Month: October 2020

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Isle of Man 1987, John Miller Nicholson brings impressionism to a tiny, ancient Celtic Island

Question; At what point does art rise above pavement art for tourists to high art that deserves it’s place among the best of it’s time? Possible Answer: When it is this good. 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 comes from an issue of impressionist harbor scenes of Douglas on the Isle of Man. Perhaps commissioned for the stamp I thought, to introduce the story of interesting ships that had passed through long ago. Such is a staple of the stamps of the tiny islands where the sun has yet on the Empire. This is different though, a local artist from 100 years before that had raised the game of art on the island.

Todays stamp is issue A96, a 29p stamp issued by the Isle of Man on February 18th, 1987. It was a four stamp issue in various denominations displaying the work of artist John Miller Nicholson. According to the Scott Catalog, the stamp is worth 90 cents whether used or unused.

John Miller Nicholson

John Miller Nicholson was born on the Isle of Man in 1840, the son of a house painter. His early career was as a draughtman. He had a hobby though of sketching in pencil the people and places of the island. A trip to Italy had been transformative. He had been schooled there in the technics and color choices of the impressionist art movement. He also returned with a load of watercolours showing scenes of Venice. His technic for painting was somewhat unusual. He would sketch his subject in pencil making notes as to color choices. He then returned to his workroom where his canvas was already mounted in his frame.

An early Venice watercolour by Nicholson

Word of what he was achieving got out. The then Governor of the Isle of Man Loch had the idea that the island should be a natural home for artists so founded an art school that John was involved with over a long period. Soon there were also showing of his art in some of London’s finer galleries but John did not have the skills of self promotion necessary to be recognized among the top painters in Victorian Era UK. He was recognized at home though with several posthumous biographies written and the Manx Museum acquiring an extensive collection of his work from the trust of a local collector.

There is a further connection to postage stamps beyond this stamp issue. His grandson John Hobson Nicholson was also an important local artist. He also was a stamp designer for many of the early issues of the Isle of Man.

Well my drink is empty, so please come back Monday when there will be another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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French Guiana 1947, Wondering what goes on in the interior

In the French region of Guiana there was a trading post on the coast at Cayenne and more famously a penal colony off shore on Devil’s Island. The French territory extended far inland though into an area named Inini after a river. Many years into the colony it was decided to make more use of the interior. Interesting what that effort looked like in this time frame. 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 displays a riverside scene, one assumes the French riverside, of the Moroni River that forms the border between French Guiana and Dutch Guyana,(now Suriname). Traveling the rivers was the only way to get into the jungle interior to make any sort of survey of what was possible there.

Todays stamp is issue A24, a one and a half Franc stamp issued by the French Overseas Department in Guiana on June 2nd, 1947. Becoming and overseas department ended the seperate administration of the interior. This was a 17 stamp issue in various denominations that mainly emphasized the interior. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 85 cents unused.

The interior of Guiana was very sparsely populated with only about 5000 residents in this time frame that were mostly indigenous. The French presence was miniscule with 7 French Army officers as administrators and nine military police. The administration consisted of three offices, forest management, water management and mines. An established gold mine was the only productivity beyond subsistence hunting, fishing, and farming. The French had the idea to open up the interior to colonization so they set up Inini as a separate colony and drew up plans for a road and railway into the interior. Anyone who has seen “Bridge on the River Kwai” knows what the Japanese did with a similar challenge in Burma. What would the French do in Inini/Guiana?

Well their effort was pretty similar. 535 Vietnamese prisoners of war from an uprising in French Indo China were brought in. Unlike the Japanese, guarding them was also outsourced. A unit Senegalese Trirailleurs from French West Africa were brought in to guard the Vietnamese. By 1936, the colonial Governor was expressing confidence that the railroad and road would soon be finished.

Senegalese Trailleur French soldier. All West Africans were referred to as Senegalese

It was not to be. Cholera and intestinal parasites were plaguing the Vietnamese workers and they rebelled against the Senegalese guards at work camp Crique Anguille in 1937. The rebellion was put down but it was decided to abandon the construction project. It was decided to condemn the remaining Vietnamese prisoners to Devil’s Island. Some were held in custody until 1953.

Camp Crique Anguille 68 years after the Vietnamese rebelled there. The jungle is gradually taking it back

In 1940, initially the colonies of Guiana sided with the Vichy Government after the fall of France. This became a difficult situation as Suriname was temporarily administered by the USA during the occupation of Holland and Brazil to the south declared war on the Axis in 1942. By this point the tiny French presence in Inini was concerned most with border control. In 1943 Inini changed allegiance to the Free French. In the 1944 Brazzaville Conference, it was promised that all citizens of French colonies would become French citizens and this was followed through in 1946 with all of Guiana including Inini becoming an overseas department of France. The interior has since been divided into communes for administration.

Well my drink is empty 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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Japan 2001, Showing off Nikko’s temples now that it is a world heritage site and not merely a national treasure

This stamp was part of a series of souvenir sheets that celebrated historic sites around Japan that were now recognized as world heritage sites. I often make fun of the United Nations for fecklessness, but this is one of the best things they do. Recognizing what is important culturally and historically  and speaking above politics and with one world voice for the preservation. 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.

One can see from the detailing how much care was taken to show these stamp subjects in the best light. This stamp issue comprised six sheets of 10 stamps each. Think of the effort that must have gone in to getting just the right photo and then making sure that it is going to show properly on a small postage stamp. Now add the detailing for the rest of the souvenir sheet. Now combine that effort 60 times over and remember this is all just one stamp issue of many. Good job, Japan.

Todays stamp is issue A2129, an 80 Yen stamp issued by Japan in 2001. Each of the 6 souvenir sheets contained 10 stamps and showed views of the UNESCO World Heritage site in a certain locale, in this case Nikko. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 55 cents individually used. The full sheet of 10 is worth $18. All the six sheets and all the individual stamps have the same stated value.

The Nikko temple and shrines complex was built in the 17th century. The 103 buildings of the complex include 3 temples, two of which are Shinto and one of which is Buddhist. The buildings are still under the ownership of their respective religious organizations. The whole complex is surrounded by an old growth forest that dates from the time of the buildings. They are considered to be great examples of the Edo period of Japanese architecture and are quite reverential to Shogun Tokugawa leyasa. This period is important because at the time Japan was united but closed off to the outside world, with the exception of a small Dutch trading post. The growth of a new aristocracy led to decorations from this period to be notably elaborate.

Yashamon Gate, Nikko

Japan applied and was successful in applying for the UNESCO declaration of the importance of the site at Nikko which was granted in 1999. Already back in 1950 the whole complex was declared a national treasure that limited changes that could be made. The site is blessed in that it has never gone through a period of being looted or neglected. In 1957 the old growth forest that provides such a strong background and context to the site was made a national park to avoid development.

The biggest threat to a complex like this is fire and this is where changes were allowed. Sprinklers and hydrants now abound and there is a designated fire brigade.

Well my drink is empty and I will happily pour another to toast Japan for doing such a good job with their heritage sites and their stamp designers for highlighting the effort. Come again tomorrow for another storythat can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Congo 1969. President Mobutu just before he became Authentic

Sometimes dictators can be fun when viewed from afar. President Mobutu wanted his country to be more authentically African. So he picked a Portuguese name to replace the Belgian one. He wanted a whole new style of clothes and found inspiration in China. Some of the changes though could have only come from him. 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 a long running series of stamps. They lasted through the renaming of the country to Zaire. The launch of the new currency also called the Zaire, the renaming of President Mobutu and the devaluations of the new currency. The post offices were still selling you versions of this stamp after this style of dress had been banned by the country. The country got it’s moneys worth from the De la Rue design.

Todays stamp is issue A127, a three Franc stamp issued by the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1969. It was a 15 stamp issue in various denominations. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents whether used or unused. There is also an imperforate version of the stamp, but the value only rises to 30 cents.

Joseph Mobutu was born in 1930 the son of a hotel maid that had escaped the harem of her home village chief and his father was employed as a cook of a Belgian judge, The judge’s wife took a liking to Joseph and taught him to read and write in French and when his father died secured a place for him at a Catholic Boys Boarding School. Joseph ran away to the capital Léopoldville with a girl but when the priests caught up to him, he was done with the school and joined the colonial Askari army. In the chaos that followed independence Mobutu was made a high officer as was done with many Askari corporals. Mobutu became President in a coup in 1965.

At the start of the 1970s Mobutu got serious about remaking the Congo more legitimately African, a common theme then and now. He was counseled by a Portuguese anthropologist on the importance of the Congo River to the country. He hit upon the anthropologist’s mispronunciation of the Kikongo word nzere. He realized that  in many tribal languages Zaire would be understood as the the large river that swallows the lessor ones. Mobutu decided on the the three Zs with Zaire becoming the name of the river, the country, and the new currency. The President also required the Priests in the Catholic country to stop Baptizing with western names.

The renaming got to Mobutu himself. He dropped the Joseph and added Sese Seko. His full name now translated to,” The all powerful warrior, who because of his endurance and inflexible will to win, goes from conquest to conquest leaving fire in his wake” The evening newscast began with a graphic of Mobutu descending from heaven. During this time the newscast was not allowed to name any other person just the title they held.

The style of clothes also changed. Mobutu was inspired by a 1972 trip to China and their style of dress. He designed a abacost, which translates into “Down with the Suit”. It was often worn with a toque hat and was to replace the coat and tie. Mobutu’s were tailor made for him in Brussels.

President Mobutu wearing his Abacost and toque

Eventually Mobutu’s popularity declined and in 1990 he was forced to allow some opposition figures into the government. For some strange reason they got the enforcement of the new rules suspended. When Mobutu was overthrown and replaced by Joseph Kabilla, the African authenticity program ended and the country reverted to it’s old name. The opposition was sure Mobutu had stole billions but after his death they only found 3 million dollars. I bet he spent it all. Kabilla turned out just as bad a ruler as Mobutu but was even worse as he completely lacked style.

Well my drink is empty. I wonder if Mobutu was still around would he be quarantined in one of his palaces only wearing the top half of his abacost while live streaming. Come again tomorrow when there will be another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Canada 1997, Canada gets ahead of the game by delving into supernatural goblins while still in the 20th Century

Attracting kids to the hobby is a goal of the creators of stamps. Here we have Canada with comic book style images of vampires, werewolves, goblins, and ghosts. This stamp issue in now over 20 years old. At some point will we realize that stamps should tell us about their part of the world and give up trying to catch the eye of the never collector. 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 need to write things out in two languages was clearly a challenge. The writing had to go up two sides and leaves the image of the goblin off centered. Makes you wonder how it came when you bought a sheet of them. I presume they were attached together as standard horizontal stamps as I have chosen to have mine photographed. I usually base this decision on the direction of the denomination. The stamp designer is perhaps inviting the sender to affix it in a diamond shape. Judging by the cancellation on mine, the user was confused or unnoticing and put the stamp sideways.

Todays stamp is issue A681, a 45 cent stamp issued by Canada on October 1st, why not 31st, 1997. It was a four stamp issue all in the same denomination. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 35 cents used. Canada had issues on serious subjects that same year and the low valuation is the same according to Scott. Not sure if this means that this stamp failed to attract the kids or just all the stamps failed to attract.

The image of a goblin as a miniature monster goes back far in European folklore. The word comes from the Greek Kobalos. Others think the word derives from a diminutive of the French name Gobel. Either way he a treacherous and sneaky character who lives in a hollowed out rock. He can take the form of a Gypsy King in Moldovan fiction or as a green arch rival of Spider Man in the comics or even as a banker in the Harry Potter universe. Watch out in Scotland for the goblin wearing a red hat. It is red because it is dipped in blood. He often accosts a traveler, perhaps giving the useful advise to be aware of your surroundings while in a strange place.

In modern times, the goblin has been a continuing part  of the role playing game Dungeons and Dragons. A player may face a combat encounter with a goblin or an orc, which in older fiction are the same thing. The game master periodically is to role the dice and consult a random encounter table as to whether a questor will face an goblin while travelling. The percentages change based on the terrain being crossed. Fighting off the goblin wears down the player costing him valuable hit points and forcing him to use up his healing potions.  I am more a Avalon Hill game player than D & D. Random encounters with goblins became less popular in video games as players found them annoying and repetitive. The Tales and Final Fantasy series’ have dropped the random goblins.

Final Fantasy, now random goblin free. Take note postage stamp designers!

Well my drink is empty and and I hope to be leaving you wondering about your random encounter with a new postage stamp when you visit The Philatelist again tomorrow.

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Housekeeping, Join me in trying to get used to the new WordPress theme

John C Publisher

There was a php update yesterday that caused an outage and forced me to change the theme to get the site going again The functions that used to be on the side bar are now on the bottom if you scroll down. Change is hard. The ads seem fewer which is an improvement but still keep an eye out for them.