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United States 1966, Remembering a folk hero, Johnny Appleseed

Johnny Appleseed’s real name is John Chapman. That happens to also be my name. So when I spotted this stamp, I knew it was time to learn more about him. Below is what I found. 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 came out in an opportune time as the reputation of Johnny Appleseed was on the upswing in the sixties and seventies. The idea of an itinerant man planting trees and communing with the animals and the indians appealed directly to the youth movement of the era.

Todays stamp is issue A739, a five cent stamp issued by the United States on September 24th, 1966,  Johnny’s 192nd birthday. It was a single stamp issue. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents mint or used.

Johnny Appleseed was born in 1774 in Massachusetts. His mother died when he was two and his father quickly remarried and soon Johnny had many half brothers and sisters. When he was 18 he left home taking with him his 11 year old half brother. He first went to Pittsburgh and became itinerant throughout the midwest. His business, and yes it was a business, was to come to a town, buy a small patch of land in the near country, fence it off and plant nurseries. When the plantings were established, he would find a neighbor willing to tend the trees in return for a share of the profits. He would then visit his nurseries annually. This was not a coat and tie type of job and many thought Appleseed a hobo. He played into this by wearing a tin bowl on his head that he would remove to eat out of. He also tended to hire children to be helpers.

How Johnny Appleseed is remembered

Johnny was a deeply religious man and was always recruiting for his obscure Christian denomination, the New Church. This was and is a tiny denomination founded in the 18th century by Swede Emanuel Swedenborg. Swedenborg believed he had received a revelation from God that the Christian church would be replaced by a “new church” that would worship Jesus Christ and him alone as God. This was in the lead up to Jesus returning to Earth. Johnny would bring New Church pamphlets with him in addition to the seeds for which he was more famous.

The emblem of the “New Church”

Johnny Appleseed lived to age 70 and died in a cabin next to one of his nurseries in Fort Wayne Indiana. At the time of his death he owned more than 1200 acres spread out around the midwest. As he never married his estate was left to his one full sister. During his life everyone assumed him poor and the government entered litigation seeking back taxes for all the lands. His sister ended up losing most of the wealth in litigation expenses relating to the estate. Interestingly the variety of apple trees he was planting produced apple not fit for eating but only for use in cider, an alcoholic drink

Well my drink is empty. Not really the story I was expecting, but it should be remembered that even heroes are foremost human. Come again soon when there will be another story to be learned from stamp collecting. First published in 2021.

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Singapore 1984, Giving a nod toward Coleman Bridge, before it is taken down

The British Colonial architectural style has been long lasting, both for it’s tradition and for the accommodations made to it to account for the alien climates of other side of the world outposts. As the independent city state of Singapore has grown into one of the great world cities, it is not often possible to preserve what came before. So why not at least a stamp to remind that what came before was pretty good too. 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 wonders about lead times for stamps in Singapore. The printing of the time was farmed out to Japan which could lengthen the lead times. This stamp came out months before it was announced that the Coleman Bridge was coming down in favor of a much larger structure with the same name. The government had been designing the new for years before. I wonder if those who put together the stamp only knew the bridge was historic and attractive and not that it was breathing it’s last.

Todays stamp is issue A112, a 10 cent stamp issued by Singapore on March 15th, 1985. It was a four stamp issue in various denominations. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents used.

George Drumgoole Coleman was born in Drogheda, Ireland in 1795, the son of a building supply merchant. He received some training in civil engineering before setting off at age 19 for Calcutta and once there putting out his shingle as an architect. He built several homes for merchants in the neighborhood of Fort William. Soon he signed on to travel to Batavia in the Dutch East Indies, now Jakarta, Indonesia, to build a string of churches. After working on the project for two years, funding fell through and no churches were completed. In the mean time he had met Sanford Raffles who was in the early days of founding the trading post of the British East India Company at Singapore. Raffles hired Coleman to be in charge of public works. Among his  works was this brick bridge that connected Old Bridge Road and Hill Street over the Singapore river, At the time, it was just called the New Bridge.

George Drumgoole Coleman

 

Among his other projects was a surprise hilltop thatched roof bungalow built for Raffles while he was away. He had been having health issues with the tropical conditions and poor city air. There were of course a series of grand homes built for merchants including one for a Resident Magistrate that was so grand that when it was finished the outpost decided to rent it for use as a courthouse.

Living so far from home proved difficult for Coleman and he took a native Malay wife after previously fathering a daughter by an unknown women. After 20 years of work, Coleman was tired and homesick, so he returned to Ireland leaving behind his childless Malay wife in their home he had designed. Once there, he quickly married an Irish women who gave him a son. He was perhaps gone too long because soon he was taking his new family back to Singapore. Once there he was able to rent a home he had designed. It was not on a hill like the one he made for Sanford Raffles and soon Coleman contracted a tropical disease that took his life. His Irish wife remarried one of his business associates a month later. His son later died on a long sea journey at age four.

We can see that development has brought the end to most of Coleman’s work. The brick bridge on the stamp  was torn down in favor of a much larger concrete bridge with the same name. The lampposts and iron railing of the old were reused to provide continuity. His personal home with his Malay wife was torn down in 1965 to make way for the Peninsula Hotel. The thatched roof bungalow built for Raffles is long gone despite being used by many British Residents after Raffles. In 2003, a new structure, vaguely in traditional style was built on the original site as Raffles’ House. It is used as an upscale wedding venue. The house that became a Courthouse still stands and is in use as a venue for art shows, though it has been refurbished so many times that not much of Coleman’s work remains.

The new Coleman Bridge
The house that became a Courthouse.

Well my drink is empty. Come again soon for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting. First published in 2021.

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Poland 1978, The Havana Committee for the Defense of the Revolution turns a young commie convention into a Carnival

Communism is a worldwide movement. For the first time in 1978, the regular Soviet backed world youth festivals was held outside eastern Europe and in  a poor brown country. Things got a little weird. 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 Philatelists.

This really is a great emblem for the convention that captures what happened very well. As the movement expands outward from where it started in Europe, it will naturally change to cope with the sensibilities of the new arrivals. That doesn’t mean it won’t be fun though and you could never tell where or when Fidel Castro would pop up to sign autographs and hand you a cigar. You wouldn’t have gotten that at the previous youth convention in East Berlin. Interestingly, the official emblem for the event in Cuba has been dumbed down. Below is what they display now.

The real emblem of the Havana convention. Good for Poland for stylizing it to better tell what was happening.

Todays stamp is issue A898, a 1.5 Zloty stamp issued  by Poland on July 12th, 1978. It was a single stamp issue. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents whether used or unused.

The theme of these conventions was anti imperialist solidarity, peace, and friendship. Thousands would gather, mostly eastern European youth, but a few invited westerners, ( the several hundred Americans had to travel by way of Canada to get around the travel ban) and solemnly debate how best to bring the world the good news of communism. Sorry but the Cubans really weren’t interested in that. Those debates were in Havana considered derisive and against the party atmosphere. What they instead had in mind was listening to the Africans such as Oliver Tambo tell them how great they were for being multiracial followed by the grievance porn of what went on in South Africa. Then the delegates and Cubans would celebrate until late at night with street dancing in a Latin Carnival atmosphere. Neighborhood committees of the Defenders of the Revolution had stands set up where they would hand out rum and cigars and offer Samba demonstrations.

Welcome delegates, and thank you for color keying your outfits!

The western young lefties seemed to be the biggest problem. Americans wanted to bring up Soviet dissident hassling. They were rightly I think heckled. Weirdly as the whole thing was supposed to be anti imperialist, the young Italian commies tried to heckle the Ethiopians because they wanted former Italian colony Eritrea given back. I am sure that they would add they wanted Eritrea communist, just not Ethiopian. That record wasn’t going to play in Havana. Also in showing what you could and couldn’t do in Cuba, a group of female young French delegates created a stir when they tried to sunbathe topless on a Cuban beach. Shocked local Cubans called the police but the bathers were let off with a warning.

About 20,000 delegates from 145 countries attended the 10 day event in Havana. The Russians still back these lefty conventions and the most recent one was in Sochi, Russia in 2017. It had a record 30,000 delegates from 185 countries. The slogan has been modified a little bit. For peace, solidarity, and social justice, we struggle against imperialism. Honoring our past, we build the future. I think there is a petty strong hint there that they are just doing these for old times sake. Good for them.

Well my drink is empty. If a Cuban offers me a cigar I will indeed ask for his autograph. Come again soon for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting. First published in 2021.

 

 

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Israel 1979, Remembering Rabbi/Sanadal maker/Pretty Boy Johanan from the time of Roman Syria Palaestina

There is a lot going on on this stamp. I thought I would be writing about a newspaper man  but instead we get to go back in time to the Roman Empire. 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 celebrates the Jewish New Year. So three ancient Rabbis who worked on the post Jewish rejection of Christ Talmuds. The Talmuds explained Jewish law and Theology. Interestingly the stamps emphasize the Rabbis in addition to their Theological work also had trades. In the case of Rabbi Johanan, he was a sandal maker. This sounds strange until you remember the left government of early modern Israel and the importance they were putting on new Jewish arrivals engaging in physical work to help build the new country.

Todays stamp is issue A303, a 13 Pound stamp issued by Israel on Sptember 4th, 1979. It was a three stamp issue in various denominations. According to the Scott Catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents.

In the period after Christ’s death on the Cross, the majority of Jewish people in the Roman ruled area were in frequent rebellion. The Jewish Temple and indeed much of Jerusalem was leveled. For a few years around 130 AD part of Roman Judea was independent under Simon bar Kokhba before being crushed by the Romans. In revenge, Rome reorganized the area as Syria Palaestina, that took away recognition of the area as Jewish and administration was moved to Antioch.

Simon bar Kokhba from the Knesset Menorah

 

One can see how this would leave the Jewish people out in the cold and several Jewish Rabbis worked in the area to preserve the faith. One was Rabbi Johannon who was born the son of a blacksmith but very soon lost both parents. His grandparents saw him taught by prominent Rabbi Judah ha-Nasi. When Nasi died Johanan was only 15 but Johanan spent his inheritance to continue his studies. Afterward he opened a school in Tiberius that was controversially open to anyone including non Jews regardless of whether they could pay. This left Johanan in poverty explaining his sandal making. He was thought of as one of the more liberal Rabbis and his Jerusalem Talmud contributions are in the Gemara.

A German biography of Rabbi Johanan

There was one aspect to Rabbi Johanan that was not taken advantage of by the stamp. He was said to have been extraordinarily good looking. He once extolled while sitting outside the public baths. “Let the daughters of Israel look at me when they come from the public baths,(Mikveh), and their children will be handsome like I am and know the Torah as I do”. I guess having a Rabbi pose nude like a male model on a 1800 year later postage stamp wouldn’t do.

Well my drink is empty. It is said the Rabbi lived to be over 100 years old. Hope he didn’t linger too long outside the baths in his later years. Come again soon when there will be another story that can be learned from stamp collecting. First published in 2021.

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Manama 1968, Finbar Kenny discovers another country with an assist from the Emir of Ajman

This one is a little confusing. Manama is the name of a fairly large city in Bahrain. This is not that place. This is the tiny agricultural village that pledges to the United Arab Emirates by way of the Emir of Ajman. Current population is five thousand. 1900 population 50. 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.

These so called dune stamps are considered fake as they were printed by an outsider by a place that really are not countries, just sand dunes. The fact was though the leader or the area did sign the deal and open post offices. When the United Arab Emirates took over the postal system, the stamps of the dune places were valid for postage for another six months. All sounds pretty real to me. Plus doesn’t this stamp capture the excitement buzzing in Manama during the leadup to the 1968 summer Olympics in Mexico City. The biggest occupation in period Manama was bee keeping, so hopefully they weren’t too distracted.

The not mythical Manama Post Office. Once bringing forward unique stamp issues, it still serves postal patrons in the UAE

Finbar Kenny had been the head of the stamp department of the American Macys chain of department stores. Department stores had previously seen the wisdom of allowing a card table near the elevator where a person would try to interest children in stamp collecting. Mothers could leave their children and shop in peace. The idea for this was originated by the old Minkus stamp album publisher. Finbar Kenny was interested in becoming an important stamp dealer. When Great Britain ended their postal service for the Trucial States in 1963, Kenny was ready. He approached the Emirs of Um al Quain, Fugeria and Ajman  with the idea of independent post offices with the stamp revenue divided 50/50 with the Emirs.

The Emir of Ajman, a poorer area, had the idea to increase his revenue further. He would open an additional post office in Manama that would offer separate stamp issues. The Trucial states in earlier times had relied economically on pearl diving, but that industry moved to Japan. The Emir of Ajman started promoting Manama as the potential bread basket of Ajman. Papaya and a few lemon trees were planted on the sand dune by the local Sharqiyin tribe.

Discovering so many new countries did not go too well for Finbar Kenny personally. The Dune stamps ended with the forming of the UAE in 1972. Interestingly one of the first things the UAE had to do was bring into line the rebellious Sharqiyin tribe. Kenny still had the contract to produce stamps for the Cook Islands. The Prime Minister of Cook then approached Kenny and asked for a loan secured by future stamp revenue to fund his reelection campaign. Kenny made the loan thinking he did not have a choice. The Supreme Court of Cook then decided that the loan was a bribe and an attempt to throw an election. So Kenny got the honor of paying Cook a fine of $60,000.

Finbar Kenny in 1965

Authorities were not done with Finbar Kenny. The USA had just passed the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act that made it illegal in the USA for Americans to offer bribes overseas and charged Kenny over the Cook Island situation. Kenny was the first to plead guilty under the act. At least he didn’t go to jail.

Well my drink is empty. I wonder if a postal patron at the post office in Manama today can still buy any of the old issues. It was a long time ago but the same building. Come again soon when there will be a new story that can be learned from stamp collecting. First published in 2021.

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Peru 1936. Mail with no stamps, or even writing, but sometimes knots

The Inca empire covered over 2000 miles and is estimated to have contained 10 million people. Sounds like a management headache, especially with no computers or even a written language. Well some times an ancient people will come up with a work around, or in this case a run around. 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.

Waterlow and Sons had some fun with the design of this exotic stamp from far off Peru. The presentation of the ancient Inca courier is straight forward and at first glance appropriately regal. Notice however how playfully they presented the surrounding designs. Specifically the figurehead at the top center. He made me laugh.

Todays stamp is issue A143, a 10 Centavo stamp issued by Peru in 1936. It was an 18 stamp issue in various denominations. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 30 cents used.

With such a spread out Inca empire. there was a need to have a system of communications. They developed a profession of road running mailmen who worked along regular chain routes throughout the empire. In addition to the skill of fast road running, the mailmen also had to be adept at quick memorization as remember the empire had no written language.

Inca road running postman crosses a rope bridge to deliver his message

There was a sort of exception to the all verbal communication for the road runners were sometimes tasked with carrying Quipu. The Quipu was a series of strings and knots. The shape, shape, and distance apart of the knots conveyed the meaning. You of course  had to understand the code and be able to make the knots. This was a skill passed from father to son using much repetition. The knots were supposedly also able to keep a record of numbers.

Quipu strings and knots

In the way of the modern historian, there is a a way of making romantic this backward work around as an equivalent of the modern binary code of computer languages. It seems to me to be an awfully labor intensive substitute for the talking drum method of long distance communications used in old days west Africa, see https://the-philatelist.com/2020/06/16/the-gold-coast-1954-listening-out-for-the-talking-drum/   . The Africans also had the problem of no written language to work around.

Sometimes even today simple people condemn as evil old systems they do not take the time to understand. After the Spanish Empire’s conquest of Latin America, the Catholic Church declared quipu knots the work of Satan and that they should be destroyed on sight. This might not have been just ignorance. The few in number conqueror will not want the masses to have a form of communication that they don’t understand. A little like Josef Stalin banning the Esperanto language during his 1930s purges. In any case it was the end of the use of Quipu knots and today we have only uncovered a few examples of the old system.

Well my drink is empty. Come again soon when there will be another story to be learned from stamp collecting. First published in 2021.

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Jamaica 1967, 100 years of the Jamaica Constabulary

Jamaica is a poor high crime area. This was true in colonial as well as modern times. In the old days disorder was cracked down on harshly  by the British Army. After the Morant Bay rebellion a Constabulary of locals was established in the hope of a middle ground. Yet still Britain interferes. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

The uniforms shown on this stamp will be recognizable to any British Commonwealth stamp collector. It does though also show the one huge change that came with independence, there were no longer any white faces in charge. Whether that is refreshing or terrifying depends on your point of view.

Todays stamp is issue A82, a one Shilling stamp issued by independent Jamaica on November 28th, 1967. It was a three stamp issue in different denominations celebrating the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Constabulary as it was then thought. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 40 cents unused. Curiosity had me check if there would be a 300th aniversary issue in 2016 based on the date the force uses now or a 150th in 2017 based on this stamps dates. There was neither but Jamaica does not bother with many stamp issues any more.

The Constabulary now considers their founding date 1716 when freemen were first hired to serve as night watchmen at the port of Kingston. In 1865 things were pretty desperate for the freed slaves of Jamaica. They were no longer working the fields and that year there was horrible flooding to go with no income. Paul Bogle was an untrained but literate Deacon of a black Baptist church in Morant Bay. Bogle maintained correspondence with literary and religious figures of the British political left from which he raised funds. He had also tried to sollicit a handout from Queen Victoria but she instead wrote back suggesting that her Jamaican subjects work harder. When two freeman blacks were convicted of squatting on an abandoned plantation trouble broke out. Deacon Bogle had a few people in the courtroom and many more armed outside. When the first disrupter was arrested by a baliff, the crowd outside went wild burning the courthouse and nearby buildings and killing 27.

Deacon Paul Bogle. Too bad he didn’t sit for a portrait with his thugs behind him

With no national police force, British Governor John Eyre declared marshal law and the British Army marched on Morant Bay. Insert here many stories of random inocent blacks getting executed and or whipped that don’t include any evidence. Bogle himself was arrested, tried in court and executed for his part in troubles.

The British left at home made a big stink over what happened. Governor Eyre was summoned home and faced charges. Back in Jamaica a local constabulary was established, British run, but mainly staffed by local blacks. Governor Eyre was found innocent and the court decided that the charges were filed in error so Eyre was entitled to have his legal expenses covered. Deacon Bogle has of course been rehabilitated by modern Jamaica which is probably why the Constabulary reexamined their founding date to lessen the association with the uprising they were on the wrong side of.

Governor Eyre

The Constabulary is still involved with the British political left. In 2003, a crime management unit of the Constabulary was accused of extra judicial killings during a brutal gang war with the “Stone Crushers” gang. The head of the unit, black police Captain  Reneto Adams was decried in Britain as Jamaica’s version of Dirty Harry. A veteran white Scotland Yard detective was airlifted in to show the Constabulary a better way. Is anybody surprised that the detective turned out a grifter who used the assignment to set up his own security consultancy. I bet the many crime victims of Jamaica  would prefer to consult Reneto Adams.

Well my drink is empty and I may pour two more to toast Governor Eyre and Reneto Adams for being there to make the tough decision when trouble came. Come again soon for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting. First published in 2021.

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Soviet Union 1966, When showing off a minority People’s Poet goes wrong

The Soviet Union had within it many middle eastern types as a leftover from Czar time conquests, When life hands you lemons make lemonaide. So dutifully  the Soviets are talking up the literary geniuses from the hinterland. Here we get to meet Akop Akopian, a maybe Armenian poet. 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.

Several of the literary figures on this Soviet stamp issue have later stamp issues after their region became independant. That helps confirm that the people thought the man worth remembering. That is not the case with Akop here, though Armenia has had nearly 30 years to get to this official Soviet “People’s Poet”.

Todays stamp is issue A1518, a 4 Kopek stamp issued by the Soviet Union in 1966. It was an eight stamp issue all in the same denomination. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 30 cents used.

There seems to be many name variations attached to this man. For the purposes of this offering I will use his Soviet name Akop Akopian, this has the advantage of being spellable and demonstrates the fungibility of tribe in Soviet times. Akop was born in Elisabethpol, Russia in 1867. The area had been conquered from the Persians 40 years before. The city is now called Ganja and is the second largest city in independent Azerbaijan and no longer contains the volatile soup of Armenians, Russians, or Jews. The Azeris have it to themselves now after a pogrom in the last days of the Soviet Union.

Akop published his first book of poetry in 1899 five years  before he switched to the Communist Party. He mainly worked out of Tiblisi in modern day Georgia. Into the area, Akop concentrating on bringing the Socialist Realism literary method as put forth by the Soviet Maksim Gorky. The Soviets themselves seem to be a little confused about who this guy was as at different times they bestowed the title People’s Poet of Armenia SSR, People’s Poet of Georgia SSR, and People’s Poet of the Transcaucasian Federation, SSR. Notice nothing from where he was really from.

Akop’s titles include Revolution, Red Waves, Died but didn’t Disappear, and One More Cut. That last one about blood sucking, probably really got to the heart of the matter.

Even in the Soviet Union, where the arts were so lavishly supported, Akop was forced to have a day job. He was the Chief Commissar of the Soviet Georgia State Bank. Wonder if he ever won the People’s Banker title?

Well my drink is empty. Come again soon when there will be another story that can be learned from stamp collecting. First published in 2021.

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Egypt 1939, King Farouk wants you to think of him when you marvel at the Aswan Dam

The Nile River regularly floods it’s banks with fresh water. If this could be caught and retained, it would greatly enhance irrigation possibilities and by extension food production. Sounds like a project for a far sighted King, or at least a short sighted King looking for something to talk about. 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.

Here’s an early stamp that really calls out for more color. A desert is being turned green with beautiful blue water. Also the stock portrait of Farouk could instead have him holding blueprints to better imply he was the guiding force. The stamps of period Egypte were trying hard to show the King freeing the people of colonialism. Better designs might have been more convincing.

Todays stamp is issue A73, a 100 Millimenes stamp issued by the Kingdom of Egypt in 1939. It was an eight stamp issue in various denominations. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth $1.40 unused.

The below story refers to the still existing Aswan Low Dam, the Aswan High Dam was built later.

In the 10th century AD, Egypt was ruled by the Fatimid Caliphate. The Fatimids are believed descended from Fatima, the daughter of Mohammed. The Caliph had the idea for a dam on the Nile that could retain floodwater and thus expand agriculture. The great Arab mathematician, engineer, and physicist Alhazen was summoned from Basra in Iraq to work on the project. After checking out the obvious site near Aswan were the Nile was shallow, Alhazen thought the project impossible. What scared him though was disappointing the Caliph back in Cairo when he told that it wasn’t going to happen. Instead Alhazen pretended to have a mental breakdown and confined himself to house arrest until the death of the Caliph. The time at home was not wasted. His masterpiece work, the Book of Optics was completed in this time.

Alhazen

In 1882, Egypt was occupied by the British Army and commercial interests were free to pursue economic projects beyond the Suez Canal. A dam at Aswan was now thought more feasible and the Dam was designed by famed British Empire civil engineer Sir William Wilcocks and constructed from 1898-1902 by the London based firm of John Aird. The dam was the largest ever constructed of bricks but was smaller than desired to protect nearby historic sites. See https://the-philatelist.com/2020/09/25/pakistan-1964-egypt-sudan-and-pakistan-well-actually-unesco-save-the-nubian-abu-simbel-temples/   .

It must have been damaging to Egyptian pride to have such a worthwhile project accomplished by interlopers. It was even worse than that. Such a massive, private project requires creative financing. The financier making the project possible was German Jew Ernst Cassel. Cassel had stints in Paris and London financing heavy industry around the world. He managed his empire from a Swiss mountain castle named Riederfurka that was only accesable by mule. When the nearby village offered to improve the path to the castle, Cassel told them he would move away if they did. It will be a long wait before Egypt does a stamp honoring Cassel’s role in the project.

Sir Ernst err Ernest Cassel
Cassel’s Swiss castle, Riederalp

In the first years of the dam, there was no provision for electricity generation, though this was added later. There were also two additions making the dam taller. These later jobs had to be done without the firm of John Aird. It had been closed in 1911 after mucking up an extension of Singapore’s port facilities.

Well my drink is empty and there are so many people here worthy of a toast, all the way back to Alhazen, I worry of a hangover. To bad the group doesn’t include King Farouk. Come again soon for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting. First published in 2021.

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Kenya 1971, Should I stay or should I go?

When a country becomes independent, it becomes natural for the colonials to fade. In Kenya, British settlers were bought out of their property by Britain and the vast bulk took the offer. This was a generous gift to the new government. What of though the several hundred thousand Indians, who also came in colonial times and were the bulk of the merchant and professional classes. They faced a question. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your fist sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

At the time of this stamp issue Kenya was still involved in a postal union with Uganda and Tanzania as they had been in colonial times. They still occasionally came out with a single country issue and this one showed off sea shells. This abalone shell is common from East African beaches through Sri Lanka and Australia even to Tonga.

Todays stamp is issue A4, a 30 cent stamp issued by Kenya on December 13th, 1971. It was a 15 stamp issue in various sizes and denominations. According to the Scott Catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents used. In todays exchange rates, 30 Kenyan cents is worth about one fourth of an American penny.

Kenya was granted independence in 1963 and became a de facto one party state under President Kenyatta, though his African tribe was only a third of Kenyan blacks. Prospects were somewhat better than in other countries. There had been an effort to train black Kenyans by providing them free educations in America. This was called the Kennedy Airlift and had been opposed by Britain as those given the opportunity were not those Britain would have chosen. Among those taking advantage were Nobel Peace Prize winner and environmentalist Wangari Mathai and former American President Barack Obama’s father.

Britain had chosen Kenyatta who unlike Uganda, invited Indians to stay. He also had doubts about the loyalty of the Kennedy Airlift people and understood the economy would be better with their expertise. Kenyatta was perhaps not ready when most of the local Indians turned down Kenyan passports and formed a political group to protect their interests.

The leader of that group was Pio Gama Pinto, whose family was from Goa in Portuguese India. He had been educated in India and even served in it’s Air Force but became involved in agitation against Portuguese rule in Goa. He feared arrest in independent India and returned to Kenya to start a newspaper that agitated for independence. After being involved in the Kenya Emergency uprising in the 1950s, he was jailed for four years. Though he was made an official of Kenyatta’s government he continued his agitation. He then found that agitation was more harshly dealt with by Kenya than India, Portugal, or Britain. He was assassinated by gunmen while waiting for his gait to rise in his driveway sitting in his car with his family.

Pinto close to Kenyatta, but perhaps not close enough

This was taken as another sign that Indians did not have much of a future in Kenya. Each year in this period 10 percent of Indians moved away. Interestingly most chose to move to Britain instead of independent India. Indeed Pinto, who had been so involved in the agitation against the Portuguese in Goa, made no effort to move back after Goa was taken by force into India in 1961. Interestingly Pinto’s widow and children moved to Canada after his death, After the Kenyatta Political Party was finally replaced in 2002, power shifted to the now old Kennedy Airlift People. Part of this was the rehabilitation of no longer a threat Pio Gama Pinto. In 2008, his memory was honored with a postage stamp that labeled him a hero of Kenya. In 2017, Indians were recognized as the 44th official tribe of Kenya. Most still maintain their foreign passports.

Well my drink is empty. Come again soon when there will be another story to be learned from stamp collecting and have a happy 2024. First published in 2021.