Author: John C

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From adventurer, to governor, to mapping the canal, to the National Pantheon

Welcome readers to todays offering from The Philatelist. 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. We have an interesting story of an adventurer who got around.

At first glance, todays stamp looks European, perhaps a West German stamp from the 1950s. If you could touch it, a great tactile part of stamp collecting, you would feel that the paper used for the stamp is of a lower quality. This might send your guess toward Spain. This would be getting warmer. It is actually a stamp from Venezuela, albeit one honoring someone born in Europe.

The stamp today is issue C715, a 1960 issue honoring the 100th anniversary of the death of Augustin Codozzi. It has a face value of 25 centavos and is part of a six stamp issue in various denominations intended to be used for air mail. It has a value of $1 in its cancelled condition.

Augustin Codozzi was born in Lugo, Italy in 1793. After attending a military academy in Italy, he served with Napoleon’s army. After the defeat of Napoleon and infused with the ideals of the French Revolution, Codozzi was off to South America. He offered his services to those fighting for freedom from Spain under Simon Bolivar. Many of us have heard of young adventures taking up the cause of American independence. This is the first I have heard of it happening in the South American struggle.

Codozzi was made a Coronel of Artillery and after independence was given Venezuelan citizenship by President Paez. He was then made governor of the region of Barinas. It his then that his real contribution started. He was a cartographer and geographer and set out to do a proper atlas of the new country. The Geography and Atlas of the Venezuelan Provinces was a word respected work. He was even inducted into the French Legion of Honor in 1842. During this time he also promoted the German settlement of Alonia Tovar, which still exists today.

Venezuela was not a stable place in this time period. When President Paez was overthrown, Codozzi was forced to flee to neighboring Columbia. He was allowed to keep up his non political work in Columbia. some of you will remember that the current state of Panama was then a part of Columbia. Codozzi was hired by a British firm to investigate a potential route for a canal across the isthmus of Panama. The British plan came to nothing. The later American construction used the exact route that Codozzi mapped out.

Codozzi died of malaria in 1859. He was held in such esteem that the Columbian town where he died was renamed in his honor. Today it contains 70,000 people. Later his remains were moved to Caracas, Venezuela and placed in the National Pantheon of Venezuela as a national hero.

What I like about this stamp is that it reminds us a figure in his day may only be judged by his politics. Over time however, the achievements are recognized and remembered. This stamp was issued during the term of President Betancourt during an outbreak of democracy in Venezuela. Former President Paez, being of the South American strongman school, would not have been a hero to small d democrat Betancourt. Time has passed and it did not stop Codozzi from receiving the thanks of his adopted homeland.

Well my drink is empty and so it is time to open up the conversation in the below comment section. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

 

 

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A young Architect designs a landmark then gets murdered by mallet

Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take the first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. We have an interesting story to tell of stately architecture, inflation, and jealous murder by mallet.

1935 is when this stamp was issued. When commemorative stamps were new and stately architecture could still be found  in newish settlements as it was of recent construction. The lithograph on the stamp shows trees that are no longer in evidence, the grounds now often hosting concerts. The building still stands and remains in use. They did recently remove some of the original murals that to modern eyes are perceived as being insensitive to Indians.

The stamp today in issue A85, a 50 cent stamp issued as part of an eleven stamp issue in various denominations. This stamp depicts the British Columbia Parliament Building in Victoria, British Columbia. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth $6.00 in it’s cancelled state.

Before getting to the murder, this stamp requires a discussion of inflation from 1935 to today. This stamp has a face value of 50 cents. 50 cents in 1935 money equates to $9.06 in todays money. There is also a $1 stamp included in the issue. The high denominations indicate the use was intended for postage of packages.

The sad part of this is what it means to stamp collectors. This stamp is just way behind inflation, despite being an attractive stamp that depicts a landmark that is much beloved. My copy of the stamp came to me from my late Father’s collection. He had recorded a value of $4.50 from his catalog from around 1980. Therefore, in the last 35-40 years, the stamp has gone up 33% while inflation is about 9 times that. The meaning of that I hope is that a stamp like this has room to go much up in value if there is a renewed interest in stamp collecting. The Philatelist is doing his part to make sure this happens.

The British Columbia Parliament Building was authorized in 1893. The architectural competition was won by a 25 year old recent immigrant from England named Francis Rattenbury. He signed his plans ABC Architect and won. The building was over budget at $923,000, which of course seems great value today. The building was popular and Mr. Rattenbury received many commissions including the famous Empress Hotel in Victoria.

Mr. Rattenbury’s success peaked early. While in his 50s, he left his wife Mary and two children for a twice divorced 27 year old named Alma. His wife was left destitude to the extent of the electricity and heat being cut off at her house. The divorce was quite the big story in Victoria. Mr. Rattenbury found himself shunned in Victoria and had to return to England with his new wife.

Here the story gets even stranger. The Rattenburys hire an 18 year old chauffer who lives with them at their country house. He has an affair with Alma.  Soon Francis is found in his study having received repeated blows to the skull with a carpenter’s mallet. It took him four days to die. The chauffer is sentenced to death for the murder but the sentence is reduced to life in prison after many public appeals to the Home Secretary. The public felt that the young man had been put up to the crime by Alma. He ended up serving only 6 years as he was released early to serve in World War II. Francis Rattenbury was left for many years in an unmarked grave.  Alma was found not guilty of both murder and conspiracy despite having confessed. She later cut herself seven times with a dagger and threw herself in a river committing suicide.

The case is well known in England and has been made into a tv movie in Australia in 1956 and by the BBC in 1987 as Cause Celebre. There is also a Canadian opera.

Well my drink, and the second, are empty and so it is time to open the conversation in the below comment section. Have you ever hired a live in 18 year old chauffer? If so, how did that go for you? Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Self Stuck in Carlsbad cavern

Welcome readers to todays offering from The Philatelist. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, have your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. We have an interesting story to tell. A story of natural beauty captured well on a stamp and a stamp permanently stuck to an envelope.

Being a new stamp, it is a good time to talk of some of the changes that have befallen stamps issued today. In this case, we are talking about an American stamp, Such changes spread out over time.

The first thing to notice is the stamp has no denomination. Instead, we are signaled with the code Forever/USA. This is not an estimate on the staying power of America as a country. Forever means that the stamp is okay for first class postage in the future no matter how high rates get. I suspect the postal service hoped to get a rush of sales before the next scheduled increase. The second feature was hoped to be less resistance to rate increases. The savvy being well supplied with forever stamps. I doubt it had much impact on either score.

The other change from older issues is that the stamps are self sticking. These do not require licking, they stick very well to the envelope. They are also easier for the post office to print and handle. The issue for the stamp collector is that they are very difficult to remove from the envelope without damaging the stamp. The soaking time is much longer which is in itself a challenge to the collector. There is also the issue that when a stamp has to spend a lot of time in the soaking water, staining is likely.

The stamp today is too new to be cataloged. It is an American 49 cent issue from 2016 showing a cave view from the Carlsbad Cavern National Park. It is part of a 16 stamp issue celebrating the centennial of the National Park Service. The Carlsbad Cavern stamp is from a photograph. The vivid colors of the stamp do much to show off the natural wonders of the park and the skills of the photographer. The rest of the 16 stamp issue feature other national parks and a few reproduce paintings by such notable artists as Bierstadt and Naumer. The Postal Service has a lot to be proud of in the beauty conveyed by these stamps. That beauty had a big helping hand from nature.

Carlsbad Cavern National Park, then known as Carlsbad Cave National Monument, was proclaimed by President Calvin Coolidge in 1923 and was expanded with nearby wilderness by President Herbert Hoover in 1930.  The caverns were famously, (mythically?) explored by a small boy with a homemade wire ladder. This is where the fanciful names of the rooms of the cavern came from.

The advent of the national park made the cavern much easier to visit. There is now an elevator in the welcome center to take you down into the cavern. There is also an amphitheatre where one can view the bats taking flight at sunset. The park welcomes over 400,000 visitors a year.

The nearest city to Carlsbad Cavern National Park is Carlsbad, New Mexico. It was originally named for it’s founder, but changed it’s name to Carlsbad to promote the warm springs found there. Carlsbad being the American spelling of Karlsbad, Germany, a famous spa town. Interestingly the German town in now the Czech town of Karlovy Vary. The borders having changed after World War I and the German people forced to move after World War II. Perhaps not the place to market a forever stamp.

Well my drink is empty so it is time to open up the conversation in the below comment section. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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When caliphate was old hat and pan-arab socialism the future

Welcome readers to todays offering from The Philatelist. 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. We have a story about  a ruler that managed to be both 60 years too late and 60 years too early.

The stamp today is 58 years old but surprisingly modern. Being from the late 50s, it shows the last gasp of the old ways in the Middle East. A Yemeni stamp from 10 years later would look completely different as it would have taken on the look of the socialist, pan-Arab movement. Yemen was a part of that, especially when the kingdom was deposed. The sad state of modern Yemen might look more like this stamp, as civil war as brought the old ways back to the present.

The stamp today is issue A19, a 6 Bogaches stamp issued in 1958 to honor the Arab Universal Postal Union. The stamp is part of a three stamp issue and according to the Scott catalog is worth $1.40 in it’s mint condition.

The stamp comes from the later years of the rule of King Ahmad and from what westerners might think of as North Yemen. North Yemen was separate from what was then the British protectorate of Aden. The King had ambitions to rule a greater Yemen including Aden and very much resented the British presence in the area. To further this goal, North Yemen joined with Egypt and Syria in the short lived and never fully integrated United Arab Republic. As a royal, King Ahmad was an odd man out in this, but he hoped to use it to further his anti British aspirations. These aspirations went unfulfilled. When the British left Aden a Peoples Republic of South Yemen was declared and North Yemen was a separate socialist republic. The two Yemens did not join together until the early 1990s and still is not a true country as it is beset with interference from Iran, Saudi Arabia and various militant groups.

Lets go back to the rule of King Ahmad, who ruled from 1948-1962 with a few short gaps during the frequent uprisings. Perhaps we should start with his title. His Majesty al-Nasir-li-Dinullah Ahmad bin al Mutawakki Allahla Yahi, Immam and Commander of the Faithfull and King of the Mutawakki Kingdom of the Yemen. From this you can probably gather that he was the religious leader as well as the head of state. To a great extent, King Ahmad concentrated all decision making in Yemen to himself. At the time there were pan Arab young socialist in Aden trying to get control of the country away from the British. I can see why they would not view the kingdom to the north as the way forward. King Ahmad’s royal line might have lasted longer if it had been able to come to an arraignment with Britain. They were after all more comfortable dealing with royals from the east.

The King’s rule has been criticized for being cruel and inward looking. The King did get most of his weapons from the Eastern Bloc and Nasser era Egyptians were brought in to help modernize. King Ahmad died in his sleep in 1962. The King had been weakened by an assassination attempt the previous year and much of the power had passed to his son Mohammed. King Mohammed only lasted on the throne a week before the head of the palace guard shelled the palace in Sana and ended the kingdom by declaring himself the President of the Yemen Arab Republic.

Well my drink is empty and so it is time to open the discussion in the below comment section. Some have reappraised upward the Socialist leaders in the Middle East when comparing them to what came before and afterword. Others think of them as just another group of outsiders colonizing. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting

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The Dutch Reform Faith Healer

Welcome readers to today’s offering from The Philatelist. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take the first sip of your favorite adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Todays story will be new to most of you.

Todays stamp is labeled RSA. This means it comes from South Africa and was issued in the later years of the apartheid government. Earlier South African stamps were labeled Suid-Africa. Today South Africa is how the stamps are labeled. RSA stood for the Republic of South Africa.

Our stamp today is issue A197, a four cent stamp issued on May 9th, 1978. The stamp was issued to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the birth of Dr. Andrew Murray. According to the Scott catalog, it is worth 25 cents, whether mint or cancelled.

Dr. Andrew Murray was a minister, an educator, an evangelist, an author, and a faith healer. He was born in Graaf Reinet, South Africa in 1828 to a French mother and a Scottish father. He was educated in Scotland and the Netherlands and began his faith journey in the Dutch Reform Church.

Much or Dr. Murray’s early work involved education. Achievements in this field included schools for girls, who prior to his time were underserved. He was also the first President of the South African YMCA. Dr. Murray somehow found the time to author 240 books on Christian issues.

Dr. Murray is very involved from his early years in a new revival of Christianity called the Keswick movement. They very much believed in the healing power of prayer. The praying for the healing of maladies and exorcism of demons was controversial among the more conservative church authorities. Indeed the movement is considered discredited by some Christians. By others however,  the Keswick movement is respected as a precursor to the Pentecostal movement.

I suspect that the doctrinal differences are not what is being celebrated by this South African stamp. The work in rural education is being honored. Dr. Murray’s evangelical movement spread to other countries in Africa and the South Africa General Mission that he founded is the root of the Serving in Mission organization that is active in Africa to this day.

South Africa today would probably not find Dr. Murray worthy of a stamp issue today. This though is one of the great things about stamp collecting. The commissioning of stamps goes on for such a long period that one gets to see different perspectives and ideologies reflected in them. Through the stamp of a long ago era, we can put ourselves in the position of a citizen of the day. We then can imagine how they viewed the world being presented to them by their government.  This can be extra interesting when the government is controversial and even deeply flawed.

Well, my drink is empty and so it is time to open up the conversation in the below comment section. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Fascist on the run, Austrian sailors and an everlasting old ass

Welcome readers to todays offering from The Philatelist. 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. We have an interesting story to tell. A story of fascists on the run, Austrian sailors mistaken for Turkish pirates, and an everlasting old ass.

The stamp today is Italian. It is gummed but also possesses a cancellation. From 1944, it is too early to be a Mincus farm out stamp. There was a philatelic conference in Venice in 1945 that included overprints of this issue, so it may have to do with that. Any clarification on this from the commenters is welcome.

This is issue A10, a 25 centesimo stamp issued by the Italian social republic on December 6th, 1944. It is worth 55 cents in its cancelled state according to the Scott catalog. The stamp is part of a three stamp issue commemorating the 100th anniversary of the execution of the Bandiero brothers in 1844. This was the last stamp issue of the Italian social republic.

The Italian social republic was formed in late 1943 in the part if Italy that was controlled by Germany after the Allied invasion of Italy. King Victor Emmanuel had removed Mussolini from power after the invasion and intended to turn him over to the Allies. In the mean time, he was held under arrest at a hotel. The Germans pulled off a daring glider raid on the hotel and took custody of Mussolini. Hitler then appointed him a figure head of the German occupied area of Italy. The social republic ended in late April 1945 when Mussolini, his mistress, and some loyalists were captured by Communist rebels while making for Switzerland. They had hoped to be able to fly to Franco’s Spain and sanctuary. Instead they were shot, then hung, and then had their corpses desecrated.

Enough about this strange postal region of Italy. The two people depicted on this stamp are Atillio and Emilio Bandiera. Sons of an Austrian admiral, the brothers were themselves Austrian sailors who became enthralled by the idea of Italian unification. At this time, around 1840, Italy was a collection of city states with no central government. At the time the Austria Hungarian Navy was staffed almost entirely by ethnic Italians. This makes more sense if you remember that today Austria and Hungary are landlocked countries and the ports they controlled then are in present day Italy.

As the Bandiera brothers began working for Italian unification, they were banished to Corfu. While there, they began corresponding with Giuseppe Mazzini. He was another leader in the unification movement who was in exile in London. Mazzini was anti communist, pro religion, and believed rights had to be earned through deeds. Prince Metternich described him as the most influential revolutionary in Europe. On the other hand, Karl Marx thought him an everlasting old ass.

Either or both ways, the Bandiera brothers were inspired to put together a team of 20 men, make for Cozenza, free political prisoners there, and issue political demands. This all went wrong. The political prisoners proved hard to find and they were turned over to police by locals who mistook them for Turkish pirates. Eight of the group including the Bandiera brothers were executed. There were rumors the group was betrayed by one of their own or that British intelligence was reading Mazzini’s mail in London and let Austria Hungary in on the plot. In any case, the execution where they shouted vive Italia as they fell, became a rallying cry for Italian unification that happened a generation later. As the Mussolini share of Italy shrunk as the Allies made their way up the Italian boot, it is perhaps understandable for the social republic of Italy to hijack the Bandiera brothers story to argue for a new unification under them.

Well, my drink is empty so it is time to open the conversation in the below comment section. How is the Italian social republic remembered in Italy? Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Remembering Inigo Jones

Welcome readers to today’s offering from The Philatelist. 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. We have an interesting story to tell about a man you may not remember, but perhaps he is worth remembering.

At first glance, today’s stamp may look American, perhaps from the Bicentennial year. It is not.The gold profile in the top corner is a giveaway that the stamp is British. The shape of the stamp is also a standard shape common to British stamps from the late 60s forward.

The stamp today is issue A248, a 3 penny stamp issued on August 15, 1973 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the birth of English architect Inigo Jones.The stamp is part of a four stamp issue that depicts various aspects of Mr. Jones career. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is valued at 25 cents in its cancelled state.

Inigo Jones is an interesting figure in the history of architecture and other things. What he achieved and how he achieved them are great lessons on how luck, contacts, and talent can yield lasting, great things. Inigo Jones was born in London in 1573 and was of Welch  ancestry. He was not noble by birth, but my much good fortune was able to attract the patronage of several nobleman that allowed him to develop his talent. The Earl of Pembroke sent him to Italy to study drawing. This allowed Inigo to absorb the classic styles of Italy including the architecture of Vituvious. He then went to Denmark to work on the palaces of King Christian. The ending of the Middle Ages was allowing for more travel and soon Inigo was back in England ready to bring a new, if historically referenced style to his homeland.

Inigo did not go directly in to architecture. With the patronage of Queen Anne, he went to work on the stage. Not as an actor, but using his architectural drafting skills to pioneer the use of masks and moveable scenery on the stage. Many of his drawings from this period of his career still exist. One of the other stamps in Great Britain’s 1973 Inigo Jones issue celebrates his work on the staging of plays.

Architecture comes back into the picture as King James becomes less frugal than Queen Elizabeth I had been. In 1613, Inigo Jones was named the Surveyor of Kings Works. This opened many opportunities to put his style vision into practice. Among these was the structure on today’s featured stamp, St Paul’s Church and Convent Garden. The Earl of Bedford wanted to create a square in London in the style of an Italian piazza. Inigo Jones was just the man to see this vision realized.

There is always tension between patron and artisan. The Earl of Bedford saw the need for a church in the square but wanted to be economical. He instructed Inigo to model the church on a barn. Instead Inigo stuck to his vision of a Tuscan style temple, as Vituvious would have done. The”best barn in England” still stands today.

Inigo’s career later came to a standstill with the English civil war of 1642. This makes the vital point that talent is not enough for success. The conditions have to be right for talent to be able to flower.

Well, my drink is empty so it is time to open up the conversation in the below comment section. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Welcome mission statement

John C Publisher

Welcome first timers to a new web site that celebrates stamp collecting. Whether you are a veteran collector or just interested in learning what is up with the hobby, I hope you will find what I do interesting. Every business day a new stamp will be featured and there will be much to learn as we dig deep into the story of the stamp. Every stamp will be a fairly random selection from my personal, worldwide collection.

My collection, I have been collecting for nearly forty years, is not particularly distinguished or valuable. That is the point. As we go along, we will discover together what kind of story of history, politics, geography, economics, natural wonders, and art can be learned from participating in the hobby of stamp collecting.

I can’t claim that reading about stamps on this site is as fulfilling as the actual hobby. The handling of the stamps, the fragility of the paper, the smell of the old gum and ink is just not something that can be duplicated over the internet. To my style of collecting, there is nothing more fun than opening up a new box of stamps, full of mystery. Them stirring the pot until a stamp turns over and catches your eye. Often it will then capture your imagination. Others within the hobby are more excited about rarities’ and uncovering values and that is fine. It is possible that as we go along we will find some like that. The mystery of the next stamp I hope will be exciting not just to me.

There is a larger purpose to this site. I am trying to do my part in saving the hobby of postage stamp collecting. I have seen materials from the 1930s that called the hobby, “The hobby of Kings and the King of hobbies,” or “The biggest hobby in the world.” I suspect there was much hyperbole and puffery even in those days. The fact is though that fewer are stamp collecting and that is a shame.

With the breakdown of the family unit and economic dislocations, there are a lot of men over 40 with a lot more time on their hands. In their lives they are more likely to have traveled and seen far off places than the same person in the 1930s. I don’t believe that many of them are aware how well stamp collecting would fit in their lifestyle. It is something that can be done alone for the most part. It also requires little investment. A diverse stamp collection can be put together for as little as $100 and it can provide hours of  enjoyment. The new collector can be on the lookout for more stamps having already learned a great deal about faraway places and different periods of time.

After each new entry at this site there will be a comment section. As we together build a worldwide stamp collecting community, we will hopefully have access to experts that can add to our knowledge of the day’s stamp. That is one thing that the internet is great about and why a website today may be more than a magazine from a generation ago.

In my daily articles, I will describe my rituals of stamp collecting. I do not expect anyone to copy mine but I would request that you develop your own stamp collecting rituals. What you are doing is special and the regular practice of such can do much to prepare yourself mentally for being open to the experience.

The reason I chose the name The-Philatelist is not be mysterious personally. Rather it is so an individual can see himself as The-Philatelist discovering a stamp, learning about it, and then passing it on to a group of like minded Philatelists. The term comes from the ancient Greek and means a lover of prepaid fees. It was taken to refer to stamp collecting in the 19th century. What a silly but wonderful term.

The issuance of new stamps is not something that has much of a future with the change in the way people send messages. It would be ashamed if the hobby were to fade away afterword. The 20th century saw an explosion of new countries with decolonization. These new countries did much to figure out who they were, where they came from, and where they hoped to go with their stamp issues. These stamps tell a powerful story.

I will not be trying to sell you something or be charging you to read on this site with pay walls. Given this, the few banner ads will not be particularly lucrative for me. I understand my main reward will be in the knowledge I gain and the community we have a chance to build. Stamp collecting is worth doing and it is my hope that The-Philatelist.com will be the internet home for stamp collectors.

 

John C
Publisher