Something happened funny when researching this stamp. Searching for International tourism year 1967 got me to one of my own articles. That has never happened before. So as you read todays offering, imagine me delivering it with a smile. 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.
Many countries issued stamps for International Tourism Year. Brazil’s is among the most whimsical. In the 1940s a grand new Avenue in Rio, Avenida Presidente Vargas, was made the new home for Carnival and showed off the best of Brazil old and new. The idea of international tourism year was to encourage people to travel more far and wide. There was a secondary goal of teaching the new recipients of tourists that it was their duty to be friendly and protective hosts. Brazil showed they were ahead of the pack in that game.
Todays stamp is issue A564, a 10 Centavo stamp issued by Brazil on November 22nd, 1967. It was a single stamp issue for International Tourism Year in 1967. The stamp was also available imbedded in a souvenir sheet with the same design imperforate. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents. The souvenir sheet is worth $13.
Carnival was introduced to Brazil by the Portuguese in the 1640s with the first official one in 1723. Though Portugal and indeed Brazil were Catholic, the early feasts and celebration were in thanks for the grape harvest to the ancient God of the grape harvest Dionysus. Over time the celebrations began to include parades of Samba schools. These were neighborhood clubs of Africans drumming, marching, and dancing. They are called schools not because they offered instruction, but instead because they often met in school yards after hours. The fusion of the feast to Dionysus and the Samba parades first happened in Praca Onze, which is sometimes called Big Africa.
The new grand avenue named and designed by President Vargas was opened 1n 1944. This was the opportunity to translate the Carnival into something safer that could be then marketed as reflective of the diverse background of Brazilians. Great move.
Tourism in Brazil is big business. In 2019, the country admitted over 6 million tourists, that was three times the number from 25 years ago. Sorry I could not find the 1960s numbers. Over time the tourist who come have changed. There have been a drop in the numbers from the USA and Europe and the big growth has been people coming from elsewhere in Latin America. Especially hard hit was tourism from Portugal. I will leave it up to the reader if that means the countries are too long apart or not long enough.
Well my drink is empty and I will pour another to toast myself for coming up in the search. I would double toast myself if the article that came up was more pertinent to what I wrote today. Come again soon for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting. First published in 2020.