Month: May 2021

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Bulgaria 1911, Czar Ferdinand, wanted to rule a new Byzantium, but too busy with quarrels

On his deathbed, after stabbed by the Czar’s assassins, a former prime minister exclaims, “The people will forgive me everything, except bringing him here.” 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.

I must say I am fond of the visuals of todays stamp. A German descended King takes on the regalia of a Russian Czar to try to fit in a new Balkan country. You just know there will be pointless wars and plots and personal decadence, when you dig in.

The stamp today is issue A23, a 5 Stotinki stamp issued by the Kingdom of Bulgaria on February 14th, 1911. The stamp displays Czar Ferdinand I of Bulgaria. It was part of a 12 stamp issue in various denominations. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents used.

Bulgaria emerged as a kingdom from the falling back Ottoman Empire. A Germanic royal was picked to lessen the influence of Russia in the area. The Bulgarian people were Slavic and Orthodox Christian. Ferdinand I was Catholic. Stefan Stambolov, was appointed the young King’s regent and government minister. The Russians had attempted a coup on the previous King and Stambolov wanted to limit Russian interference.

Czar Ferdinand had an ambition to create a new Byzantium ruled by him that would consolidate gains at the expense of the retreating Ottomans. However, he was in the Balkans and was not able to keep a united front with Serbia and Greece. Through Macedonians he attacked his former allies and though successful in expanding and economically developing Bulgaria, his crusade for a new Byzantium was not to be.

He was also quarrelling with his former Regent and now Prime Minister Stambolov. Stambolov resigned after an assassination attempt and got his revenge by telling a German newspaper about Ferdinand’s lifestyle. The married King was bisexual, having affairs with numerous commoner women who he fathered illegitimate heirs whom he supported financially. As he got older he interest turned to men and chased after many valets and young army officers. He also made frequent trips to the island of Capri in Italy. Capri at the time was a notorious destination for gay trysts. Ferdinand survived the scandal but eventually had to abdicate after choosing wrong in World War I. The Czar’s lifestyle wasn’t all controversial, he was also a noted botanist and yes, philatelist.

Stambolov had to pay for his disloyalty. Despite wearing a bullet proof vest and carrying a gun in retirement, Stambolov was attacked and stabbed in the face, killing him. Czar Ferdinand is believed behind the plot. Stambolov is considered the father of modern Bulgaria.

Prime Minister and Regent Stefan Stambolov, as remembered on modern Bulgarian money
Ferdinand, no matter his lifestyle or who he had killed, was King. Therefore he gets the stamps, yes I know, old stamps.

After the King abdicated in 1918, he moved to Germany and lived in fine style for another 30 years. Below are his thoughts later in life. “Kings in exile are more philosophic under reverses than ordinary individuals; but our philosophy is primarily the result of tradition and breeding, and do not forget that pride is an important item in the making of a monarch. We are disciplined from the day of our birth and taught the avoidance of all outward signs of emotion. The skeleton sits forever with us at the feast. It may mean murder, it may mean abdication, but it serves always to remind us of the unexpected. Therefore we are prepared and nothing comes in the nature of a catastrophe. The main thing in life is to support any condition of bodily or spiritual exile with dignity. If one sups with sorrow, one need not invite the world to see you eat.”

Well my drink is empty and I think I will refrain from making any judgements about the Czar, too dangerous. Come again for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting. First published in 2018.

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Madagascar 1908, The French Exile the last Queen by Sedan Chair

An African Queen is exiled overnight by Sedan Chair and that if what the new French colonial authority decides to put on one of the first 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 today’s offering from The Philatelist.

This stamp  has a real feel of sticking it to the locals. France had only just conquered the place and instead of promising a better future or showing the sights of the place they issue this threatening stamp. If we can exile the Queen, just think of what we could do to you. The former Merina Kingdom did not issue stamps so it is likely the stamps would only be of use to colonial French.

The stamp today is issue A9, a 3 centimes stamp issued by the French Colony of Madagascar from 1908-1928. It displayed a sedan chair, which is a chair or supported by horizontal posts that in turn are carried by a team of peoples shoulders. The stamp was a part of a 36 stamp issue in various denominations. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents. If Madagascar ever develops a stamp collecting hobby, ha ha, this stamp should rapidly increase in value as an historical artifact.

Sedan chair

The Merina Kingdom had ruled Madagascar for many centuries. By tradition, a Queen from the hill people would marry a man from the coastal area who would then serve as Prime Minister. In the late 19th century, a deal was struck that gave France, Madagascar in return for allowing Britain, Zanzibar. The French landed and conquered the island in 1895. Only 60 French were lost in the battles but several thousand fell to malaria. Initially the last Queen, Ranavalona III was allowed to stay virtually under house arrest in her palace. She signed papers naming the new colonial governor and was surprised to know she would not have to take him as a husband, as was the local custom.

After some rebellion on the part of the local peasants, the French decided that Queen Ranavalona should go into exile, first to the island of Reunion and later to Algiers. Early one morning a few of her family and servants were loaded on to sedan chairs and taken on a several day journey to the coast where the boat to Reunion was waiting. The journey was long and perhaps realizing this was to be her last sight of her country, she was angry and quite drunk. At the boat she met up with her niece, and heir apparent, 14 years old and eight months pregnant with the baby of a French soldier. A rough boat journey saw her niece give birth to a daughter but die 5 days later. Queen Ranavalona adopted the girl. The girl ended up a nurse and socialite in France.

Queen Ranavalona III with grand neice Marie Louise in Paris in 1905. Marie Louise died childless in 1947

In exile in Algiers, the Madagascar colony paid her a small stipend but she was chronically short of funds, The French governor in Algiers wrote several times to his counterpart in Madagascar asking them to raise her pension but the requests were ignored. The Queen made repeated formal requests to be allowed to visit Madagascar but these were all refused. She was eventually allowed trips to Paris where as a Queen, she made quite an impression on the social scene. She died in Algiers in 1917 and again the Algiers Governor had to write Madagascar to try to get them to live up to keeping up her Algiers tomb. These were again ignored but in 1937 her remains were moved to the royal tombs in Madagascar.

An independent Madagascar did not treat their Royals any better. The Royal complex caught on fire mysteriously in 1995 and many royal relics burned or were looted. The tombs of the royals were all destroyed but remains appeared in the town square the next day that turned out to be Ranavalona III. The fire was officially an accident but many believe it was arson by the government to distract from a corruption scandal. The site had been on a list to become a UNESCO historical site.

Well my drink is empty unlike Queen Ranavalona’s. Come again  for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting. First published in 2018.

 

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Austria 1959, The Karl Marx Hof, an Austrian affordable housing success

Here is the interesting story of a rare affordable housing project that did not turn into a well located slum and the radicals that made it possible. 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 stamp today is Austrian. At the-philatelist.com we have featured several stamps printed in Austria, but this is our first actual Austrian stamp. See https://the-philatelist.com/2017/11/29/not-a-country-long-enough-to-get-the-stamp-issued/ and https://the-philatelist.com/2017/11/24/well-we-think-we-are-independant-we-have-a-constitution-a-flag-and-austrian-stamps/ Both stamps were very well printed by the standards of the day. This one not so much. It was less of a commemorative and more for bulk postage. That and the other side of the iron curtain look and subject matter perhaps show the in between status of Austria in 1959.

Todays stamp issue is A176, a 50 groschen stamp issued by Austria in 1959. The stamp features the Karl Marx Hof, an affordable housing complex in the Heiligenstadt area of Vienna. It is part of a 16 stamp issue of various Austrian architecture. According to the Scott catalog, it is worth 25 cents used.

Heiligenstadt is an area on the outskirts of Vienna. It was formerly a summer spa for Viennese to go and there was a hot water spring. The place had some reverses including being plundered twice by the Turkish during their two sieges of Vienna. It’s biggest claim to fame was when the composer Beethoven went there to recover after going deaf. He wrote his brother the famous Heiligenstadt Testament discussing suicide. The stay though was good for Beethoven and he resumed his career afterward. The area was incorporated in Vienna proper in 1892.

Vienna was an exciting place after World War 1. It was the capital of a small country instead of a large empire as before. On the other hand there was an influx of people from the east escaping changed borders and many veterans of the old imperial army who chose to build a new life in Vienna. These included many Jewish people from former Austrian Galacia that brought their politics with them. Vienna was sort of a left wing bastion in a fairly conservative country so it attracted many intellectuals and artistic types.

The problem was where to house the new arrivals. During the war, rent control had been established and this made private construction of apartments uneconomical. The socialist local government had passed a series of taxes on luxuries that was to be used to construct affordable housing. Otto Wagner, a local proponent of modern architecture was, along with his students, an inspiration of what was coming. The Karl Marx Hof was built in 1927-1930 an a large tract of land that had been drained. 1382 apartments were built on about 20 percent of the land with room left over for playgrounds, gardens, a library, and a kindergarten. The apartments, at 300 -600 square feet sound small to modern American ears. It was designed to be the home to 5000 people. Interestingly with the rest of the country more conservative, in 1934 there was an attempt to bring the lefties of Vienna more into line. The rebellion that followed was centered on the new Karl Marx Hof. During the following right wing period, the apartments got a new name, the Heiligenstadt Hof. Interestingly the city planner of the big red apartment projects kept working in Vienna till 1951. Even the Nazis can’t fire a civil servant, even if his big projects were behind him.

It still stands today, back to the old name since 1945 and was recently refurbished. It can be seen in the controversial film “The Night Porter”.

Karl Marx Hof in more modern times. The building is over 1 kilometer long and spans 3 subway stations

Well, my drink is empty. I wonder who lives there now, young singles? refugees? old people? I can’t imagine young families. Come again for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting. First published in 2018.

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Mexico 1934, 6 Brave Mexican Cadets martyred in a losing cause.

Here is a perhaps mythic story of 6 young Mexican Army cadets who suicided after witnessing losing to an American invasion force. Thus becoming an inspiration to a new nation. Now to a more mature nation rapidly emigrating to the USA, perhaps not so much.  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 stamp today is 1930s Latin American, more specifically Mexican. Stamps of this period and place seem to be poorly printed and seem bizarrely martial. Strongmen with clownishly elaborate uniforms and monuments to forgotten skirmishes where there were no good guys. This may seem harsh, but it is the perception. This is where a philatelist can be of help. I am rather fond of the fun uniforms and self important monuments. This website gives me the time to dig out the story behind. So if you are like me, read on.

The stamp today is issue A115, a 50 centavo stamp issued by Mexico in 1934. The stamp features the Monument to the Brave Cadets at Chapultepec. It was part of a 15 stamp issue showing various Mexican monuments. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents used. There are stamps from this set that lack the watermark. This pushes their value into the several hundreds of dollars.

Mexico had declared itself independent in 1821. Spain did not at first recognize this and there was fighting. The country was sparsely populated and many of the people were indigenous and did not have a loyalty to Spain nor Mexico. The central government was unstable, corrupt and had little control of the provinces. One great thing they had done was ban slavery in Mexico. This made life in what is now the American populated Mexican state of Texas difficult as the Southern American settlers had brought their slaves with them. After the Mexican leader Santa Ana had violated the Mexican constitution, American settlers declared an independent country of Texas. Mexico did not recognize an independent Texas and sent troops unsuccessfully to reclaim the area. The country of Texas was slave owning, making it the first territory in the world to ban slavery and then bring it back. This outraged abolitionists in the north of the USA. American President Polk however pushed further and offered to annex Texas as a slave state. This was accepted by the Texans. He then offered to buy from Mexico the territory between the Nueces River and the Rio Grande River, moving troops into the area. Mexico refused the sale and then attacked the forward American troops starting the Mexican American war.

An expeditionary force under Winfield Scott made America’s first amphibious assault at Veracruz and after heavy fighting marched toward Mexico City. Near Mexico City was Chapultepec Castle, which was being used as the Mexican Army’s military academy. Outnumbered, the Mexican commander ordered a retreat but 6 cadets disobeyed  and tried to hold out fighting to the death. One of the cadets, climbed the tower wrapped himself in the Mexican flag and jumped to his death to avoid the flags capture by the Americans. Mexico City still fell and Mexico lost much territory but a legend was born. A much needed legend. Only 7 of the 19 Mexican provinces had contributed to the failed war effort and after the war there was some soul searching locally as to whether Mexico indeed was a real country. The American invasion  force told a different story. That the Mexican Army had run away so quickly that they abandoned the child Cadets.

Cadet Juan Escutia, who is believed to be the cadet who jumped to his death wrapped in the Mexican flag. He was about 17.

The statue on the stamp was visited surprisingly by President Truman, who said that he liked all bravery wherever he could find it. Also in 1947 a mass grave was found near the castle that added some credence to the story and allowed Mexico to attach names to the Cadets.

While the monument on the stamp still exists. A much larger monument featuring a marble statue and 6 columns to the cadets at the entrance  to Mexico City’s biggest park was built in 1952. This was ordered for the 100th anniversary of the battle, but a little late.

The newer 1952 Mexico City monument to the 6 Cadets

Well my drink is empty but this is the kind of story where I get to pour another so I can raise a glass to all that fought in that war on both sides. The war was not popular on either side, but that does not mean that we should not honor the brave men who did their best in a difficult situation not of their choosing. Come again  for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Come to Bhutan, see our wildlife, maybe even an abominable snowman, and buy a Bahamian fake stamp

Enjoy mountain climbing in the Himalayas after being enticed by the exotica of a 60s fake stamp. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage and dream of your next mountain adventure. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

The stamp today is from Bhutan during the Burt Todd period. There were some pretty wild stamp offerings in that period. From stamps shaped like miniature phonograph records that would play the Bhutan national anthem, to stamps that were scratch and sniff to stamps that resembled coins, it was a wild time. So a stamp of what most believe to be a mythic figure seems almost mundane.

The stamp today is issue A14B, a 4 chetrum stamp issued by the Kingdom of Bhutan on October 12th 1966. It was part of a 15 stamp issue in various denominations that offered glimpses of the mythical creature the yeti, which is sometimes called the abominable snowman. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 35 cents in mint condition.

Bhutan is a majority Buddhist landlocked country in the Himalayan mountains bordering India to it’s south and the Tibet region controlled by China to it’s north. It is a very isolated place but maintains close relations with India. It had never been a colony in it’s history. In 1962 a road opened up which better connected Bhutan to India and increased mail volumes. An American named Burt Todd that had traveled there and became friendly with the King suggested issuing stamps was a good way to raise funds for development and introduce Bhutan to the world. Mr. Todd set up a company in the Bahamas and was granted by Bhutan Post the right to issue stamps on the countries behalf.

King Jijme Dorje of the Royal House of Wangchuck. Everybody have fun tonight. Everybody Wangchuck tonight

The company was not part of the regular philatelic scene so the stamps were not quickly recognized by collectors. To drum up interest, ever more wild issues were dreamed up with some interesting printing techniques. Of course some found this clownish and indeed Indian advisors suggested reigning in Mr. Todd and printing stamps that were of more use locally with face values more in line with postal rates. This lead to a series of Indian overprints of this issue and others to be more useful as stamps. In 1974 Mr. Todd’s contract to make stamps was not renewed and a New York outfit took over a more mundane stamp issuance that was more in the philatelic system. Bhutan has developed quite successfully and sells hydroelectric electricity to India and Bangladesh, but not China. Tourism is also a growing activity. Mr. Todd’s wild stamps look ever more predictive as many smaller countries seek out specialty philatelists with bold offerings.

The abominable snowman is usually known locally as the yeti, is a mythic creature that lives high up in the Himilayas in Nepal, Bhutan and Tibet. Many mountain treks have come across animal tracks in the snow that imply a large animal. There is some thought  that Tibetan blue bears spend a portion of their teens living up trees and that twist their front claws to make the animal tracks seem unique.

Yeti or Abominable Snowman. Fake animal for a fake stamp

Well, I have come to decide that I am to lazy to climb a mountain in Bhutan so instead I will pour another drink and toast the philatelic creativity of Mr. Todd. Come again for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting. First published in 2018.

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French Indochina 1945, Vichy fights on for French empire in IndoChina

This is a sort of weird story where a puppet government tries to hold on to an Empire when the homeland is lost. 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 stamp today is a French Indo China issue from the period when it was being administered by the region of France that had some autonomy after German occupation. This government was centered in Vichy rather than Paris. They did hold sway in some French colonies including French Indo China. The admiral on the stamp was central to the French formalizing control of several areas of Vietnam and in honoring him they are making it pretty clear they intend to stay.

Todays issue is A45, a 5 cent stamp issued by French Indo China in 1945. The stamp features French Admiral Pierre de la Grandiere. It was part of a two stamp issue. According to the Scott Catalog, it is worth 35 cents in its much more common mint version.

When French Indo China was brought under the Vichy government, there was an effort to retain French control. France had gradually firmed up control over Indo China in the 19th century. The pretext of their arrival was to protect French Catholic missionaries. The missionaries were considered a threat to the feudal system still in place there. The Catholic concepts of monogamy were quite threatening to the courtesans and  the Catholic church did make some inroads in the area. The missionaries were of course a pretext to get the nose under the tent and Admiral Grandiere had his fleet and 300 Filipino troops loaned by the Spanish  to bully and coerce ever more land concessions from the local royals. It continually amazes me how much the European powers were able to do with so few resources. By the dawn of the 20th century, the territorial expansion had reached Siam.

Tonkinese Colonial troops with their French officers

Hoping to take advantage of the chaos of the Vichy takeover, Siam launched a war to retake earlier French seized territory. Their troops did well on the ground but Vichy sent the fleet to defeat the Siamese Navy and force Siam to give up there retaken land. Vichy had come to terms with Japan allowing port access but the French were still in charge in Indo China.

British designed, Japanese built Siamese battleship HTMS Tonburi that ran aground in battle with the Vichy French. It was later refloated and refurbished in Japan and still exists as a museum ship

It is this perspective with which to view todays stamp. By the time it was issued the Vichy government was over in France but out in the colonies they are still reminding of their presence, staking their claim and reminding of past conquerors like the Admiral. It seems the stamp is talking to everyone, Siam, stay out, to Japan, we can still run things whatever happens in Europe, to the Free French, on this don’t we agree, and to the Americans, forget stripping the French of their colonies post war. Japan was first to not listen to Vichy. They arraigned Laos to declare independence and then took the opportunity to take control in March 1945. In August, Chang Kai-sheck forces crossed the border to accept Japanese surrender. By now the Communist Viet Minh controlled much of the countryside and the new French government had to work hard to overcome American objections and now North Vietnamese and Cambodian independence.

Well my drink is empty. The Americans at the end of World War II  tried to make the French see that they did not have the right to stay as they had not made the place better during their rule. I wish the USA later had remembered their own advice to a friend. Come again for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting

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Denmark 1946. Remembering a Danish Astronomer with a brass nose who died because he was too classy to pee

The story today is of a man fascinated by the stars while those around him stared at his nose. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, conduct a bladder check, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

The stamp today is Danish. Aesthetically it is a disappointment. The man on the stamp wore a prosthetic nose made of brass. Given the purpose of the stamp is to remember Mr. Brahe, it might have been nice to include his most memorable feature. No such luck. Perhaps something to do with his career in astronomy. No. This stamp is a poor effort on the part of the Danish Postal Authorities.

Todays issue is A56, a 20 ore stamp issued by Denmark on December 14 1946. The stamp remembers the 400 anniversary of the birth of Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe. It was a single stamp issue and is worth 30 cents in its mint condition.

Tycho Brahe was born to a noble family in Scandia in what was then Denmark. Scandia lies at the southern tip of Sweden. The people at the time were ethnically and linguistically Danish. Brahe was well educated at schools throughout Europe and developed an interest in astronomy. His family wanted him to take on more noble duties but he found a benefactor in the Danish King Fredrick II, who named him royal astrologer.

Tycho got in a dispute that ended in a duel. In a swordfight in the dark he lost most of his nose and had a bad scar on his forehead. He was fitted with a prosthetic nose that was glued to his face. He told people it was made of gold but it later proved to be made of brass.

His portraits glossed over the brass nose and there were no photos back then, but here is Tycho with the brass nose as portrayed by a Czech actor

Five years later he met a girl named Kristen and fell in love. She was a commoner so legally they were not allowed to marry. Denmark did have a rule though that if such a couple lived together as man and wife for three years that the marriage was legal. However the man stays noble, the wife and any children remain common and cannot inherit titles. The royal court ignored Kristen and the eight children.

Mr. Brahe’s contribution to astronomy were realizing the other planets orbited the sun rather than the Earth. He also realized that a supernova was the creation of a new star and therefore the celestial bodies are not fixed forever as was then believed. What he was wrong about was that the sun did not revolve around an unmoving earth. He was the last of the astronomers to make many of his observations with his bare eyes.

When King Fredrick died, the regency of his son chose not to continue supporting Mr. Brahe. He had many detractors in the court including many in the Lutheran Church. Tycho eventually found another benefactor in the Holy Roman Emperor and moved to Prague. There Kristen was accepted as noble.

During a noble ball in 1601 tragedy struck. The festivities went on for quite a period and Tycho felt it would violate rules of etiquette to excuse himself to urinate. By the time he arrived home he was in terrible pain and could no longer relieve himself as his bladder had burst. He was 55. It was rumored he was poisoned by the Danish Royals but his remains were exhumed  in Prague in 2010 and they discovered that his bladder indeed burst and that his nose was made of brass.

Well my drink is empty and if you will excuse me I will take a rest break before pouring another. Come again  for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.