Month: August 2018

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For the first Latin American stamp with a woman, Mexico in 1910 picks “The sweet mother of the fatherland”

In 1910, Mexico celebrated 100 years of independence from Spain. So figures from the movement get their due in the form of a stamp issue. Among them the first female to be featured on any Latin American stamp. 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.

This is another overly formal and impersonal Latin American stamp featuring a long gone figure. Leona Vicario was a young adventurous women of independent means who helped her country break away from Spain out of love for it and her man. This issue is from a long time ago and a different culture, but there should have been some way to include this history on the stamp. The 2010 200th anniversary Mexican issue does a better job with Miss Vicario.

Todays stamp is issue A37, a two centavo stamp issued by Mexico in 1910. The stamp features Mexican independence figure Leona Vicario and was part of an 11 stamp issue in various denominations on the centennial of Mexican independence. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents.

Leona Vicario was born to a wealthy Spanish merchant and his Mexican born wife. They died when Leona was 18 and she inherited their vast fortune. She bought a villa next door to her uncle but was free in a way that few women were in her time. At her Royalist uncle’s suggestion, she became engaged to a Spanish lawyer. When he transferred back to Spain without marriage, she took up with a pro independence lawyer named Andres Quintana Roo over her uncles objections. He was involved in the struggle for independence. She took up his cause and made donations and acted as a messenger for the movement.

Leona Vicario

When Leona’s activities were found out she fled and married her lover. At her uncle’s suggestion she returned to her villa but was detained by the Spanish authorities. With help from the rebels she was able to escape but this time she had her property confiscated. To partially make up for this the revolutionary Congress granted Leona a pension. Post independence she worked as the first female journalist and her husband was a prominent politician and judge. A Mexican state was named after him and Leona’s profile has graced a version of the Mexican 5 Peso coin. The two are buried together at the Independence Colum in Mexico City.

Well my drink is empty and I am left wondering how different Miss Vicario’s life would have been if her first intended hadn’t transferred back to Spain without her. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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South Korea 1970, President Park becomes more dictatorial but the economy thrives

How to judge a new countries leader. Freedom? Stability? Economic Performance? All of the above. 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.

A stamp with a countries flag on it seems at first pretty basic. There is often a USA bulk postage issue with the flag, the current postal rate, and not much else. That is essentially what this is. In its own way though it is a sign of progress. South Korea was only recently free of it’s Japanese colonial period and had suffered an invasion and devastating war that was only ended with a cease fire. The country was still on a war footing and troops deployed abroad in South Vietnam. Yet there was still enough economic activity to require a basic bulk stamp issue to serve people sending letters. It should be seen as the economic miracle it was.

Todays stamp is issue A324, a 10 Won stamp issued by South Korea in 1970. It was part of an 18 stamp issue in various denominations that were issued from 1969-1974. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents used. The mint version is up at $1.60, showing that not many of this bulk issue were being preserved by collectors.

The Korean War ended in 1953 with the Korean peninsula divided between a Communist North and a Capitalist South. The South Koreans had tried democracy after the war but the result was much political instability. With the country still in a state of war and heavily armed, the armed forces had an unusual amount of power and they were nervous about the instability and feared the often protesting students would lead to a Communist overthrow of the government. Brigadier General Park felt this and when he found out he was to be retired he acted and lead a successful coup. He later formed a political party and his takeover was  ratified by an election. He then embarked on an export driven economic growth plan that financed a great deal of industrialization by borrowing from the outside.

The economic growth was very quick and resembled what was going on in Japan with a few very large companies involved in many industries with cross ownership. Relations with Japan were normalized and aid and capital began to flow from that source. South Korea also ventured out more into the world with troop deployments in South Vietnam and construction companies heavily involved in building the petro-dollar states of the middle east. The sophistication of the country was seen in the nuclear power plants being constructed. The military also was technically adept enough to operate new West German submarines and then state of the art F4 Phantom American fighter bombers.

The economic performance was not enough to insure President Park’s popularity. To stay in office he had to resort to ever more repression of his political enemies. Eventually the military felt that he was going too far and President Park was assassinated by the head of the defence intelligence agency during a private banquet. He is still a controversial figure in Korea especially after his daughter was elected President in 2013, only to be impeached and sentenced to jail for influence paddling.

Well my drink is empty and I an debating whether to pour another to toast the memory of President Park. I think I will as I regard bringing up the living standards of a large group of people more important that cowtowing to leaders who are long on complaints and short on solutions or achievements. The toast should happen privately though and not at a banquet. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

 

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USA 1951, as part of coming back together, America recognizes the last Civil War veterans of both sides

After defeat and the degradations of Reconstruction, the South went out of it’s way to celebrate the Confederate heritage. The national government had the good sense to allow it and the foresight to be respectful, as with this stamp. 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 visuals of todays stamp would have been familiar to postal patrons of the day. Two years before there had been a similar stamp in a different color celebrating the last Union Army veterans camp. Only the color the acronyms of the respective organizations and details on the veterans uniform differ. What a great way to treat the two sides equally so many years later and if you think about it, a tremendous act of charity on the part of the victor toward the defeated.

Todays stamp is issue A445, a 3 cent stamp issued by the United States on May 30, 1951. It was a single stamp issue that celebrated the United Confederate Veterans last camp in Norfolk, Virginia that year. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents whether it is mint or used.

The United Confederate veterans formed in 1889, twenty four years after the Civil War ended in 1865. The numbers grew rapidly as local clubs or “companies” affiliated with the group, The group would organize regular camps for the veterans where a southern city would go all out to welcome them and their families. In 1911, Little Rock, Arkansas hosted a camp that was over twice the cities then population.

Over time the camps got slightly smaller as the veterans were then dying off. From the stamp issue, we can see that the Southern veterans camps outlasted the Union Army veterans camps. Civil War nostalgia  being a Southern thing for the most part.

The last camp in Norfolk in 1951 hosted three veterans. One of whom, John B. Salling, later proved to be a fraud. He claimed to be born in 1846 but the 1860 census listed him as 4 years old. The last verified Confederate veteran, Pleasant Crump died at age 104 on December 31, 1951 having served as a young Private in the 10th Alabama Infantry Regiment.

There as been a push to expunge Confederate history by the removal of monuments. Every monument may not mean something to everyone but it is enough that it means something to some. A few years back a Confederate statue in North Carolina was torn down by a Vietnamese LBGT political activist whose parents came to America as a boat people in the 1970s. Civil War Heritage only offends her, but that she thinks she has a right to take it away from someone else, is severely misguided. Unfortunately the modern world proved her right as the local prosecutors did not press charges even though her crime was on tape. What a bunch of losers. End rant. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Albania 1953, It was correct to choose the forces of Hoxha over fake royal Zog

A small country faced a choice in how to go forward after World War II. Stamp offerings of the Socialists celebrated the common man in a way different from what came before. 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.

I do like a good communist workers stamp. In fact a tobacco factory stamp from this same Albanian issue is one of my favorite articles here at The Philatelist. Here is a link. https://the-philatelist.com/2017/11/09/communism-provides-smokes-for-atheists-and-then-a-refugee-camp-for-muslims/.   Another aspect of Communism was the better treatment of women. Here we have a happy peasant women selling her wool to the new textile factory in Fier, a small city in Southern Albania. No doubt she will get a fair price for her goods, not just be transporting the goods for some Pasha or crony of Zog.

Todays stamp is issue A94, a 2.50 Lek stamp issued by the republic of Albania on August 1st, 1953. It was part of a 8 stamp issue in various denominations showing industrial progress throughout Albania. According to the Scott Catalog the stamp is worth 25 cents used.

Before the war, Albania was ruled by a King, well sort of. An Italian supported President had Albania declared a Kingdom and Himself crowned King Zog I. He had been an aristocrat and legitimately held the title of Bey. He was also a fairly close relation of Egypt’s royal family. All this should not suggest that he was accepted by other royalty. He built up a large debt to Italy and then reneged on it. Now seeing himself as Royal, he broke off an engagement to a local girl to marry an American with some aristocratic Hungarian blood. Under Albanian blood feud rules, his jilted fiancé’s family had the right to kill King Zog and he surrounded himself with bodyguards and put his mother in charge of the Royal kitchen to prevent poisoning. A few days after the birth of Crown Prince Leka, Italy invaded and Zog’s family escaped with a large supply of gold. King Zog was subject of more than 500 blood feuds and survived over 50 assassination attempts. He died in 1961 in Paris after being unsuccessful in reestablishing his throne post war,

King Zog I during his reign

The resistance to the Germans and the Italians was divided into Royalist and Socialists. In terms of the actual fighting, it was almost entirely socialist. This was despite the British giving Zog’s forces aid. Albania eventually freed themselves of the German occupation without foreign invasion in 1944. The British advised the Royalists to not oppose the Socialists final march to Tirana and helped the leaders escape into exile. Enver Hoxha was declared the new leader of the peoples republic. It is pretty obvious he offered more hope to the people than the return of Zog.

Zog’s son Leka I returned to Albania in 1996 to reclaim his thrown. He did so on a passport issued by himself that listed his profession as King. He formed a Royalist political party that he was not a member of. He was after all above political parties, even his own. The question of a return to Monarchy was put to a vote in 1998 with two thirds voting to stay a republic. Leka was however allowed to stay in Albania and given a real passport.His own son Leka II is now head of the house of Zog. He was born in exile in South Africa in 1982. The South African government generously declared his maternity ward Albanian territory for the day to meet Albanian birth requirements.

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

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Austria Hungary 1867 Hope you like Emperor Franz Joseph, he will be around a while

I like the early medallion stamps, where a countries leader is presented in profile in the manner of the first stamp, the British penny back, featuring Queen Victoria. This one is both Austrian and Hungarian and features the even longer serving Hapsburg Emperor  Franz Joseph. These stamps don’t tell you much of the leader but that just leaves more work for 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. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

This stamp is fairly unique in that it was issued by both Austria and Hungary. The Austro-Hungarian Empire was structured as two realms under one monarch. For the most part therefore the stamp issuances are separate. Since the countries shared a monarch, this issue is the exception. After so much time has past. This stamp becomes harder to identify. There is no country name on the stamp and most representations of Franz Joseph show him as a much older man, he served until 1916.

Todays stamp is issue A9, a 5 Neu-Kreuzer stamp issued by Austria in 1867. There are a great number of variations of this stamp that came out for over a decade. I believe mine is the Type I by Austria judging by the clear printing of the Emperor’s beard. That is unfortunate because according to the Scott Catalog, the stamp is only worth 25 cents, despite it’s age and higher denomination. Quite valuable is a sheet of the 5 Kr stamps with a cache of 3 Krs in the corner. It is worth $37,500.

Franz Joseph took over the Austrian Empire after his uncle abdicated during the unrest of 1848. He was rather warlike and reactionary being on the loosing sides of a war with Prussia and wars of Italian unification. More famously he ignited World War I after declaring war on Serbia after the assassination of his unloved, unworthy heir Arch Duke Ferdinand.

Over his long rule his large empire was beset with troubles over the desires of the various peoples for self rule. The conversion of the Austrian Empire into the Austro-Hungarian Empire was a step toward addressing this  and later in his rule there were thoughts of doing the same with Croatia, a separate government still under the Hapsburg Emperor. This was not enough to quell nationalist tendencies. Franz Joseph ruled in an older style that even saw him using his power to veto a potential Pope during a College of Cardinals. The next Pope rescinded this right.

The Royal House was beset by the anarchist that were seemingly all around at the time. Franz Joseph himself was once stabbed in Hungary but was saved by the stiff material of his military uniform collar and quick help from a military aid  and a passing butcher. The Emperor immediately made noblemen of his first responders. Later his son/heir Rudolf  was found dead with his 17 year old mistress at his hunting lodge. It was thought that they were also set upon by anarchists but the mistresses letters were found many years later indicating an intention to commit suicide together. Suicide being sin that forgoes a Christian burial, Rudolf was declared mentally unstable and the hunting lodge was donated to become a nunnery. To this day the nuns pray daily for Rudolf’s soul. His legitimate daughter also proved somewhat deadly as she shot an actress in Prague involved with her husband. Franz Joseph was so annoyed he skipped her child’s Christening. Rudolf death left the line of succession with Ferdinand who was less than ideal due to his demeanor and his marriage to a lessor noble whose offspring could not be in the line of secession.

Franz Joseph’s wife Elisabeth found the formality of the Royal court in Vienna too stuffy so she spent much time abroad traveling incognito. This caught up with her in Switzerland at a hotel where her presence was leaked. An Italian anarchist waited for her outside the hotel and stabbed her with a poison filled syringe that was found in his room the next day.

After his death in 1916, his nephew Charles became the last Hapsburg Emperor. Seeing the futility of World War I, he sent out offers of peace that involved all nations returning to the 1914 status quo with no reparations acknowledging the war was a mistake for all. His offers were rejected but Pope John Paul II later beatified Charles for his efforts that had the support of the church. When World War I ended, Charles resigned from the governments but did not abdicate hoping that he would again be called on when things settled down. Later while on a vacation in Switzerland, Austria forbid his return and the Allied powers forced his exile to the Portuguese island of Madeira where he died of pneumonia in 1922.

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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Bulgaria tries to get back it’s land while trying to dance between Germany and Russia

Bulgaria emerged from World War I shrunken and defeated. It was time for the new King to set things right and he definitely tried until he was poisoned. Yes another German Royal in the Balkans tale. 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.

I like the aesthetics of todays stamp. A beautiful city up in the mountains. Perhaps somewhat idealized but so be it. When we study the history of the Balkans it always seems to involve a bunch of hot heads scheming for power. Well there was a lot of that but there were always also hearty people and great scenery.

Todays stamp is issue A58, a 10 Stotinki stamp issued by the Kingdom of Bulgaria  in 1921. The stamp shows a view of Sophia the capital and was part of a thirteen stamp issue in various denominations. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents whether it is mint or used.

King Boris III took the throne after his father King Ferdinand was forced to abdicate. Bulgaria had listened to it’s German King and sided with Germany against it’s more natural relationship with Russia. The result had been the loss of land to both Romania and Greece and a large bill for reparations. Naturally by the time this happened there was a large socialist movement in Bulgaria supported by Russia that called for the end of the failed monarchy.

His German father had prepared him well to fight for the monarchy. Notice his name was actually Bulgarian and he was baptized Orthodox, causing his father to be excommunicated by the Catholic church. He also had much military training, becoming a Major General,, no not a modern one, by age 24. Both Socialists and conservatives had turns in power with little effect but a left wing coup then banned political parties and tried to leave Czar Boris as a figurehead. This was a big mistake as he then lead a counter coup that kept the ban on political parties and left Boris completely in charge. This did make the country more stable.

His power base stabilized, Boris then set out to reclaim lost lands. He entered into an alliance with Nazi Germany that allowed Bulgaria to reclaim lost land from Romania and later Germany conquered the land given to Greece and allowed Bulgaria to administer it. After doing this he marketed himself successfully as the Bulgarian uniter. He tried to keep his distance from Germany by refusing to send Bulgarian troops to fight with the Germans in Russia and refusing to deport Jews to the death camps. He claimed the troops were needed at home in case of Turkish aggression and the Jews were needed for vital slave labor construction projects. This was a dangerous pose to take and in 1943 Boris was summoned to Hitler where he was berated and most think poisoned, dying a month later.

His child son Simeon then took the throne under a regency. A socialist prime minister was appointed as part of a change in sides but Czar Simeon was deposed in 1946 as Bulgaria became a socialist republic. Simeon is still alive and as such as several notable lasts. He is the only person alive to have held the title of Czar and also the only World War II head of state still alive. He went into exile in Egypt and later Spain  but returned to Bulgaria in the 90s and even served as Prime Minister in the early 2000s. He recently disclaimed the head of his old German Royal house of Saxe- Coburg and Gotha-Kohary. He still claims his Bulgarian title.

Simeon shortly before he became the last Czar

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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Easter Island pledges to Chile

Easter Island was another of those isolated islands that has to decide whether to pledge themselves to outsiders for protection or just go it alone. Easter chose to go with Chile but so late there was almost no one left to pledge. 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.

This stamp has more going on than first appears. The map of the island brought me in and I am glad it did because the story of how Chile acquired Easter Island is interesting. The generic person on a Latin American stamp has proven to be somewhat troublesome for me at this website. There is often just very little information on these fellows on the internet. I think the interest in them had waned by the time history went online.

Todays stamp is issue A199, a five Escudo stamp issued by Chile on January 26th, 1970. It was a single stamp issue celebrating the 80th anniversary of the treaty between Chile and Easter Island. The treaty was actually signed in 1888 so there timing was a little off but such are things. According to the Scott Catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents used. There is a better issue for the 100th anniversary in 1988 that was better printed, offered more views of the island and actually came out in the correct year.

Easter Island was first occupied by Polynesians in the 11th century. When the first Europeans arrived, they estimated 2000 natives lived there. The interaction with outsiders and internal turmoil took a heavy toll on the local population. In 1877 the native population was down to 111 people. There was some involvement from French people with a French Catholic missionary operation and a large sheep farm run by a French Jew from Tahiti. The French tried to keep the tribal organizations going while sending  not replyed to appeals to France to grant protectorate status to Easter. The island was being frequently raided by Peruvians who were shanghaiing natives into slavery.

The Chilean Navy had visited the island several times and a naval Captain named Policarpo Toro proposed to his government that the sheep farm be purchased and negotiations started to make Easter Island a protectorate of Chile. Permission for this was granted and after a year of negotiation a treaty was signed by Captain Toro and native King Atamu Tekena. The King was able to keep his title and the native part of the island was made a protected national park using the Polynesian name for the island Rapa Nui. The islands population has rebounded to 7750 with about 45 percent being of Polynesian decent. So Chile has proved to be a good steward of the island. The sheep farm closed in the 1950s but the 80s saw an expanded airport that has allowed more tourism.

Captain Toro was not revered for long in Chile. In 1892 there was a civil war that saw the navy on one side and the army on the other. Captain  Toro refused to participate and was dismissed from the service dishonorably. A few years later there was an amnesty that restored to former Captain Toro his pension. He died in 1921 and his brother’s family stayed on Easter Island.

Well my drink is empty and I will pour another to toast Captain Toro and King Atuma. Over time islands cost more than they make for their protector and it can’t be easy for the natives to pledge loyalty to outsiders in order to survive. The fact is though that the island surviving was achieved. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Canada 1955, cellebrating 50 years of Alberta being a province

When Alberta became a province, there were only 78,000 residents. Not a big center of political power, how Ottawa wanted it. 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 good visually. A pioneer couple in a new province where much development will occur. This then leads to the giant oil wells in the background. There was another stamp for the 100th anniversary in 2005. This stamp is somewhat in the same vain. The pioneer couple are gone but the oil wells are joined by tall skyscrapers and still pristine mountains. Further along in development but in some ways a return to appreciating the nature that lead to peoples new start there in the first place.

Todays stamp is issue A152, a five cent stamp issued by Canada on June 30th 1955. It was a single stamp issue celebrating the 50 years of Alberta and Saskatchewan becoming provinces. According to the Scott Catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents used.

Before becoming provinces Alberta and Saskatchewan  were part of Canada’s Northwest Territories. While the area was sparsely populated, the area was seeing development related to the construction of railroads. A prominent citizen of the time, Frederick Haultain, was serving as premier of the Northwest Territories. He proposed that the territory including Alberta and Saskatchewan come in as a single province named Buffalo. He assumed himself as Premier. This was not acceptable to the Labour government in Ottawa. It was thought that over time, Buffalo’s power would rival that of Ontario and Quebec. It was also a much more conservative place and Haultain was of the rival Conservative party.

So instead Alberta and Saskatchewan were let in separately under appointed Labour Premiers. The capital of Alberta was also purposely kept out of the largest city Calgary, in favor if the much smaller Edmonton. This bypassed the local conservatives and allowed the liberal organs of government to develop elsewhere. For example, the new University of Alberta also went to Edmonton. Haultain served for a while as the head of opposition in Saskatchewan until he accepted a position as a senior judge.

The Labour party was able to stay in power for quite a while despite being involved in a scandal involving railroad construction. The province had guaranteed loans to developers far in excess of the amount of money needed to build the railroad. Eventually after much delay the Liberal Premier resigned, but only to be replaced by his still Labour deputy. The Labourites built a coalition that included Indians and recent immigrants from the Ukraine to keep conservative power in check and managed to do so until around 1970, when the conservatives began 46 years of uninterrupted power. Maybe Labour was right to be concerned about a big conservative Buffalo.

Well my drink is empty and so I will open the discussion in the below comment section. It is common in politics all over democratic areas, that opinions toward new arrivals revolve on guesses about how they will vote. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Ireland honours Arthur Guinness for 200 years of beer brewing

Arthur Guinness has the fairly unique situation of a brewery he started over 250 years ago being still around and being the leader in stout beers, that Arthur late in his career focused on. 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.

Todays stamp is not very well printed as is typical of Ireland’s early stamp offerings. As the 50s became the 60s the stamps of Ireland became less religious and more Euro centered. That does not mean that Ireland does not still honour it’s past. Indeed, Arthur Guinness received another stamp issue on the 250th anniversary of his most famous brewery in 2009.

Todays stamp is issue A38, a 3 penny stamp issued by the Irish Republic on July 20th, 1959. It was a two stamp issue in different denominations with this one being the low value. According to the Scott Catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents used.

Arthur Guinness was born in 1725 in Ireland to an Anglican family. His godfather, an Anglican Archbishop bequeathed him 100 pounds in 1742. He used the money to start the first of his breweries. He was involved in several before taking on the one celebrated on this stamp. He had a lot of confidence in the success of the Dublin Brewery as he signed a 9000 year lease. A long lease worked as rent control for the brewery as now 45 pounds a year sounds very economical. Arthur married and by his one wife had 22 children, 10 of which lived into adulthood. Several of his children followed him into the brewery  but others were Anglican clergy, politicians and soldiers in the British Indian Army.

Late in his career Guinness focused his brewing to a dark beer known as porter. It was stronger and aged for longer period. Over time the methods were economized with less aging and the type of beer began to be known as stout. This type of beer was better known to come from London but the world wars changed that. With war time shortages, London brewers were forced to water down there now limited offerings. These shortages and rules just did not apply in Ireland and so Guinness Breweries were able to really expand their market. The fact that the brewery has continued and prospered means the company takes an active part in marketing the memory of Arthur Guinness. His signature, taken from the 9000 year lease, is on every bottle and there is now a scholarship foundation funded by the company in his name.

Well my drink is empty and since it was stout I think it best to just 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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Niue 1979, A “Savage Island” remembers Cook’s landing at “Traitor’s Head”

Discoverers don’t just have trouble with mother nature, sometimes the natives are not overjoyed to see them. 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.

I like this stamp a lot. On one hand it is a fairly old fashioned commemoration of British explorer James Cook aimed at the commonwealth collector. It is however modern enough to show the challenges Captain Cook faced with natives he found. In doing so one can see the event from both sides. The printing is excellent and done on behalf of Niue by New Zealand Post.

Todays stamp is issue A68, a 30 cent stamp issued by the New Zealand Dependency of Niue on July 30, 1979. It was part of a 4 stamp issue in various denominations honoring the 200th anniversary of the death of the explorer James Cook. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 85 cents mint.

Captain Cook joined the Royal Navy in 1755. After showing great skill mapping the Saint Lawrence River during the French and Indian War, Cook was tasked with exploring the Pacific. His journeys took him to Australia and New Zealand most famously but also Hawaii and the islands depicted on todays stamp.

The stamp depicts Captain Cook’s attempted landing on the Vanuatu archipelago island of Erromango in 1774. Cook found the natives unfriendly and several of his men were hurt and several natives killed. From this experience, Cook referred to the place he landed as Traitor’s Head. This event might have had special meaning on Niue as they also were so unfriendly that Cook did not actually land at Niue but gave it the name Savage Island.

Erromango was later found to have a large supply of sandalwood, for which there was a rich market for in China. The British could not convince the natives to work in a forestry operation but word got out of the riches available. Hawaii sent a expeditionary force to take over the island but when the force got there if found two ships, one from Rotorua in New Zealand with Maori workers and another from Samoa. While none of this treasure seeking involved Europeans, none were welcome by the natives of Erromango. Of the near 500 Hawaiians sent, only 30 made it back to Hawaii. Eventually these rival Polynesians slashed and burned their way through all the sandalwood.

Eventually traders and missionaries were allowed on Niue. The tribal King repeatedly petitioned to Queen Victoria to be made a British Protectorate. This was finally granted in 1900, but administration passed to New Zealand in the 1960s. Offered independence. the island chose to remain associated with New Zealand and their people are New Zealand citizens. Over time about 75 percent of the population has moved to New Zealand. The population is now barely over a thousand. So far New Zealand has been rebuffed in it’s suggestion that the remaining population leave as it becomes more difficult to offer services there.

Well my drink is empty and so I will pour another to toast Captain James Cook. I recently returned from a great trip to New Zealand where I got to enjoy both the heritage of the British and the still preserved culture of the Maori, the local Polynesians. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.