Month: August 2020

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India 1949, Red Fort, elaborate home of Mughal power, succumbs to lootings, show trials, and laser light shows

The Red Fort was to be the seat of power of the Mughal Empire after it’s move to Delhi. So of course there was a great deal of pride when the flag of independent India was raised and President Nehru spoke from it’s ramparts around the time of this stamp. He might have been disappointed to know that the historic site was part of India’s adopt a historic site program and sits unrestored while hosting laser light shows and shopping malls in private hands. 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 was an issue of historical sites. When thought of in terms of the recent independence, the idea that the sites are finally in Indian hands is what is being celebrated.

Todays stamp is issue A97, a 2 Rupee stamp issued by independent India on August 15th, 1949. It was a 16 stamp issue in various denominations. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 50 cents used. The mint value is way up at $27.50. It shows how few were being saved by collectors from the date of issue.

The Red Fort was constructed in 1639 in Delhi to house the seat of government of the Mughal Empire. The Empire’s capital was moving from it’s previous home in Angra. The Mughal Empire was perhaps at the height of it’s power under Shah Jahan and the elaborate complex took 10 years to built and reflected the best of Hundu, Persian, and Timurid styles. The walls of the fort were done in thick red sandstone. The architect in charge of the project was  Ahmad Lahori, who also designed the Taj Mahal.

The imposing stone pediments have survived from the times of Shah Jahan, but much of the interior grandeur has been lost. First in 1747 at the time of the Persian invasion under Shah Nadir. In 1783 the Misl states of the Sikh Confederacy  briefly held the complex. During the time of the British East India Company, the much reduced in power Mughal Shah was allowed to stay in the Red Fort. During the Sepoy rebellion of 1857, the British made the decision  not to defend the Red Fort as the uprising was promoting then Shah Bahadur II as a leader. The complex was again badly looted and the Shah decided to flee. He was captured and returned to the fort this time as a prisoner and banished to Burma.

During the more formal British Raj, Lord Curzon restored much of the complex including the gardens that now boasted a sprinkler system. 1911 saw the visit of King George V and Queen Mary on the occasion of the Delhi Dubar, where the British King was Coronated Emperor of India.

In the last days of the the British Raj, trials were held at the Red Fort on charges of treason  to British Indian Army officers who abandoned their posts during the Japanese invasions of Malaya, Singapore and Burma. Many of the accused offered their services to the Japanese puppet India National Army. The trials were met with much protests and even further mutiny in the British Indian Army and Navy. The sentences were never carried out and  the affair went a long way to convincing Labour Prime Minister Atlee that British continued presence in India was unsustainable.

Independence saw the elaborate raising of the flag of India at the fort and Prime Minister Nehru giving a speech from the ramparts. This has turned into an elaborate annual tradition by all the Prime Ministers since. The Sandstone facade as held up well as stone tends to. This century as seen much change within the walls. In 2003 the last Indian Army detachment left the fort. The complex attracts many tourists. This has been terrible for the gardens and much of the marble tiles from the Mughal era gradually disappear. The tourists are accommodated by restaurants and stores within the walls of the complex. There is a nightly laser light show. In 2016 the Red Fort was included in the government’s “Adopt a historical site program” that sells the right to operate historical sites for profit. Some in India thought this went too far, and the hashtag “India for sale” trended.

Hmm…

Well my drink is empty and I am left wondering what Shah Jahan would have thought. Would he be just amazed that the fort survived or just in a daze about the laser light show? Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Fake Equatorial Guinea 1976, Looking forward to an Olympics they would not attend

Can you really boycott an Olympics when there is no Olympic team to send. Of course, especially when you are doing it with fake stamps. 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.

Equatorial Guinea was in a bad place in the 1970s. The Dictator, Macais Nguema had changed his title from President to “the Unique Miracle”. His rule was not known for good governance. From 1972-1979 it is known that the Central Post Office left over from the Spanish was padlocked and there was no mail service. There were however many stamp issues emanating from Spain. They are considered fake.

We do know however that this was an 11 stamp issue in various denominations issued May 7th, 1976. There was also several souvenir sheets including one embossed in gold foil. It would be another unique miracle if any of them had any value.

South Africa had been excluded from the Olympics starting in 1964 over their then apartheid policies. Therefore there was never an invitation to attend the 1976 Summer Olympics held in Montreal. The Supreme Council of Sport was at the time the governing body for organized sports in black Africa. They desired a way to show solidarity with violent protests then happening in black South African townships like Soweto. They hit upon the sport of rugby. This was not an Olympic sport, but a team from New Zealand was playing a series of matches in South Africa with integrated teams. New Zealand was invited to the games and the Supreme Council of Sport would pull the African teams already there if New Zealand was not removed. Over 40 mostly African nations boycotted the games with the Olympic Committee reminding that rugby was not their business since it was not an Olympic sport. The boycott had the desired effect with several news cycles dominated by South Africa’s apartheid policy.

Equatorial Guinea was officially a boycotter but the reality was that they never sent a competitor to any summer or winter Olympics prior to 1984. To date, they have never sent a competitor to a winter Olympics. The country does have an important footnote from the 2000 games in Sydney. Swimmer Eric Moussambani recorded the slowest time in Olympic history during a 100 meter Freesyle heat. With disqualifications of the other two swimmers due to false starts, he won the heat. Mr. Moussambani had never before been in an Olympic size swimming pool and was barely able to complete the distance. Nonetheless his time was a national record in the event. The press labeled him Eric the Eel and congratulated him on his courage for finishing. When he finished the cheering was so loud he thought he had won the Gold. He is currently the coach of the swim team of Equatorial Guinea.

Eric the Eel after finishing

Well my drink is empty and I will pour another to toast Eric the Eel. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting

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Andorra Spanish Administration 1972, Suggested foriegn policy for all, speak softly with a smile and carry a giant cigar

This is a funny stamp, but it turns out high quality cigar tobacco is an important crop of this tiny country. What better way to show that off than creating a giant one? So slip on your smoking jacket, light your cigar, take tour first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

This stamp looks a little different from the last Andorra stamp presented here. That one was from the side of Andorra that has French administration. Here we have the Spanish side and one can see the change in language and currency. The Spanish side was a bishopric subject to the Bishop of Urgel. This changed somewhat in 1993 but there is still seperate Spanish and French stamps.

Todays stamp is issue A17 a 5 Peseta stamp issued by Andorra on December 5th, 1972. It was a 6 stamp issue in various denominations featuring Andorran customs including singers, dancers, cigar smokers, and even a hermit. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 60 cents unused.

Andorra is a tiny mountainous country with only 2 percent of the land being arable. For that reason, most of the food has to be imported. Andorra uses about 8 percent of it’s farmland in the production of tobacco. This is of high quality mostly for cigars and mostly for export. A cigar usually contains various tobacco leaves from different places.

The integration with the EU as been a little problematic for tobacco. The EU allowed Andorra to keep it’s low domestic price but then enforced duty requirements similar to alcohol for a visitor taking it with him.  This perhaps turns a few fans into smugglers. As the economy developed more and more of the workforce shifted to providing tourist services. A reflection of this is the former Reig tobacco factory. this has now been repackaged as a tobacco museum.

Well my cigar burned out, i did not have the guts or stamina to try a giant one, and so I will have to wait till tomorrow when there will be another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Alderney, Bailiwick of Guernsey 1985, our airport is 50 years old, come check it out

Alderney is a small island 10 miles off the coast of Normandy. To keep it British, large fortifications and an airfield were built. When trouble came in 1940, from the Germans not the expected French, it was decided to evacuate the 1200 residents. The Germans then took the bait and made their own large constructions. So there is much to see and an active airport to get there. 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.

Alderney began issuing separate stamps in the early 1980s. A stamp issued by Alderney is valid for postage all over the Bailiwick of Guernsey. A Bailiwick is a jurisdiction under a Bailiff who is appointed by the Crown. This stamp shows off the history of the airport on the occasion of it’s 50th anniversary. This stamp further shows off the de Havilland Heron 1 airliner, as operated in the 1950s by Morton Air Service. The airliner seems huge with it’s four engines, but only held 17 passengers. This points to the still persistent problem of trying to maintain a regular air service to a tiny island with few potential  travelers.

Todays stamp is issue A3, a 29 Pence stamp issued by Aldereney on March 19th, 1985. It was a five stamp issue in various denominations. According to the Scott Catalog, the stamp is worth $3.00 whether used or unused.

Being so close off the coast of Normandy, Alderney residents were subjects of William the Bastard as Sovereign of Normandy. The Norman conquest saw William transfer to the Conqueror and King of England. From then on the island was British but still French speaking and the site of a French monastery. Over the centuries, many English Kings made half hearted, incomplete attempts to fortify the island. Some saw this as folly as there would be little way to defend and resupply an island so close to France. The construction projects imported many Irish and British laborers that gradually made the island less French. In 1940, it was decided to evacuate the island and the Germans took it without a fight. Germany continued the work on fortifications with their Todt organization importing Polish, Russian POWs and Jewish laborers to work on the forts. There were also 600 German army soldiers. Alderney was bipassed on D-Day and the end of resupply saw the situation of the German occupying force become quite desperate. This is what had been expected by earlier British critics. Germany held on to Alderney until a week after the war in 1945 and indeed 300 agreed to stay on to work on cleanup so the residents could come back 6 months after the war.

Morton Air Service was started by Sammy Morton as the first private post war airline operated out of the old Croydon Airport in London. Morton already had some fame as having been a flying partner of British Aviatrix pioneer Amy Johnson. Morton Air Service had a fleet of mainly de Havilland Doves but also a single example of the Heron as seen on the stamp. In 1953, Morton Air Service took over Olley Air Service and with it it’s charter and scheduled service around the Channel Islands. In 1958, the service was merged into British United Airways. The Morton Heron on the stamp made the last scheduled departure from Croydon airport before it closed. To recognize that, a different Heron is painted up like it guards the entrance to the Croydon Aerodrome Hotel.

The Heron was not a successful airliner. 149 were built starting in 1950 but the engines were badly underpowered and on the Heron 1 the under carriage did not retract which greatly limited top speed. The aluminum wings were also very subject to cracking. Later versions  addressed some of this and some airlines in Japan and the USA stretched and reengined their copies to make them more useful. None are still in service.

The Alderney airport is still in operation though the terminal in antiquated and the roof leaks. The annual passengers are half the 1980s rate even before COVID. Aurigny Ar Service is the only airline and only flys to Guernsey using Britten Norman Triislanders. A local airline Air Alderney tried to form in 2017. The acquired 2 Brittan Norman Islanders and hoped to offer 5 destinations in England, France and other Channel Islands. Though they got a Certificate of Airworthiness, they proved unable to commence operations.

Alderney aerial view. You can see airport to the north and the breakwater for the never completed port

Well my drink is empty and I must admit I am attracted to the idea of a Channel Island tour. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Samoa 1985, Dividing up the spoils

When trading posts make the mistake of going beyond and interfering with the local system, it inevitably leads to costs exceeding any ephemeral trading profits. In Samoa New Zealand made a muck of it leaving it divided and much weaker. 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 does a good job explaining what attracted so many foreigner to such isolated little islands. Views of a temperate lush tropical paradise. Imagine how welcoming it would have looked to those on a long, scary, dangerous expedition.

Todays stamp is issue A133, a 56 Sene stamp issued by independent Samoa on February 15th, 1984. It was a four stamp issue in various denominations showing off the natural beauty. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 90 cents whether used or unused.

In the second half of the late 19th century Samoa was a united independent kingdom. The USA, Great Britain and Germany had worked out deals with the King for trade concessions  in ports they were building. The Germans went a little farther by establishing plantations of rubber, coffee, and cocoa. It is thought the natives were from a tribal group that had originated from ancient Taiwan. In the 1880s a rival chief began rising up against the Samoan Prince. One could see how the Royals falling from power as dangerous to the in effect trade deals and it was easy to portray the rebel chiefs forces as savages given their propensity to behead the corpses of their fallen adversaries. So area warships would often land parties of shipboard marines to fight with the forces of Prince Tanu. It should be remembered how small these landing parties were and they were not as immediately successful as would be imagined. It does not take many beheaded western Marines to decide that the situation was untenable. The British and Americans decided to divide the islands of Samoa with Germany under formal colony status. In a signal of how times were changing Samoan resident and British author Robert Louis Stevenson was on hand to mock the colonial authorities and romanticize the image of the natives.

At the beginning of World War I the trouble started anew. New Zealand landed a military force and displaced the German authorities. When military Governor Robert Logan discovered that the German owned plantations were still trading with German companies he had them seized. Taking them meant that the economy effectively shut down. To make matters worse, A New Zealand ship arrived bringing with it the Spanish flu. 20% of the natives of New Zealand administered Samoa died with Governor Logan blaming the filthy hygiene habits of the natives.

Governor Logan reading the proclamation taking Samoa in 1914. After Samoa he was pensioned off and retired to Scotland.

Meanwhile there were no Spanish flu deaths in American Samoa. American Governor John Martin Poyer quickly shut off all connections with the New Zealand part and made the quarantine more palatable by ending the prohibition on natives drinking alcohol. Soon natives on the New Zealand side were petitioning to join American Samoa and New Zealand had trouble with natives for the rest of their time there.

In 1962 only the New Zealand side of Samoa was given independence under the son of the last King. He was now officially Paramount Chief instead of King. The American side is still American and still separate. In 2002 then New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark formally apologized to Samoa for the mistakes of the colonial period. Though too long ago to be personally remembered, one can imagine the natives as one putting their hand out, palm up.

Well my drink is empty and I will pour another in memory of the shipboard Marines of the three relevant countries ordered ashore to fight someone else’s war and ended up dead and their bodies desecrated. What a waste. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Great Britain 1969, National Gyro replaces cash from the milkman

In the Britain of the 1960s, bank accounts were only for the top 20 percent. The working class were usually paid weekly in cash, but that left junior salarymen having to endorse their paychecks, often to the milkman, to get their money. A new Labour government knew there must be a better way, and kindly thought to use the established infastructure of the post offices to make it happen. 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 design of this stamp did not age well. The organization was just getting going in 1968 so one can understand the stylized emblem as a way to signal future promise rather than current reality. However now over 50 years have passed, emblems have come and gone and eventually the whole thing was privatized.  I came at this stamp thinking they were talking about some sort of radar technology.

Todays stamp is issue A220, a 5 pence stamp issued by Great Britain on October 1st, 1969. It was a three stamp issue in various denominations showing off new technology at the post office. According to the Scott Catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents used or unused.

In 1959 the government came out with a white paper that challenged that the banking industry was not serving the money needs of the bulk of the country. This confirmed what the Labour side of politics always suspected. The banking industry itself admitted that small accounts were unprofitable and at the time many smaller towns did not have bank branches making it hard for the middle class to access their pay. Many were really endorsing over they monthly paycheck to the milkman. Many other countries offered basic banking services through their post offices, which usually even the smallest village had. A new post office bank started from scratch could also use computers to automate processing and base more transactions off payer initiated wire transfer instead of payee based check cashing or depositing. The term giro was an old term for a wire transfer. The post offices would also benefit. They were already used to hand out welfare/dole payments and dealt in vast quantities of cash. Private banks were charging the post office high fees to do this and a National Giro Bank operated through post offices could take this function over.

The National Giro got up and running in 1968. A lot of money had to be spent to be ready to open nationally and the bank of course started with much infrastructure and no customers. The first few years saw the operation generated large losses  due from the government owners. In 1970, the then new Tory Heath government proposed labeling it a Wilson failure and shutting it down. They instead settled on a reorganization plan to lower losses.

Eventually National Giro was handling one in three wire transfers and was the sixth largest bank in Britain when ranked by deposits. It was the the first bank in Britain to offer an interest earning checking accounts. The bank also had a large stigma. The post offices remember handed out dole payments and GiroCheques became slang for handouts to lay abouts. There was also the problems that checks written by regular account holders resembled dole checks more than a check drawn on a private bank,

In 1989 the system was privatized and sold off to Alliance & Leicester, a mutually owned building society, similar to the old American Savings and Loan. The privatization included a contract that allowed it to keep working through post offices which it did until 2003. Alliance & Leicester was absorbed by the Spanish bank Santander Group in 2010. In 2013 the British post office relaunched some of the old money services under the Post Office Money brand.

New Emblem for the old service relaunched

Well my drink is empty and while Money will be more popular then Gyro their emblem seems lacking. Strange since current operations seem to spend ever more time on branding instead of doing. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting, written by some rando who brands himself The-Philatelist.

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Djibouti 1979, The French also learn to read the writing on the wall

In the late 1950s the French and the British colonial authorities realized there was no way to continue their colonial administration against the will of the African majority. What to do in a place that is majority Arab and welcomed French administration as a buffer between them and the natives. Will France spend up to continue the protection in Djibouti or leave the Arabs to their fate as the British did in Zanzibar in 1965? 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.

Already 2 years after independence, independent Djibouti was heavily into  licensing their name for topical stamp issues. Here we have what was already their second issue of sea shells. The Cypaecassis rufa, or more commonly the red helmet shell, was first cataloged in 1758. It is most common on the west coast of southern Africa in Natal and Mozambique but occasionally as far north as Kenya.

Todays stamp is issue A100, a 10 Franc stamp issued by independent Djibouti on December 22nd, 1979. It was a three stamp issue in various denominations. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents cancelled to order.

In colonial times Somaliland was divided into an Italian, a British, and a French part. For the most part the colonies were coastal trading posts with mostly Arab populations that had some affiliation with the Arab traders of Muscat in Oman and Aden in Yemen. The desert interior also held clans of mostly nomadic black Africans. During the war, Italian Somaliland was taken from them and the many Italians that lived there made a quick departure. Into this void the black Somalis arrived. In the late1950s it was decided to allow the British Somaliland to unite with the former Italian one as independent Somalia. France held a plebiscite to give the colony a choice whether to join Somalia. In the runup to the vote a large number of black Somalis appeared in Djibouti to turn the vote. France saw this happening and deported as many of the new arrivals as possible. They also required voter cards to be allowed to vote. It was now the turn of the blacks to claim voter suppression, noting the truth that the percentage of Arabs that voted was far higher than the percentage of blacks. The vote along racial lines was won by those that chose to remain French. Riots ensued and the French had to reinforce their military.

Ethiopia, Somalia, and Yemen were all quickly arming with mostly Soviet weapons. The British gave up in Aden in 1968. The French military deployment now had to consist of a full brigade of the French Foreign Legion backed up by French navy ships and a squadron of Mirage fighters. Meanwhile the UN was suggesting the French leave Djibouti anyway no matter the vote. The arms given to blacks in Djibouti by Somalia was now backed by further aid from the Organization of African Unity.

France decided in the late 1970s to go ahead and give up on the last European colony in black Africa. The expenses however continued. The new African government decided that it really had no desire to join the failed states of Somalia or Ethiopia. To keep them out, they requested that France keep up fighter planes and Foreign Legion Brigade in independent Djibouti. They stayed another quarter century.

The population of French Somaliland was only about 70,000 at the time of the first independence vote. Now it is about a million with less that a third Arab mostly in enclaves outside Djibouti city. Americans will of course be thrilled to learn that the French military presence was replaced by an American one. The USA deploys 4000 troops to Djibouti. Briefly Saudi Arabia considered building an 18 mile Bridge or the Horns that would connect Djibouti and Yemen and include new build twin Arab cities called Al Noor at both ends of the bridge. The estimates from 10 years ago is that it would cost 20 billion dollars. In 2010 the Saudis decided to indefinitely delay the project after reading their own writing on the wall.

The proposed site of the Bridge of the Horns as seen from space

Well my drink is empty and so I will have to wait until tomorrow when there will be another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Netherlands 1936, 300 hundred years of the Blessings of Minerva showing themselves at Utrecht

Europe is blessed with a long history of achievement. Not many places had advanced Universities in 1636AD. Utrecht in the Netherlands did. To recognize 300 years, instead of say showing an old building, why not call fourth the Roman Goddess of Wisdom Minerva, to show that the value of learning is even a longer and richer tradition. 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.

Minerva appears in the seals of many Universities, perhaps the most prominent one the University of Heidelberg in Germany. Usually she appears with her pet owl. The owl is missing here and also on the Seal of the Utrecht University itself. Another odd place that Minerva appears is on the money of the Confederate States of America. In Roman times, Minerva had a secondary role as a Patron of strategic defensive warfare, something the the Confederacy was deeply involved in.

Todays stamp is issue A35, a 6 cent stamp issued by the Netherlands on May 15th, 1936. It was a two stamp issue in different denominations. According to the Scott Catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents used.

At it’s founding, Utrecht was the third university in the Netherlands. It was hoped that the University would give the city more stability, the Rhone River was constantly shifting and threatening flooding. The University started small with just a few dozen students and offered Philosophy training to all plus advanced teaching in Theology, Medicine, and the Law. Very unusually for the time, Utrecht admitted a female student prominent young artist Anna Maria van Schurman. In Lecture Halls she sat behind a screen so she could not be seen by other male students.

Around 1850, Utrecht was able to achieve some prominence  in the field of the hard sciences. The school innovated the use of laboratories for learning. By then the leaders were all male, but who knows what went on behind the screens.

Today the Utrecht University has 31,000 students. According to the Shanghai Ranking, it is the best University in the Netherlands, the 13th best in Europe, and the 49th best in the world. I wonder how Minerva would feel that such world rankings now emanate from Shanghai.

Well my drink is empty. There is still some time to decide, but I wonder how the Netherlands will remember 400 years of Utrecht in 2036. I hope they don’t just print up the Shanghai Rankings on a stamp. Yes more modern and I suppose it is important where young Chinese decide to apply or not apply. Somewhere though, we seem to have lost some of the majesty. Come again tomorrow for another story to be learned from stamp collecting.

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France 1961, Remembering when form was broken down into cubes and then Orphists splashed it with color

Around the start of the twentieth century Paris was the center of the art world. Though many in Paris had traveled from elsewhere to be a part of it. First color was reimagined and then form itself was broken down to allow multiple perspectives within one work and then as war was darkening prospects, bright color was added by Orphist to break with a dark reality. All in 20 years in one city, well worth remembering. 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 the painting “The Fourteenth of July” by French artist Roger de la Fresnaye. July 14 is Bastille Day in France. Given the politics of the avant-garde of the art world, it is a little surprising that patriotic themes were so common among the output. Of course the subjects are being treated to more than a grain or two of salt, but to modern eyes it is striking how much mind space this stuff occupied.

Todays stamp is issue A373, a 1 Franc stamp issued by France on November 10th, 1961. There was a long issue of oversize painting stamps in this format from the early sixties through the mid 1970s. Some of the first stamp issues displayed the most avant-garde paintings. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth $1.90 used.

Roger de la Fresnaye was born into a noble family from Falaise in Normandy. He received art training at many of the top Paris art school. As he was coming of age more established artists like Pablo Picasso and  Georges Braque were breaking down form into little cubes within their paintings. This allowed many paintings within a painting and was thought to be an allegory of the industrial revolution where people labor and one particular aspect of a product with no access to the overall diagram of what is being accomplished.

Into this comes younger man Roger de la Fresnaye. The upcoming war was more personally threatening to him and he became attracted to a new movement within cubism called Orphism. This dispensed with the small cubes forming a larger form and instead add a great deal of bright colors in order to portray a more infinite universe. In this way perhaps adding a purpose outcome to the patriotism which was proving so flawed.

Joan of Ark circa 1912. Viewing her a little differently than how she was presented to French school children

One can see the conflicting attitudes within Fresnaye when the war came in 1914. He enlisted in the French Army as his father had done. While serving  he contracted tuberculosis and was released by the Army. Fresnaye late paintings took on a more linear style but he gave up painting in 1922 before dying at age 40 in 1925. One of his paintings sold in 2017 for 2,370,500 Euros.

Well my drink is empty and I will pour another to toast the French postage stamp designors from this era. Even with the oversized paper, it was no small feat transfering the painting images properly to a small scale. Come again tomorrow when there will be another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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South West Africa, With long distances, we should find a way to keep in touch

This stamp celebrates 100 years since the first post office. The stamp hints though at an earlier history, when Missionary developed a regular communication to look out for each other. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip if your adult beverage and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

In keeping with the 100 year post office theme, the stamp dates the mail carrying camel crossing the Kalahari desert to 1904. By then there was a long history of it. Spread out colonial outposts had to stay in touch even if the technology did not yet make it easy. Think of how treacherous these necessary and regularly scheduled treks were.

Todays stamp is issue A128, a 50 Cent stamp issued by South West Africa, on July 7th, 1988. It was from the last days of the South African administration before the area became Namibia. It was a four stamp issue in various denominations mistakingly dating the start of the postal service to the construction of the first village post offices during the German period of the area. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth $1.25 used.

The coast of South West Africa was first spotted by the Portuguese at a time when it was very sparsely populated by nomads who the British called Bushmen and the Germans called Hottentots. Nam seems to be the current boring term for them. The British were first with a permanent settlement on the coast at Walvis Bay and the Germans followed further south at Luderitz. The postal service on camel dates to 1814 and was a regular messenger service between Christian Missionary camps in the interior. Again there was British and Germans involved with Congregationalists of the London Missionary Society and German Lutherans of the Rhenish Missionary Society.

South West Africa began to change with the arrival of a former tobacco trading German named Adolf Luderitz. He had worked in America and Mexico in failed tobacco ventures. Back in Germany, he married a rich heiress and was ready anew to seek his fortune. He was very concerned at the number of young Germans that were setting out to America as he had. He felt that they were loosing his Germanness. He thought an area of just Germans in Africa could be a better outlet for Germans seeking a fresh start.  The newly united Germany was very weary of African commitments but Bismarck was convinced to grant Luderitz’s area German protection. Luderitz had expanded his area of control by trading rifles for land with the African tribes. With official German support, a deal was struck that gave South West Africa a strip of land called the Caprivi strip that connected the colony to the Zambezi River and by extension to German colonies in east Africa. Keeping connections being so important so far from home. Adolf Luderitz desperately sought to find the mineral wealth that might justify all the work he put in. During one of his missions his boat on the Orange River was lost showing how treacherous it all was.  As he was checking in nightly, it is at least known what day he was lost. The Hottentot chief who took the rifles for the land later claimed he did not understand the magnitude of the land he was giving up. He then filed a complaint with the Germans demanding money.

Adolf Luderitz

Namibia Post Offices still function though the camels have been retired. A private company NamPost took charge of the postal system in 1992 and claims to have 135 post offices and 743 employees. The Caprivi strip still officially belongs to Namibia though it attempted to break away under the African name Itenge around the year 2000. Perhaps a private profit seeking postal service is not ideal to keep solid connections. The town in Namibia retains Luderitz’s name post independence as it attracts tourists but many of the streets named for him in German cities are being renamed one by one.

Though lacking camels, NamPost delivers more.

Well my drink is empty and I will pour another to toast the adventurers who travel far whether for profit or God. It sure beats standing around with your hand out. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting