio Garrastazo Medici, who presided over Brazil for one 5 year term between 1969 and 1974. It was part of a five stamp issue that honored the various leaders at the summit. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents in mint condition.

This is a stamp that would not be issued today, either in Paraguay or Brazil. Discussing any of the leaders on the stamps in this issue would invite a spirited, mostly negative argument. All of the countries at the summit were basically friendly at the time and aligned with the USA in an anti- Communist stance. The failure of communism would seem to confirm the rightness of that stance but I dare to say that a Cuban stamp from the same period showing Chile’s Allende from the same period would not be nearly as controversial. Despite the failure dripping from it. Weird world we live in.

President Medici was a soldier of Italian decent who moved up through the ranks to being a senior commander. Brazil at the time was ruled by a military junta and Medici was handpicked after the previous president suffered a stroke. The National Assembly was reconvened to rubber stamp the selection. It did this unanimously, with a few abstentions. He was considered by many the most effective of the string of military rulers at the time. The GNP was going up very quickly and there were many very visible public works projects. This was also the case in Paraguay, under long serving President Strossener. Brazil was also growing more urbanized with much sprawl, most notably in Sau Paulo.

The reign was repressive to political opponents. The fruits of the GNP growth were slow to trickle down to the poor. The countries population was growing rapidly which added to the challenges. There is a tendency to be quick to condemn a ruler like President Medici or President Strossener. The fact is though that these military leaders often took charge after a period where leadership and stability were lacking. Stability being the first duty of government, a military takeover is damming evidence the previous administration was mired in failure. The leaders on this issue of stamps, having proceeded through the ranks of their respective countries military were perhaps more influenced by patriotism than the lust for power that grips so many politicians. Many such leaders also failed their people and gave in to cruelty and corruption, but I remain unconvinced that there were better alternatives available. Castro turning over power to his brother becoming a hereditary communist king being quite the contrast to Medici’s one term and peaceful transfer of power.

Well my drink is empty and so it is time to open the conversation in the below comment section. If any of our readers are from Brazil or Paraguay and have memories of Presidents Medici or Strossener, positive or negative, I would be interested. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Hoping I own a fake, even if that means walking away from 25 cents

Welcome readers to todays offering from The Philatelist. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take the first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. We have an interesting story to tale of unofficial prints of real stamps.

At first glance, this stamp may appear Australian. The size and color palate reflect an Australian stamp. The lithograph on the stamp is captioned as a modern housing estate. To call a residential neighborhood that sounds British. That this stamp is from the African nation of Nigeria is surprising in that it was issued over 25 years after independence.

The stamp today is issue A140, a 5 kobo stamp issued on June 16th, 1986. It is part of a 14 stamp issue in various denominations that give views of modern life in Nigeria. Cancelled, it is worth 25 cents according to the Scott catalog.

The Scott catalog indicates two discrepancies that I am not used to coming across in stamps of mine. The first is the indication that this issue of stamps was in use for a few years before it’s date of issue. This seems strange as there were many stamps issued by Nigeria at the time, so why was there an urgency to get these out ahead of time. These do seem destined for use to mail letters instead of for collectors so I wonder if an early batch was printed in order to sell without passing the proceeds on to the postal service.

The other discrepancy is that the Scott catalog indicates there are a number of fakes around of this issue. The stamp has never held a high value to stamp collectors. If any of the commenters have more information on this, please bring forward the information in the below comment section. I hope my copy of the stamp is one of the fakes.

The subject matter of the stamp at the time must have seemed as progressive and hopeful. The newly independent states often were brimming with much such optimism in their early issues. Mid-century modern architecture springing up in the form of universities, libraries, and government buildings were a staple of many nations’ early stamps.

There is something a little sad about this in retrospect. The average person’s life remained so far below the progress shown on the stamps. In Nigeria the average person has 11% of the average American’s income. The new currency that started at one per USA dollar is now 360 per dollar. This is despite the greater than 80% depreciation in the dollar since 1973 when the current Nigerian currency appeared. This happened despite Nigeria having a lucrative oil industry all along the way.

What Nigeria has also had to contend with is borders that have more to do with now ancient colonial issues than with where Nigerians of various tribal and religious affiliations live. Nigeria has also dealt with extremely rapid population growth that must put quite a burden on even the best of its leaders. The optimism of todays stamp is also long gone. The last stamp issue seems to be from 2013 and the last issues seem to all honor something from the past, not optimism about the future.

Well, my drink is empty so it is time to open up the conversation in the below comment section. Assuming the picture on the stamp is of a real neighborhood and not just an artist conception of something they hoped to build, I would be interested in what it looks like now. No I don’t know a street address for a google street view. Come again tomorrow for a story that can be learned from stamp collecting.