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Canada 1927, remembering John A Macdonald for turning a confederation into a country

Turning a sparsely populated, spread out colony into something prosperous was itself a big challenge. With the British fading and the areas southern neighbor and French minority on the rise, a Canadian politicion John A Macdonald came forward with a plan to make a coherent country. Not everyone agreed with everything he did, but by the end od a long career, most appreciated the effort. 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.

Well you have to admit that this stamp resembles a same time period American founding father stamps. Describing Macdonald that way might inspire queasiness in Canada. He has a few statues and a John A Macdonald day, but it is not even a holiday. Some of it is partisanship, he was right and if you are left? or French( I think I am supposed to say Francophone?) Or maybe it was the still strong then affiliation with Britain, making local leaders seem less powerful. In any case, this stamp may look the same, but what it conveys is different.

Todays stamp is issue A45, a one cent stamp issued by the Dominion of Canada on June 29th, 1927. The stamp shows former Prime Minister John A Macdonald and was part of a 5 stamp issue celebrating 60 years sine the Canadian British colonies confederated as the Dominion of Canada. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth $1.30 used.

John A Macdonald, there was a rival unrelated politician named John S. Macdonald, was born in Scotland to an unsuccessful shopkeeper. When still a child, the family moved to Kingston, Upper Canada where he was still an unsuccessful shopkeeper. Macdonald knew he didn’t want to go into trade so became a lawyer. At the time there were no law schools, instead you started with a test of general knowledge, then apprenticed with a lawyer and then took a second test of legal knowledge. If all went well, you were then called to the bar. All went well for Macdonald. his apprenticeship was with an up and coming young lawyer who died near the end of Macdonald’s studies, leaving him an established practice in Kingston, then the capital of upper Canada. One of his early clients was a 16 year old newlywed Irish immigrant that came to him seeking legal advise on a store she wanted to buy. She became rich and was a lifelong supporter and some say lover of Macdonald. Established, Macdonald went on a long English tour, coming back to Canada with a distant cousin Isabel as his bride. She was sickly and melancholy and she moved to Savannah, Georgia in the USA in the hope that would improve her condition. Macdonald visited her there and she had two children, but in this period Macdonald began drinking heavily. Isabel died in 1857. His surviving son was raised by an aunt.

Great Britain was paying a lot for the colonies in Canada. As such they were anxious to turn over the burden to Canadians. At the time Canada was just Upper Canada which is now Ontario, and Lower Canada, French Quebec. The Maritimes were separate colonies and the west an open frontier. Not a particularly promising country. Economic growth was quite slow and there was a serious net migration to the faster growing USA. Macdonald foresaw one country incorporating the Maritimes and with the west settled by Anglo Canadians. To unite the place he saw and supported a continent wide Canadian Pacific Railroad. The case for the railroad was not economic, it had to be greatly subsidized, and still required dealing with money borrowed from crooked interests. Several times, nineteenth century Canadian governments including Macdonald’s fell due to railroad corruption.  In Manitoba there were rivalries between English and French settlers, see https://the-philatelist.com/2018/08/15/canada-1955-cellebrating-50-years-of-alberta-being-a-province/   . In British Columbia there was resistance to large numbers of Chinese railroad workers brought in that worked at half pay. Macdonald sided forcefully with the English Settlers meaning the west would be English. He also initiated a Chinese “Head tax” that charged $50 per Chinese they let into Canada. This was necessary Macdonald said otherwise the Aryian nature of British America would be compromised. It sounds harsh and ended in 1923 when Chinese immigration to Canada was banned completely. When trying to build a country where there isn’t one, diversity is not a strength. Many apologies no doubt from current Canadian leadership. Macdonald also supported high tariffs in the hope that Canadian manufacturers could survive American competition.

Macdonald lived long enough and returned to power enough times to see his prized Canadian Pacific Railroad completed. It did what he hoped and united the countries’ economy. He was in fact reelected the same year he died of a stoke.

1891 Macdonald campaign poster from his last campaign. Perhaps Biden will copy this pose next year?

Well my drink is empty and one perhaps shouldn’t toast a fellow with a drinking problem. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting

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Australia 1974, noticing the wombat is no longer so common anymore

A rare animal story, so me making fun of Australian politicians circa 1974 or eyeing impressed Australian technical advancements will have to wait for another stamp. Today we take on the story of the Australian wombat. 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.

In June I was lucky enough to go on a short trip to Sydney, Australia. I took a day trip to the Blue Mountains and the tour stopped at a nature park named Featherdale where they had the many of the unique animals of Australia. I was expecting kangaroos and koalas, which they had, though the koalas were kept well back. While there a very friendly wombat came up to me and it turned into a trip highlight making friends with him. Once home seeing I own an Australian stamp featuring a wombat, it turned into just the excuse I needed to learn more about them. I also was quite moved by the ANZAC memorial in Sydney, so if I find a stamp of that, I will shortly after be bringing my readers that story. I have already covered the New Zealand ANZAC memorial here, https://the-philatelist.com/2018/02/16/new-zealand-expands-a-war-memorial/  . The Australian one is better.

Todays stamp is issue A224, a 20 cent stamp issued by Australia in 1974. The wombat got only the single issue that year. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents used.

Wombats are one meter long marsupials native only to Australia that weigh about 40 pounds. They live in boroughs they dig and tend to live in more arid regions. Their chief predators are dingoes and Tasmanian devils. They are thought to be unlucky animals. Aborigine legend is that wombats descend from a man named Warren who had his head bashed in, his tail cut off and banished for being selfish. This would explain their fat torso and boroughing ways. British settlers to Australia were not themselves glad to see the wombat. In 1905 the government declared them varmints to be killed. Their boroughs were not welcome on farm or grazing land.

This has slowly changed as numbers of wombats decreased. There is a Wombat National Forest near Melbourne that no longer contains any wombats. By 1970, Australia declared the wombat protected and all of the regions except Victoria followed suit.

The 2000 Sydney Olympics became part of the wombats comeback. In the runup to the games, an ad agency had designed three animals to be the official mascots of the game. A kookaburra named Syd (for Sydney) a platypus named Olly(for Olympics), and an anteater named Millie (for the Millennium). Some felt these were too contrived, politically correct, and commercial. A radio DJ then designed an alternate unofficial mascot.”Fatso, the Fat Arsed Wombat”. Two statues of him were created and Fatso proved more popular. One of the statues of Fatso was auctioned off for charity and the other was mounted in the Olympic Village in honor of the workers that built it. This statue was stolen in 2011 but the rich guy who won the auction still has his. Such is the world today.

Fatso at Olympic Park before he was stolen

Well my drink is empty and I will pour another to throw it on the fool who stole Fatso. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Bulgaria 1913, that brief moment when the Balkan Wars looked good for Bulgaria

Even an overprint of an older stamp issue can take a little time. This overprint was issued to celebrate the lands gained in the (not well named) First Balkan War of 1912. By the time the stamp was in the post offices, Bulgaria had started a 2nd Balkan War to take more of Mecedonia, but ended losing more than it ever gained. 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 shows the traditional old capital of Bulgaria, Tarnovo (now called Great Tarnovo). This ties the gains achieved in the First Balkan War of Slavs and Greeks against the Ottoman Empire back to the no doubt glorious exploits of the 14th Century Bulgarian Empire. The Greek and Serb allies had not divvied up Macedonia  as previously agreed on so Bulgaria’s German King Ferdinand ordered a surprise attack on both Serbia and Greece with the goal of Thessalonica, the now second largest city in Greece. This happened suddenly while the postal service was just getting to talking up the last war.

Todays stamp is issue A22, a 3 Stotinki stamp issued by the Kingdom of Bulgaria on August 6th, 1913. It was a seven stamp issues of overprints on an earlier issue. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth $2 unused. This is 5 times the value of the original version of the stamp, as the overprint did not have much of a shelf life.

A federation of Slavs and Greeks with the backing of Russia met with great success against the Ottoman Empire in the First Balkan War. The Ottoman offensive against Serbia stalled and the Greeks and Bulgarians as allies were able to clear the Ottomans from Macedonia. The Greek navy had successfully prevented Ottoman reinforcements being shipped in by sea from elsewhere in the empire. Millions of Turk Muslims streamed out of Europe where they had been for centuries to a Turkey they did not know. The Balkans being a rough place, the Serbs and Greeks had a backroom deal that cut Bulgaria out of some of the spoils including the important city of Thessalonica. Turkey could be rough itself, the general in charge of the losing effort, General Nazim Pasha, was assassinated by a group calling itself the committee of union and progress. Nazim Pasha’s family then formed its own committee of annoyed relatives of Nazim Pasha and assassinated the Pasha in charge of the progress comitee.

King Ferdinand, without consulting the Bulgarian government or Russia ordered surprise attacks on Serbia and Greece, both attacks quickly bogged down although the Bulgarians were able to hold off the Serb counter attack. The Greek counterattack was more difficult. There was a bloody battle at the then ethnically Bulgarian city of Kilkis in Macedonia that the Greeks won and then ethnically cleansed brutally. Further progress toward the Bulgarian capital of Sophia got bogged down. Then Romania and even the Ottomans joined the attack and Bulgarian King Ferdinand was forced to accept harsh Greek peace terms that lost land to Greece, Romania and even the Ottomans.

Serbian poster claiming it was them instead of the Greeks that spanked Bulgarian King Ferdinand

The Russians were especially hard hit by the Second Balkan War. They felt forced to side with far off unconnected Serbia and with it lost Slavic Bulgaria in a Slavic Balkan Federation where they would have had more influence in uniting the Slavic people. Darn those German Kings pretending to speak for Slavs.

Well my drink is empty and I am left wondering what number the First and Second Balkan wars would be in an accurate count? Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Switzerland 1988, Remembering 600 years later the Battle of Nafels where the Canton of Glarus chased off the Austrians

Chasing off the Austrians was a huge building block toward building a modern Switzerland. So why not remember an important battle in that struggle. Well you might say that the modern multiethnic Switzerland has little to do with a confederation of cantons chasing off Holy Roman Hapsburgs that even the Austrians themselves have now chased off. Think about if the battles had gone the other way and the land was still Austrian. Would not the people have been kept down with all the wars and would the area have achieved such peace and prosperity. 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 this stamp is a mess. The old style cursive writing style is unreadable and the red playing card with the old fashioned guy also makes no sense. I doubt better eyesight and a knowledge of old German helps much. Fail

Todays stamp is issue A367 a 50 cent stamp issued by Switzerland on March 8th, 1988. It was a single stamp issue remembering the 600th anniversary of the Battle of Nafels fought between the Canton of Glarus of the Old Swiss Confederacy and Hapsburg Army of Austria. According to the Scott Catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents used.

The Old Swiss Confederacy grew up as Alpine market town dominated cantons began buying more self rule from their ruling but apparently cash poor Austrian nobility. At this point there was still tribute due the Hapsburg Holy Roman Empire but on the ground there was fighting for the allegiance of Swiss towns.

In 1388 Austria sent two armies of over 5000 men toward the town of Nafels with the goal of capturing it and then breaking the Canton of Glarus away from the Swiss. The town only had 400 defenders and after a short siege the town fell with the defenders fading intact into the surrounding hills. The Austrians than broke military formation to loot the town. Remember the armies then were put together by knights in service to the King but with a definite profit motive for the knight. At the height of the looting of Nafels the Swiss counter attacked to great success with the total element of surprise. The Austrians retreated in some disarray and this was compounded by a bridge collapsing on the Linth River. 20-30 % of the large Austrian Army was lost. A peace treaty was signed in Vienna the next year acknowledging the Swiss claim to the area. The loss of the area to the Holy Roman Empire meant there was now a buffer zone between Hapsburg Austria and Bourbon France. The old Swiss Confederacy ended when it was conquered by Napoleon in 1799.

Every year on the first Thursday in April, the is a pilgrimage to the site of the battle  called the Nafelser Fahrt. Usually in attendance is a potential pretender to the Hapsburg Throne for whom it is possible to spit upon for a small fee. I am kidding about that last part.

Well my drink is empty and the first Thursday in April is a while off so there is time for another round. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Taiwan 1956, General “Cash My Check” plans project national glory

Losing becomes self perpetuating. Kuomintang leader General Chiang Kai-shek had to flee to Taiwan after losing the Chinese civil war. His comrades were now in a strange land and many of the locals found the former Japanese administration more efficient. The General had an idea to return to national glory before the Americans got serious about not cashing his checks. 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 found it strange that this Taiwan stamp portrayed their leader in the guise of a General. Many if not most of the General Chiang’s battles had not gone well. Yet here he is, at nearly 70, presenting himself as a military leader ready to win back the China he had lost. To have survived so long Chiang had his fans, but this was not a convincing guise to convince anyone new.

Todays stamp is issue A124 a $2 stamp issued by the Republic of China on Taiwan on October 31st, 1956. It was a six stamp issue in various denominations displaying President Chiang Kai-shek as a military leader. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents used. This was a bulk postage issue therefore unused versions are more valuable. A mint version of this stamp is up at $16.

At the end of World War II, Taiwan had been under Japanese occupation for over 50 years. Things had been peaceful and there had been economic progress. At suggestion of the Allies, Chinese Kuomintang(KMT) forces accepted the Japanese surrender.  The KMT administration proved much rougher than the Japanese. On February 28th, 1947 a local 40 year old widow lady was selling contraband cigarettes on the street when agents from the tax authority approached her. One of the agents hit her over her head with a pistol as an angry crowd formed. Soon the agents fled after shooting into the crowd. This lead to days of riots where over 5000 people were killed. Thus the KMT’s legitimacy was already suspect when their leaders arrived in defeat from the mainland.

The legitimacy of General Chiang was already under question. The KMT had been the recipient of massive amounts of American aid over many years to have nothing but Taiwan to show for it. He was still asking for and getting even more aid while making big promises. Thus the sneer in America of General Cash my Check. The Soviet Union was at the time having similar feelings about all the aid going to Red China while their great leap forward proved to be such a stumble.

Nevertheless, General Chiang had a plan to turn things around. It was modeled after Sun Yat-sen’s successful effort to bring down the Qing Dynasty in 1911. See https://the-philatelist.com/2019/04/26/china-1961-remembering-sun-tat-sen-for-trying-to-bring-peace-order-and-good-government-over-from-hong-kong/ . Small units of special forces would foment trouble while the Muslim opposition army funded from Taiwan acted as a warlord army. It sounds pretty fanciful that it could work, but Chiang had often been attracted to such schemes.

In late 1965, Project National Glory got under way when special forces were to be landed in the mainland. The Red Chinese navy caught the ships and two were sunk. Earlier a practice for an amphibious landing was botched when three landing craft overturned in high waves. General Chiang gave up on these fanciful schemes in the early 70s when many countries withdrew recognition from Taiwan as the spokesman for all of China.

Chiang Kai-shek died in 1976 at the age of 89. His son by his first wife succeeded him. His then current wife, number four and First Lady fled to the USA as she was on bad terms with the son from another mother. See https://the-philatelist.com/2018/03/06/madame-chaing-efforts-to-help-warphans/  .

Well my drink is empty and I am left wondering how much the USA and the Soviet Union squandered trying to influence what happens in China. Not money well spent. Come again tomorrow for another story to be learned from stamp collecting.

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Morocco 1988, In the Age of Lead, stop firing you fools, the Tyrant is dead, or is he?

Ruling a place full of hotheads, a firm hand is required. Perhaps even an age of lead. 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 Royal portrait stamp dates from 1988. As is the tradition among Royal stamps, the portrait used is from a decade earlier. No point seeing the King age, it might imply weakness, and that wouldn’t do in a country of hotheads. This fakery worked for King Hassan II, he died of natural causes still on the throne after a long rule.

Todays stamp is issue A236, a 1.2 Dirham issued by the Kingdom of Morocco in 1988. There were many versions of this stamp issued over many years as higher denominations were required due to inflation. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents used.

King Hassan II took over from his father upon the latter’s natural death in 1961. See https://the-philatelist.com/2019/05/08/morocco-1956-the-alaouite-sultan-muhammed-v-outlasts-the-french-to-become-independant-and-king/  . The Alaoite Dynasty has ruled Morocco for centuries and claims the Prophet Mohamed as an ancestor. At first there were affectations of a modern state with a multiparty parliament. This did not go well as a traditional Royal regime is not compatible with a typical 60s style pan Arabist mob. Leaders were rounded up and disappeared and riots were dealt with harshly. Parliamentary power was stripped and the King instituted the “state of exception” where he could rule by decree. The time is remembered as the age of lead.

At first the King was militarily aggressive. He restated the old Spanish Rif War. There was a sand war with Algeria. He took Infi back from Spain see https://the-philatelist.com/2018/10/25/spanish-morocco-it-is-useful-to-have-a-second-stringer-occupy-much-of-a-large-dangerous-place/ , and the old Spanish Sahara from Mauritania see https://the-philatelist.com/2018/07/27/mauritania-1938-the-french-are-not-staying-so-someone-should-try-to-make-this-a-country/   and https://the-philatelist.com/2018/08/02/saharaui-semi-nation-on-the-other-side-of-the-wall-of-course-with-stamps/ . I know too much homework to read all that, but think of all the fun I had writing them. By the early 70s, King Hassan II got less militaristic as he no longer trusted his army as much. In 1971, he was held under house arrest  by military cadets while  Libyan backed Moroccan generals got on the radio claiming the King was dead and a republic declared. Not so fast, loyal parts of the army saved him.

In 1972 there was another coup attempt. The Royal 727 was returning to Morocco from France when 4 F5 fighter planes from the air force rose to meet it. There was much wild firing, the 727 took several 20 millimeter cannon hits but kept flying. The King ran to the cockpit and pretended to be the pilot getting on the radio and saying “Stop firing you fools, the tyrant is dead”. The fools indeed stopped firing at the 727  but strafed the dignitaries awaiting the King in Rabat. It was his birthday. The Defense Minister behind the attack later committed suicide in custody, by multiple gunshots. It was the age of lead. Aviation fans may recall that the F5 was a simple American fighter plane designed to be handed out to the third world. It was nicknamed the Freedom Fighter, but this incident is reflective of the kind of losers who too often got them.

When Hassan II died in 1999 his son took over. There was then a new round of pretend reforms, even a Royal truth commission on the crimes of the father. Meanwhile hotheaded Moroccans flood Europe. Apparently they would prefer to be ruled by the EU than a King related to the Prophet Mohamed.

Well my drink is empty and I will pour another to celebrate the end of the age of lead and dread the age of the hothead. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Belgium 1955, should this textile alegory be updated to reflect 30 Euro a month workers in Bangladesh?

The industrial revolution began in Britain and spread throughout Europe. Textile were a big part, first clothes and later carpets. A key skill in big European cities is hosting conventions. Thus the big exhibition in textiles was this year in Barcelona, not Dacca or Abbes Ababa where the employment has gone. 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 1950s were a great time for industry. Unions were seeing to it that workers were getting ahead and societies wealth was rising fast enough that costs could be passed on to the consumer and thus the industrialist were also prospering. In 1951, it was Paris’s turn to get the ball rolling on large post war international textile exhibition and four years later it was the turn of Brussels. The majesty of this stamp shows how serious the country took the exhibition. The facilities of the Free University of Brussels were used and 12 academic papers on field advancements from around the West were presented.

Todays stamp is issue A117, a 2 Franc stamp issued by Belgium on May 11th, 1955. It was a single stamp issue celebrating the International Textile Exhibition to be held in June that year. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents used.

In the USA, 95 percent of textile mills closed in the 1980s and 1990s. Belgium has faired a little better. The country still employs 42,000 people in the industry, this number drops 1-2000 a year. This is a little less than one percent of the countries workforce. In the 1970s, developed nations noticed the movement of production to the third world. A multi fiber arrangement was worked out between them that temporarily put quotas on the amount of third world imports. Europe however made a special allowance for very poor countries to help them. Under this Bangladesh was allowed to export to Europe with no tariff or quota. Given that a Bangladeshi textile worker makes 30 Euros a month, no amount of industrial efficiency can match that. In the late 1980s the multi fiber arrangement broke down and the export rules were put under the jurisdiction of the World Trade Organization. China is the primary beneficiary of that and today is the worlds largest textile exporter. Somehow China has managed this while paying their workers a whopping 175 Euros a month.

China and Bangladesh should keep an eye out behind them. Recently Calvin Klein and H&M have moved some factories to Ethiopia. There a textile worker makes just 26 Euros a month. It has not been an easy go in Ethiopia. There has been much labor strife and turnover as it is not possible to support a family on 26 Euros a month, even in Ethiopia. Ethiopia was the last country on earth to officially ban slavery in 1942. Or did they?

Luckily for Europe, nobody is interested in having conventions in Dacca or Abbes Ababa. This year the Exposition was held in Barcelona and in 2023 there will be another one in Milan. There is no doubt that Europe knows how to put on a show, but it is too bad the act of making the textiles we use has been taken away.

Well my drink is empty and I am left wondering what the Brussels exposition was like. Were they still musing about technological and design advancements, or was there already a sense of doom over what was about to happen? Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Thailand 1989 King Rama IX manages to outlast them all, military and civilian

Talking about a Thai King is difficult. It is illegal to criticize a Royal in Thailand. It is the Thais who know him best so it makes an outsider piecing together his story iffy. Yet Rama IX was one of the worlds longest serving monarchs and appears on many stamps. Sounds like a job for The Philatelist. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

The King looks a little out of sorts on this stamp. He is short and bespectacled and so a tall old style Army had looks a little out of place. It does reflect the relationship with the Army from whom the King demands deference. Since the Army is not shy about sticking it’s nose into politics, there have been more than 10 coups during the King’s long reign, it is probably useful to remind them who is in charge.

Todays stamp is issue A372, a 10 Baht stamp issued by the Kingdom of Thailand on July 1st, 1989. It was part of a twelve stamp issue over several years in ever higher denominations as Thailand was experiencing inflation. According to the Scott Catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents.

By the 1920s when the King was born, it was the tradition of a young male Royal to spend an extended period overseas studying. A cadre of appropriate and attractive young Thai ladies were dispatched in the hope of the Royal finding an appropriate match. It was considered a Royal duty to host weekly meals for local Thai students. This happened and future King Rama IX was born just off campus of Harvard University in the USA in 1928. Upon return to then Siam, the young King died of a pendesites and the still young Queen Mother and the children departed for Switzerland, where Rama was raised. An uncle Regent represented Royal interest in Siam but it was a time of much debate as to the future of the Royalty as  the conservative military clashed with a left wing urban elite and always lefty students.

After World War II, Rama IX’s older brother reached majority and was scheduled to return to now Thailand after 15 years in Switzerland and rule. In 1946 he was fatally shot. There are three theories of this, that he was killed by accidental discharge, that he was shot by members of his court(two members were hung for it), or that Rama IX accidently shot Rama VIII while the two played with their pistols. There is little evidence that Rama IX was anxious for the Throne, he spent another 3 years in Switzerland. The Queen Mother indeed lived in Switzerland for the rest of her life.

Rama IX eventually made it back to Thailand in the early 1950s with his new bride Sirkit a Thai student studying in Switzerland. At the time there was a military dictatorship and his only role was ceremonial. He did host a radio show and play the saxophone. In 1957 there was a counter coup with a new field marshal that gave him a lot more to do around the country. Military rule was not popular among students and the foreign educated middle class. This old rivalry flared up in the early seventies with large student protests, see https://the-philatelist.com/2018/02/15/thailand-an-elite-demand-power-from-the-king-and-call-it-democracy/   . The King ordered the protestors to disperse and when they didn’t the military harshly cleared Freedom Square. This type of thing had been going on forever in Siam see https://the-philatelist.com/2018/11/01/siam-1917-a-young-king-modernizes-the-royal-court-and-adds-gay-drama-and-a-wild-tiger-corps/  . In the early 1990s the King took a new tack to the old rivalry. There was a televised audience with the King with the military leader and the leftist leader made their cases to him and the King questioned each of them harshly. As with formal Thai protocol, the King was seated on the Throne and the two politicians were on their knees. At the end, The King told the General to resign. The country had never seen anything like that and Rama’s popularity increased, especially among peasants who were not being represented much by either side of the haves.

King Rama IX’s image projected onto the Thai Military Bank building in 2006

The King worked hard on countryside projects especially involving irrigation. As his rule extended into the 21st century, he was revered as a link to the past where Kings of Siam avoided the colonial domination faced by most neighbors. In his last years his health declined and Rama IX died at age 88 in 2016 have ruled as an adult for 70 years, a record that has not yet been surpassed by Queen Elizabeth II. Queen Sirkit had a stroke during the King’s last days and hasn’t been seen in public as her son Rama X took over. Thai Kings are often refered to by their given names instead of their ceremonial name Rama, but it is too much to ask of this simple philatelist to spell them. Rama IX is Bhumibol Adulyadej. Easy for them to say?

Well my drink is empty and I will pour another to toast long serving King Rama IX. It must have been a leap of faith to go back to Thailand to serve from the comfortable safety of Switzerland. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Bechuanaland Protectorate 1888, The British side with Christian Chief Khama to keep the Pioneers at Bay

With the colonial land grab for Africa of the late 19th century, some African chiefs sought a protectorate relationship with a colonial power to keep the others at bay and better serve his tribe. The most successful of these was the Bechuanaland Protectorate that became modern Botswana. 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 with a simple profile of Queen Victoria may not seem to emphasize the Britain was allowing the Chief Khama III to rule while they were merely the protector. In fact the chief was nowhere on any of the stamps of the Protectorate. Lets face it though, a postal service was mainly to do with colonial not local business. When you realize then that the protectorate was run from outside the land area of Bechuanaland, it is easier to see how the arrangement could be unobtrusive to the Tswana people.

Todays stamp is issue A1, a one Penny stamp issued by the Bechuanaland Protectorate in 1888. It was part of a 5 stamp issue in various denominations. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth $20. If the 1 in the 1 penny overprint was misprinted short, the stamp’s value would rise to $475.

The Tswana people occupied thinly the area between German South West Africa, now Namibia, and Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe. The tribe was facing intrusions from Boers, British Rhodesians, and African Zulu and Matabele tribesman. The new young chief Khama III had been converted to Christianity by Scottish missionaries. Many of the leaders of the tribe had also converted. The tribe was becoming better off by organizing wildlife hunting and viewing expeditions. He also banned the importation of alcohol into his territory. With the area dealing with the kind of Pioneer columns that conquered Matabeleland see https://the-philatelist.com/2019/06/28/southern-rhodesia-1943-remembering-the-pioneers-that-conquered-matabeleland/  , the missionaries took Chief Khama’s case to Queen Victoria. A military expedition mapped and claimed territory on behalf of Chief Khama. The protection guarantee left Khama’s own warrior regiments available for civilian development and fairly uniquely they were often called up for civilian projects. Tswana people to the south were initially separately governed as a crown colony of Britain but later incorporated into South Africa. In the 1980s it was again made semi independent as the black homeland Baphuthatswana, see https://the-philatelist.com/2019/02/20/bophuthatswana-1985-the-tswana-people-get-industrious-in-the-bop/   , but this did not last.

The Protectorate status saw the Chief’s sons and grandsons educated in Great Britain. This became very controversial when the future would be chief Seretse decided to marry a white woman named Ruth Williams he met during his studies. Some among the tribe thought that his position meant it was not up to him who he married. There were also sons of Khama by later wives who had ambitions of being Chief themselves. Instead Seretse did not claim the chiefdom after he married Ruth but instead competed as a politician and ended up the first President of independent Botswana with Ruth as his First Lady. Their mixed raced son Ian later served as Botswana President from 2008 till 2018. Now in retirement from that job, some wonder if he might claim the Chiefdom of the Tswana.

Ruth Williams Khama and Seretse Khama

Bechuanaland got full independence in 1966 and took the name Botswana. The administration moved in country to the new capital Gabarone. It is one of the most prosperous countries in sub Sahara Africa with much stability of government.

Well my drink is empty and I am left thinking about the stamp we did recently where the British Empire remembered fondly the Pioneer Columns that conquered Matabeleland while here the same British Empire celebrates preventing the Pioneer Columns from taking Botswana around the same time. Somewhat contradictory perhaps but celebrating Empire is what Commonwealth stamp issues are all about. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Poland 2008, Poland displays European capitals while the EU shows Poland the money

Poland is a proud nation. Given that it might be strange to see other European capitals on their stamps. The European Union was laying out big money to integrate Poland, and that buys something. 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.

Between 2005 and 2010 there were 27 stamps issued showing landmarks in the capitals of European Union members. All of the landmarks predate the formation of the union but display EU style stars to claim them. The way this type of stamp petered out might make you wonder though. Integration as yet to mean common stamps, except for a few specials. Will integration ever get that far, or will stamp issuance or the EU itself end?

Todays stamp is issue A1323, a 3 Zloty stamp issued by Poland on October 24th, 2008. Five of the stamps were issued that year and this one displays the Charles Bridge in Prague, Czechia. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 60 cents used.

Poland was very interested in European integration from the earliest days of the post communist government. Poland formally requested admittance into the European Union in 1993. The process of integration was quite complicated as laws had to be changed to conform to EU dictates. The EU sent 37 task forces to work with the Poles on what would be required in each of the areas. There were frequent changes in Polish governments but all shared the desire to integrate. Naturally the enthusiasm for it though was more on the left. At the beginning of May 2004, Poland, seven other eastern European nations, Cyprus, and Malta joined the EU.

It was originally planned that Poland was to replace the Zloty with the Euro beginning in 2009 but this has been indefinitely delayed. The opening up of borders saw over 600,000 Poles move to Great Britain, more than tripling the already large Polish community there. The EU is also spending lavishly  in Poland. In 2016, Poland paid in about 3 billion Euros in dues but received over 17 billion Euros in spending from them. The benefits Poland has received keep membership popular in Poland and the Poles have been big advocates for EU expansion into the former Soviet Union, Turkey, and Albania.

There have been of course some areas of disagreement. Poland, like the USA is more skeptical or Russia’s intentions regarding energy supply westward through the old COMECON gas pipelines. See https://the-philatelist.com/2018/09/25/hungary-builds-on-soviet-friendship-to-power-itself/   . This is more popular in Germany because of the relative cleanliness of natural gas and the cheap price Russia offers. Poland is also reticent of taking in refugees from outside the EU though it recently took many from the Ukraine.

The Charles Bridge in Prague was built by Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV starting in 1357. It crosses the Vltava River. Over the years it has been damaged by wars and floods. In the early 20th century buses and trams used the bridge but there was a large reconstruction between 1955 and 1975 that left it a pedestrian bridge with the original decorative statues replaced by replicas. This restoration and a further one in 2008-2010 were done some felt ham handedly. So this year, the bridge is again closed for reconstruction. I can smell additional ham.

Well my drink is empty and you have to give it too the Poles. So far at least, that is what the EU thinks. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.