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Spanish Guinea 1953. In the rush to leave, Spain turned it over to a witch doctor

This is kind of a rough one. The colonial system was horrible with slavery work arounds to try to keep cocoa plantations staffed after slavery was banned. Then independence when things got worse and 40 percent of the population was killed and 70 percent of those remaining fled the elected President who was a drug addled psychopath. Some places seem cursed. 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.

There was a big change in the aesthetics of the colonies stamps after World War II. Out were the portraits of Spanish leaders and in were National Geographic style representations of the native population. As we discussed recently with a Franco era stamp from Spain. It was the opposite in Spain where the stamp issues were increasingly traditional. For this reason, I think the stamps were clearly signaling independence was coming.

The stamp today is issue B25, a 5+5 Centimos semi postal stamp issued by the Colony of Spanish Guinea on July 1st, 1953. This was part of a four stamp issue celebrating local musicians. Two of the four stamps had surcharges with the funds  going toward charity benefiting the indigenous people. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents in it’s mint condition.

Spanish Guinea was awarded to Spain after a treaty with Portugal. It was very small consisting of the port of Rio Muni and the offshore island of Fernando Po. It was administered originally out of Buenas Aires in South America and then the post and island separately until they were combined administratively as Spanish Guinea in 1926. Fernando Po contained large cocoa plantations that required much labor. Britain had banned slavery and their navy policed the trade. Work arounds were accomplished by contracting with Liberia  to send contract labor but the League of Nations put a halt to it and recruiting workers from British Cameroun and Nigeria also did not go well. It seems that all over the world these large plantations can’t work without slave labor. Well then good riddance.

Spain did the usual things in arraigning for independence by assisting with a constitution  and  elections. In 1968 independence occurred and Francisco Macias Nguema was elected after a runoff. He had previously served as a colonial era mayor.

The Unique Miracle in all his glory

Nguema’s opponent went into exile for a short period  and was killed upon his return. This was only a taste of what was to come. In 1971 he modified the constitution banning other political parties and allowing him to rule by decree. He changed his title to Unique Miracle and the national motto to “There is no other God than Macias Nguema.” He ordered all person and place names Africanized and banned non African medicine. In 1975, he had 150 of his opponents shot at a soccer stadium while the loudspeakers played the Mary Hopkins song “Those were the days”. Naturally there was a rush to leave the country so the Unique Miracle banned boats and had the one road out mined. His rule ended when he started killing those in his own family.

Nguema during his show trial after being overthrown. His reputation as a witch doctor meant that his execution firing squad was brought in from Morocco.

Naturally everything was fixed when Nguema was overthrown and tried and shot. A new start was needed and so his nephew took over. He still rules.

Still ruling Unique Miracle nephew Teodoro Nguema Mbasogo. Notice former USA Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice soiling herself in the involvement.

Well my drink is empty. The lesson seems to be, stay away from shit holes. Come again  for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting. First published in 2018.

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Republic of Northern Epirus 1914, We are Greek and we sure don’t want to be Albanian

Sometimes countries suddenly pop up, most don’t last. One thing that could be counted on for such places at the beginning of the twentieth century was a declaration would be accompanied by a postage stamp issue. Perhaps before the declaration, and maybe even continuing after the lights went out. 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.

Todays stamp looks to my American eyes Czar era Russian. The writing did not look correct and thankfully my childhood Mincus World Wide album had an identification page that indicated Epirus and was Greek related. So what I was perceiving has Russian was more likely the stylings of the Orthodox Christian church, that Greece and Russia share.

Todays stamp is issue A9, a 40 Lepta stamp issued by a Epirus General fighting Italians and Albanians in the area in September 1914. The stamps show the two headed eagle on the coat of arms of the Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus. The stamps of this issue, 15 of them in various denominations, are known as the Moschopolis issue, after the town captured by Epirus in June 1914 and turned over to the Greek army in November. After the turnover the stock of stamps of this issue were sent to Athens and eventually destroyed. Moschopolis is now the Albanian city of Voscopoj. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 80 cents mint. Though none of this issue is particularly valuable, cancelled versions are worth more. At the chaotic time of the stamp, there seemed to be more stamp printing than the actual mailing of letters.

Epirus was an ancient Greek state located in modern day northwest Greece and southern Albania. It was one of the last Greek states to fall to Rome in the years before Christ. The Roman campaigns there were the origin of term pyric victory. As the Ottoman empire fell back in the 19th century, Epirus found itself with a small majority of Orthodox Greeks and a large minority of Albanian Muslims.

The Great powers came to an arrangement that saw Epirus divided between Greece and Albania. Those of Greek heritage in Albania rebelled and declared independence as the Autonomous State of Northern Epirus. As their leader they chose a Greek former foreign minister named Georgios Christakis-Zografos. He was able to convince many countries to recognize the new state.

The 1914 independence declaration of Northern Epirus. Note the clergymen and the two headed Eagle from the stamp.

However the Albanians and their allies the Italians did not and started a war to reclaim the area. The Greek Army then intervened on the side of Northern Epirus and the state ended as Greece occupied the area. Georgios Christakis-Zografos returned to Greece and worked for a bank and again later as Greek Foreign Minister. The fortunes of war reversed in 1916 and the area fell to the Italians/Albanians.

1913 Albanian propaganda showing Mother Albania being attacked by a Greek leopard, a Montenegrin monkey, and a Serbian snake. She is exclaiming “GET AWAY FROM ME, BLOODSUCKING BEASTS!! Fun stuff!

World War II saw the area again a hotly contested battleground with the Greeks facing off against the Italians and Albanians before losing to the Germans who bailed out the Italians in the area in 1941. From 1944-1949 Epirus was the site of much fighting between the Greek government and Albanian supported Greek communists. Arguments over where the border should be in the area meant a state of war technically existed between Greece and Albania until 1987 when Greece renounced claims to the area. Post World War II the Albanian government had attempted to make the area more Albanian and atheistic. This was not entirely successful as many of Greek parentage fled to Greece at the end of the cold war. The Albanian communist regime had especially targeted people who shared the Christakis surname from the Epirus leader’s hometown as enemies of the state.

Well my drink is empty and I will drink some more commiserating with those who tackle the impossible task of drawing satisfactory borders in the Balkans. Come again  for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting. First published in 2018.

 

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Qatar 1973, The Emir is here and doing things for you

Britain walking away from it’s global commitments often meant that their partners had to adapt. 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.

Today we have a stamp from an oil and gas rich Emirate two years after independence from Britain. Already we see the leader wants to make his citizens understand that the benefits of the oil boom will benefit them. In this case, we see a modern operating room in a new hospital complex. As you can see this largess was brought to you by the new Emir in town Sheik Khalifa. The oil revenue was so vast and the population so small that development was able to go forward faster than any capitalist or communist system could have mustered.

The stamp today is issue A51, a 4 Dirhams stamp issued by the Emirate of Qatar on February 22nd, 1973. It was part of a 10 stamp issue in various denominations depicting Sheik Khalifa and various of the many development projects going on in Qatar at the time. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 80 cents in its mint condition.

Qatar had been ruled for many years by an Emir. The Emirate as with many in the area were under the status of protectorate of Great Britain. In 1940, oil was discovered in Qatar and as a result the lot of the people became much better. In fact Qatar became host to a great number of guest workers in the realm. Mainly from this many from North Yemen, desired for a pan-Arab socialism similar to the model of Nasser’s Egypt came to the forefront. At the same time, the British were no longer wiling to guarantee the status quo in their protectorates. In 1968, The British government announced they were ending their treaty commitments “east of Suez”.

It was hoped that the many Emirates in the area could form a federation that could preserve the status of the Royals involved. The federation got as close as an agreement in principle, but later collapsed when details over a capital or power in government ministries could not be agreed to. As such, Qatar achieved its independence from Great Britain in 1971.

When the announcement of independence was made by Sheik Ahmad not from Qatar but rather from the Swiss villa where he spent the bulk of his time, it was realized that he was not the leader to take the small country into an independent future.

Sheik Ahmad in his home away from home in the company of an unnamed falcon friend

Ahmad’s cousin and Prime Minister deposed him in early 1972 while Sheik Ahmad was on an Iranian hunting trip. New Emir Sheik Khalifa worked “hard” to reform the government and see that the benefits of the oil and now gas revenue benefited more native Qataris. His efforts saw that Qatar'[s system was able to yield enough results to stave off the pan Arab socialist movement.

As his predecessor and cousin had done before him, Sheik Khalifa eventually delegated much of the day to day running of the country to his first born son from his first wife. He himself began spending more time in Europe. This again left room for some intrigue. Sheik Khalifa had four sons and twelve daughters by his four wives. A son from his second wife deposed him in 1995 bloodlessly while  he was in Paris. Sheik Khalifa was allowed to return to Qatar in 2004 and died with full honors in 2016. His first born son and assumed heir remains in exile, from where he attempted a coup in 2011.

Oil Minister for Qatar Abdelaziz, Khalifa’s first son and heir and thus the road not traveled. When he attempted his own coup from exile in 2011, he complained about the Emir’s uppity wife. What a thing to complain about. If you don’t like an Emir’s wife. It is not like he doesn’t have 3 more to pick from.

It is strange that such an ancient ruling family as been so adept in the maneuverings necessary to stay in power in the modern world. They also outlasted the fall of the Shah in Iran and more recently the Arab Spring movement. For this, I will toast the House of Thani. Come again for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting. First published in 2018.

 

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Great Britain 1996, remembering Triumphs past but not present

A bright red TR3A. The peak of the early postwar export or die British sports car boom. 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. Don’t rev your engines, it bothers the neighbors and there is all those adult beverages to think about.

The aesthetics of the stamp is great because it is a good looking car. But modern. By then in 1996 the British motoring industry was out of affordable sports cars. If the challenge was export or die, then death was chosen. As such, there is a touch of the melancholy.

The stamp today is issue A470, a 20 Pence stamp issued by Great Britain on October 1st, 1996. The stamp displays a late 1950s vintage Triumph TR3A. It was part of a 4 stamp issue in various denominations celebrating the history of British sports cars from the 1950s period. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 30 cents in it’s used state.

With Britain war ravaged goods that could be exported and thereby restore wealth were prioritized. The basis of the Triumph line was fairly prosaic. The separate frame of the car was adopted from a pre war family saloon from the companies Standard line. The suspension was adopted from the new post war smaller sedan called the Mayflower. Yes they called it the Mayflower because they hoped to export it to America. The engine was a pushrod unit from Standard’s new larger sedan, the Vanguard.

This is not to say it was not a proper sporting machine but rather that it was built to sell overseas at a reasonable price. Triumph may have wanted you to think of a dashing Duke’s son as the proper driver, but it was available at a lower price. The USA price was $2675, a little less than $25,000 in todays money.

Triumph did a lot to the basic design to give a proper sporting experience. The frame rails allowed the bucket seats to be quite low. It lowered the cars center of gravity but more importantly made the driver feel in more contact with the road. The doors were severely cut down and roll up windows were replaced by seldom used plastic side curtains as on a Jeep. The engine was tuned up to 90 horsepower from dual carburetors, and sport exhaust. The sedan version of the same engine made 69 horsepower. The engine, though still an economical 4 had much more displacement than the cars German and Italian competitors. In combination with the available electric overdrive, it made the car much more suited to sustained high speed cruising as would be done on American interstate highways.  The overdrive offered 7 forward gears including a relaxed top cruising gear. The short geared forty percent smaller engine Italian sports cars were simply not up to this type of travel. The design made the cars distinctly British and much different from the more expensive but very German Porsche and the more expensive and very American Corvette.

Ready for fun, anywhere, anytime

The car line developed from the TR2 in the late 40s through the TR6 in the mid 1970s. The car got new bodies, an independent rear suspension, roll up windows, and even a six cylinder engine. When the Triumph line of sedans was dropped in favor of a new line of Rovers in a consolidating industry, the TR6 was dropped.

As late as 76, a little safer, but still in the spirit

The Triumph name was last used in the 80s on a rebadge of the Honda Civic. While the Civic has a good reputation as a small car, it was no Triumph. When the car was not accepted as a Triumph a luxury brand Rover badge was attached to it. Britain of the time apparently had more underutilized car names than distinct models. Those that thought that there was nothing intrinsically British about a car were no doubt shocked that the perfectly competent Honda was not celebrated and certainly not exported successfully. The Honda based line died in 2005 and the tooling exported to China. At least it died with a last export, the original point.

Something seems a little off at Triumph by 1983? Maybe colour choice?

Well my drink is empty and while I check what a Morgan costs now. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting. First published in 2018.

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Belgium 1935, a deadly vacation before treason and abdication

A young Queen dies while on holiday away from her children and so avoids the tarnish of her husbands treason. 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.

It is interesting to compare Queen Astrid’s mourning stamps with the many for Princess Diana. Both stamps showed the glamourous young royals at the height of their beauty. What in my mind makes the early stamp superior was the back background and the surcharge of the semi-postal issue. I like the tradition of the mourning period and that the occasion is used to raise money for causes important to the Queen. In this case tuberculosis.

Todays stamp is issue B174, a 70 +5 Centimes stamp issued by Belgium in 1935. It displays a mourning portrait of Queen Astrid after her death in a car accident near their vacation villa in Switzerland. It was part of a 8 stamp issue in various denominations. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents in it’s used state.

Queen Astrid was born a Princess in Sweden. She married Belgian crown Prince Leopold in what her mother in law Belgian Queen Elisabeth insisted was a marriage of love. They quickly had 3 Children including future Belgian King Baudouin and a daughter who became a Grand Duchess Consort of Luxemburg. She converted to Catholicism from being a Lutheran. In 1933 they became King and Queen when Leopold’s father King Albert died mountain climbing.The couple were vacationing in Switzerland with the King driving, Queen Astrid holding a map and the chauffer in back of the convertible Packard which went off the road. Queen Astrid died at the scene but King Leopold was only lightly injured.

The wrecked Packard in which Queen Astrid died. The wreck was later sunk deeper in the lake at King Leopold’s instruction.
Queen Astrid’s Chapel on Lake Lucerne at the site of the accident. It has been declared Belgian territory.

Leopold III actions when Belgium was invaded by Germany forever tarnished him. He assumed command of the Belgian Army and refused to evacuate with the rest of Belgium government to London. He claimed it was his duty to be with his men but the government thought it a way to fall into the hands of the Germans and thereby remain King of the German puppet government of Belgium. He did indeed come into German hands and Churchill believed him quick to surrender when Belgium’s troops were still helping keep the Dunkirk evacuation going.

King Leopold III met with Hitler and indeed asked to form a government. Hitler refused and decided to keep Belgium under a military occupation government. Leopold was allegedly confined to palace but managed enough freedom to remarry and have a new set of children. When Belgium was liberated by the Allies in 1944, Leopold and his new wife were not there but had left with the Germans. He left behind a treatise where he stated that he did not consider the Allied arrival a liberation but rather an occupation.

When the war ended there was a real question as to whether  Leopold could return as King. He argued that since Hitler had not allowed him to form a government there was no treason. In his absence the Belgian government  declared Leopold’s brother Charles regent while Leopold stayed in Switzerland.

A political poster in favor of Leopold’s return to Belgium post war.

In 1950 a new more right wing government in Belgium was elected and allowed Leopold to return. It did not go well as the government  was hit by general strikes and a few weeks later Leopold abdicated in favor of his  20 year old son, by Queen Astrid,  Baudouin. He lived on in Belgium living a jet set lifestyle until his death in 1983. He lays in the royal tomb between his two wives.

Well my drink is empty and as I have another I will toast those that went on strike upon Leopold’s return. Many were just anti monarchy communists, but they were right that a country should be able to expect more from their King. Come again for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting. First published in 2018.

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Romania 1906, The landowners in Romania want a German King, not a Romanian one

A landowning class can not continue if there is land reform. To prevent that, a Royal from outside is brought in, who has little connection to the peasants, doesn’t even speak their language or attend their church. 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.

Todays stamp has an impressive look. A celebration of King Carol I forty years on the throne. So here is the King taking his oath years before, in French. There are others of him leading the army and attending church, not the Romanian Orthodox one. Carol apparently took the trappings of his office very seriously. His Queen once joked he wore his crown to bed. That shows on the stamps. That the people were so beaten down that his German royal house lasted 80 years is the tragedy that this stamp puts a brave face on.

The stamp today is issue A27, a 1 Bani stamp issued by the Kingdom of Romania in 1906. The stamp is part of a 10 stamp issue in various denominations. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 65 cents in its mint condition.

Romania was a coming together of Wallachia and Moldavia under the Moldavian Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza. There was a token allegiance paid to the Ottoman Empire but the Prince was working for European recognition of the new country. The people were overwhelmingly peasant, Orthodox Christian and spoke Romanian, which is a derivative of French.

Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza was a leftist reformer who sought land reform  and was greatly influenced by the Europe wide insurrections of 1848. The landowning class, the Boyars were successfully fighting him on land reform . There were ethnically of German stock and so tended to side with the Germans on the European issues. The peasants were heavily with the French. The Prince sought more power to get his reforms through but the left was loosing patience with him. A coup occurred in 1866 supported by the right and some on the left  and forced Cuza to abdicate and into exile.

The road less travelled, perhaps it would have made no difference, a Romanian Prince

The right wing of the coup plotters then recruited a German Prince Karl to be a new Prince and he served first as Prince Carol and later as King Carol I in a 48 year reign. He was an able soldier and won some extra land at cost of Bulgaria and succeeded in putting down forcibly the frequent peasant uprisings. He built the elaborate German style Peles Castle. He also prevented any land reform.

He did not get along well with his German Queen and after a Princess died young there was no further issue. The prospect of being King of Romania was not appealing either to Carol’s brother nor his brother’s son who both renounced any claims to the succession. Finally Carol found another German nephew Ferdinand who was willing. King Carol wanted to side with the Germans in World War I against the will of his people but he died in 1914 and since Ferdinand had a British wife he listened more to his people, or at least his wife.

The monarchy was exiled after World War II. After the cold war the current would be Royals initiated a court case to have the Royal properties returned to them personally. Peles Castle is now owned by them though still open as a museum. The current would be royal Princess Margareta grew up in Switzerland and is named after a Danish Royal grandmother. She tries harder than her ancestors in that she was baptized Romanian Orthodox and does speak Romanian. She even married a Romanian after a five year relationship with former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The Romanian government as yet to accede to becoming a constitutional monarchy.

Going over the old road, hoping for a better result, Princess Margaretta

Well my drink is empty and I will pour another and ponder this idea of bringing in a foreign King. He seemed to be a strong and lasting leader, but the good he did was only for a few. Come again for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting. First published in 2018.

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Argentina remembers Jose Hernandez, the Argentine Cervantes

A smaller country doesn’t often produce a literary great, especially one with such an insight into the national character. So a stamp to remember is very important. 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.

Visually todays stamp is not impressive. A poorly produced portrait, with a name and nothing else. A scene from Hernandez’s master work “Martin Fierro” would have been better. Perhaps with a portrait of the author in the corner. Mr. Hernandez has been on several Argentine stamps over the years but always with a similar portrait.

Todays stamp is issue A366, a six Peso stamp issued by the Republic of Argentina in 1967. The stamp comes in several colors and sizes over several years. According to the Scott Catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents used. This value is pretty consistent through the many variations of this stamp.

Jose Hernandez was born the son of a butler, growing up on a series of cattle ranches. He became a journalist and politician. At the time there was a divide in Argentine politics on the importance of the power of the countryside verses the importance of Buenos Aires. Large amounts of revenue was being generated by beef exports and Buenos Aires wanted to keep the windfall for itself. Hernandez with his experience in the countryside came down on the Federales side, that favored more revenue participation in the provinces. Hernandez and the Federales also were opposed to allowing immigration fearing Europeanization of Argentina. Both sides of the issue had turns in power and during a turn of the opposing Unitarios, Hernandez was exiled to Brazil.

It was in Brazil that Hernandez wrote his master work in two parts, “Martin Fierro”. It is an epic poem of a gaucho who struggles with the difficulty, desperation, and striving for honor endemic in the life of a gaucho, a cowboy. This type of life was still current at the time of the poems writing but was in it’s last days. The poem was immediately popular and over time became a classic with it’s vivid description of time and place. Hernandez was recognized as capturing a piece of the Argentine national psyche.

As such, the work is often compared to Italy’s “Divine Comedy” and Spain’s “Don Quixote”. Spanish literary critic Miguel de Unamuno made a case for how the work fit into the traditions of great Spanish literature, one of the few Latin American works to do so. Why not, Argentina did have Spanish colonial roots.

Some aspects of the poem do not play as well to modern sensibilities. It adheres to traditional structuring with six line rhyming stanzas. Most modern poets stick to free verse. Many of the poems situations place the Hero, a white of Spanish heritage, in combat with Natives and Blacks that behave brutally. This would just not be allowed today, whatever the reality.

Hernandez was later allowed to return to Argentina. He died in Buenos Aires only a few years after publication of his seminal work.

In the modern way, the Martin Fierro story as been the basis for the more modern. There are Martin Fierro comic books and deeply political Argentine movies. Interestingly there was a Hollywood film loosely based on the story and actually filmed in Argentina called “Way of the Gaucho” from 1952. It was one of the so called runaway productions filmed overseas because the studio, (20th Century Fox), had cash tied up in the country due to post war currency controls.

Well my drink is empty and so I will pour another to toast Jose Hernandez. Many journalists attempt to write literature but few succeed. Come again for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting. First published in 2018.

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Curacao and Sint Eustatius 1943, You go your way and I will go mine

Independence can be a tricky thing of a dependency. They are after all dependent 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.

A Queen looks down pleasantly at a view of an exotic island that is a part of the Dutch colony of Curacao. The stamp is however from the war years of World War II. Thus Holland is occupied by the Germans and Queen Wilhelmina is in exile in London. There is no fighting going on but change is in the air.

Todays stamp is issue A30, a one and a half cent stamp issued by the Dutch Colony of Curacao on February 1st, 1943. This stamp features the dependent island of Sint Eustatius. Other stamps in the six stamp issue show other islands that were part of the colony. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents whether it is mint or used.

The Islands was first spotted by Christopher Columbus and changed hands many time until coming under the Dutch in the treaties that ended the Napoleonic wars. In World War II the islands of the colony became hosts to many sailors and Queen Wilhelmina promised self rule post war. She toured the USA and Canada during her exile but did not visit the Dutch colonies. Here though is where it gets complicated. The peoples on the islands were majority blacks descended from the old slave trade that Holland was a big part of. They were not Dutch and did not even speak it.

The island of Curacao could see itself as an independent country. Oil had been discovered in nearby Venezuela and the Dutch oil company Shell had set up a large oil facility with a refinery and oil storage. It provided much employment and fit with the old Dutch model of their trading posts being natural transshipment posts with low tariffs. In the late 40s an open air brothel called Campo Alegre or Le Mirage was set up staffed by foreign women to service guests on the island. It was government owned and still operates today. Thinking this tax base gives a economic future and grating under Dutch administration, Curacao voted for independence. This lead to the colony then known as the Netherland Antilles going defunct.

Imagine thinking you could build a country on this.

The oil refinery, currently not operating in Curacao. As with the brothel, outsiders needed to work it.

Several of the smaller islands in the colony voted to stay colonies of Holland. They have small populations and a mother country checking on them is more appealing. They seemed to not trust being a dependent of an independent Curacao. I can understand that and commend Holland for giving them a choice.

Curacao is having it’s own set of problems. A labor dispute at Shell caused a period of rioting. Shell then decided to end the operation on Curacao and turned over the facility to the government for 1 Guilder. It is currently leased out to the Venezuelan national oil company but at a much lower level of employment and that lease ends next year. Curacao is talking to China about it and appealing to Holland for more aid.

P. S. Between writing and publishing there has been a court ruling taking the oil facility from Venezuela and giving it to Conoco, the American oil company. They had sued in countries with Venezuelan oil assets to get compensated for other assets nationalized in Venezuela without payment. Conoco decided it uneconomic to operate and it closed in 2019.

Also La Mirage, which closed for COVID, was declared bankrupt by it’s unpaid janitorial service. 125 sex workers and 85 others were put out of work. The sex workers had been on 3 month visas to Curacao. It is estimated that 25,000 females had worked there since 1949.

Well my drink is empty. With their honey pots closed, will Curacao go hat in hand back to Holland? Come again  for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting. First published in 2018.

 

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Niger Coast 1894, trying to control the palm oil trade

Trading posts often get bogged down in nation building. Even after the failure of the British East India company, it was tried again later, this time in Nigeria. 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.

A trading post in an exotic land can produce a stamp a little different than a colony. The users of the stamp  will almost always be employees of the trading company stationed in what to them must have seemed the darkest of Africa. Native attacks, tropical diseases, and even attacks of rival traders were real threats. There must have been a terrible sense of being alone. The mail service must have been a lifeline and of course Queen Victoria was a welcome presence on the stamps. To make these adventurers think their home remembered them.

Todays stamp is issue A20, a one Shilling stamp issued by the Royal Niger Company for use in the Niger Coast Protectorate, currently southern Nigeria, in 1894. It was part of a 6 stamp issue in various denominations. One Shilling in 1894 is worth 5.21 Pounds today. According to the Scott catalog, The stamp is worth $90 today in it’s mint state. For once in my undistinguished collection, this is the most valuable version of the issue, if we exclude overprints.

The trade with the Niger river delta mainly involved palm oil, that was used in the production of soap. The early trading post were not successful economically as there were many rival trading stations that often engaged in price wars with each other. There were British, French, and German trading posts in the area which was still ruled by local Africans.

Sir George Goldie had the idea to merge several of the rival British firms so as to be a monopoly of the trade. The British Gladstone government refused a charter. The failure of the British East India Company was recent and the government did not think a private company could adequately administer the area in question. The rival German and French traders also might bring conflict with those countries. Goldie set out raising money to prove his plans creditable and signed exclusive trading agreements with area tribes. A Royal Charter would be good for the stock he was floating and would make the treaties he was signing enforceable by the British government. A conference in Berlin conferred to Britain the territory that Goldie was operating in and the charter was then granted.

King Jaja and palm oil rival George Goldie

Though the harvesting from the palms was performed by African women regardless of the race of the trading house, one local tribal leader became a rival to Goldie and the Royal charter proved it’s worth. King Jaja of Opobo had been sold into slavery among Africans at age 12. He proved his worth in business and rose in a trading house in Bonny earning his freedom. His tribe named him a chief and he became a head of the biggest local palm oil trading house. His trading house broke away the city state of Opobo from the African territory of Bonny. He managed later shipments of palm oil to Britain without dealing with any British middlemen. the only native to do so. He was on board the ship heading for Liverpool with a shipment when a British warship invited him aboard. He was then arrested for violating the trade treaty signed by Goldie but now enforced by Britain and sent into exile. Though he was not imprisoned, indeed was a guest of Queen Victoria at Buckingham Palace. He was not allowed to return to Bonny out of fear he would go back into business. As an old man, King Jaja was given permission to return home but died on the journey. His city state did not survive his absence.

The fears of Prime Minister Gladstone proved correct. The Royal Niger Company was forced to cede the area to the new British Crown Colony of Southern Nigeria. The company was paid less than it’s original capital but was able to continue as a trading house in the new colony. In the 1920s, the company was bought out by Unilever the Anglo-Dutch soap maker. The Nigerian city of Opobo still contains a statue to King Jaja put up at public subscription in 1903.

Palm oil cultivation is no longer a huge industry in independent Nigeria. World suppliers are now dominated by Malaysia and Indonesia. Nigeria is now actually a net importer of palm oil. There is talk of outside economic aid bringing it back this time as a tool of  female economic empowerment.

A modern Nigerian female stomps the palm nuts in a hollowed out log releasing the nuts from the husks and eventually the yellow palm oil. Machines can do this now but would edit out the female economic empowerment.

Well my drink is empty. This turned more a story of economics than of local subjugation as most colony stories end up. The relentless effort to get lower prices eventually makes the underlying activity not worth doing. Come again  for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting. First published in 2018.

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Luxembourg 1891, Help wanted, we have an opening for a German guy, for the position of Grand Duke

With the Kingdom of the Netherlands breaking down along Germanic and Frank lines the German area of Luxemburg was left shrunken and rudderless. This was righted by a Luxembourger politician and a new line of Germans. 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 new guy sure is old. That was okay. The day to day running of the Duchy was in the hands of the much younger prime minister, who is actually from Luxembourg. The old guy also had proved good in a crisis and had a male heir as nature intended. Long Live the Old Guy. No not viva el old guy. We are German. Do your Belching over the border  in their um … Luxembourg province.

Today’s stamp is issue A7, a 10 Centimes stamp issued by Luxembourg in 1891. It was part of a 10 stamp issue in various denominations displaying Grand Duke Adolphe. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 40 cents in its cancelled state.

Luxembourg was left much shrunken in the 19th century. Prussia had taken a part and Belgium had taken the French, or Belch, speaking part. The small Duchy had as its Grand Duke William III. He was also the King of Holland, so that grabbed the bulk of his attention. When he died, he lacked a male heir so his empire passed to his daughter Queen Wilhelmina. The shrinking proved that having the Dutch rule was not working. Luckily there was a provision in the rules of the Duchy that disallowed a female to reign as long as there was a related male to take the job. For this reason the Duchy passed to a 7th cousin once removed. Adolphe was a German who had formally served as Duke of the German Duchy of Nassau in nearby Rhineland. Nassau had been absorbed by Prussia so Adolphe was out of a job.

Adolphe had proved adept in a crisis. In the insurrections of 1848, he quickly returned to Wiesbaden, Nassau from Berlin to find a crowd outside the palace demanding change. He walked alone in full uniform through the crowd in a friendly manner and entered the Palace. From the balcony, he announced that he accepted all their demands and the insurrection turned into a celebration. He did not actually enact the demands but survived.

Adolphe when he Adolpho of Nassau. I am very interested in what you think good citizen. May I offer you a beer and we will talk.

For the country to survive and thrive was the job of Prime and Foreign Minister Paul Eyschen, an actual Luxembourger. He served for over a quarter century and kept the Belgians at bay by allowing the Germans to keep  troops at the country’s large fort while paying lip service to Holland and maintaining neutrality in any conflict between Germany and France. This was obviously a tight rope to balance on. At the same time the economy was changing to a more industrialized model that required much economic and educational reform. Luckily Eyschen had spent much time in Berlin and had studied Bismarck’s reforms in these same areas. He enacted successfully the needed changes.

The balancing act ended when World War I broke out and Germany ignored Luxembourg’s neutrality and conquered it. Eyschen was allowed by the Germans to stay in office but he was heartbroken and took his own life. Adolphe’s granddaughter was by then Duchess and she openly collaborated with what were after all her fellow Germans. She was forced to abdicate after the Germans were defeated in World War I.

Prime Minister Paul Eyschen. Things are bad, and mad, and it is making me sad.

Well my drink is empty and I will pour another to toast Luxembourg and it’s ability to stay on it’s own course. Come again for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting. First published in 2018