Month: October 2017

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On this aniversary, a reminder comrade of all we have done

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 haven an interesting story to tell. A story of, as the late Casey Casem might have said, of keeping your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars. With of course a stop at Seventh Heaven.

The stamp today is a dramatically tall stamp. As well it should be. How better to depict the then newly opened tallest structure in the world, the Ostankino Television Tower. If that isn’t enough, our Soviet friends threw in an early space satellite, a Tupelov 144 “Concordski” jetliner, and a pretty space age bus I cannot identify. All that is missing is the space age kitchen sink. The Kremlin is also shown to remind you who brought this to you.

Todays stamp is issue A1595, a 4 Kopec stamp issued on November 19th, 1966. It was issued in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the 1917 revolution that brought the Bolshevicks to power and created the Soviet Union from the former Russian Empire. It was the only stamp in the issue. According to the Scott catalog, it is worth 25 cents in its sort of cancelled state.

Lets talk a little bit about what I mean about it’s sort of cancelled state. It is what I like least about the stamp. The stamp as you can see has a near perfect cancellation in it’s bottom corner and yet it also still has gum on the back as it as never been used. The Soviet Union, as well as many Eastern European and African countries, had licensed Mincus, the American stamp dealer, to produce stamps in their name to sell to collectors. Thus the stamp as never seen the Soviet Union. The Philatelist can sort of see why a poor country would sign on to such a thing but that a then superpower would is just beyond me. Should a good communist really sell out for money, even convertible foreign exchange?

Enough about that. Lets bask in all the visual treats that were fitted on this huge stamp. The Ostankino Television Tower is the biggest thing. The tower opened in 1967 after only taking three years to build. It was the tallest structure in the world, 1772 feet high, for eight years until it was surpassed by the CN Tower in Toronto. Besides the television equipment, it housed an observation deck and The Seventh Heaven Restaurant. There was a fire in the tower in 2000 that cost the lives of four fireman and cut tower transmission. The top part of the tower even took on a lean after the fire. Russian President Putin used the incident and a spate of similar mishaps to encourage better preservation of the nations vital facilities. In contrast to three year initial construction, rehabbing the tower took 16 years with the 2016 reopening of The Seventh Heaven Restaurant. The USA apparently is not the only country that can’t build anything anymore.

The Moliniya 1 satellite was also a great success of the Soviet Union that matured in 1967. It was a model of military communication satellite. The type of orbit it flew was great for coverage of northern latitudes and that type of orbit is now called the moliniya orbit after these advanced satellites. Later versions also carried satellite TV to remote areas of the Soviet Union.

This is really a great stamp! Showing all this world class stuff accomplished by the Soviet system is a great way to celebrate 50 years. Many will rightly point out that everyone did not share in this progress and perhaps even that the resources expended would have been better spent on raising the living standard of the average Soviet. Not me, I am a sucker for progress and achievement.

Well, my drink is empty and so it is time to open up the conversation in the below comment section. Do any of our Russian readers or lucky tourist know how the view from the tower is or how the food is at The Seventh Heaven? Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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How honoring challenged children can go very wrong

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 how a group gets distracted from it’s mission by the rewards of being a political insider and in doing so discredits themselves and the stamp that honored them.

First let me make a note about the condition of the stamp from my personal collection. As the reader may remember, all stamps discussed on this site are from my collection and were not gathered specifically to write about. This stamp has been in my collection for several decades. One can still spot the staining that can happen when you soak stamps to get them off envelopes. When one, in this case The Philatelist himself, tries to soak too many stamps at once the water becomes dirty from the gum and the stamps can turn yellow. The Scott catalog image of the stamp indicates that the paper started out white. Mea Culpa.

The stamp today is issue A952, a 10 cent stamp issued on October 12th, 1974. It is printed with the slogan of the National Association of R——- Citizens, as the group was then known. I have chosen not to use the R word as in the intervening years it has come to be derogatory. The Scott catalog list the stamp as worth 25 cents cancelled. The staining is a detriment to the stamp’s already low value.

To be frank, I do not like this stamp. It is not because of the R word. Language changes over time and seeing how a word is used in a different era can be just the type of interesting hook that a stamp collector thrives on. My problems with this stamp are two fold.

The first problem is the picture of the little girl on the stamp. I am not sure if she indeed has an IQ under 50 or it was picked because the real life person had the look the organization was going for. Either way it seems exploitive. I suppose at least she does not have her hand out at the encouragement of the many paid employees of the organization.

The second problem is the government by way of the postal service honoring an organization that has morphed into an identity political group on one side of the political divide in the USA. The group started in the early fifties as a support group for parents of children with IQs under 50. This is where the cut off point where at the time you shouldn’t send your child to public school. The group has had many names and currently calls itself The ARC. In the beginning it did good work advocating for government support programs for the understandably overwhelmed parents of these children. It also funded research into fetal alcohol syndrome and lead poisoning in the hopes of reducing the numbers of such children where it might be prevented.

This sounds like worthy work and perhaps justifies a stamp in a retrospective honor of this work. Instead the group has expanded with ever larger paid staff and clearly is just a cog in the Democratic party apparatus. The current blog on the groups website is nothing but this political agenda, with no mention at all of the children with IQs under 50 that the group is alleged to be about. Some may agree with their political agenda and that is fine. But in getting away from the original mission the organization and it’s stamp become discredited. The postal service is not likely to issue a stamp for the Democratic National Committee or the Republican National Committee for doing a good job getting their people elected. They don’t put live politicians on stamps and this should also be true of political groups, especially those that clothe themselves as a charity.

Well, my drink is empty so it is time to open up the conversation in the below comment section. I ask all of you not to use the R word or be otherwise derogatory about children with IQs below 50. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Singapore discovers itself as an Asian country

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 new nation discovering who it is.

What I find so interesting about todays stamp is how different it if from a stamp issued in the same place 20 or 30 years before. Today we are learning together about a stamp from the Asian city state of Singapore.

The stamp today is issue A113, a 5 cent stamp issued on April 24th 1985. The stamp depicts a brightly colored damselfly. The stamp was part of a sixteen stamp issue in various denominations up to $10 Singapore dollars. It has a current value of 25 cents cancelled.

Singapore was founded as a trading post for the British East India company in 1819 by Stanford Raffles. Intrigue and payments to who we would now describe as Malaysians and Indonesians allowed Singapore to get going in a natural harbor at the end of the Malaysian peninsula. Ownership passed to Great Britain in 1826 and except for about 3 years under Japanese occupation during World War II, Singapore remained in British hands until the late 1950s.  In fact the British Military remained until 1971.

Independence was also a gradual process. It was the initial intention of Singapore to unite in federation with Malaya and the old Straits Settlements that Great Britain also controlled. This just did not work out. Singapore at it’s heart was still a multi-ethnic multi-language trading post. This created many tensions with the more ethnically uniform Malaysia and Indonesia. In 1965 Singapore became a sovereign city state within the British Commonwealth.

One might expect this history to result in a strong British influence on the post independence stamp offerings. There is some influence. Singapore is spelled out in English script as it is the governmental and most commonly spoken home language in Singapore.

When one looks at the stamp, one sees a color palate that gives away Singapore’s location in Asia and the fact that a majority of its people are ethnically Chinese Mandarin. Yet at the same time the stamp is not Chinese. Instead the influences of the different people and the climate of Singapore are well depicted in this simple only at first glance stamp. I also sense some of the optimism that stamps from newly independent states often have.

The Damselfly exists all over the world on every continent except Antarctica. The bight colors indicate that the depiction on the stamp is of a male. The fly is most common in jungle areas where it eats smaller insects around grass. The damselfly is threatened by deforestation and the aspect of climate change that sees ecosystems drying out. One might wonder how the damselfly is doing in a thriving crowded city state such as Singapore. Perhaps there is an element to this insect stamp issue of lets enjoy them while we still have them.

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

 

Authors note: When I was entering this offering, news had just come in on the death of Hugh Hefner at 91. While this website does not feature nudity, it does at it’s most basic sell the lifestyle of the connoiseaur. Intellectual pursuits were always a part of that in the early Playboy and are front and center at what I am trying to do at the-philatelist.com. When Hugh Hefner started, male magazines were just about hunting, fishing, and war stories. Mr. Hefner as Mr. Mincus and Mr. Harris realized that the best parts of the lifestyle of a British Duke were now available to masses of newly educated and prosperous people. They prospered in bringing out how to get into that. RIP

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The British Royal Family picture to honour end of WWII in NZ. Hmmm…

Welcome readers to todays offering from The Philatelist. So slip on your smoking jack, 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 tell which questions if loyalty is a two way street.

While you may not be familiar with this particular stamp. it’s type should be familiar to any serious worldwide stamp collector. In the period soon after the end of World War II, the British controlled a large empire. In addition, there were many self-governing dominions, like New Zealand in this case. So the British influence on the stamps is unmistakable.

The stamp today is issue A96, a two penny stamp issued in New Zealand on April 1st,1946 to celebrate the arrival of peace after the long war. This stamp casually depicts the British Royal Family, but most of the other stamps in the 11 stamp issue relate directly to the efforts and sacrifice of New Zealanders in the recent war. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents cancelled.

Looking back, this seems a strange stamp for New Zealand to have issued, especially as part of a peace issue. New Zealand was and remains a British Dominion. This means that the British Sovereign is the official head of state of the country. World War II lead to a reassessment of the relationship with Great Britain and the status of New Zealand as a Dominion is ever more controversial.

On September 3rd, 1939, New Zealand declared war on Germany. This was two days after the invasion of Poland. Michael Savage, the Prime Minister of New Zealand declared, referring to the UK, “Where she goes, we go. Where she stands, we stand.” This was from a Socialist PM of Irish ancestry. Volunteers were recruited and a large army of New Zealanders fought at the side of the British. This was most notable in North Africa and Italy. There was much glory and sacrifice on the part of New Zealand, but it left the home country rather naked in the face of the WWII menace of the advancing Japanese. Having lost Singapore, and being distracted elsewhere, there was little Britain could do to help. It was left to the Americans to assist in the defense of New Zealand and Australia. Britain even went so far as to refuse the return of New Zealand troops home to face the threat.

Given how fresh this history was in 1946, it seems insensitive to include a family picture of the Royal Family  in a peace issue of stamps. There was obviously a great well of loyalty to Britain, and personally to the Royals themselves. It was also though a time to question whether that loyalty was a two way street. What was Britain doing in 1946 to show their loyalty to their colonies and dominions? In 1951 New Zealand signed a mutual defense treaty with the USA. Since then there has been a dramatic shrinkage in the size of the New Zealand armed forces.  For example, in 1945 New Zealand has over a thousand combat aircraft. Today it has none.

Well, my drink is empty and so it is time to open up the conversation in the below comment section. Is affinity enough to keep a relationship between nations going when the benefits only flow in one direction? Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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The author and the towers

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 of a German author whose reputation shot up to the stars when Germany found itself with superfluous towers.

Today stamp is recognizable as a West German stamp from the 1980s. Germany did the opposite of many western countries in doing stamps with current political leaders but very few of past leaders. This was true even before the second world war. What Germany always did was issue many stamps of leaders in various fields from previous periods. This would often be done on the anniversary of a birth. I am very fond of this practice as it allows the stamp collector to learn about those to whom there was no previous exposure.

The stamp today is issue A493, a 50 pfennig stamp issued by West Germany on August 13, 1981 to honor the 150th anniversary of the birth of the writer Wilhelm Raabe. The Scott catalog list the value as 50 cents cancelled. Interestingly, the Scott catalog mistakenly lists Mr. Raabe as a poet. He was instead a writer and secondarily a painter.

Mr. Raabe started writing at a fairly young age while he was employed as an apprentice in a bookshop. He quickly tired of the shopkeeper’s life and with the success of his early works he was able to devote himself full time to writing and advanced academics. His early works were funny insights into the life of the German bourgeois.

There were three distinct periods in Mr. Raabe’s writing. There was the early period described above. There was then a middle period where the work seemed to come under the influence of philosophical pessimism. This was being advanced at the time by the German philosopher Shopenhaurer. Philosophical pessimism puts forth that there really is no prospect of advancement in the human condition and that any striving was just the human will being dominant in the pursuit of humans baser needs. The last period in Mr. Raabe’s writing saw a more mature form of his humor return.

I identified a lot with the idea of three periods to a persons work. An early creative phase where a lot of ones best work is done. The optimism of youth can be such a formidable force. Then after time passes and perhaps the world has handed you a few hard knocks, a pessimism creeps in that will change the product being produced. Then at last a final phase where a lite touch returns and a more worldly but less serious tone emerges.

There is another interesting thing about Mr. Raabe. A 70 foot tower was named for him near Blankenburg, Germany in 1952, 42 years after his death. That may not be surprising as it was the area that Mr. Raabe lived. What makes it more interesting is that the tower was originally built in 1896 and was one of a series of towers built to honor various German Kaisers. They were built as a response to towers previously built to honor Otto von Bismarck. There was a perception that Bismarck was becoming something of a cult like figure to some. It would have been natural for the Kaiser to have thought that the people’s hearts belonged with him. To those people the sudden great number of competing towers must have been very strange.

Thus the renaming of the tower in 1952 for Mr. Raabe was understandable. By then few of the towers survived. This one still does.

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 read Mr. Raabe’s books or even climbed his tower? Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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From adventurer, to governor, to mapping the canal, to the National Pantheon

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 of an adventurer who got around.

At first glance, todays stamp looks European, perhaps a West German stamp from the 1950s. If you could touch it, a great tactile part of stamp collecting, you would feel that the paper used for the stamp is of a lower quality. This might send your guess toward Spain. This would be getting warmer. It is actually a stamp from Venezuela, albeit one honoring someone born in Europe.

The stamp today is issue C715, a 1960 issue honoring the 100th anniversary of the death of Augustin Codozzi. It has a face value of 25 centavos and is part of a six stamp issue in various denominations intended to be used for air mail. It has a value of $1 in its cancelled condition.

Augustin Codozzi was born in Lugo, Italy in 1793. After attending a military academy in Italy, he served with Napoleon’s army. After the defeat of Napoleon and infused with the ideals of the French Revolution, Codozzi was off to South America. He offered his services to those fighting for freedom from Spain under Simon Bolivar. Many of us have heard of young adventures taking up the cause of American independence. This is the first I have heard of it happening in the South American struggle.

Codozzi was made a Coronel of Artillery and after independence was given Venezuelan citizenship by President Paez. He was then made governor of the region of Barinas. It his then that his real contribution started. He was a cartographer and geographer and set out to do a proper atlas of the new country. The Geography and Atlas of the Venezuelan Provinces was a word respected work. He was even inducted into the French Legion of Honor in 1842. During this time he also promoted the German settlement of Alonia Tovar, which still exists today.

Venezuela was not a stable place in this time period. When President Paez was overthrown, Codozzi was forced to flee to neighboring Columbia. He was allowed to keep up his non political work in Columbia. some of you will remember that the current state of Panama was then a part of Columbia. Codozzi was hired by a British firm to investigate a potential route for a canal across the isthmus of Panama. The British plan came to nothing. The later American construction used the exact route that Codozzi mapped out.

Codozzi died of malaria in 1859. He was held in such esteem that the Columbian town where he died was renamed in his honor. Today it contains 70,000 people. Later his remains were moved to Caracas, Venezuela and placed in the National Pantheon of Venezuela as a national hero.

What I like about this stamp is that it reminds us a figure in his day may only be judged by his politics. Over time however, the achievements are recognized and remembered. This stamp was issued during the term of President Betancourt during an outbreak of democracy in Venezuela. Former President Paez, being of the South American strongman school, would not have been a hero to small d democrat Betancourt. Time has passed and it did not stop Codozzi from receiving the thanks of his adopted homeland.

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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A young Architect designs a landmark then gets murdered by mallet

Welcome 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 tell of stately architecture, inflation, and jealous murder by mallet.

1935 is when this stamp was issued. When commemorative stamps were new and stately architecture could still be found  in newish settlements as it was of recent construction. The lithograph on the stamp shows trees that are no longer in evidence, the grounds now often hosting concerts. The building still stands and remains in use. They did recently remove some of the original murals that to modern eyes are perceived as being insensitive to Indians.

The stamp today in issue A85, a 50 cent stamp issued as part of an eleven stamp issue in various denominations. This stamp depicts the British Columbia Parliament Building in Victoria, British Columbia. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth $6.00 in it’s cancelled state.

Before getting to the murder, this stamp requires a discussion of inflation from 1935 to today. This stamp has a face value of 50 cents. 50 cents in 1935 money equates to $9.06 in todays money. There is also a $1 stamp included in the issue. The high denominations indicate the use was intended for postage of packages.

The sad part of this is what it means to stamp collectors. This stamp is just way behind inflation, despite being an attractive stamp that depicts a landmark that is much beloved. My copy of the stamp came to me from my late Father’s collection. He had recorded a value of $4.50 from his catalog from around 1980. Therefore, in the last 35-40 years, the stamp has gone up 33% while inflation is about 9 times that. The meaning of that I hope is that a stamp like this has room to go much up in value if there is a renewed interest in stamp collecting. The Philatelist is doing his part to make sure this happens.

The British Columbia Parliament Building was authorized in 1893. The architectural competition was won by a 25 year old recent immigrant from England named Francis Rattenbury. He signed his plans ABC Architect and won. The building was over budget at $923,000, which of course seems great value today. The building was popular and Mr. Rattenbury received many commissions including the famous Empress Hotel in Victoria.

Mr. Rattenbury’s success peaked early. While in his 50s, he left his wife Mary and two children for a twice divorced 27 year old named Alma. His wife was left destitude to the extent of the electricity and heat being cut off at her house. The divorce was quite the big story in Victoria. Mr. Rattenbury found himself shunned in Victoria and had to return to England with his new wife.

Here the story gets even stranger. The Rattenburys hire an 18 year old chauffer who lives with them at their country house. He has an affair with Alma.  Soon Francis is found in his study having received repeated blows to the skull with a carpenter’s mallet. It took him four days to die. The chauffer is sentenced to death for the murder but the sentence is reduced to life in prison after many public appeals to the Home Secretary. The public felt that the young man had been put up to the crime by Alma. He ended up serving only 6 years as he was released early to serve in World War II. Francis Rattenbury was left for many years in an unmarked grave.  Alma was found not guilty of both murder and conspiracy despite having confessed. She later cut herself seven times with a dagger and threw herself in a river committing suicide.

The case is well known in England and has been made into a tv movie in Australia in 1956 and by the BBC in 1987 as Cause Celebre. There is also a Canadian opera.

Well my drink, and the second, are empty and so it is time to open the conversation in the below comment section. Have you ever hired a live in 18 year old chauffer? If so, how did that go for you? Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Self Stuck in Carlsbad cavern

Welcome readers to todays offering from The Philatelist. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, have your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. We have an interesting story to tell. A story of natural beauty captured well on a stamp and a stamp permanently stuck to an envelope.

Being a new stamp, it is a good time to talk of some of the changes that have befallen stamps issued today. In this case, we are talking about an American stamp, Such changes spread out over time.

The first thing to notice is the stamp has no denomination. Instead, we are signaled with the code Forever/USA. This is not an estimate on the staying power of America as a country. Forever means that the stamp is okay for first class postage in the future no matter how high rates get. I suspect the postal service hoped to get a rush of sales before the next scheduled increase. The second feature was hoped to be less resistance to rate increases. The savvy being well supplied with forever stamps. I doubt it had much impact on either score.

The other change from older issues is that the stamps are self sticking. These do not require licking, they stick very well to the envelope. They are also easier for the post office to print and handle. The issue for the stamp collector is that they are very difficult to remove from the envelope without damaging the stamp. The soaking time is much longer which is in itself a challenge to the collector. There is also the issue that when a stamp has to spend a lot of time in the soaking water, staining is likely.

The stamp today is too new to be cataloged. It is an American 49 cent issue from 2016 showing a cave view from the Carlsbad Cavern National Park. It is part of a 16 stamp issue celebrating the centennial of the National Park Service. The Carlsbad Cavern stamp is from a photograph. The vivid colors of the stamp do much to show off the natural wonders of the park and the skills of the photographer. The rest of the 16 stamp issue feature other national parks and a few reproduce paintings by such notable artists as Bierstadt and Naumer. The Postal Service has a lot to be proud of in the beauty conveyed by these stamps. That beauty had a big helping hand from nature.

Carlsbad Cavern National Park, then known as Carlsbad Cave National Monument, was proclaimed by President Calvin Coolidge in 1923 and was expanded with nearby wilderness by President Herbert Hoover in 1930.  The caverns were famously, (mythically?) explored by a small boy with a homemade wire ladder. This is where the fanciful names of the rooms of the cavern came from.

The advent of the national park made the cavern much easier to visit. There is now an elevator in the welcome center to take you down into the cavern. There is also an amphitheatre where one can view the bats taking flight at sunset. The park welcomes over 400,000 visitors a year.

The nearest city to Carlsbad Cavern National Park is Carlsbad, New Mexico. It was originally named for it’s founder, but changed it’s name to Carlsbad to promote the warm springs found there. Carlsbad being the American spelling of Karlsbad, Germany, a famous spa town. Interestingly the German town in now the Czech town of Karlovy Vary. The borders having changed after World War I and the German people forced to move after World War II. Perhaps not the place to market a forever stamp.

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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When caliphate was old hat and pan-arab socialism the future

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 story about  a ruler that managed to be both 60 years too late and 60 years too early.

The stamp today is 58 years old but surprisingly modern. Being from the late 50s, it shows the last gasp of the old ways in the Middle East. A Yemeni stamp from 10 years later would look completely different as it would have taken on the look of the socialist, pan-Arab movement. Yemen was a part of that, especially when the kingdom was deposed. The sad state of modern Yemen might look more like this stamp, as civil war as brought the old ways back to the present.

The stamp today is issue A19, a 6 Bogaches stamp issued in 1958 to honor the Arab Universal Postal Union. The stamp is part of a three stamp issue and according to the Scott catalog is worth $1.40 in it’s mint condition.

The stamp comes from the later years of the rule of King Ahmad and from what westerners might think of as North Yemen. North Yemen was separate from what was then the British protectorate of Aden. The King had ambitions to rule a greater Yemen including Aden and very much resented the British presence in the area. To further this goal, North Yemen joined with Egypt and Syria in the short lived and never fully integrated United Arab Republic. As a royal, King Ahmad was an odd man out in this, but he hoped to use it to further his anti British aspirations. These aspirations went unfulfilled. When the British left Aden a Peoples Republic of South Yemen was declared and North Yemen was a separate socialist republic. The two Yemens did not join together until the early 1990s and still is not a true country as it is beset with interference from Iran, Saudi Arabia and various militant groups.

Lets go back to the rule of King Ahmad, who ruled from 1948-1962 with a few short gaps during the frequent uprisings. Perhaps we should start with his title. His Majesty al-Nasir-li-Dinullah Ahmad bin al Mutawakki Allahla Yahi, Immam and Commander of the Faithfull and King of the Mutawakki Kingdom of the Yemen. From this you can probably gather that he was the religious leader as well as the head of state. To a great extent, King Ahmad concentrated all decision making in Yemen to himself. At the time there were pan Arab young socialist in Aden trying to get control of the country away from the British. I can see why they would not view the kingdom to the north as the way forward. King Ahmad’s royal line might have lasted longer if it had been able to come to an arraignment with Britain. They were after all more comfortable dealing with royals from the east.

The King’s rule has been criticized for being cruel and inward looking. The King did get most of his weapons from the Eastern Bloc and Nasser era Egyptians were brought in to help modernize. King Ahmad died in his sleep in 1962. The King had been weakened by an assassination attempt the previous year and much of the power had passed to his son Mohammed. King Mohammed only lasted on the throne a week before the head of the palace guard shelled the palace in Sana and ended the kingdom by declaring himself the President of the Yemen Arab Republic.

Well my drink is empty and so it is time to open the discussion in the below comment section. Some have reappraised upward the Socialist leaders in the Middle East when comparing them to what came before and afterword. Others think of them as just another group of outsiders colonizing. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting

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The Dutch Reform Faith Healer

Welcome readers to today’s offering from The Philatelist. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take the first sip of your favorite adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Todays story will be new to most of you.

Todays stamp is labeled RSA. This means it comes from South Africa and was issued in the later years of the apartheid government. Earlier South African stamps were labeled Suid-Africa. Today South Africa is how the stamps are labeled. RSA stood for the Republic of South Africa.

Our stamp today is issue A197, a four cent stamp issued on May 9th, 1978. The stamp was issued to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the birth of Dr. Andrew Murray. According to the Scott catalog, it is worth 25 cents, whether mint or cancelled.

Dr. Andrew Murray was a minister, an educator, an evangelist, an author, and a faith healer. He was born in Graaf Reinet, South Africa in 1828 to a French mother and a Scottish father. He was educated in Scotland and the Netherlands and began his faith journey in the Dutch Reform Church.

Much or Dr. Murray’s early work involved education. Achievements in this field included schools for girls, who prior to his time were underserved. He was also the first President of the South African YMCA. Dr. Murray somehow found the time to author 240 books on Christian issues.

Dr. Murray is very involved from his early years in a new revival of Christianity called the Keswick movement. They very much believed in the healing power of prayer. The praying for the healing of maladies and exorcism of demons was controversial among the more conservative church authorities. Indeed the movement is considered discredited by some Christians. By others however,  the Keswick movement is respected as a precursor to the Pentecostal movement.

I suspect that the doctrinal differences are not what is being celebrated by this South African stamp. The work in rural education is being honored. Dr. Murray’s evangelical movement spread to other countries in Africa and the South Africa General Mission that he founded is the root of the Serving in Mission organization that is active in Africa to this day.

South Africa today would probably not find Dr. Murray worthy of a stamp issue today. This though is one of the great things about stamp collecting. The commissioning of stamps goes on for such a long period that one gets to see different perspectives and ideologies reflected in them. Through the stamp of a long ago era, we can put ourselves in the position of a citizen of the day. We then can imagine how they viewed the world being presented to them by their government.  This can be extra interesting when the government is controversial and even deeply flawed.

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.