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Guatemala 1902, attention Europeans, new country with rich Spanish culture is open to immigration

So many of the early Guatemalan stamps show impressive stone edifaces. It is what claudillos like to build with their obvious achievement and hopefully stone permanence. What better to show potential immigrants who might worry the place will be a cultural wasteland. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

The stamp today shows the La Reforma Palace. It was designed by French architects. The palace as with many of the structures on this set of stamps were destroyed by a large earthquake in 1919. The government of the time was not stable enough to follow through with plans for reconstruction. I covered this issues Carrera  opera house here, https://the-philatelist.com/2017/11/06/guatemala-columbus-theatre-still-impressive-on-the-stamp-but-really-in-ruins/   .

Todays stamp is issue A30, a 5 Centavo stamp issued by Guatemala in 1902. It was part of a 10 stamp issue in various denominations featuring architectural achievements. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents used. A vertical pair of this stamp in imperferate form is worth $100.

After independence from Spain Guatemala faced big problems. The bulk of the people in the countryside were of indian heritage. Their traditional style of living was on rural land under communal ownership of the tribe. The capital of Guatemala City had a slight majority of people of criollo background. This was much closer to Spanish with still some mixing. These were the leaders of the political parties, both left and right, and the military officers. The call out for European immigrants was one of self preservation. At the time, the Yukatan peninsula to the north was a separate indian run country. There was a boom in the cultivation of henequen, useful in ropes and a local alcoholic drink. The cultivation sent Indians off the land and toward Guatemala City from Yukatan. To keep them out of the capital and the following inevitable demand for political power, the American United Fruit Company was invited in, They set up banana plantations that took even more land from Indians but required much labor. The workers were given a small plot of land for themselves in return for several months of labor on the plantation. Guatemala City, now much larger, still claims a slight criollo majority. Their current relief valve are those caravans walking north.

I mentioned that the Presidential Palace on the stamp was destroyed in 1919. The street it was on still shares its name. A new design for a palace was  commissioned from Italian architects, but there was no money to build it.The frustrated President Herrerra wanted a new palace in time for the Guatemala Centennial and ordered one built in 3 months with a shoestring budget. The result was known as the Cardboard Palace. It only lasted a few years before burning in 1925. Guatemala got by without until the current Presidential Palace was completed in 1943, with the help of the United Fruit Company. They courteously delivered the Palace on the Dictator Ubico’s birthday.

The current Palace is somewhat notorious today for death tribunals held there in the early 1980s by Dictator Efrain Rios Montt against mainly leftist Indians. 15 were killed after trials. For many years Rios Montt was protected from opponants retribution  by staying an elected member of Parliment after leaving the Presidency. When he attempted to retire in 2012 at age 85 he was quickly indicted and convicted of genocide. The vertict was overturned by a higher court. It was agreed to reconvict him but without jail time due his age. The journey to civilization begins with one small step. Rios Montt died in 2018 at age 91.

President Efrain Rios Montt on trial for his alleged crimes late in life

Well my drink is empty and I will pour another to toast the United Fruit Company. Dangerous places require relief valves especially beneficial are domestic ones. Plus you can’t have people as esteemed as Guatemalan leaders living in cardboard palaces. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Poland claims Nicolaus Copernicus

Sometimes it is very important for a new or in Poland’s case a reconstituted country to be able to reach back into history to promote important figures. This adds to legitimacy and gives young Poles someone to emulate. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

The stamp today shows how much of the Polish character survived into the communist era. From the style of this stamp, I assumed it to be an interwar issue and the denomination seems low for the 1950s. Coperinicus’ birth and death dates are not much help. The stamp celebrates the 480th anniversary of his birth, a strange number. The painting on the stamp is where the communist influence shows. Originally titled “Conversations with God” they seem to have retitled it “Copernicus Watching Heavens”. The painting is currently at the University of Krakow.

Todays stamp is issue A222, a 20 Groszy stamp issued by Poland on May 22nd 1953. It was a two stamp issue in different denominations. According to the Scott Catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents used.

I mentioned in the title that Poland claims Copernicus as a son of Poland. Germany does not formally make a claim to him but there is also a case.  given the crosscurrents of what was going on there on the ground. Copernicus was born into a wealthy family in Torun, a Henseatic city. At the time, 1473, the area was contested by the Kingdom of Poland and the Teutonic Order of Knights. The Henseatic cities treasured their special status as trading cities and when the Polish King offered to respect this status, the cities affiliated with Poland, despite the German tongue spoken by the residents. The area was known by the not very Polish sounding Royal Prussia. For a much later version of this rivalry see this Danzig stamp  https://the-philatelist.com/2018/09/19/danzig-1923-a-very-early-airmail-stamp-from-a-german-city-that-suddenly-found-itself-outside-germany/    . Copernicus studied in the Polish then capital of Krakow, spoke Polish and German and published his scientific work in Latin. Copernicus went on to serve in the court of his uncle, the Bishop Prince of Warmia.

His uncle financed Copernicus to continue ecclesiastical training in Italy His studies went on and on since he was also receiving instruction in astronomy on the side. There is debate today whether Copernicus was ever ordained as a priest. The Catholics say yes and the scientific community disagrees. Late in life he was a candidate for his now late uncle’s old job as Bishop Prince of Warmia, a post that requires ordination. He never married but had a close relationship with a housekeeper. During Copernicus’s lifetime, the German Teutonic Order of Knights converted to Lutheran and became the Dutchy of Prussia. Copernicus did not convert.

Copernicus in Italy made his great discovery. By mapping the position of planets over time he was able to determine that the sun was the center of the solar system rather than the Earth as was believed. Pope Clement was briefed on the discovery but took no action against Copernicus. Copernicus was very worried over the reaction to his discovery and only sent manuscript copies of Commentaries to friends and colleagues. Lutherans were more initially opposed. They described Copernicus as an absurd Sarmatian astronomer who moved the Earth and stopped the sun. Soon after Copernicus’s death, his charts were republished as Prussian Tables and widely accepted. Catholics eventually got around to banning his work from 1591-1885. Copernicus also wrote poetry, wrote treatise on economics and practiced medicine. In 1973 on the 500th anniversary of his birth, Poland, West Germany, and East Germany honored Copernicus with stamps. The German ones only described him as an astronomer, not a Polish astronomer. In 2008, his remains were confirmed in the Cathedral at Torun.

Well my drink is empty and I will pour another to toast Copernicus the classic Henseatic. I will know when I have had enough when the Earth spinning becomes all to obvious. Come again tomorrow for another that can be learned from stamp collecting.

 

 

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New Zealand 1998, Lemon & Paeroa subtracts Paeroa and adds Coke

Sometimes town icons outlast what they are celebrating. Or even the town. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, or perhaps this once a Lemon & Paeroa soft drink, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

This is really a story of how towns rise and fall. Yes the drink from there still exists but not from Paeroa. The gold is gone, the railway is gone, the river is no longer navigable so the port is gone. The icon of the towns former signature product is still there and this is a stamp set of town icons. Not of thriving towns.

Todays stamp is issue A442, a 40 cent stamp issued by New Zealand on October 7th, 1998. It was a 10 stamp issue of town icons all in the same denomination. It was also available as a souvenir sheet. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 45 cents. The souvenir sheet is worth $4.50.

The towns area was occupied by Maori tribes when it was first explored by Captain James Heard while in the employ of the for profit New Zealand Company in 1826. Around 1870, the area saw a gold rush and prospectors bought the land from the Maori. Captain Beard had also bought the land from the Maori but I guess the natives attitude was use it or lose it. The height of the towns prosperity came when the Bank of New Zealand set up a gold refinery. It was never a big town but even the railway came.

The Lemon & Paeroa drink was a soft drink consisting of lemon juice and the local carbonated mineral water beginning in 1907. The ad slogan was “World Famous,… in New Zealand”. The drink is a common mixer in New Zealand pubs with the American whiskey based liqueur, Southern Comfort. Around the time of the stamp there was a ad campaign showing the bottle statue on the stamp with a homespun rendering of the local population.

The town is now ready for a new boost. The gold ran out, the refinery closed and the trainline shuttered. Lemon & Paeroa sold out to Coca Cola and is now bottled at their bottlers no longer using the local water. The town’s population is below 4000 and heavily Maori. Perhaps if a new use for the area is proposed, the Maori will again entertain offers.

Well my soft drink is empty and I am curious to try that Southern Comfort concoction my next time in New Zealand. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Australia 1985, Hard to pry Honours from the Queen

The Dominions are so far from the UK. So honouring people locally makes some sense, especially as part of a strategy of gradually breaking away. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

This stamp shows the badge worn by Queen Elizabeth when she hands out the Order of Australia. So much for the award being a part of the breaking away. However this stamp was issued as a the traditional Queen’s birthday stamp in a year with a lefty government so there probably a subtle message there.

Todays stamp is issue A353, a 33 cent stamp issued by Australia on April 22nd, 1985. It was a single stamp issue. The same stamp was re-issued in 2013 with a new date but the same now low denomination, I suspect backdoor sneering by a new lefty government. Mine is the original. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 35 cents used.

In the early 1970s, Australia had a new left Labour government under Prime Minister Gough Whitlam. He had won office by trying to expand Labour’s constituency from its traditional support among the trade union movement to the more centrist suburban voter. He won a slight majority but it left Whitlam with opposition on the left as well as the right. One of his tasks was the establishment of the Order Of Australia. He modeled it on the Order of Canada, see https://the-philatelist.com/2019/04/01/canada-creates-an-order-of-canada-to-further-seperate-from-the-british-queen-but-has-her-hand-it-out/   . As with that, the Queen quickly acquiesced to the new award but then made sure the annual Honours list passed through her Governor General and so was handed out under her auspices. The Governor General at the time John Kerr soon proved controversial.

John Kerr, appointed at the advise of Prime Minister Gough Whitlam, had a similar background. He was a young Labour activist who worked in a shipyard before going to law School and becoming a QC, a senior barrister. As he aged he too saw Labour needed to expand and his politics gradually moved right. The opposition had enough power in the Senate to block spending bills and began doing so in 1975. They hoped to force an early election while the Whitlam’s government was beset by scandals. Instead Whitlam proposed to dismiss a few Senators and have new elections only in those constituencies. To do this he had to propose this ceremonially to John Kerr, as the Queen’s representative in Australia. This was thought to be a rubber stamp but Kerr thought this wrong. After consulting the Chief Justice to confirm he had the power, Kerr dissolved Whitlam’s Labour government and appointed the Liberal party leader as a caretaker Prime Minister until there could be full elections. The Liberal Party then won in a landslide.

Governor General Sir John Kerr

Labour activists saw this as a coup and hounded John Kerr relentlessly. He resigned early as Governor General and moved to London. There he spent most days at Gentlemen’s clubs looking ever the worse for wear. He died in 1981 of a brain tumor but his death wasn’t announced until after he was buried to allow for an undisturbed funeral.

Later left wing governments have tried to make the award more Australian. For example they have discontinued naming people Knight or Dame. They also have expanded the criteria to include not just those who served Australia but mankind generally.  It is a staple of Australian comedy to mock counterjumper’s efforts to receive the Order of Australia. That in itself though sounds quite British.

Well my drink is empty and I will pour another to toast the Queen on her many birthdays. She is now quite old and her official birthday and actual birthday are separate, so she gets two a year. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting

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Belgium 2003, Wallonia remembers being the industial furrow of Belgium

Wallonia is the mainly French speaking part of southern Belgium. The river corridor of the Meuse River became one of the first industrialized areas of Europe. The wealth created and lifestyle changes greatly influenced a Belgium breaking away from the Netherlands. 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.

Notice the grey colors used on this modern stamp. The stamp honors an engineering association in Mons left over from the time of the area being the “Sillon Industriel” of Belgium. A nice way to remember the former industries of the area in a way to say we still have something to show for it.

Todays stamp is issue A838. a 49 Euro cents stamp issued by Belgium on March 17th, 1973. It was issued with another stamp honoring a business association in Solvay. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 40 cents used.

The area was industrialized in the nineteenth century. In the area near Mons that mainly meant coal and steel mills. This brought jobs and some wealth to the French speaking area. It was a time remember where fewer workers were required on farms and the concomitant move to cities. Not surprisingly based on what was happening, the area became a hotbed of quite left politics as the workers fought for more pay and better conditions. The changing nature of the city could be seen not just in the new industrial concerns. The walls and fortifications left over from the Dutch period were removed.

After the war, the industry of the area gradually shut down. Out of I guess right field, the areas economic decline was cushioned by France’s decision to leave NATO in 1967. The Supreme Headquarters Allied Forces Europe, (SHAPE) moved to the outskirts of Mons from outside Paris. Strange that after the French slight, a French speaking area of Belgium was chosen.

The NATO headquarters was not enough to restore Mons. The EU classifies the former industrial furrow of Belgium as an objective 1 area. This means that the area has low GNP per capita and there are incentives in place to encourage growth. It is quite unusual for a region of western Europe to have such a designation. Maybe the lefty politicians are actually working for their constituents. Perhaps if they had worked harder to keep the factories open?

Well my drink is empty and I will pour another to toast the engineers of Mons. I hope there are opportunities to practice their profession without having to pick up roots and move. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Kuwait 1969, Sheik/Emir Sabah III’s rule is golden

How were these little Emirates allowed to exist? This tiny country has 10 percent of the worlds oil reserves, or so they claim. Why was there not an oil rush to take the area from the nomads that pass through. Iraq has also wondered this Surely Britain could have made more colonizing this place rather than finding the oil then just protecting it. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

Here we have the Emir Sabah III who ruled from 1965-1977. At the end of the previous British Protectorate status in 1961 the added title of Emir was added over the previous title of Sheik. The Kuwaitis are quite cagey about who these people are despite their claims of promoting press freedom. I have pieced together a little. At least the stamp provided a picture of him.

Todays stamp is issue A96, a 20 Fills stamp issued by the Emirate of Kuwait on October 5th, 1969. With the end of the British protectorate came a new currency and the end of using the Indian Rupee. This was a 14 stamp issue in various denominations. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents used.

The House of Sabah, Sabah III first and last name was Sabah, have their heritage in Utibi tribesman that were chased from Iraq by the conquering Ottoman Turks. They managed to get control of the former Persian trading posts at Kuwait and Bahrain in the 18th century. They failed in their attempts to conquer Muscat and Oman but then instead allied with them. The alliance then lead to Utibi horsemen protecting Arabic trading posts as far away as Zanzibar and Mombasa.

Oil was discovered in great quantities and the age of colonies was over as people like the Sabahs and the Sultan of Brunei were left in place. and protected by Britain. Imagine instead a colonist diamond rush as in Rhodesia or a gold rush as in California. That this did not happen is something that the anti colonialists would be at a loss to explain. That’s okay though, I am fairly sympathetic to the adventure of colonies and I am also at a loss.

Sabah III’s rule was part of the golden age of Kuwait. Iraq didn’t invade in his years. A tradition of the theatre was started that even today manifests itself with Kuwait produced soap operas being a middle east staple. He started the first sovereign wealth fund that acts sort of like a hedge fund with excess to needs government funds. I wonder who pockets the 2 percent a year and 20 percent of profits. Dangerous questions. His rule in 1973 also saw the peak of oil production.

Kuwait, despite avoiding being a colony, is not just for Kuwaitis. They are only a third of the population, with two thirds being foreign servants. Some thing tells me Britain and the USA are not done having to protect this anomaly.

Well my drink is empty and I am wondering if there will eventually be a new Congress of Berlin as in 1884 where instead of Africa the oil states are divided. Perhaps America will trade Aleppo in Syria for Kuwait. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

T

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Ukraine 1920, calling all Hetmen

The end of World War I was a chaotic time in the Ukraine. The country seesawed back and forth between Bolsheviks and Socialists with Soviets, Germans, and even Poles having their say. If only Ukrainians could find a strong legitimate leader to give an independent Ukraine a chance. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

I mentioned the see-saw Ukraine was on. This is very visible in the stamps. The style of the communist and the monarchist is just diametrically opposed. This is from the definitive issue of the monarchist Hetman government, printed in Vienna. By the time it was ready the government was no longer in Kiev but operated from exile in Warsaw. For this reason the stamp is fake. There was a later overstamp of the issue that celebrated a planned invasion of the Ukraine in 1923 but the invasion was aborted. The Scott catalog admits to a value of the 14 stamp set of $5.

Ukraine had been under Russia since the time of Catherine the Great. Part had been in a confederation with the Poles and Lithuanians. Before all this there was a Cossack ruled area ruled by a Hetman, their term for King/Czar/Head of state. The revolution in Russia in 1917 saw the Ukraine break away under a socialist regime called the Rada that resembled Russia’s Kerensky administration. This did not satisfy Bolsheviks who formed a rival government. Germany defeated Kerensky and when he was overthrown the Soviets quickly signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk which put Ukraine in the German sphere. Germany still had it’s Kaiser so it should be no surprise that the current pretender to the very old Hetman line, Pavlo Skoropadsky was tracked down and the line reinstalled in power.

With German troops and more Cossacks inducted in the Ukrainian army the Bolshevik and Rada forces were pushed out. A deal was struck that Ukrainian grain would now feed the German war effort providing much exchange revenue. They were open to white Russians who wanted to escape the Soviets. However unlike in the Baltics, see https://the-philatelist.com/2019/08/09/latvia-1919-ulmanis-slays-the-russian-dragon-to-take-kurland/  , the end of Imperial Germany saw the German army quickly depart. Quickly the Soviets put aside the treaty they had signed and invaded Ukraine. Poland then invaded from the west and there was a difficult few years of fighting with the Soviets eventually victorious. Additional Polish lands were allocated to the Soviet Republic of Ukraine after the Soviet invasion in 1939 that were never returned to Poland.

Now former Hetman Skoropadsky settled eventually in Berlin. He did not collaborate with the Nazis and was not involved in their administration of Ukraine between 1941-1944. In 1945 he fled west to avoid the Red Army and took refuge in a German monastery. He died there when it was bombed. Skoropadsky had no son but his daughter lived on in Switzerland. She visited the new Ukraine a few times late in her life but there was no one alive to remember the Hetman.

Well my drink is empty and I will pour another to toast the Hetman Royal line. Sure being Cossacks they weren’t exactly Ukrainian but they were strong, a necessity in a neighborhood of powerful lustful neighbors like Russia, Poland, and Germany. It beats putting faith in Biden’s drug addled son. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting

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Australia 2001, the USA has Slim Shady, but even better Australia has Slim Dusty

Australia is kind of off to itself. So many of it’s artists are homebound. Sometimes a truth is so universal that it transcends. Who after all can not comprehend the tragedy of a pub with no beer. So slip on your cowboy hat, fill your pipe, take your first sip of beer and gather around the campfire. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

I am a not so sure about the use of a black and white portrait of Slim Dusty. It was probably how people remembered him  and was used for all of this long series of stamps of Australian legends. In 2001, Slim Dusty was still with us and so colour might have emphasized that. Oh well, Australia got to see him the year before in colour performing “Waltzing Matilda” at the closing ceremonies of the Sydney Olympics.

Todays stamp is issue A522, a 45 cents stamp issued by Australia on January 25th, 2001. Slim Dusty’s issue of the Australian legends series comprised two stamps. According to the 2020 edition of the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth $1 used. The 2017 edition of the catalog had the same value. Late USA President Ford would have been happy to know that inflation is so thoroughly whipped. Stamp collectors can be excused for hoping for higher prices.

Slim Dusty was born as David Kilpatrick in Nulla Nulla Creek in New South Wales in 1927. He wrote his first song at age 10 and took the stage name Slim Dusty at 11. His songs built on the tradition of Australian Bush poet and in them you can hear echoes of wild dingoes and ex convict swagmen of an earlier time.

In 1957 he had his biggest hit with “A Pub with no Beer”. You can watch him perform it in more modern times here, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fb1Pzo4ZMPk   . It was the first Australian Gold Record. It was also heard in the USA and the UK. Belgian artist Bobbejaan Schoepen did versions in Flemish and German that saw the song become a big hit in central Europe. See here, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDGFxdwdvoM.

The move toward pop and rock in the 1960s meant Slim Dusty got ever less play on the radio. Slim and his manager wife started an annual 10 month circle tour of Australia that was still quite successful. In the 70s his newer music took in the trucker scene in fashion then that Slim must have felt a kinship with all the traveling. In 2003 Slim Dusty died and was awarded a state funeral. The Anglican head clergy of Australia lead the mourners including several Prime Ministers in a rendition of “A Pub with no Beer”.

Well my drink is empty and beer is not usually my favorite, but just this once, I will have another. Come Again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Italy 2004, remembering Byzantine Pricesses in art

Italy did a long series of stamps of women in art as portrayed by mostly male Italian artists. By the later stamps in the higher, less printed denominations, they were getting pretty far afield, all the way to Constantinople. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

I had hoped this stamp was a nineteenth century style depiction of Italia, the Latin female embodiment of a nation. To have such a thing on a 21st century stamp would be quite novel. Instead we have something else that was pretty novel. A stamp that focuses in on a women that was a tiny part of a half lost fresco from the Quatrocento period. Proving you never know where a stamp story will go. So start collecting and dig in!

Todays stamp is issue A1142, a 65 Euro cents stamp issued by Italy on March 20th, 2004. It was a 25 stamp issue issued over 6 years that depict women in art. The earlier ones showed the denomination in both Lira and Euros. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 70 cents used. My new catalogs were delivered yesterday from Amos and so from here on out the values will be from the 2020 edition. Out of curiosity I checked the value of the stamp in the older 2017 edition, same 70 cents. No inflation in Italy, perhaps that should be the headline.

The artist of the tiny piece of the fresco depicted on the stamp was Antonio Pisanello. A fresco is a mural painted on fresh still wet wall plaster so that the painting bonds permanently with the wall. Pisanello was born in Pisa but spent much of his time in Verona. That time in Italy was the early Renaissance known as the Quatrocento. Pisanello studied under Gentile da Fabiano and they worked together on several frescos that did not survive. Pisanello received commissions from the Pope, the Doge of Venice and other heads of Italian city states.

“Saint George and the Princess” was commissioned by the Pelligrinni family for their Chapel in the Saint Anastacia Church in Verona. It is considered Pisanello’s masterpiece. It depicts the Princess of Trebizond, a successor state to Byzantium, sending an Knight to do battle with a dragon. It is thought that the dragon represents the Ottoman Turks that were then laying siege to Constantinople. Half of the fresco was lost to a water leak at the chapel in the 19th century.

Surviving part of the stamp fresco

Soon after this work, from the 1430s, Pisanello changed the medium of his art. He began casting medals with likenesses of those who commissioned them. They were not cast like a coin but rather in bronze. melted in low relief. He believed this better showed the hand of the artist.

Pisanello bronze medal of Pope John VIII

Well my drink is empty and I am left with the feeling that todays stamp did not do justice to the artist. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Vietnam 1993, After a renovation, wondering about becoming an Asian Tiger

As the memory of war with the South, the USA, Cambodia and even China faded, Vietnamese wondered why their economy hadn’t taken off like the Asian tigers. Perhaps it was time for a renovation. 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 promotes Asian architecture, in this case a Malaysian Buddhist Temple. The stamps didn’t go far and wide though, just countries close in to Vietnam. Whether Malaysia or Thailand, they were showing Asian tigers, inviting a comparison of how neighboring countries were doing in comparison. Pretty bold for a Communist country and traditional, calling to mind the even better done stamps from the Royal period in Laos, see https://the-philatelist.com/2018/04/30/laos-1959-the-last-royal-succession/  .

Todays stamp is issue A608, a 2000 Dong stamp issued by united Vietnam on July 10th,1993. It was a seven stamp issue in various denominations that also came as a souvenir sheet. According to the Scott catalog, This individual used stamp is worth 21 cents. This is the lowest value for any stamp I have done on this website. While the printing and artistry are below Royal Laos similar stamps. This is still a big colorful stamp with a building many in Asia will recognize. This stamp, now 26 years old, deserves a higher valuation. We need more Vietnamese stamp collectors.

The Vietnamese economy was in a terrible shape after the wars. The south had been wealthier than the north but was economically destroyed post war. Over a million from the north had been relocated south. Many of the southern people had been relocated to the countryside. To try to turn this around former Viet Cong leader Nguyen Van Linh was made Communist General Secretary in 1986.

Linh, not his real name, was born in North Vietnam but was assigned to Saigon in 1936 by the communist party. His job was to set up secret cells. He was more of an organizer that a military leader. His triumph was the Tet offensive in 1968 when Linh proved the Viet Cong was everywhere in South Vietnam. Southerners or adopted southerners in Linh’s case, were tossed aside after the war. Despite being in the Politburo, Linh’s arguments to better take advantage of southern capabilities fell on deaf ears.

In 1986 Vietnam revisited Linh’s ideas. He wanted to improve relations with China, the USA, and other Asian neighbors. He wanted to allow peasants to cultivate small private fields next to the collectives, he allowed people to start businesses and was more open to foreign investment. He worked to end the discrimination of those with southern backgrounds. None of this included more political freedom and all was done within the communist system. His program was called Doi Moi, meaning renovation.

The renovation was less than successful. Per capita GNP in Vietnam is about 25% that of China and a third that of Thailand. Thailand economically and politically most resembles the old South Vietnam so might well demonstrate what a southern victory might have achieved. One of the most vocal critics of the renovation economy was Linh himself. In his last years in retirement he wrote a scathing series of newspaper columns  complaining about the distance between the haves and the have nots and the corruption and subservience caused by the foreign investment. Lucky for Vietnam he was too old to get back to his true talent of organizing secret cells of disadents.

Well my drink is empty and so I will patiently await tomorrows new story that can be learned from stamp collecting.