The countries of South America were sparsely populated after independence. There was little incentive to pledge to the new governments as citizens in spread outposts were on their own when trouble came. Uruguay hit on a path out of this, take in large numbers of immigrants and allow them to build for themselves and you a new economy. 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 shows a country trying to build a separate identity. The Army was perhaps the most durable institution. This is a conservative influence and that can be seen in a stamp displaying a coat of arms. The population of the time was over two thirds immigrant, so the coat of arms probably did not mean much, but hey talk to your army recruiter and get into the spirit.
Todays stamp is issue A36 a 10 Centesimos stamp issued by the Republic of Uruguay in 1889. It was part of a 24 stamp issue in various denominations. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 85 cents used. A stamp mistakenly printed on both sides is worth $20.
Uruguay was growing quite quickly in the late 19th century. There was a wave of immigration mainly from Italy and Spain. They mainly settled in Montevideo and that city was growing even faster than the country as a whole. What was growing even faster than the number of people was the number of sheep. There were three sheep for every person and merino wool became an important export.
What was also becoming big was the production of tin cans of corned beef sold worldwide under the brand Fray Bentos, the port where it was processed and shipped from. Corned beef had before been largely Irish with production for export. The potatoes famine saw a decline as land was shifted to food for Irish to eat. The production in Uruguay was controlled by a Scottish firm looking to replace Irish corned beef. Corn refers to corns of salt used in the curing. It was a low cost preserved meat that fed many during the industrial revolution and through the World Wars adding much prosperity to Uruguay. In the 1960s, production of Fray Bentos left Uruguay after a series of typhoid deaths in Scotland were traced to the corn beef and the untreated Uruguay river water used in the cooling process. The water contained too much human waste.
As one can imagine, the politics of Uruguay was less than stable. The army had arraigned a grand compromise between the more conservative white party and the more liberal colored party. The party names are not racial. The Presidency was held by the coloreds and certain government departments were reserved for the whites. This was not really stable and there were regular rebellions and intrigues. When President Maximo Santos was shot in the face in an attempted assassination, he wisely chose early retirement and a European tour. His abandoned mansion in Montevideo was taken and still serves has the headquarters of a government ministry. His former country house now also serves as a museum for disappeared persons from 1970s military rule. I hope the museum also remembers the disappeared former President and first owner Santos.
Well my drink is empty, and I am afraid all this talk of corned beef has killed my appetite. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.