Antigua was slow stepping toward independence in 1968 which was achieved in 1981. With the colonial authorities gone the wildness of Carnival is more scary. 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.
Carnival as it appears on the stamp started back in 1957 and was restarted in the hopes of attracting tourist. The inspiration of the carnival was the way former slaves took to the streets after the British Empire banned the practice of slavery in 1839. The locals thought this type of celebration might attract tourists. It worked in New Orleans and we can pretend French creole roots while being able to speak English. Cue the calypso band.
Todays stamp is issue A42 a half penny stamp issued by Antigua on July 1st, 1968 while Antigua was an Associated State of the United Kingdom. Post war the UN got the hebe-jebes when a place was still called a Crown Colony. This was a five stamp issue in various denominations promoting tourism. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents whether it is mint or used. Their currency was pegged to the US dollar so one half penny was really quite a low denomination. The USA base postage rate was 8 cents in 1968 but Antigua was a small island.
Antigua economy was once dominated by sugar cane plantations. The West African slaves brought in to work the plantations greatly outnumbered the British and native Indians were not a factor. The end of slavery was the beginning of the end of the sugar cane economy as most of the Africans were not interested in hard work in the fields for the meager wages on offer. The wildness of the end of slavery carnival was frightening to the British. They tried to channel that energy into an annual Christmas festival that featured Calypso music concerts, Scottish fling dancing, and being Christmas, more religion.
In 1957 the Christmas festival was replaced by the early August Carnival, though for a while some affectations of it remained. The Antiguans have been somewhat successful in attracting tourists, even though the island remains desperately poor and deeply resentful toward whites who as far as residents are long gone. Some safety is derived from all inclusive resorts guarded and directly on the beach. An airport had been built by Americans during World War II. This year there was an incident at one of the all inclusive resorts. An American family was staying and a hotel employee followed two young girls back to their room. He knocked on the door claiming to be there to fix the sink, which was not broken. When the employee found the girls father in the room he panicked and pulled a knife. The two men struggled and the father was cut and the employee was dead. What passes for authority on independent Antigua then gave in to the racist mob on the island and arrested the father for manslaughter. Luckily the ruling mob is corrupt as well as racist and the family was able to pay the shakedown bail and quickly fly out. The resort had moved the rest of the family to another resort in case the mob came for them while the father was held. Antigua might have 365 beaches but there are also thousands elsewhere. Leave them to their abandoned plantations they are too lazy to farm.
Well my drink is empty and I may have another while I look forward to my next vacation, no not Antigua, Australia. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.