Month: April 2018

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Ireland 1929, the Free State remembers the Emancipator

When a people are different from their outside rulers, the desire for independence grows. How much independence and the method to get it are issues to be dealt with. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take tour first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

Todays stamp was an early issue of the Irish Free State. The remarkable thing to a non Irish nearly a hundred years later is how Catholic the stamps are. The vast majority of Irish were Catholic, and Catholics felt repressed by a Britain that of course had its own doctrinally similar Church of England. Early stamps of a free state are a way to define who you are as a nation. To Ireland of the 20s, that meant a very conservative form of Catholicism. To foreign eyes, one may wonder if the Irish were trading some other freedoms for this religious purity.

The stamp today is issue A5, a 2 pence stamp issued by the Irish Free State on June 22nd, 1929. It marks the century of Catholic Emancipation in Ireland the great accomplishment of Daniel O’Connell, who is featured on the three stamps of the issue. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 55 cents used.

Daniel O’Connell was born in 1775 to a formerly wealthy Catholic family. Ireland was ruled by neighboring Great Britain and there was much turmoil between the Protestant British and the Catholic Irish. From a still wealthy uncle Daniel was able to receive a first rate education and was received into the legal bar. As a condition of his educational help, his uncle required that Daniel not participate in any violent uprisings against Britain. This meant that Daniel’s reform efforts were within the system of British law.

O’Connell ran for the British Parliament and won a seat. At the time the oath sworn by new members included fealty to the Church of  England. Up to then this had kept the Irish delegation Protestant and thereby unrepresentative. When the British realized that the failure to seat O’Connell would likely lead to rebellion in Ireland, the law was changed. The Catholic Emancipation Act allowed them to omit that part of the oath and be seated in Parliament. King George IV only signed the new law after Lord Wellington threatened to resign if he did not. King George quipped that Lord Wellington was king of England, O’Connell was king of Ireland and he himself was only dean of Oxford.

At home in Ireland, O’Connell was often at odds with both militants and with those more supportive of the Protestants. After criticizing a company in Ireland considered a center of Protestant power., O’Connell was challenged to a duel. He killed the man and was forever sorry as it had left the man’s family destitute. His offer to support the widow was refused but he was allowed to support the man’s daughter, which he did for the next 30 years.

O’Connell helped his son acquire a brewery that put out a beer bearing his name. At the time Arthur Guinness was both a political rival as well as a maker of a rival beer. As such, ones beer choice in Ireland often also spoke to one’s politics. O’Connell died in 1847.

The Irish Free State was pretty close to O’Connell’s ideal for Ireland’s future. Some thought it not independent enough and one of the political parties pushed for a full break from England and leaving the Commonwealth. Ireland proved just how free it was when this party was allowed to take power after winning an election. Ireland ended the free state in 1937, sat out World War II, and left the Commonwealth in 1949.

Well my drink is empty so I will pour another and toast Mr. O’Connell,  but with a glass of Guinness, as I am somewhat to his right  politically. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Russia 1917, war, chaos, revolutions, price inflation and stamp value deflation

With a long war change was in the air and a provisional government must decide what to keep. Keeping the wrong things lead to further revolution. 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. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

The research on this stamp started out very hopefully. Three and a half rubles was a lot of money at the beginning of the twentieth century. It was an oversized stamp that was well printed. The stamp first came out in 1884. The mint version of that one is $1200. That is very exciting but I better check for a cheaper variation. Sure enough, there is a 1902 version with a slight difference worth $55. Still pretty good but the color is wrong as the early versions of the stamp seem to all be black and grey. Oh no, I better look ahead to see if there was an even later version. I was still confident that it was czarist with the imperial eagle on it. Well not exactly, In 1917, there was a provisional Russian government after the last Czar abdicated, but before the Bolshevik revolution of October 1917. This government had time to issue another new version of the stamp in green and maroon. War and revolution had taken their toll on the economy, and 3.5 rubles wasn’t what it used to be. The 1917 version of the 1884 stamp is only worth $1.10.

World War I went very badly for the already shaky government of Czar Nicholas II. The poor performance and very high casualty rate were blamed personally on the Czar. Since Czarina Alexandra was German and was a patron of a strange mystic named Rasputin, it made the Czar seem aloof, weak and uncaring of the suffering the war was causing. In March 1917 the Czar abdicated and was sent to internal exile. A provisional government was set up under socialist Alexander Kerensky.

Much to the surprise of many of the supporters of the revolution, Kerensky wanted to continue the war against Germany and Austria-Hungary. He thought there was still a duty to Russia’s allies and feared the economic consequence of the cutoff of their support to Russia. Kerensky launched a new offensive against Germany that went very badly. He had fired many of the Czar era officers and nobody was really in charge. The officers mocked Kerensky as a persuader and chief rather than a commander and chief. More than 2 million Russian soldiers deserted.

Kerensky believed he had no enemies on the left of him politically and concentrated on crushing Czarist opposition. After all Kerensky and the Bolshevik leader Lenin were old family friends. The Bolsheviks were not in agreement with Kerensky and sensed his weakness.

1917 saw a second revolution in October. The only military unit in the capital of Saint Petersburg that was willing to fight for the provisional government was a company of a woman’s unit and their resistance was wiped out in a day. Kerensky’s family faired better than the Czars as he was able to escape first to France and later to America. The newly declared Union of Soviet Socialist Republic finally let this stamp with it’s imperial eagle be retired, having been issued in various forms for 33 years.

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

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Peak Japan

Imagine trying to collect Asian stamps as a western collector in the 19th century. There is a taste of that in this 21st century stamp from Japan. 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. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

The colors on this stamp are incredibly well executed. That is not to say they are very realistic. Instead the colors have been picked to be so subdued as to add a feeling of calm and contentment. More so than the more vivid colors of reality. This is a common theme in Japanese stamps from the early days. In the more modern offerings there is more of a reflective mood. The stamp offerings are often large sheets of different stamps dedicated to home towns or songs. Not the big cities where people still live and not songs that sit atop the pop chart. Rather an idealized reflection on a Japan that once was.

Japan is no longer a hard charging goal oriented country of the twentieth century. Rather it is an older place,still mostly inward looking, and very well off. This is reflected in the stamp offerings, that are clearly directed almost entirely to local collectors.

So where does that leave the western stamp collector. Well, if ones favorite part of collecting is art on stamps. Japan will have plenty of stamps for you. They are reasonably priced with comparatively few of them exceeding a dollar in value.

To a more general collector there are some basic issues that just do not come up as often with other countries offerings. The Japanese script, with no date of issue leave basic identification very difficult. To add to this, from the early 1990s on to present day there has been the problem of inflation. or rather the lack of it as Japan as been fighting a never ending battle with deflation since the Japanese stock market bubble burst in 1989. This takes away a method of time dating a stamp that works with most every country including pre 1989 Japan. Over time the denominations on stamps go up. So the newer the higher the denomination. Occasionally there is a big devaluation or a new currency to shake things up but those can be learned easily. On todays Japan stamp, the denomination is 80 yen. The has been the defacto postal rate for nearly 30 years. There were even a few earlier than that stamps with that denomination. That means that the denomination can only narrow the stamp down to a 30 year window. Not much help.

At the same time the postal issues have shifted at a few on going themes of a better yesterday that have new annual releases. An example of this is the hometown series that are now in the hundreds of individual stamps issued over many years. All with 80 yen denominations and descriptions only in Japanese characters.

Another factor making it difficult is the tendency not to show landmarks from the town but rather an idealized nature scene as with todays stamp. Very pretty and might mean something to one from that hometown, but not  much for anyone else.

Well my drink is empty so I will open the conversation in the below comment section. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Iraq 1923, They don’t like the Ottomans or the British, lets see how they like the Hashemites

When an empire fades there is a vacuum. 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. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

The stamp today displays an exotic picture of an ancient Sunni Mosque. The other stamps of the issue show other religious sites from the various religions in Iraq. The stamp displays the problem facing the British as it did the Ottomans before them and the Americans much later. The country is just not a cohesive place  that lends itself to becoming a successful country.

The stamp today is issue A1, a one half anna stamp that was the first issue of a separate Iraq. There are earlier Baghdad overprints from the Ottoman era. It was part of a thirteen stamp issue of various denominations. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents used. The 10 Rupee stamp featuring the Golden Shia Mosque at Kadhimain is worth $67 mint.

Iraq broke off from the retreating Ottoman Empire after World War I. When it became clear that there was going to be a British mandate to run Iraq, there was a rebellion. The head Shia Ayatollah issued a jihad forbidding Iraqis from working for the British and to press Iraqi demands peacefully at first. The rebellion was widespread and not just Shia. The British were able to put down the rebellion at high cost through the use of aerial bombing. The cost was such that Britain decided that they did not want to administer Iraq after all. At T. E. Lawrence’s suggestion, a Hashemite leader he had worked with in World War I was brought in and named King. He had previously served briefly as King of Syria until the French Colonial forces had removed and exiled him. He was originally from Mecca and could trace his ancestry to the Prophet Mohammed.

This choice was also complicated. King Faisal I was virtually unknown in Iraq and a Sunni. The Sunnis were a minority in Iraq and since the Ottoman administration was also Sunni, the majority Shia felt disadvantaged. Though Arab, the Shia also looked more to Iran for leadership and support. Faisal tried to overcome this by trying to appeal to a more pan Arab spirit. His brother was after all the ruler of neighboring Transjordan and covetous of Syria, Lebanon, Arabia, and Palestine. The choice of  Faisal let the British step back from the mandate while still keeping it’s interest in the British owned Iraqi oil company.

The Hashemite’s rule was not successful personally for them. The three Hashemite rulers of Iraq were all murdered. Faisal I was murdered by arsenic poisoning in 1933. His young son King Ghazi died in a mysterious car wreck in 1939. He had been a disappointment to the British as he was openly pro axis and said so on his radio show. There was also a sexual scandal with a black servant boy dying of a gunshot wound in the Royal chamber. The King claimed the boy died after forgetting to remove his gun before laying down for siesta. In 1958, a still only 23 year old King Faisal II ordered the army to deploy to Jordan to support his ally King Hussein of Jordan. Instead they marched to the palace and lead a coup. The King’s whole family was shot after surrendering to the coup plotters. The King survived the shooting but the King died later in hospital. The crown price and prime minister’s dead bodies were dragged through the streets and then hung from a lamp post.

That was the end of the Hashemites in Iraq but the tradition continued with republic. The coup plotter served five years as prime minister before another coup where he was shot and then hung from a lamp post. Remember also Sadam Hussein being hung after being forced from office and found hiding in a sewer pipe. At least he was given a trial. Progress?

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

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Barbados had an attractive seal, but somewhat unrepresentative

Sometimes colonial stamp issues can stay around a long time, in this case becoming completely anachronistic. 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. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

The stamp today features the then seal of the then British Crown Colony of Barbados. It looks dramatic and mythical, like something from the 17th century. Which it probably was. The World Wars changed markedly British attitudes on maintaining far off colonies. The shameful legacy of slavery also meant that the views of many on the island were not being represented in the countries administration. When a basic stamp issue lasts from 1916 all the way to 1948, the upshot can be a period piece. Great for the stamp collector. For commonwealth issues are a popular collector interest. Whether the collector longs for Pax Britannica or is revolted by the audacity of it all. One cannot deny the eye candy.

The stamp today is issue A19, a two and one half penny stamp issued by the Crown Colony of Barbados in 1925. This is from the middle period of this long issued stamp. The words postage and revenue mark it as from the middle period. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth $1 used. The one to look for in this issue is the 3 shilling version from 1918, which is worth $180 used.

Barbados was originally settled by Indians from Venezuela before Christ. The first British landed in 1625. At first the economy was tobacco based with the labor being handled by indentured servants from Britain. After a period of service they were usually given 10 acres. They did not fare well and many went on to the colonies of North and South Carolina. The few descendants of these indentured servants in Barbados today are known as red legs. Later sugar cane production took over with large plantations and Jewish leadership coming from Spain. The labor was performed by large numbers of African slaves imported from West Africa. The trade revenue from this period was quite high and Barbados was one of the most valuable British colonies in terms of trade. Bridgetown was then the third biggest British city in the Western Hemisphere after Boston and New York.

The freedom of slaves declared by Britain in 1834 changed Barbados dramatically. Sugar caine production dropped off. Many of the Jews left and the island was demographically dominated by Africans who were still not being represented in the administration of the colony. A wealth test was used to keep them out. This was done locally. The long period this stamp was issued was the period the right to vote was gradually extended to more of the people and Britain was becoming wary of maintaining such far off colonies.

There were two schools of thought of how to proceed. One was a federation of the British West Indies with Canada. This was tried in the 50s still within the empire but under a black Barbun Premier. The majority on most of the islands involved favored independence individually for the various islands. Independence was realized in 1966 and Barbados remained in the British Commonwealth. The main industries now are tourism and offshore banking.

Well my drink is empty so I will toast the period seal of Barbados. Briain managed quite a large realm from such a small island. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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China, the late Qing Dynasty, do we reform and if so, how much?

An elite lives an out of another era life, but one that is not working for the people. Can this be fixed? 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. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

At first glance this stamp is impressive. A dragon is an ancient symbol of Chinese power and much needed and feared water. At the time in the late nineteenth century, the image of the dragon was tied to the Emperor. Here is the rub though. The Emperor was quite weak and being controlled behind the scenes by Empress Dowager Cixi. The stamp coincided with major humiliating concessions of sovereignty to foreign powers. Even on a postage stamp, the Emperors complicity can be seen in the fact of the English lettering and that the stamp was printed in London. Modern Chinese stamps also have China written in English on them. Today is a different time with world travel and often multi lingual peoples. At the turn of the 20th century, it was a reflection of subservience.

Todays stamp is issue A 17 a two cent stamp issued by Imperial China in 1898. It was part of a 12 stamp in various denominations honoring the Qing Dynasty. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth $2.75 used. A mint version of the $5 stamp in this issue is worth $600.

The late Qing Dynasty was a string of weak often child Emperors with regencies speaking for them. The real power was wielded by the Empress Dowager Cixi. She faced an antiquated and apart elite and a vast and very populous realm. Western powers were sniffing around and pealing off ever greater pieces of China for there trading posts. There were even Christian missionaries coming to try to modify the Chinese peoples most basic beliefs. These missionaries were really just a way to get the camels nose under the tent. When the inevitable incidents happened to them, the westerners had their excuse to grab ever more from China.

It seems logical to use the numerical advantage of China to build a modern army capable of defending China. Remember that the elite is apart and old fashioned. For that reason, the average Chinese won’t fight for them and any army they organize will be hopelessly outdated. So there is a string of tough talk from the Empress Dowager and then an acquiescence to the west in return for the Emperor’s rule being allowed to continue.

On the domestic front, there was some push toward educational improvement but little in the way of land reform that might have gone some way to relieving the frequent famines. Of course there were no famines within the Forbidden City. The few reforms attempted were fought vigorously by the beaurocracy and indeed most of the reformers such as Kang Youwei proved to be just out for themselves. Kang went in twenty years from being thought of as a radical reformer to scheming with a warlord to put the last boy Emperor back on the thrown. He did however propose that the Emperor rule over a more socialistic system and has such his memory was somewhat rehabilitated by Mao. The Dowager Cixi died in 1908 by arsenic poisoning and her elaborate tomb was pillaged by a warlord in 1928. Supposedly some of her jewels with which she was buried were later in the hands of Madame Chiang Kei-shek.

Well my dink is empty. One wonders if instead of reforming and giving in to never ending demands if the Dowager had just fought to the death she might have been better remembered. Dragons after all breath fire. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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1968 Cambodia, The human rights flame burns bright, at least on the stamp

A newspaper editor who opposes the government is stripped naked and beaten in the street by police in front of the central police station. The head of the police is asked by the national assembly if government opponents have the right to police protection. Indeed they do, he said, and by the way, here is a list of national assembly men we consider opponents. The censure measure is tabled and the ruling Prince later remarks that the national assembly should be nicer to the police. 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. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

The stamp today is from the important years of the UN. The UN was especially important in Cambodia. It was in UN conferences in the mid 50s that attempted to set the parameters of post colonial Cambodia. The stamps like this were issued all over the world by newly independent countries. In a way, it is sort of a rival to the British Commonwealth stamp issues. The UN issues are far more political and perhaps as a result have not developed the  same number of specialty collectors.

Todays stamp is issue A53. a 5 Reil stamp issued by the Kingdom of Cambodia on December 16th, 1968. It was part of a four stamp issue in various denominations celebrating Prince Sihanouk and the UN national human rights year in 1968. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 35 cents used.

The UN conferences specified the local King as ceremonial head of state of Cambodia and provided for the removal of French and Viet Minh communist foreign soldiers from the country. The machinations of King Sihanouk to consolidate power were interesting. He first abdicated in favor of his elderly father thereby becoming Prince. As Prince, Sihanouk then felt free to engage in politics. He set up the Sangkum as his political party that had the state behind it. The party included both left and right wing figures as a way to coopt both the left and the right. Sihanouk believed that if either the left or the right was allowed to rule, the first thing they would do is remove him as King, er Prince.

His rule was surprisingly socialist with the government taking over most business. This was done allegedly to insure the profits accrued to Cambodians rather than foreign exploiters. The reality was more of a spoils system rather like the Ferdinand Marcos regime in the Philippines. In foreign policy, there was much collaboration with Communists in North Vietnam and China.

Sihanouk was overthrown by a right wing former Prime Minister Lon Nol in 1970 and Sihanouk went into exile in China and later North Korea where Kim Il Sung built him a 40 room palace. When the Khmer Rouge overthrew Lon Nol, Sihanouk returned as head of state but was quickly put allegedly under house arrest in the palace. If this happened, it would seem to absolve him of his government’s genocide. He again was on his throne for a short while in the early 2000s as a ceremonial King.

His rule was not all political maneuverings. He directed over 50 films, some from his North Korean Palace in exile. He started a film festival in Phenom Penh where his films were the only nominees and winners. He also composed music and often traveled Cambodia with a full orchestra and local pop singers. He died in 2012 at age 90 and was given a full state funeral.

Well my drink is empty and so I will open up the conversation in the below comment section. The idea of one political party that coopts left and right to keep in charge an increasingly hereditary oligarchy sounds both ominous and plausible for the future. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

 

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Trying to get out of Cameroon

Setting a colony up for independence is difficult. When a colony was taken from the Germans and divided between Britain and France doubly so. 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. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

To look at the stamp, it appears to be that of an independent country celebrating the first anniversary of independence. This completely airbrushes out the struggles of putting together a new country. This perhaps is appropriate. The French were going and so were the British. They were just trying to leave the locals in the best hands they could find. Pretending the French were still making the decisions was foolhardy.

The stamp today is issue A32, a 20 African Franc stamp that was issued by the French Colony of Cameroon on May 10th 1958. It is the first stamp issue since French Cameroon was granted autonomy. It showed a mother lifting a baby to the Cameroon flag. The stamp is worth 80 cents used.

Cameroon had been a German colony through World War I. In taking it, the territory was divided into French and British sectors. The people spoke different languages and had different colonial systems. The northern part of the territory was mainly Muslim, and the southern area mainly Christian. Building a cohesive country was going to be difficult.

At the time of the stamp, the first African prime minister Andre-Marie Mbida was in charge. He was a southern Christian socialist who favored a 10 year process toward independence while Cameroonians were trained to take charge. This was not quick enough for the French. they were in favor of being out as quickly as possible with Cameroon staying on in the French African community of nations. Mbida considered this false independence. A French Governor General replaced Mbida with Ahmadou Ahidjo, a northern Muslim rival who was in favor of quicker independence but wanted to maintain close relations with France.

There was also the problem of British Cameroon. An election was held on short notice giving the British area the choice of joining independent Cameroon or joining Nigeria. Independence or continued colonial status was not an option. The northern part went to Nigeria and the southern part to Cameroon. Initially the British part had some self rule but this was done away with and there have since been attacks on English language speakers.

Ahidjo sent Mbida into exile as Ahidjo’s successor did to him. There have only been two presidents of independent Cameroon in the 58 years since independence and such relative stability has offered some benefit to the economy. The country is by no means free and the now aged President spends most of his time in Switzerland.

The articles I have written have shown me how difficult it is to leave a colony or to stay. The few countries that avoided colony status do not seem much better off either. Some questions only have least bad answers. What happened in Cameroon was probably that.

Well, my drink is empty so I will pour another to toast ex leaders in exile, and in Cameroons case the current leaders “working vacations in Switzerland”. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

 

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Through Russian GranDukes, Polish Marshals, Nazi Henchmen, Communist Secretary Generals, and Lech Walesa, Belvedere Palace is still standing.

There is an Elton John song titled “I’m still standing” As you get older that feels more like a real accomplishment. With each new twist in the life of the palace on this stamp reminds of that song. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of a certain brand of vodka, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

This is a stamp from the 1930s depicting a then 120 year old palace. His most prominent resident, Marshal Josef Pilsudski, the father of modern Poland, had just died in it. The stamp makers intention was probably document the palace as it passed into the historical. Dig a little deeper and we find that much of the history of the place was yet to be written.

The stamp today is issue A65. a 25 Groszy stamp issued by Poland in 1935. It displayed Belvedere Palace in metropolitan Warsaw. It was part of an 11 stamp issue in various denominations. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 35 cents used.

Belvedere Palace was built in 1819 on the site of what was originally a porcelain factory. Russian Grand Duke Constantine took up residence there in 1818. He abandoned it during an uprising in 1830. The tendency of the residents of Belvedere to abandon the premises when the mob arrives at the gate would see the palace through many a crisis. After World War I, Poland was an independent country again and hero of the wars with Russia Marshal Josef Pilsudski took up residence. He left after his 4 year term  but then returned in a coup in 1926. The previous president abandoned the palace as Pilsudski’s troops approached the gates. Pilsudski’s years there, he died there in 1935 are thought of as the best years. The history was still being written.

During World War II Germany and Russia invaded Poland and Warsaw ended up in the German zone. The cruel rule of the Nazi occupiers was lead by Hitler crony Hans Frank who set himself up in Belvedere Palace. He once sadisticly joked that if a new poster was printed for every Pole he ordered shot the Polish forests would have to be cleared. Things did not go well on the home front for him as well. He sought a divorce from his wife Brigitte but she fought it based on her love for being “Queen of the Poles”, self proclaimed of course. Even the Nazis didn’t recognize that one, but they stayed married with Brigitte insisting she would rather be a widow. Frank also abandoned the palace as the Russians approached in 1944 and later was captured by the Americans in Bavaria. He was tried, convicted, and hung in the Nuremburg trials, leaving Brigitte a widow. The memoirs he wrote in jail were the source for the claim that Adolf Hitler had a Jewish grandfather who grandfathered him through his maternal grandmother who worked for him as a maid. The claim is unsubstantiated.

The Communists General Secretaries then took up residence at Belvedere. When Lech Walesa became President after the end of the cold war he also took up residence. The Presidential Palace in the city center of Warsaw became gradually to be more used while Belvedere became more ceremonial. It is still used today by visiting heads of state. I hope they are given a tour that goes into the significance of where they are staying. There is talk of turning the palace into a museum in honor of Marshal Pilsudski. It they do, I hope there will be a new stamp to honor it. Or maybe just a reprinting of the 1935 issue. The Polish vodka brand Belvedere is named after the palace and there is a likeness of the palace on the bottles. It is not made on the grounds.

Well my drink is empty and so I will 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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Remembering Gustave Eiffel’s work in Peru during the French Exposition Lima 1957

An exhibition of a rich country in a poor country can be awkward, but less so if a legend of the rich country had done earlier work in the host country. 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. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

When I first spotted this stamp, I reacted badly to it. Poor Peru has nothing to compare to the Eiffel Tower except a long ago Cathedral built by the Church not the state and likely inherited from the Spanish colonial period. This is where digging in deeper as I do on this site helps. It turns out that Gustave Eiffel did a fair amount of work in Peru and indeed the exposition was held in a building designed by Mr. Eiffel. This changes my whole outlook on the stamp. Now the Exposition takes on the spirit of two countries that have had a friendly collaboration for years. Eiffel’s work in Peru was after independence and included work for the State as well as the Church. This was a great bit of history to recognize during the Exposition as it was probably new to the French. Peru even had the confidence to have this stamp look vaguely French. Good Job Peru!

The stamp today is issue AP57, a 50 Centavo airmail stamp issued by the Republic of Peru on September 16th, 1957. It was part of a four stamp issue celebrating the French Exhibition in Lima that year. According to the Scot Catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents. There is a version of the stamp with an overprint from being issued directly at the exhibition. This ups the value five times, however still to a modest $1.25.

It is a regret that a young person who might have waited in line to get his commemorative stamp overprinted. He carefully saved the stamp now for over 60 years and yet is only rewarded with a value of a little over a dollar. Being rewarded with a decent valuation might help get his grandchildren collecting. At the current valuation, it is at best a curiosity to the young and even the now grandfather must wonder why he bothered.

The Exposition was a big deal. It was attended by Peruvian President Prado and French President Coty. The French Navy made a port visit to coincide with the Exposition and the French had elaborate trade goods on offer. The two Presidents were similar. Both were older conservative presidents that are not well remembered today. Both were elected by small majorities and served out their terms but beset by agitation from the young left who were dissatisfied but could not win at the ballot box.

Gustave Eiffel did work in many countries during a long career that is forever memorialized by the Eiffel Tower in Paris. He did bridges, aqueducts, churches, train stations and even a few hotels. He was an engineer by training and the aesthetics of his work gave a sense of the industrial revolution going on around him. He also worked on the Statue of Liberty and was part of a failed counter proposal for the Panama Canal. He also did some groundbreaking work in aerodynamics in the early days of manned flight.

My drink is empty so I will toast Peru for far exceeding my expectations with this stamp. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.