Month: March 2021

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USA 2021, My 900th and last article, for now

John C Publisher

I knew when I started this website it was a longshot. I had to build a steady readership willing to read text stories on postage stamps and not just picture captions. That readership would provide via Google Adsense, enough income to support a bare bones operation. That readership in place, there might of been the opportunity to make the big investment to monetize it via partnerships with stamp dealers, and even perhaps a new line of stamp albums and even if it really worked stamp clubs with premises, local salaried leaders, modeled on Hugh Hefner era Playboy clubs. All this might have coincided with the end of new stamp issuance, which would stop the draining off of the hobby’s revenue to the world’s post offices.

This has proved to be not possible. Readership was growing, short February was a record. It was at too low a level to meet goals. Adsense had many outages and high income days were not related any way I could see to viewership. It was obvious that it could not be counted on.

Then things got much worse. Somehow some sort of overseas network sent first 10s than hundreds nightly of comments to an Israeli stamp I wrote up last month. They were not related to the content of the article but rather generic statements like good point or your the best with a screen name suggesting buying masks or legal services, or what not. I deleted them manually without them posting to the article. The multitude of screen names made it impossible to block. I understand this to be some sort of SEO trick, though if my readership doesn’t support me financially, I don’t see how it could be doing much for whatever overseas network was targeting me.

To stop the onslaught, I very reluctantly made it much more difficult to comment on The-Philatelist. That ended it or so I thought. The next day I was informed by Google Adsense that I was being demonetized. They said I was partnering with low quality networks. This was not true. I really only partner with Google for the ads and a network called Feedspot, that publicizes new stamp articles. Feedspot has treated me well and the readers they bring in are of high quality. They even honored me by including me on their world wide list of best postage stamp blogs.

A lot of us are worried that the whole stamp collecting hobby is fading into obscurity. I think it is worse than that. We have already seen most print magazines fail. I think we are also seeing the collapse of internet writing. Broad subjects like history have to be threaded very gently or just avoided to avoid signaling a political team and thus receiving an onslaught from the opposing team. Then the big internet providers, who are all on one team, target you for destruction.

Below is a common meme of a real life torture of an autistic boy by street thugs who then posted what they did on social media. A clever person than reimagined the street thugs as the big tech monopolies and the crime victim as the USA. I very much relate to this.

In the three and a half years I have been at this project, I have written 900 articles that averaged over 650 words. I will  be keeping the website online indefinitely. I encourage the readers to peruse the archive and to facilitate that I will set up the website to run two of the old articles at the top of the home page on Mondays and Thursdays. I am sure even regular readers will have missed many of them and as stamps are not current events they don’t date.

In closing, let me say how much I appreciate my readers and I would request that you keep collecting stamps and sharing your enthusiasm for the hobby with others. If you would like to contact me, my email is johndchapman@bellsouth.net.

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Ras Al Khaima/ Khaimah 1969, Finbar Kenny brings postage stamps to a high tent on a pirate coast

Translated Ras Al Khaima means top of the tent, and indeed the Emirate contains the highest peak in the United Arab Emirates. In the old days it probably had some great smugglers dens. Now it hosts the worlds longest zip line. This stamp collector would rather talk about the old days. 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 the docking of the lunar and command module of that years American Apolo 11 mission to the moon. A note about how spelling changes. They currently list three acceptable spellings for the Emirate in English, none of which is the one this stamp from 1969. The Emirate now seems decisive in wanting an h at the end of Khaima. Interestingly, in the first year of the Emirate’s stamps in 1964, the cancelation to order done on the stamp spelled the Emirate differently than on the actual stamp. The cancellation was prescient on putting the h at the end of Khaima, but then switched the Al to El which again is not one of the three allowed English spellings.

This dune stamp is considered fake so it is not in the catalog. Between 1964 and 1972 1036 stamps and 70 souvenir sheets were issued by Ras Al Khaima. Mid way along the currency switched from  Indian Rupees to Riyals so there are even some overprints of early issues changing the currency. This issue of 6 stamps and one souvenir sheet came out on August 15th, 1969.

The area of Ras Al Khaima has been occupied by humans continuously for 7000 years. It is associated historically with the trading post of Julfar. The area has been rules by the House of Al-Qasimi since 1721. Another line of the Royal house rules the Emirate of Sharjah. During this early period the British involved with the private British East India Company labeled the area of the coastline a pirate coast. There is some contention that this is just the British putting labels on trading competitors, however it is known that the Al-Qasimis were tied to the Somalis. Their allies in old times were the Persians and their rivals were the Omanis in Muscat and their British allies.

At first there was much inconclusive fighting with Muscat. In 1820 to they said put a stop to the piracy, the East India Company attacked by land and sea the fort at Ras Al Khaima. When they charged the fort they found it almost deserted. Unable to locate Emir Al-Qasimi, they traveled to Sharjah and had that Al-Qasimi sign a capitulation that agreed to an end to piracy and slavery. Ras Al  Khaima again seperated from Sharjah in 1869.

1820 British and Muscat siege of Ras Al Khaima

In 1963, the British stopped being the protector and stamp issuer for the Trucial States as they called them. That allowed American fake stamp guru Finbar Kenny come in to fill the stamp breach, signing a deal with Sheik Saqr Al-Qasimi. However the time period was very bad for Ras Al Khaima. Two islands that the Emirate claimed were occupied militarily by Shah era Iran. It seems the Al-Qasimi ties with the Persians had frayed. This became very important to stamp collectors because Ras al Khaima delayed joining the United Arab Emirates until the whole area agreed to to take up the cause of returning the islands. As a result of the delay, Ras Al Khaima produced the last fake dune stamps. Emir Saqr ruled from 1948 -2010.

Emir/Sheik Saqr Al- Qasimi

In 2003 Saqr removed crown prince Khalid in favor of son Saud. Khalid was forced into exile in old rival Muscat, Oman. Upon Saqr’s death on 2010, Khalid posted a video claiming the Emirship for himself, but the Emirate council recognized instead the selection of Saud. Khalid than funded a western PR campaign suggesting that his father and brother were in cahoots with the Islamic Republic of Iran in their nuclear weapons program. Sometimes the Philatelist has to update his scorecard to track the leans. Dunes do shift.

Well my drink is empty. Tomorrow I will have to make a painful announcement as to the future of this website. Come again tomorrow to read it.

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Mexico 1950, a Crescent Moon dance that now has excluded the men

It is fun when a foriegn country show off it’s folk culture and then you look it up many years later and the whole thing has been reimagined by outsiders. 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 males doing a crescent moon dance in the Mexican region of Puebla. It is supposed to represent two tribes coming together to attack a foe, usually a jaguar or a viper. The man sliceing at the foe from every direction is impossible to defend against.

Todays stamp is issue C195, a one Peso airmail stamp issued by Mexico in 1950. It was a 13 stamp issue in various denominations. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents used.

Moon dancing has changed a little bit in Mexico since this stamp. Since the 1990s a blond, white mystic named Chandani has been bringing back the moondance now for females only and dedicated to ancient God of the earth Pachamama. Chandani had tired of the masculinity of the feminist movement and learned of old ways of dancing in crcles in the moonlight while a drum plays from older Mexican grandmothers steeped in the ways of the ancients. To best open the channel to Pachamama, it is best to do it four nights in a row. Men are kept outside the circle but are standing by to keep the campfire going, serve hot chocolate, and prepare sweat lodges.

The leader of the modern Pachamama Mexican movement, Chandani with her life partner Tyohar.
The modern or is it ancient female moondance in Mexico

Cynics might note that Pachamama was Inca not Aztec and was attached to the harvest and rainfall that don’t seem to interest the moderns. Old rituals included sacrificing guinea pigs and llama fetuses to win Pachamama’s favor. Thankfully the moderns have not yet brought that back. The conversion of Latin America to Catholicism saw the idea of Pachamama somewhat susumed  in the icon of the Virgin Mary.

Well my drink is empty. I guess a circle for praying does cross over into Christianity. Remember Johnny Cash singing the hymn Will the circle  be unbroken. Come again tomorrow when there will be another story to be learned from stamp collecting

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Egypte 1953, Parting was such sweet sorrow for King Yoyo

King Farouk had to abdicate and sail away on his yacht in 1952. In Egypt, he was rudely crossed out on the stamps and mocked for his lavish lifestyle and extensive collections. In Italy, he couldn’t fully enjoy his exile as the women in his life turned on him. His wife left him and a former British Cypher clerk at the embassy in Cairo who had been given the title of official mistress took advantage of his plight by writing a novel about a proper English girl who has to sleep with a hairy, morbidly obese former King named Yoyo who liked to spank her. Maybe she needed one. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill tour 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 stamp shows the Cairo Citadel first built by King Saladin in 1176 AD. It was one of the most advanced and extensive fortifications of it’s day. You can also spot the twin spires of the Mohammed Ali Pasha Mosque added by the first Albanian Pasha appointed by the Ottomans at the end of Napoleon era French occupation. Mohammed Ali Pasha was the founder of King Farouk’s Royal Line. There was cause for cellebration at the time of the original version of this stamp. The Egyptian Army had just replaced the British Army garrisoning the citadel.

Todays stamp is issue A73, a 50 Millemines stamp issued by the new Egyptian Republic in 1953. It was one of 23 Royal era stamps reissued with King Farouk crossed out. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 35 cents used. The cross out adds 10 cents to the value.

In 1952, King Farouk was enjoying his summer has was his habit in Alexandria on the more temperate Mediterranean where he could also enjoy Alexandria’s night life and casinos. The King had been warned by his Prime Minister that officers in the army were plotting against him. He had the list of suspects read to him and then dismissed it as being from people too junior to be a real threat. He appointed a new defense minister to rout them out. Two days later Cairo fell to the coup plotters and army units headed toward Alexandria. The Sudanese Royal Guard stayed loyal as did the navy at anchor in Alexandria. They were able to fight off the first assault on the Alexandria palace with King Farouk himself taking out five of the attackers with his hunting rifle. The Army prepared to bring forth tanks and artillery for a final assault and King Farouk saw the wisdom of abdicating and sailing away on the Royal Yacht El Mahrousa bound for Italy.

Safely in Italy with his family, Farouk was faced with insult over insult. His collections of coins, stamps, suits of Armor, pornography, and geiger counters were displayed, ridiculed and put up for auction. This dragged out forever as many of those that helped him put together his quite extensive collections sued claiming Farouk had not paid for much of what he had. This dragged out the pain.

Even worse was his treatment by his women. His young Queen, left him going back to Egypt and sued him for divorce civilly claiming adultery, and abandonment. Divorce was granted gleefully by the new Egypt and allowed her unlike Farook to keep her citizenship. Prince Ranier stepped in and granted Farouk a Monaco passport. English socialite Barbara Skelton who had been a cypher clerk at the embassy in Cairo during the war had been awarded the title of  official mistress. She repaid him by writing a novel  called A Young Girl’s Touch.  with her background sanitised and many years taken off her life and the King made older and more repulsive as King Yoyo. In reality, if he wanted to spank a younger girl he would have picked a different mistress. Barbara Skelton was four years older then him.

King Farouk tried to put his life back together in Rome. He found a new and final official mistress, 19 year old 1953 Miss Naples Irma Capese Minutolo. She stayed with him the rest of his life after he paid her parents a great deal of money in exchange for her virginity. They enjoyed the nightlife and King Farouk supported her ventures in acting and opera singing. She is still with us and has lately made the claim they were secretly married. As with Ms. Skelton she has the tendency to subtract years from her life to make her stories more tawdry/sexy.

King Farouk’s last official mistess Irma

King Farouk died in 1965, collapsing in his favorite Rome restaurant. President Nasser consented to an Egyptian burial but not a Royal one. President Sadat later had the remains removed to the Royal Cemetery. The Royal Yacht El Mahrousa returned to Egypt after dropping Farouk off in Italy and still serves, as it has since 1865.

The Egyptian Royal/Presidential yacht, hot it looked in the 1940s.

Well my drink is empty. Farouk thought the young officers against him were nothings. Turns out to be true also with the women in her life. Come again tomorrow when there will be another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Vietnam 1978, Defining down the concept of a Palace

With 1977 Hanoi being bereft of impressive buildings the victorious communist regime could take credit for. A building built by the French during colonial times and then recently refurbished with help from the Czechs substituted. Well the regime did think of the idea of designating it a Palace. Imagine the level to which the cupboard was bare. So slip on your Ao Dai, fill your canteen from the river and sit cross-legged on the ground. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

This stamp is from the period before peaceful, united Vietnam farmed out it’s stamp design to Cuba. So we get to see a less professional printing. Ignoring the chunk missing from my copy. notice how badly handled were the perforations.

Todays stamp is issue A303, a 10 Xu stamp issued by united Vietnam on May 29th, 1978. It was a single stamp issue for Children’s Day. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 35 cents used. 10 Xu would be .00043 of an American penny now.

The Young Pioneer groups were started by the Soviets in the 1920s. To house the young peoples’ scouting like activities, grand mansions were allocated from those confiscated from the former aristocrats of the old regime. The stately homes were renamed youth palaces to emphasize the importance of the youth to the new regime. Through the 1950s as the organization spread to new places, Pioneer Palaces were built new in the traditional style. By the 1960s, newly built palaces more resembled YMCAs.

A Soviet former Young Pioneer youth palace. Now that is a palace!

The Young Pioneer movement got a start in Vietnam all the way back in 1941 under the auspices of the illegal communist party. The slogan of the Vietnamese group is “For the ideals of socialism and the legacy of Uncle Ho. Be Prepared.” Having been a member of the Young Pioneers is a requisite to belong to the older youth Communist Youth Organization which is itself a prerequisite to join the Vietnamese Communist Party. The Pioneers still have 12 million members.

Vietnamese Young Pioneers

After communism fell most of the Pioneer Palaces became for profit health centers. A few even became casinos and strip clubs. As of now there are three that still function as Young Pioneer Palaces. This one in Hanoi, another in Pyongyang in North Korea and one in Havana, Cuba.

The building on the stamp was built by the French  and originally one side hosted a kindergarten and the other a club exclusively for French in Hanoi. The building was taken in 1954 to act as a Young Pioneer Youth Palace, but it was not till 1973 when the building got a Czech paid for refurbishment to better fit it’s new role, including a large library.

The Hanoi Pioneer Palace in more modern times.
A youth organization must have an emblem

Many countries still have Young Pioneer youth organizations as part of their country’s communist party. There is still an international governing organization under the acronym ICCAM based out of Budapest, Hungary.

Well I decided not to touch the river water and I am far to old to sit long in this ridiculous position. Come again tomorrow when there will be another story to be learned from stamp collecting.

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Isle of Man 1982, Isle of Man Steam Packet Company, the longest operating passenger shipping company marks 150 years

Islands need to be in regular touch with the mainland for import/export, travel. and also in the stamp context, the mail, Not satisfied with the irregular service provided by private companies, Isle of Man decided on government ownership of a steam packet shipping line, a decision they had to make again with the same company in 2018. 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 ship on todays stamp is the TSS/RMS Manx Maid II that was built by Cammell Laird and launched in 1962. The ship had six decks, a crew of  60, and a passenger capacity of 1600. It only looks modern in terms of the really old ship on the other stamp of the issue. It was however the first of the new class of roll on roll off ships that better facilitated travelers with cars and tour buses. Two years after this stamp, the Manx Maid was retired and scrapped. The Isle of Man Steam Packet Company recently ordered a new roll on/roll off vessel, though this time not from the newly reconstituted Cammell Laird shipyard, instead the order went to Hyundai in South Korea. They decided to call the new ship Manx Man instead of Korea Man. Can’t let the mask fall.

The launching of the RMS Manx Maid in 1962. If you look closely, she was just a shell in need of fitting out. The ship was in regular service 4 months later. Shipyards were on the ball back then!

Todays stamp is issue A64, a 19.5 Pence stamp issued by the Isle of Man on October 5th, 1982. It was a two stamp issue to mark the anniversary of the founding of the company. According to the Scott Catalog, the stamp is worth 60 cents whether used or unused.

The idea for a Manx government owned steam packet line came up in 1829 and the first ship Mona’s Isle was on regular service  to Liverpool by 1832. A steam packet ship could handle cargo or passengers and in the early days the ships still had auxiliary sails and steam powered paddles. The mail carrying contract was important for the steady income provided and the prestige of the RMS designation when carrying mail.

By the early 20th century, the fleet was up to around 15 ships and there was regular service to new places including Blackpool, Belfast and Dublin. The finest hour of the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company  came during the Dunkirk evacuation, when 8 of their ships took part evacuating 24,699 troops from France. The line lost 3 ships that day, 20% of the fleet.

RMS Mona’s Queen III shortly after she struck a mine on the approach to Dunkirk.

The 1980s saw losses and fewer travelers on the ships. It was decided to let the company be privatized. To encourage the service to continue, the company was granted free use of port facilities. Not surprisingly, the new arrangement was not a moneymaker except for the bankers. The shrinking shell of a company passed through the ownership of a  hedge fund and two caretaker banks. In 2019, there was a deal to buy back what was left of the company  for less than half what it sold for in the 1980s. The fleet was down to two ships owned that were built in the 1990s and nearing the end of their useful lives. Year-round service was only to Heysham, with seasonal routes to Belfast, Dublin, and Liverpool.

Well my drink is empty. It is interesting the whenever I do an industry stamp from anywhere, the most recent 20 years of the story is one of shrinkage and hollowing out. Come again on Monday for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

The hedge fund would be savior. Apparently they work with management to find the inflection point toward growth. God save us from this.

 

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Ireland 1961, Remembering Saint Patrick

Saint Patrick’s Day is a big celebration, well not this year, in my city. Yet I knew nothing of Saint Patrick beyond being Catholic and Irish. So when I spotted this Irish stamp, what a great excuse to learn more. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your green beer and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

This stamp processes poor period printing. The design is properly reverent, but I wonder why the stamp has blue tinting instead of green.

Todays stamp is issue A42 a 3 pence stamp issued by Ireland on September 25th, 1961. It was a three stamp issue in various denominations honoring the 1500th anniversary of the death of Saint Patrick. His dates aren’t quite firm but were guessed later based on his use of the Vulgate Latin translation of the Bible. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents used.

Saint Patrick was born in Roman era England. As a child he was captured by Irish pirates, taken to Ireland and pressed into slavery. His labors were looking after animals. He escaped his bondage and managed to return to England and his family. In adulthood he became a priest and felt it was his mission to convert Ireland to Christianity re-arriving in 432 AD. There are those that say he returned to Ireland after facing a trial in Britain for accepting gifts from wealthy women and payment for Baptisms. He was not convicted and his Confessions contain his denial of financial impropriety. In Ireland he succeeded in Baptizing thousands, finding and ordaining priests to serve local communities and well off spinster ladies to become nuns.

The year before Patrick returned to Ireland another Bishop by the name of Palladius arrived. He was French and tasked by Pope Celestine I with converting Ireland to Christianity indeed becoming the first Bishop of Ireland. There is some scholarly debate that some of the legends of Saint Patrick, like ridding Ireland of snakes was actually the work of Palladius. To modern Irish ears, this also has the advantage of removing credit from England regarding the Christian conversion.

Saint Patrick was universally recognized as a Saint before the later Catholic Church formalized the process of recognizing them. This was also before the big break with the Orthadox Christianity of the East. In the Orthadox tradition, Patrick is the holder of a higher title than Saint called Equal to Apostles. This title is limited to Saints that had Devine success in the job of Christian conversion in the tradition of the 12 Apostilles of Jesus Christ.

Well my drink is empty and this was one of those stories getting bogged down where the modern historians with their new takes on the old texts. It gets them mentioned with the old texts, yes I know I chose not to site them, but reduces the majesty of what was accomplished. One or two good men came from far away and offered a better way. What were the chances that they would be listened to? Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Syria 1962, The Jupiter Temple rolls with the punches

Syria has had to roll with many invasions over the years. The new post war independent Syrian Arab Republic was confident enough to display Roman ruins. Why not, as it was the site of an even earlier Aramean temple to the storm God Hadad, perhaps indicating Syrian people are outlasting even the Gods. 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.

With Assad in Syria being the last of the pseudo king socialist middle eastern dictators clinging to power, it is maybe time to acknowledge that these men had their good points. They were educated and knew the areas long history and celebrated all of it, not just the narrow part that conforms to a political or religious dogma. Compare that to Antifa or the Taliban.

Todays stamp is issue A84, a 10 Piaster stamp issued by Syria in 1962. It was part of a 16 stamp issue over several years showing historic sites that was the first stamp issue of the Arab Republic government. According to the Scott Catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents. 10 Piasters is currently worth 8/1000s of an American penny.

The site in old town Damascus that holds the ruins to the Roman Temple to Jupiter was the site of a temple even before Roman times. Under the rule of Aramean King Hazael a Temple was constructed in Semitic style resembling the Temple in Jerusalem but dedicated to the storm God Hadad. The Romans conquered Damascus in 64 BC and over time tried to combine Hadad with their own God Jupiter. Eventually the temple was expanded under local architect Apollodorus. Apollodorus added on in the Roman style but was careful to give large nods to earlier Eastern styles. He is even credited with giving Roman architecture Eastern style domes.

Period statue of Semitic Storm God Hadad
Damascus Engineer/architect Apollodorus

In the late 4th century AD, Roman Emperor Theodosis decreed the Roman Empire Christian and only Christian. The Temple was rededicated to John the Baptist. The Temple in that form was even said to hold his skull.

Muslims conquered Damascus in 635 AD and for a time the Temple served both religions but 70 years later Caliph al Walid Ist converted and expanded the temple into the current Umayyad Mosque.

As a Mosque, the temple saw the first demonstration of the Arab Spring that started the still current Syrian civil war in 2011, Security forces quickly dealt with the demonstration and then carefully fenced off the already walled site. Since to date Damascus has not fallen to the other sides, the historic site remains intact.

Damascus, Umayyad Mosque

Well my drink is empty. Come again on Monday when there will be another story to be learned from stamp collecting.

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Malta 1991, When ruins are too majestic to remove

The Parish Church of Saint Mary’s in Birkirkara, Malta was mostly leveled by an earthquake in 1856. A new church, dedicated to Saint Helen was built and loved enough to eventually be named a basilica. Yet so many years later Malta is displaying the ruins as something tourist should see. 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 12 stamp issue promoted tourism on the small island of Malta. They came up with 12 sites to see, most of which you are not going to see on a brief cruise ship stop.

Todays stamp is issue A191, a 5 cent stamp issued by independent Malta on December 9th, 1991. The twelve stamp issue had different denominations. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents used.

The Church was built over a 60 year period in the 17th century. It was dedicated to the Assumption of Mary to heaven. This is the belief shared by Catholics, Orthadox, and a few Protestants that at the end of Mary’s, mother of Jesus, time on Earth, she did not die but rather Angels came for her and lifted her bodily up to heaven. This confirmed her without sin and a renewal of the original Covenant as with Adam in the Garden of Eden. The Assumption is dated to August 15th, and celebrated as a feast day. In 1950 Pope Pius attached Papal Infallibility to the belief, but many Protestants don’t feel there is enough basis in the Bible for the belief. Feast poopers. As usual, Lutherans try to thread the needle by not believing in the Assumption but still celebrate the life on earth of Mary on August 15th.

A pre earthquake photo showing how Saint Mary’s originally looked.

Saint Mary’s Church was designed by Maltese architect Tommaso Dingli in the Renaissance style. After starting his career working on the Wignacourt Aqueduct that brought spring water into Valetta, he settled into the core of his career designing churches around Malta. His reputation was such the Giovanni de Medici tried to bring him to Italy. Dingli refused as he had too much work to do on Malta. I bet Malta wished that was still the case for their best and brightest.

In 1856 there was an earthquake that collapsed the tower and mostly

Napoleonic bullet holes. Don’t worry France, at this point I don’t think the Maltese want it fixed

closed the church except as an occasional funeral venue. The damaged shell was still much loved as it contained so much history. One wall has graffiti dating from the 17th century and another as bullet holes left from the Napoleon Era  French occupation. As early as 1890 there was a local committee with the the goals of rebuilding the church. A new roof was finally put on in the 1970s, not to the original style but again allowing the church to host a Parrish starting in 2005.

Well my drink is empty. I can understand why Birkirkara is fond of the the old ruins. My city also has a church that lost it’s roof to a Nineteenth century hurricane. They left the open air shell around, not as a funeral venue but to host music performances. Come again tomorrow when there will be another story to be learned from stamp collecting.

 

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Rwanda 1967, A Roundtable, not for knights but for future knights

Rwanda was a newly independent country in the 1960s. Why not have a social, business, and charitable organization to mobilize young business leaders. Rwanda picked the British one, whose moto is adopt, adapt, and improve. Not a bad motto for a new country. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and in special honour of the young up and comers, go rafting after learning to make sushi. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

This is a good looking issue of stamps. The roundtable emblem shows the local variation for the chapter in Kigali and the African wild animals show the where the money went for the annual charity event of the club. Imagine the first young fellows putting together the club in exotic Kigali. How full of hope they must have been.

Todays stamp is issue A37, a 20 Centime stamp issued by independent Rwanda on July 31st, 1967. It was a 6 stamp issue in various denominations. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents unused. Rwanda’s last stamp issue, on gorillas, was in 2010 and the authorities have declared many more recent issues unauthorized and illegal. That includes a two souvenir sheet issue of nine stamps each on Rwandan pornography. It may be fake but there is a stamp collecting story that needs telling.

The first Round Table Club was founded in 1926 by Englishman, of Irish mother and Swiss father, Louis Marchesi. He was a young businessman interested in networking  and belonged to the Rotary Club. He didn’t feel the Rotarians were enough focused on the younger members that were also interested in adventures and available at night. Marchesi came up with the goal of adopt-adapt-improve as shown on this stamp and inspired when Marchesi heard the then Prince of Wales, later Edward VIII, say at a trade show that the young men of Britain need to gather around the table  to solve the Empire’s problems. The group was only open to males under 40 and met once a fortnight in a pub. Their wives were allowed to join the ladies circle. On the March after a member’s 40th birthday, they were retired from the club, although many local affiliates have 41 clubs for their former retired members and the tangent club for their wives. After World War II the club began to have international tables and is currently in over 60 countries. By keeping the membership young, the club can over more adventure based events while keeping up the annual charity aspect. The Duke of Edinburg was until recently the Royal Patron.

Louis “Mark” Marchesi
The International logo

The Round Table club is no more in Rwanda. It is possible there is still a 41 club of former members that aged out as the organization says that many of those no longer stay in touch. There is still an active Round Table chapter in neighboring Tanzania. There might be hope for a recovery in Rwanda. It has made some progress economically since the 90s civil war. They have even recently joined the British Commonwealth. Though Rwanda was colonized first by Germany and later Belgium, there was a short period of British occupation during World War I. This made Rwanda eligible for the Commonwealth and their application was approved.

Well my drink is empty. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.