Author: John C

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Ecuador 1930, Talking up ancient national cacao while fighting the witches’ broom and dreading the appearance of Frankenstien

Ecuador broke away from Gran Columbia 100 years before this stamp. They hadn’t exactly set the world on fire with their success. Nature had provided to Ecuador a unique “national” cacao that was best in the world and readily exported. Well having such a national treasure perhaps justifies a country, too bad they couldn’t protect it. 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 do like the old style formal martial style of the older Latin American stamp. When they add the portrait of somebody no one has heard of  and have him dressed up like Napoleon, it adds a fun comic appeal. When The Philatelist started, I thought these stamps would be a staple, as we could research the trials and tribulations of the fake Napoleons. It didn’t work out that way, there really isn’t much info about them beyond a portrait and dates. The countries were largely illiterate and remembering the people that kept them that way was not a priority. I have had better luck when the country featured a crop or industry, because people getting something done is more worth remembering.

Todays stamp is issue A115, a five centavo stamp issued by Ecuador on August 1st, 1930. It was a 13 stamp issue in various denominations on the occasion of the country’s centennial. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents used.

Only 11 percent of the land area of Ecuador was arable. That perhaps was not considered adequately when deciding to break away from Gran Columbia, but circa 1830 the population was small and the indigenous didn’t truly count. The modern world works around issues like that by providing grains free or heavily subsidized. I wonder how often Ecuador says thank you to the USA or Japan for insuring such a program.

That does leave the arable land for export crops. The local variety of cacao pod produced the best in the world. It had a floweriness that was unmatched. The government named it ancient national and recognized it as a renewable and exportable national treasure. Unfortunately disaster struck. In 1916 the crop was hit with two crop diseases. They were called frozen pod and witches’ broom. Crop yields dropped to almost nothing. In desperation planters brought in outside varieties of cacao that seemed to have greater resistance to the diseases. The government tried to save the national variety by having it combined with the  newly added varieties to make a hybrid they named heirloom national cacao. The result was still high quality but now was instead fruity instead of flowery. Yields at least went back up.

This is where Frankenstein enters the story. A new hybrid was developed that was only one percent related to the ancient national cacao that was the national treasure. There was no longer any taste advantage or market price premium for this cacao from Ecuador. However Frankenstein upped crop yields eight fold. This has fueled a low quality export boom that mainly goes to the USA. In modern times, 70% of the land is given over to the Frankenstein hybrid and  a little less than 30 percent heirloom national. True Ancient National is less than 1 percent of todays crop. It still commands a market price eight times as much. So everybody gets cheap lousy cacao instead of just noticing that cacao from Ecuador is extra special.

Well my drink is empty. I wonder if is possible to get real ancient national sent to you? Fall is here and that means winter is coming. Come again tomorrow when there will be another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Trinidad and Tobago 1938, Cooking and eating the sacred hummingbird leads to the Coronation of the Asphalt King

Who could have imagined that a naturally  occurring tar pit could lead to robber baron trusts and government make work. Well perhaps if the warnings from the Indians had been heeded. 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 King George VI standard design has one of those marvelous little windows into the specific colony. Here we see the white man’s discovery of a lake of asphalt by Sir Walter Raleigh in 1595. Soon Raleigh was using it as calk on his ships and comparing and contrasting Trinidad’s lake to a tar pit he had previously seen in Norway. With the knowledge he added, we should remember to refer to him as Sir as the honour was much deserved.

Todays stamp is issue A13, a 6 Pence stamp issued by the British Crown Colony of Trinidad and Tobago in 1938. It was a 14 stamp issue in various denomination with different windows into the colony. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 85 cents with it’s nice G. P.  O. Port of Spain postage cancelation.

The asphalt lake had of course been discovered by Indians long before Sir Walter Raleigh. The legend they used to explain it was that long ago a tribe was celebrating a defeat in battle of a neighboring rival. In their exuberance the tribe got the munchies and cooked and ate a sacred hummingbird that they believed contained the eternal souls of their ancestors. Out of revenge, their winged god caused the earth to open up and swallow their village with the black hell lava. The lava/asphalt then stained the earth permanently as a warning to future munchy Indians. Scientists now boringly claim that the location is where two tectonic plates meet forcing to the surface a deep deposit of asphalt.

In Washington DC, a white Philosophy Professor at Howard University named Amzi Barber was branching out into upscale residential neighborhood development. He developed Ledroit Park adjacent to traditionally black Howard University as a gated, tree lined, all white community. In the course of his work, he came upon a government report recommending asphalt as the best material for paving roadways. Barber chartered a stock company in London that acquired the monopoly on mining asphalt at the lake in Trinidad. He made over 35 million in 1890s American dollars doing paving work in 70 American cities with asphalt from Trinidad. His company was later labeled an overcharging illegal trust and broken up. Howard University also rose up against Barber’s way of doing things and in 1888 students from Howard tore down the gates to the Ledroit neighborhood. After that the quite handsome neighborhood gradually became home for Washington DC’s black elite including Ralph Bunche, Duke Ellington, and Jesse Jackson.

Asphalt King, Professor and developer Amzi Barber.

In the early 1970s the asphalt from the mine was mainly going to the UK. However they decided to switch to coal tar for road paving. In 1978 the Trinidad & Tobago government took over the mine so it could continue despite loses. The area has grown in recent years as a tourist attraction.

A drone view of the Asphalt Lake showing the mining operation.

Well my drink is empty and today we are not supposed to celebrate mythical winged gods, colonial explorers, or redlining developers. I want to celebrate them all. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Philippines 1958, Manuel Quezon directs lottery money to fight tuberculosis

Tuberculosis was and is a big problem in the Philippines. At first, a group of colonial wives raised money for a large sanitarium to fight the deadly disease. As the colonial period wound down, President Quezon saw that 25 percent of the then new sweepstakes proceeds were directed to the fight so the sanitorium could continue, of course now with Quezon’s name attached. Wait, who built it? 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 shows off the impressive façade of the Quezon Institute. The building was an early work in the art deco style of Philippine architect Juan Nakpil. Nakpil was trained at the University of Kansas and the Fontainebleau school in Paris. He had a prolific career in the Philippines and in 1973 was inducted into the order of the national artists. You might notice the denomination on the stamp includes a surcharge for the Quezon Institute. To make sure this generated maximum proceeds, this stamp was obligatory on all mail from August 19th – September 30th in 1958. I have never heard of any other country ever doing this.

Later work by the architect

Todays stamp is issue SP7, a 10 + 5 centavo semi postal stamp issued by the Philippines on August 19th, 1958. It was a two stamp issue with this the higher denomination. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 35 cents used.

In 1910 tuberculosis was estimated to be killing 40,000 people a year. That year a Philippine Islands Anti Tuberculosis Society was established. The Society’s first President was colonial wife Elanor Franklin Egan. The health facility seen on the stamp opened as the Santol Sanitarium in 1918.

In the 1930s it was realized that colonial wives could no longer be relied upon to keep institutions like the Santol Sanitarium operation with the country on it’s way to independence. President Quezon proposed and passed a national sweepstakes where 25 percent of the proceeds went to the anti tuberculosis society. The site was rededicated in 1938 as the Quezon Institute with President Quezon in attendance. During World War II the staff was reassigned to other hospitals and the site was looted. Post war the USA Army raised funds to get the hospital going again and the Philippine government agreed to an annual stipend of 800,000 Pesos again from proceeds of the lottery.

The fight against tuberculosis has not been very successful in the Philippines. Annual deaths are now down to 25,000 a year on of course a much higher population. This is still the third highest death rate in the world after South Africa and Lesotho. That would seem like the Quezon institute has much left to do. Instead there has been much dealing as to the facility on the stamp, which is now recognized as a national historic site. Part of the grounds were sold off in 2009 to build a Puregold branded supermarket. More recently the institute has been in negotiation with a development company named Ayala Land with an eye to converting the facility into a mixed use development. The institute would have to seek other facilities. Meanwhile the building has been a frequent backdrop for Philippine produced horror films. Wonder what that says about the level of care being offered there?

Well my drink is empty. Philippines seems to be now looking to the world heath organization to spearhead it’s fight against tuberculosis. Well I suppose you have to do something when you run out of colonial wives or Presidents that like to see their name on things. Come again tomorrow when there will be another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Netherlands 1965, 300 years of the Dutch Marine Corps going as far as the world extends

You don’t think of Holland as a great military power. Sea power much more so. Well a sea power  often finds the need to quickly go ashore and Holland was among the first to translate the idea of marines as shipboard soldiers to small units that could go ashore. Today that means the goal is going ashore anywhere in the world within 48 hours. 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 tries to show both changes and continuity by displaying a Dutch Marine as he looked in 1665 and then 1965. The 1960s style graphic detracts from what could have been a better stamp.

Todays stamp is issue A106, an 18 cent stamp issued by Holland on December 10th,1965. It was a single stamp issue. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is wort 25 cents whether used or unused.

The Dutch realized the need for amphibious Marines during the second Anglo-Dutch war in the 17th century. Their first operation was audacious. A group of Royal Navy ships were laid up at a boatyard in Chatham up the Medway River. The Dutch Marines captured a river mouth fort at Sheerness and sailed up the river and boarded and burned 13 Royal Navy ships before escaping with the then Royal Navy flagship HMS Royal Charles under tow. The Dutch thought the ship unsuited for service in their navy so instead docked it as a tourist attraction. The British were deeply embarrassed by the successful raid and quickly came to peace terms with the Dutch.

HMS Royal Charles transom emblem that still sits in a Dutch museum. They eventually scrapped the ship as a fig leaf to the UK.

The Dutch Marine Corps made up with the British Royal Marines and in 1704 participated in the joint operation that took Gibraltar. They also made themselves useful during the 1940 German invasion of Holland, but the result was not as successful as Chatham or Gibraltar. The German plan was for German paratroopers landed in central Rotterdam to link up with on the march regular German infantry. This plan was thwarted by the Dutch Marines making a successful defense of Maas river bridges. The Germans responded with a devastating aerial bombing of Rotterdam.

I mentioned that for the marines had for quite a while been closely aligned with the British Royal Marines. The British call them clogies for their perceived insistence on wearing the wood shoe. The integration had gone beyond just interoperability into combined logistics functions, During Euroland integration, this was pointed to as a model as to how European nation state armies could become more integrated,

This as gone so far that old rival Germany has subsumed their own marine corps into the Dutch Marine Corps. This makes a lot of sense in terms of German politics if you can assume the Germans and the Dutch will always be on the same side. Remember the modern marines are a worldwide quick reaction force. Anything beyond natural disaster relief would be very controversial in Germany, as maybe it should be. Perhaps less so if it is happening under a Dutch flag.

Currently the Dutch Marine Corp is 2000 strong. It has the use of the Landing Platform Dock amphibious warfare ship HNLMS Rotterdam.

The Rotterdam has accommodations for marines and their equipment, has a floodable dock in back to launch smaller landing craft and a flight deck over it for helicopters.

Well my drink is empty and what a great excuse to pour another to toast the now 355 years of service of the Dutch Marine Corps. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Libya 1979. 10 years into the People’s Jamahiriya, showing off the new hospitals

The Philatelist like to show the big future plans of socialist five year plan stamps. The date attached to the plan lets you check if they actually got done what they were planning. The oil rich socialist countries like 70s Libya had plenty of resources to get such things done as this stamp issue from 1979 shows. 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 at intermediate stage of a now much larger hospital complex in Benghazi. The large hospital in Tripoli was built and staffed by Italians in colonial times so doesn’t make the socialist’s point. This issue on the 10th anniversary of the green revolution that ended the Monarchy consisted of four blocks of four stamps each. This block covered health care, others education, agriculture, and the oil industry.

Todays stamp is issue A235, a 30 Dirhams stamp issued by the Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya on September 1st, 1979. Each block of four stamps was a different denomination. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 40 cents whether unused or canceled to order.

Libya was a large country with a small population. In colonial times, there were some hospitals built and the staff was largely Italian. Oil revenue in the 1960s and 1970s greatly increased public health spending and many Libyan students were sent abroad to study medicine so they could replace the foreign guest worker health staff. By the late days of the Jamahiriya, Libya had 96 hospitals and just over 10,000 medical doctors. 84 percent of the doctors were native.

The foreign health care workers became controversial in Libya in 1998. At the Benghazi children’s hospital, 500 babies came down with HIV/AIDS. It is now believed the outbreak was caused by poor sanitation in the handling of blood. Many of the babies died and  more were sent to Europe for better treatment. A Libyan magazine accused Bulgarian nurses working at the hospital of purposely injecting the babies with the disease. Violent protest outside the hospital lead to the arrest of 23 Bulgarian nurses. Under torture, 6 confessed to the crime and were sentenced to death. After 7 years in jail in Libya, Bulgaria was able to barter for their freedom with arms.

Bulgarian nurses during their show trial in Libya

You get a sense with these stamps how much money was being spent on Libyan wish lists. In 1979, American President Jimmy Carter’s brother Billy received at least $200,000 to lobby for additional Lockheed C130 transports made in Georgia for Libya. When caught, Billy Carter belatedly registered as an agent of Libya and the then President had to inform Congress that his relationship with his brother will be altered for as long as he was president and would have no influence on relations with Libya.

Another American operation was diverted by the free flowing money of the Jamahiriya. A retired CIA agent, Edwin Wilson was sent to Libya in 1979 with a few retired Green Berets to look out for and apprehend international terrorist Carlos the Jackal. Once there they instead set up a business training Libyan and Palestinian paramilitary forces including on the use of explosives. Wilson was caught when he tried to acquire for Libya a large stock of C4 explosives. At first Wilson avoided criminal charges by staying in exile in Libya but was worried for his safety there. He then flew to the Dominican Republic where he was extradited  back to the USA.

Edwin P. Wilson

The Benghazi hospital complex has not fared well during the last decade’s civil war in Libya. In 2015 the complex was heavily looted. In 2018 there was a controversy when pictures of the rotting corpses of babies in the hospital morgue got out. This time there were no Bulgarians to blame, but I imagine the Libyans do not spend much time looking in the mirror. It is a lot easier to hire someone to build you a building than to provide decent medical care inside.

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

 

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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.