Month: September 2019

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France 1968, French tourism invites you to check out the ancient stones of Carnac

Ancient stones lined up like an army turned to stone. Well you probably have heard of Stonehenge and Easter Island. Well France would like to remind you that the town of Carnac has it’s own stone mystery and invites you to come check it out. 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.

These tourism promoting issues are some of my favorite French stamps. It reminds the tourist that there is more to see than Paris. That in itself would make the stamps worth doing. What makes them even more special is that instead of photos, little paintings are done very much in the style of the impressionist, which remember itself had French origins. The reason the issues have been so long lived is in my opinion how effective they are to the French themselves reminding them of their patriotic feelings in a non political way.

Todays stamp is issue A440, a one Franc stamp issued by France on July 10th, 1965. It was a single stamp issue. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents used. There is an overprinted version for use on the island of Reunion.

It is believed that the stones date back to 3300 BC. There are about 1000 stones still around, though some have toppled. An early theory of why they exist was put forth by Christians was that the stones were pagan soldiers in pursuit of Pope Cornelius around 250 AD when God saved him by turning the army to stone. Another legend that is more popular locally is that the stones are the remains of a Roman Legion that was turned to stone by Merlin. This legend shows how close Britany was tied in to Welsh and King Arthur style mysticism of the British isles.

Around 1800, French soldier and celtomaniac antiquarian de la Tour d ‘Auvergne put forth the theory that the stones were placed by ancient Druids. This theory is more in keeping with the age of the stones. The work was built upon to claim that stone placement was aligned with the astrology of the stars. This fits in with the revival among modern hippies of what they perceive of as druid roots to there own movement. Recently a group calling itself everyone-together collective stormed the visitor center of Kermerio Alignment of stones to demand more open axess to the stones so they be communed with and not just visited in organized tours. Haha.

Well my drink is empty and I expect the bartender will soon cut off the everyone-together collective so I think I will call it a day. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Cameroun 1925, Bismarck decrees merchant first, soldier second then France reorders

Germany initiated the colony of what they called Kamerun. A skeptical Bismarck, to avoid a financial boondoggle, specified merchants being in charge. So when war came it was easily conquered. To prevent a German revival, France was quite militaristic and Bismarck would not have been surprised it became a boondoggle for 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.

This stamp shows that the French had at least the ambition to retain German productivity showing a large cattle drive in an area of agricultural richness. A cattle operation like this would have just been stolen from the civilian German farmer. The operation would have quickly  deteriorated without German efficiency and the will to use the old German methods that achieved it.

Todays stamp is issue A5, a 2 Centimes stamp issued by the French League of Nations mandate in Cameroun in 1925. It was a 42 stamp issue in various denominations issued over 15 years displaying the economic vitality of the colony. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents.

German Chancellor Bismarck was very reticent about a German colonial empire. He had seen the weakness of France in the Franco-Prussian War while so much of it’s army was bogged down in far off colonies. Bismarck was nevertheless approached by German merchants, explorers, and adventurers telling him what could be accomplished in Cameroun. He agreed to a colony but informed the colonial authorities their job was to support the merchants. The occupying army was almost entirely part time militiamen farmers. It was not an easy go. The time of slavery was past and it was difficult to get the locals to work for the colonial operations, many of which were labor intensive. A British colony would have brought in Indian contract labor but the Germans had other more efficient ideas. The colonial authority simply mandated that the locals work. They kidded themselves that this was not slavery as the workers were paid and could theoretically change jobs. The productivity was great. Roads, bridges, and railroads were completed and the farming indeed proved lucrative with rubber and beef exports almost paying for all that required importation.

World War I saw Cameroun invaded by the British, conquered and then divided with the French. The British colonial office did a study of their new territory and decided the best course of action was to leave the German civilians in place to continue development. The French, understandably, were much more suspicious of the Germans. The economic properties were seized and taken over by a large French trading house. The practice of forced, paid labor was done away with. The occupation became much more militaristic. During World War II, the mandate was Free French but the military began public floggings of people believed pro German. This also may be understandable with German puppet Vichy France still claiming the place. The floggings however were of local blacks with Germans long gone.

Around 1960, French Cameroun and the southern part of British Cameroun reunited. The northern part was mainly Muslim and elected to join Nigeria.  A bit of the old German prosperity survived in the old British part. See below, amazing it still stands. West Germany was generous with aid to former colonies and I expect that has something to do with the survival.

German style hunting lodge in old colonial capital Buea

Well my drink is empty and I will pour another to toast Bismarck for his sensibility about colonies. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Ireland 1948, remembering Theobald Wolfe Tone for trying for French help in the Society of United Irishmen Rebellion

We think today of Irish Catholics rebelling against Anglican British rule. Earlier revolts were not so religious. We did an Irish stamp here  https://the-philatelist.com/2019/03/15/ireland-1967-100-years-later-irish-stampmakers-fantasize-about-alternate-history/  , that remembered the failed Fenian rebellion that was less about religion. In 1798 there was another rebellion, inspired by the French and American revolutions that sought an Irish republic and it’s leader was a Protestant. 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,

It is surprising to me how much this Irish stamp ascribes the 1798 Rebellion to the French. Tone was of French protestant heritage and spent the years up to the Rebellion serving in the French Army, while trying to lobby France to send troops to support an Irish Rebellion. The ship you see on the stamp is French. The rebellion failed though and Tone died in British custody.

Todays stamp is issue A22, a two and one half penny stamp issued by the Republic of Ireland on November 19th, 1948. It was a two stamp issue marking 150 years since the uprising of 1798. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents used.

Theobald Wolfe Tone was born into the Irish wing of a French Protestant family that emigrated to England to avoid religious persecution. English/ Irish aristocrat Theobald Wolfe was his godfather and perhaps natural father. Tone attended Trinity and became a lawyer and worked with a Belfast Society of United Irishman that wanted to expand the vote to all, at the time non Anglicans were excluded from voting. At first they worked within the British system and the right to vote was extended. At this point the group became more radical inspired by the American Revolution. France had agreed to support the American Revolution while letting the victorious Americans to be governed by the revolutionaries, not the French. Promoting Irish independence was illegal and United Irishman began to be rounded up.

Tone then emigrated to Philadelphia but found Americans even more repulsive than the British. No word on how repulsive Americans found Tone. Anyway, Tone was soon off to France where he joined the Army and began lobbying for French help in an Irish uprising. Tone had some success but the first French flotilla had to turn back having been caught by the Royal Navy. The French General in charge soon died and Napoleon came to power. Napoleon at the time was more interested in Egypt but agreed on a few naval raids that included Tone. The help was not enough and Tone fell into British hands and was sent to Dublin to be tried for treason. Tone’s perhaps half brother Judge Wolfe tried twice to issue a writ of habeus corpus to get Tone released but was unsuccessful as he was held by the Army. Tone did not regret his actions but asked to be shot as a soldier rather than hung as a spy. He had a case for this as he was captured wearing a French uniform. This was not granted but Tone died in custody before he could be hung. The Wolfe family maintained and flowered Tone’s grave as if he was one of them.

Prisoners from the rebellion were treated harshly as traitors to the Crown rather enemy combatants and Irish in turn did likewise. A British Union Act banned discrimination against Irish Catholics but hostility persisted now often on grounds of taxation  and evermore on sectarianism.

Well my drink is empty and I will pour another to toast the efforts of Judge Wolfe. It is going above and beyond to put his neck out for his brother by another mother on the other side. The United Irishmen still resented his presiding in trials of others of them. In 1802 during another rebellion, he was pulled from his carriage and stabbed to death. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.