Month: April 2019

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West Germany 1975, fight the junkies with their wild hair and loud mouths

Drug addiction is a terrible thing! That said, the aesthetics of this anti drug stamp talk a lot about the crosscurrents in the society of the day. 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 owes a lot to Norwegian Edvard Munch, though rendered without his skill. His 1898 painting, “The Scream” was taken to heart as a visualization of the angst of mankind under the pressures of the modern world. This painting was first presented in Munich and the style was much copied in Germany during the Weimar period. There was a reaction against it, Hitler said such painters were savages who should return to their caves and do the drawing on the cave wall. That of course wasn’t going to happen. It was understandable that an anti drug abuse appeal would repurpose Munch style imagery. Doing so with cartoon style coloring seems to just make fun of the junkie for his weakness and bad hair. One wonders if this effect was intended.

Todays stamp is issue A383, a 40 Pfennig stamp issued by West Germany on August 14th, 1975. It was a single stamp issue. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 30 cents used.

The early 70s was a fun time in German stamp issues. There were plenty of traditional issues showing idealized Renascence era views of German cities and a few old Prussian guys on horses. There was also my favorite stamp issue of all time. The A328 eleven stamp issue from 1971-74 promoting safety. I have avoided covering them on this website. It would take over two weeks to cover them all with my useful commentary limited to. Hey dummy, don’t light yourself on fire with a match, ha ha, or don’t fall into an open manhole, ha ha.

There were also some strange issues with mixed messages like this one about drugs. There was one about helping the handicapped but showed them as faceless silhouettes, what a burden. There was one showing a drop of blood and a police siren. This might not have meant  you better surrender peacefully to the police when they come for you as they have guns. There were several issues about how great Poland was and wasn’t it a shame that our fathers were so mean to them. Given how much of Poland was on former German land, how was this to go over among Germans forced to move west? There were lots of Weimar figures treated as heroes and statesmen when obviously had they been more competent, another war might have been avoided. Interestingly, all these crosscurrents are there on the stamps, if you look for them.

Well my drink is empty and I will pour another to toast Edvard Munch. He lived on another 46 years and his late output was idealized takes on farm life. So perhaps he came to terms with the pressures of modern life. He died in German occupied Norway and the Nazis had moved from calling him a savage to dubiously claiming him a sympathizer. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Cyprus 2007, Takism wins over Enosis but the Greeks move forward

The Greek government on Cyprus has worldwide recognition but the island is still divided with 40 percent of the island an unrecognized Turkish state. A pleasant surprise is that the rivalry has not completely prevented the island from moving forward. 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 issue shows a collection of neoclassic buildings on the Greek part of Cyprus. Left unstated on the stamps, is that most of the buildings featured are from the period when the whole of Cyprus was a British colony. Museums and libraries and important government buildings, built by the British and for everyone on the island. A legacy hard to replace but not adequately recognized as to how they happened. The British, who did their best to cope with the diversity that neither side wants to admit and as a result after the British left after repeated Greek attacks the island divided.

Todays stamp is issue A408, a 30 cent stamp issued by Cyprus on October 2nd,2007. This stamp featured the National Gallery of Contemporary Art and was part of a 8 stamp issue in various denominations. The stamp’s denomination is shown in both Cyprus and Euro cents as it was issued during the Greek part of the island switching to the Euro currency. The Greek part of Cyprus achieved membership in the EU separate from Greece in 2002. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth $1.50 unused.

The British gave up on Cyprus in 1960. See https://the-philatelist.com/2018/02/07/the-british-in-cyprus-again-having-to-stand-between/  . Greeks expressed a desire for Enosis, which was union with Greece. However there was a large Turkish minority that was facing ethnic cleansing if the Greek wishes were allowed to occur. The Greeks began attacking British targets in the island while the British tried to come up with some power sharing arraignment so they could leave. Given that situation, it is a wonder that any of the architecture on this series of stamps survived. The Turks on the island promoted Taksim, a division of the island. After independence there was a small scale guerilla war between Greeks and Turks. In the early 70s, Greece was under a right wing military government that supported a coup, that ended power sharing arrangements toward integration with Greece.

The Greeks did not fully consider the arrangements the British had left for them. If one side tried to force an end to power sharing, the other or Britain  had the right to intervene. A few days later, to Greek shock, the Turkish Army invaded and occupied 40 percent of the island. Taksim won over Enosis. The island required much ethnic cleansing to get everyone on their side of the line and Nicosia is now the only divided capital of Europe.

Greek Cyprus has done fairly well in recent years. The ancient sites and good weather attract tourists. The island as also become an offshore banking center mainly catering to Russian oligarchs. The wealth as seen some of the buildings on the stamps be replaced. The building on the stamp still houses a small art gallery but the art scene in Nicosia as a new dominant player. The A. G. Leventis gallery opened in 2014 in a large building resembling a prison with white marble walls. Though the gallery claims to feature local art, it also features a Paris collection, based on what the museum’s namesake kept in his Paris apartment. I get it, he’s rich and wants everyone to know it. My city also features a newer big gallery in white marble with some rich guy’s name on it. It is probably too late for both places to be recolonized by the British and have them build a tasteful gallery actually aimed at protecting and explaining the heritage.

Well my drink is empty and perhaps I should stop while I an ahead. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Niger 1926, an outpost turns into a colony to subdue the Touregs so mining can begin

Late colonization started getting into the outlands. In Niger, France hoped for gold mines but instead found two peoples at war with each other and too late to make the colony profitable, uranium. 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.

Niger is the inland area near the mouth of the Niger river. Except in the immediate area of the river, the colony was arid desert. What this stamp shows is drawing water from a well. Leave it to the colonists to find an area of activity that their presence is making the area better for everybody.

Todays stamp is issue A2, a 1 Centime stamp issued by the French colony of Niger in 1926. This was a 44 stamp issue in various denominations that were printed for many years. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents.

The area of colonial Niger had been fought over for many years between the darker skin Djerma people who lived in fixed places and the Tuareg, a lighter skin Berber people that were Nomadic. Both groups were Muslim even before the arrival of Europeans. The Tuaregs are sometimes called blue skinned because they tended to wear blue clothes that stained their skin beneath. The French established scattered military posts and made economic deals with the Djerma people for contract labor. The Tuareg proved more difficult to subdue and after they were, it was decided to form a separate colony in Niger. This was in order to have more control. Niger was far away from the main colonial administration center in Dakar, Senegal.

France had hoped to find mineral deposits and did but too late to make the colony a moneymaker for France. 3 years before independence, uranium was found by French miners looking for copper. The project took many years to get under way as French interest in the area faded and the post independence government corrupt and inefficient. A coup replaced the government and uranium production got under way in 1974. It quickly became the major industry in Niger but is not as profitable as it might be as it requires a long journey by truck through Benin to finally get shipped to France. The Niger government is constantly asking for more royalties and the mines often shut down when the market price makes the whole scheme not worth the headache. Niger enticed China to build a new mine close by the existing French one. It was only in operation for a short time because the revenue generated could not service the debt incurred. The uranium deposits found in Niger are great and mostly untapped but it is a desolate place. The Tauregs, which play a limited part in the Djerma government have again begun to agitate for sovereignty, and a piece of the uranium income. Meanwhile the population of Niger is 30 times what it was at independence with most living on food aid from the USA and the uranium sits in the ground. No doubt the place would have done better as a colony. More uranium production, more family planning, and less living off the charity of others.

Well my drink is empty and I will pour another to toast the French for finding the uranium as they previously found the well water on todays old stamp. The fact that the locals have proved incapable of making anything of it is on them. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Netherlands 1967, a technical university goes brutal

Delft University of Technology has over the previous 177 years,become one the premier technical universities in the world. As such, it is much larger than how it started. In the 1960s that change was reflected in a new assembly hall that replaced a small local chapel for university events. With more students, the University thought big and brutal. 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 suspect the stamp designer was not a fan of brutalist architecture. Well it is an acquired taste. One that I am myself acquiring after doing this Polish stamp, seehttps://the-philatelist.com/2019/03/20/poland-1976-would-it-be-too-brutal-to-try-this-again/ and this Soviet stamp, see https://the-philatelist.com/2019/01/02/soviet-union-1983-a-superpower-builds-big/.In those cases it was cold war era communist behind the buildings, but in this case the building came to be in the Netherlands. The impulses were the same as the school was more for the masses than before. Notice the floating spaceship aspect of the building built in 1966, the Russian fad of making their brutalist building appear to be floating was 10 years later. Innovation, as you would expect from a premier university in the field using it’s own graduates.

Todays stamp is issue A107, a 20 cent stamp issued by the Netherlands on January 5th, 1967. It was a single stamp issue celebrating the 125th anniversary of Delft University of Technology by showing the then new assembly hall. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents whether it is mint or used.

The University was founded as a Royal Academy in 1842. The original intent was to train colonial administrators for the then vast Dutch colonial empire. Originally the colonies were owned by the Dutch East India Company but the company went bankrupt and was nationalized in 1799. The Napoleonic Wars then played havoc with the empire but after that  the need was seen for more professional management. Over time, the Netherlands home country was rapidly industrializing  and the school transitioned to providing engineering training on an ever more vast scale. At the time of the Royal Academy there were 400 students, now there are over 19,000.

The assembly hall is called the Aula. It was designed by the architectural firm of van den Broek and Bakema, who were both graduates of the University. The firm mainly did large apartment buildings around Rotterdam in the Brutalist style but really went to town with the Aula. Their work was of some note internationally and they were invited to participate in the Interbau development in late 50s West Berlin. See that period Berlin architecture on a stamp here https://the-philatelist.com/2018/09/17/berlin-1966-a-new-divided-and-more-corporate-berlin/

The building still stands though the great masses of visible prestressed concrete tends to be discolored if not recently pressurewashed. That is okay, brutalism only improves with a little wear, enhancing the period feel. Delft Technical University received the honor of another stamp on the 150th anniversary in 1992, but that issue did not feature the architecture of the campus. Perhaps the many newer buildings did not measure up.

Well my drink is empty, and thankfully my University days are far behind me. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

 

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Lubeck 1859, a Hanseatic Free state submits to Prussia but keeps its independant streak

Along the Baltic and the North Sea there were a group of trading cities that formed a Hanseatic League to protect their interest. When Prussia united Germany there was a dance with cities like Lubeck as to how much of it’s traditional character could be retained. Some later leaders thought too much. 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.

Well a German Eagle implies a state ready to join a greater Germany. Look closer and you will spot the eagle has two heads looking east and west. This is a symbol of the old Holy Roman Empire, which first granted Lubeck it’s status as a Imperial Free Hanseatic State. The looking east and west implies empire and also fits with a trading post city. With Austria being the successor to the Holy Romans, it also speaks to the natural sympathies in the rivalry between Austria and Prussia.

Todays stamp is issue A1, a 2 Shilling stamp that was the first stamp issue Hanseatic Free State of Lubeck in 1859. It was a five stamp issue in various denominations. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth $27.50 unused. A variant of this stamp with the denomination written out as two and a half is worth $7200 used. Lubeck printed stamps for collectors up till 1872  so used copies of their stamps are the most valuable.

Lubeck was a trading post city on the Baltic. It had the additional advantage of being on the direct land route from the Baltic to the much larger Hamburg, thus avoiding the long sea journey around Denmark. As a trading post, the city had a much more international flavor than inland cities and the trade added to the wealth. The Hanseatic League had fallen apart many years before but many of the cities worked to preserve the unique character. The then large Holy Roman Empire granted Lubeck its free city status and the city was comfortable pledging allegiance to the far off Hapsburgs while running themselves under a Burgermeister. In the second half of the 19th century, Prussia had ambitions in the area and first worked with Austria against Denmark and then turned against her and fought a war that removed Austria from the area. Now came the direct pressure from Prussia to join the North German Confederation controlled by Prussia.

Prussia made the direct threat to occupy the city militarily. An alternative was offered that allowed some measure of self government but more Prussian control than Austrian Hapsburgs ever had. Under the military pressure, both heads of the Lubeck eagle looked south and joined with Prussia. The instruments of separateness stayed in place.

The independence of the area can be seen in two of it’s most famous citizens. Thomas Mann was a giant of German literature including ” A Death in Venice”. A closeted homosexual and leftist, he spent most of his life outside Germany in Switzerland and the USA. During the war, he hosted a propaganda show called “Listen Germany” where he decried the then German government for ending the cultural openness or decadence of the Weimar Republic, depending on your point of view. After the war Mann returned quickly to Switzerland rather than Germany after finding Truman’s USA too right wing for him. The politician known as Willi Brandt was a left wing activist who fled the Nazis to Norway and then resurfaced post war in Berlin, first as a Norwegian diplomat and then had a fairly miraculous rise in German politics becoming mayor of West Berlin and later Chancellor of West Germany. He was controversial on the right side of the political spectrum for living his life under an alias, having a mysterious gap as to what he did while abroad, and or course the sex and spy scandals that eventually brought him down. Things were perhaps done a little differently in the trading post cities.

Hitler resented Lubeck and removed the last vestiges of it’s special status in 1937. On this point, post war West Germany agreed and did not return it’s special status.

Well my drink is empty and so I will pour another to toast Lubeck Trading post cities often have interesting histories but it is often sad when they are brought into line, Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Brazil 1891, an elite overthrow the monarchy, to avoid a Haitian outcome

Brazil maintained slavery until 1889, among the last among civilized countries. With an old Emperor with no male heir, what would happen when he passed was too much for the elite to bare. Haiti seemed a scary possibility. So a coup creates a republic at least for the small minority of literate males. 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 revolution that overthrew the Emperor was just a military coup with a General calling himself President. That is not how the new stamps portrayed it. The stamps show  a liberty head that resembles the Statue of Liberty in New York City. This American symbolism was quite purposeful. Brazil wanted to be seen as a free country of people of European heritage. Like the early United States. The first name of the Brazilian Republic was the United States of Brazil.

Todays stamp is issue A39, a 100 Reis stamp issued by the United States of Brazil on May 1st, 1891. It was a single stamp issue. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth $1.75 used. A stamp printed with the frame mistakenly inverted is worth $110.

Brazil’s journey from being a colony of Portugal was fairly unique. The Royal family of Portugal had sailed for Brazil upon Napoleon’s invasion of Portugal and ran the extensive Portuguese worldwide empire from Rio. When they left to return to Portugal they left a son behind as Emperor of a now separate Brazilian Empire. The economy changed during this time of Brazilian Empire. In colonial times, gold and diamond mining were the bulk of the economy. The new empire however used slavery to establish large coffee and rubber plantations. This made for a much different demographic makeup with a vast majority being African but the ruling class Portuguese. The frequent slave rebellions left visions of Brazil ending like Haiti. The Haitian revolutionary government had made it illegal for whites to own land and most fled, leaving Haiti one of the most poor countries on earth. Perhaps they should have thought of that before importing them. The importation was not easy, with the British Navy blockading the slave trade and boarding all Brazilian ships to look for slaves.

In 1852, Emperor Pedro II agreed with Britain to stop the official importation  but the trade continued illicitly. The economy requiring the drug of forced labor and African tribes still being willing providers. Pedro II bowed to international pressure and freed the slaves in 1889. This made him popular with the freed slaves but by then he was an old sick man with no male heirs. He had a capable adult daughter but Brazilian society could not see itself ruled by a woman. A General deposed Pedro II in 1890 with no opposition from him who went off to retirement in Europe. Field Marshal Deodoro da Fonseca declared a Republic with the vote open to literate males, a tiny percentage. He did not reimpose slavery but opened immigration to Brazil to anyone of European heritage. The new government lacked stability, without slavery the plantation based economy faltered, but a Haitian outcome was avoided.

Well my drink is empty, and as a resident of the USA, I am wondering if this was how slavery would have ended in the South had the Confederacy been allowed to separate in 1861? Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Turkey 1962, succesors age in the shadow of the late Ataturk

Ataturk created the modern Turkey. After his death, his subordinents had to carry on while voters and the army decide if they measure up. 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.

Seeing Ataturk in his formal western finery over 20 years after his death is a testament to his influence. Yet it is very limiting on what is acceptable after he was gone. The two major parties were both run by aging men that had served under Ataturk. What Ataturk might have done was the limit of what was possible. Now there were elections where most of the voters are looking forward not back. On the other side is the army to make sure Ataturk’s track was the only one open.

Todays stamp is issue A325, a 30 Kurush stamp issued by the Republic of Turkey in 1962. It was a 6 stamp issue in various denominations that displayed the late President Ataturk in a tuxedo. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 30 cents used.

When Ataturk died in 1938 he was replaced with former Prime Minister Mustafa Ismet Inonu. Ismet was fairly masterful in playing the two sides off of each other and staying out of World War II. He declared war on Germany in February 1945 when Germany no longer had troops on the border. He quickly worked for an alliance with the west. The Soviet Union was very desirous of naval bases in the Dardanelles that would prevent the Soviet Black Sea fleet from being bottled up in their few warm water ports. Truman offered Turkey membership in NATO and mountains of aid. With that influence came pressure that Turkey move toward multiparty democracy. In 1946, another former Ataturk Prime Minister Celal Bayar, formed a more liberal political party.

In the 1950 election, Bayar’s slogan was when Ismet came our fortunes left. This was a little unfair, as imagine how many fortunes would have left if a more foolish President had gotten into a war with Germany or the Soviet Union. It does make the point that pocketbook issues are important and economic progress can come slowly. Bayar won and there was a peaceful transfer of power. As the 50s went on, economic progress stayed slow but the death of Stalin saw the Soviet government withdraw claims to the Dardanelles. With the crisis passed, American aid faded and Bayar had the idea of improving relations with the Soviet Union in the hope of extracting aid from them.

This proved to be too much for the Turkish Army. They understood that the Soviet fleet was still bottled up in the Black Sea and any aid would be tied to fixing that. Bayar was overthrown in a coup and there was a big purge in the government with many including Bayar jailed for treason and some even executed. The army marketed this as protecting Ataturk’s legacy. The next year there was an election where Bayar’s party was banned and Ismet’s party returned to power. The people showed they were not completely behind it by not giving Ismet enough votes to avoid a weak coalition government, but at least the army returned to barracks. In 1965 Bayar’s party, still without Bayar, won but the army decided on another coup in 1970.

Ismet and Bayar in the shadow of Ataturk. Picture from 1938 but how each spent their whole lives

This seems quite a iffy situation to allow for NATO membership, but the prospect of keeping the Soviet fleet bottled up on the Black Sea and having the Soviets worried about their southern flank was too attractive militarily. Erdogan is now the new Ottoman Emperor and suddenly there are no more Turkish Ataturk stamps. Yet perhaps there is a reason that he seems so paranoid about a coup. Also reasons why President Trump hems and haws about letting Turkey buy and build under license NATO level weapons.

Well my drink is empty and I will pour another to toast all the good men who labor in the shadow of great men. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Mexico 1977, the economic miracle sputters out

It would be so much better for the United States if Mexico was more prosperous. Aid, Mexican favored trade deals, legal guest workers have all been attempted to give Mexico a boost. Yet today there is a crisis at the border and since this stamp 25 percent of the population of Mexico has migrated out. There was a period between the forties and the seventies where it looked like this sad fate might be avoided. 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 tries to put a brave face on economic progress. A Mexican made car travels on a modern highway and has been doing so for 25 years, which equates almost exactly to the American Interstate highway system. A closer look though reveals the flaws. The highway shown is only 38 miles long between Mexico City and a weekend getaway. It is a high toll road, so only available to the wealthy few in Mexico. The car is a Mexican assembled Renault 12, a modern in the day French car but one with only 54 horsepower so barely capable of expressway travel. When Mexico became slightly more open to foreign cars, the Renault factory quickly closed. Things are not quite as rosy as they seemed.

Todays stamp is issue C544, a 1.4 Peso airmail stamp issued by Mexico on November 30th, 1977. It was a single stamp issue that celebrates the 25th anniversary of the first section of the Autopista toll federal highway system. According to the Scott catalog the stamp is worth 25 cents used.

World War II was progressive for Mexico. They stayed out but opportunities for legal guest workers opened with the USA and there was a more friendly relationship with the USA. Mexicans had proved capable of factory work and the government set up a system that promoted local production of goods and kept out import competition. Exports to the USA were allowed and unique in the history of Mexico there was a twenty year period where Mexico was able to maintain a fixed exchange rate with the USA, which lessened the constant third world problem of capital flight. The government, a stable one party system, stigmatized immigration to America and cooperated with USA immigration to curb illegal crossers. The time saw on average 7 percent annual economic growth. However the population was growing so fast that it worked out to only 3 percent growth per capita.

In the seventies, the pattern of growth broke down. Excessive, non productive spending by the government saw to the first of many Peso devaluations. Naturally wage growth did not make up for the Peso’s buying power decline so the industrial worker paid a huge price. The industrialization had given the worker some skills and that opened up the ability to perform more than just agricultural work in America but much better paying jobs in construction and industry.

By the 80s, workers were flooding out of Mexico and there was the sad picture from the old days of the government looking north with it’s hand out. Bailouts followed and Mexico’s successful industrial policy was liberalized which saw much of it become foreign owned. The illegalities of illegal immigration expanded to drug and sex trafficking and law and order further broke down. The location next to the USA has seen Mexico, the 75 percent that stayed doing well by Latin America standards but the gnp per capita is a little less than 15 percent of the USA. This is about on a level with Brazil or China. I am sure the Mexicans hoped for more by now.

The Autopista system may have started the same time as the American Interstate system, but progress is slow and use is less due to the high tolls,(US$ .20 per mile). See below the gap filed current rout map. The best selling car is the Nissan Versa that is more highway capable and made in Mexico. Nissan is now owned by Renault and the Versa is a French design so what goes around comes around.

Current Autopista network

Well my drink is empty and after all the tolls there is nothing left to pay for another round. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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USA 1947, showing off the pinnacle of American power by way of the postal service

The USA was the real victor of World War II. Other important nations had fought on the winning side but they also paid a heavier price in men and treasure. The USA did less of the fighting and almost none of that on it’s own soil. So it came out on top. What better way than to revel in the new found power and prestige by cloaking the bragging with the uncontroversial postal service. 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 while back we did a surprising similar stamp from late 1970s Soviet Union. See, https://the-philatelist.com/2018/04/05/russia-1977-should-be-recruiting-for-the-kgb/ .The late 70s being perhaps when Soviet prospects in the cold war looked most promising. That stamp hinted more of intrigue while the Americans are showing off the then state of art hardware. 72 years later what  was an impressive assortment looks more quaint and period. So I will give my nod to the Russian offering, realizing that on the date of issue the nod might have gone the other way.

Todays stamp is issue A394, a three cent stamp issued by the USA on May 17th 1947. It was a single stamp issue commemorating 100 years since the first American stamp. In addition to showing modern mail delivery equipment, it shows the same portraits of George Washington and Ben Franklin that were on the original American stamp issue from 1847. According to the Scott catalog, this stamp is worth 25 cents whether it is mint or used. Mint copies of the original George Washington issue of 1847 are worth $35,000 with Ben Franklin coming in at $6,750.

Ben Franklin was wealthy and had many accomplishments both before and after American independence. During the later stage of the British colonial period he was employed by them as a Postmaster. With revolutionary sympathies, he used his position to read the mail of Loyalists to the Crown. When this was found out, he was hauled before the House of Commons and mocked. A great man, a Man of Letters who then stooped to reading other peoples mail. Franklin was guilty but also humiliated and it is said the experience made him a much more militant revolutionary.

Well my drink is empty and I will pour another to celebrate tax day soon being over. The day is less important for those due a refund as they send their returns in early but those who wait for tax day usually owe. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Gabon 1910, The French like the Fang, but wish they would lay off the psychedelic bark

Gabon proved to be one of the most pro-French of the colonies. So much so that the independence leader contrived to stay close even after independence. 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.

Here we have a French colonial issue showing a Fang warrior. The Fang tribe was a favorite of the colonial authorities and they took their place in the colonial administration and even post independence. So showing someone so exotic and by extension claiming he is on your side does a great deal to enhance the legitimacy of the colonial undertaking.

Todays stamp is issue A10, a 5 Centimes stamp issued by the French colony of Gabon in 1910. It was a 23 stamp issue that showed the Fang tribe and views if Libreville, the capital that had been started with French help by slaves freed from a slave ship bound for Brazil. There are versions of this issue labeled Equatorial Africa and French Congo along with Gabon to go with the often changing structure  of the colonial administration. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp id worth 90 cents used.

Gabon had several European trading posts along the coast but it was the French that sent explorers into the interior and claimed the land for France. The trading posts were mainly in the slave trade and a French ship working as part of the naval blockade against the slave trade stopped a ship bound for Brazil and set the slaves free to set up the Libreville settlement and future capital. In turn the Fang tribe assisted the French in their exploration of the interior. Among the help was a barber and seamstress   for the expedition that parented Leon M’ba the future President for life of independent Gabon.

His road to power was not smooth. He received education in French Catholic schools and received jobs with the tribe, the colonial administration, and the lumber trading houses that were the main industry then. In adulthood, he reverted from Catholic  to the Bwiti religion of his tribe. He was known to be quite corrupt but for a while the French turned their heads to that as he was the best of a bad lot. In 1931, however there was a woman’s remains found in the market and her death was blamed on Bwiti religious practices involving ingesting psychedelics from tree bark. M’ba was then scapegoated as a prominent practitioner of Bwiti and sentenced to jail and exile for his corruption. He was successful in exile in Brazzaville and later allowed back into Gabon in 1946.

From their M’ba’s progress was fast. He presented himself to the people as one of them who had faced persecution. In private he was very close to the colonial authorities. It was a conservative place and though there was a desire for independence there was also a desire for keeping close ties with France, M’ba even claimed that Gabonese had two fatherlands Gabon and France. M’ba did not have much luck with the system left by France as there was no one who could achieve a majority under a democracy. Power was consolidated under M’ba and he became a one party President rather than the earlier Prime Minister. The French supported M’ba when there was a coup attempt and at M’ba’s request, a French Ambassador was recalled for not offering M’ba enough advise on policy. By the late 1960s M’ba was an old man who spent the last years of his rule in Paris hospitals. When he died in 1967 he was succeeded by his vice President Albert Bongo. Bongo and now his son rule to this day. In 1973, Bongo converted to Islam and took a new name. No word whether he gave up the psychedelic bark.

Well my drink is empty and there is really no one here worthy of a toast. How depressing, I think I will have another drink. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.