Haiti has forever been one of the poorest places on earth. What to make then of an 84 year old President surrounded by white angels. Don’t worry, heaven wasn’t his destination, New Orleans was. 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.
Haiti’s older stamps were usually printed by the American Bank Note Company in New York City. These were as well. It is a safe bet they were not printed in the American South. Not with the way the white angels on the stamp revere the black President of Haiti. Reminiscent of reconstruction when ex slaves were put into political power by vengeful northern forces. A Haiti redux could easily have been the outcome.
Todays stamp is issue A18, a 20 Centime stamp issued by the Republic of Haiti in 1904. It was a six stamp issue in various denominations displaying then President Pierre Nord Alexis. There are many later overprints of this stamp. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 35 cents unused. A rare example that was used for actual postage is worth more. As with many stamps printed to raise revenue rather than serve postage needs, there are many fakes. I believe my copy may be that. The catalog mentions bright colors on very white paper combined with uneven perforations as a sign of being from a later printing of fakes. Imagine the sad life of a forger who choses to waste his life recreating Haitian stamps with no value.
President Nord Alexis was from north Haiti whose parents were a high official for North Haitian King Henry Christophe and the King’s illegitimate daughter. In Haiti, this makes him an aristocrat or what passes for one. As with European aristocrats of the more threadbare variety, Alexis served a long career in the Haitian Army. He married a niece Ce Ce of the former King. Ce Ce was active in the occult and tried to work her magic and her own bloodlines in favor of her husband. Her ministrations worked slowly and there were many diversions into jail and exile along the way in turbulent Haiti.
In 1902 at the age of 82, Alexis lead troops into the Parliament and forced them to declare him President. His stature was mainly among northern Haitians and there was soon a revolt in the south. Alexis than declared himself an avid supporter of American interests and that he would see Haitian debts repaid. The USA responded by blockading rebel enclaves in the south of Haiti. What the USA nor President Alexis could solve was the famine gripping the south of Haiti. Food riots were spreading north including the capital. In 1908 Alexis proclaimed himself President for life. He was 88. Later that year Ce Ce passed away and without her ministrations of the occult Alexis was doomed. He was succeeded by an illiterate southern Haitian who yet somehow was still a General. He was most famous for giving an elaborate state funeral for his pet goat Simalo. Haiti is that type of place. When President Alexis fled Haiti, he spent his last years in New Orleans. How lucky for Louisiana. Alexis’s great grandson recently served twice as Prime Minister of Haiti. He was removed from office for incompetence and corruption. No doubt he is perusing New Orleans real estate, at least the picture books.
Well my drink is empty and I will forgo any séance to communicate with failed Haitian Presidents. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting