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Great Britain 1987, remembering the Victorian era, 150 years later

Throughout the world, not just in Britain or the Empire, the second half of the 19th century is thought of as the Victorian Era. For some it is the height of culture and progress, for others it is a time of racial and sexual repression. As the country that experienced her reign first hand, Britain under an 80s Conservative government will share the first view. This stamp issue tries to show a lot of the progress of the time. 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.

With such a long reign, there is of course a lot to talk about and each of the four stamps of the issue take on three things to represent the period. In this stamps case, it is the art, the technology progress, and the virtue of the British people. A lot to show on a small gumed piece of paper that also manages to show a portrait of Queen Victoria and the always present profile of Queen Elizabeth. A lot going on that a postal user will likely miss but much for a philatelist to peruse.

Todays stamp is issue A359, an 18p stamp issued by Great Britain on September 8th, 1987. It was a four stamp issue remembering the 150th anniversary of the ascension to the Throne of then 18 year old Queen Victoria. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents.

Queen Victoria became Queen at age 18 years and one month upon the death of her uncle Willian IV. Being barely 18 she avoided a Regency planned for her by her mother and because of German royalty Salic laws against Royal women, the British monarch was no longer the monarch of Hannover in Germany. For the best given the events of the 20th century. Her mother lost much influence on Victoria but she accepted much advice from the then Whig Prime Minister. As a young single lady, even the Queen was required to live with her mother, but with large Buckingham Palace she was able to consign her mother to an out of the way bedroom and control when she sees her. She married Prince Albert in 1840.

Prince Albert was a force behind the Chrystal Palace in the center of the stamp. France had several previous exhibitions of French achievements but Britain through Albert had bigger ideas. The first of many International Expos happened in London in 1851. The Chrystal Palace, of steel and a then new type of strong sheet glass was constructed in Hyde Park for the purpose. The exhibition was worldwide but the technological and artistic sophistication of Britain was displayed for all to see. To cope with the large crowds the worlds first pay toilets were installed. It cost one penny to use the facility and over 800,000 did. It was such a sensation that spending a penny became slang for going to the bathroom.

The right hand portrait on the stamp is a portrait of Grace Darling, an exemplar of the virtue of the British people. Grace Darling grew up poor in a family that lived in and operated a lighthouse. In 1838, she spotted a ship foundering on nearby rocks. She got her father and they rowed a canoe out in the rough waters and were able to save five survivors. Her father and saved men than went back and saved additional ship passengers. Grace’s role in the heroism became well known and she became a national hero.  A trust fund was set up for her and Queen Victoria personally contributed. Unfortunately Grace died of tuberculosis a few years later at age 26.

Grace Darling

The left hand portrait is the famous portrait of a red stag deer known as the “Monarch of the Glen” by Sir Edwin Landseer. It captures the beauty of the animal and a sense of the rural terrain of Scotland. It was commissioned by Queen Victoria who was a big fan of this style of art. The portrait became somewhat of a cliché later as it was used in much advertising later including a soap company and more famously Dewars Scotch Whiskey. Through Dewars the painting came into the hands of the multinational liquor conglomerate Diagio who sold it discounted to The Scottish National Gallery in Edinburgh in 2016. I drink Glen Moray rather than Dewars when I drink Scotch so I knew nothing of the commercialization of the image when I saw the painting during a visit to Scotland in 2017. I was so moved by Landseer’s painting that I bought a bronze depiction of the deer in the gift shop. It is nice to know that I have similar taste in art as Queen Victoria.

Well my drink is empty and I will poor another to toast Queen Victoria. Not many get to dominate a century the way she did and in a good way. A second toast, perhaps I should take it slow, is deserved by the stamp designers who managed to show so much on the stamp. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Grenada 1966, the Queen views her colony idyllically

What a great view of a colony. A friendly industrious native woman, an idyllic landscape, and even a Mini automobile happening by. Another great day in the empire that never sets. Set it did though and craziness followed. 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.

Stamp makers of the time did not like the portrait of Queen Elizabeth as used on the stamps and soon replaced it with a profile that doesn’t age and fits more easily in the corner of the stamp. I like the full face picture as it seems the subject of the stamp is being presented as a report to her. One wonders if the reports she did receive were as idealized as this stamp.

Todays stamp is issue A37, a 5 British West Indies Cent stamp issued by the Crown Colony of Grenada in 1966. It was part of a 15 stamp issue in various denominations. There were many overprints of this issue celebrating the 1967 change in status to an independent state freely affiliating with Great Britain and also with surcharges for the World Cup, the World Health Organization, And the EXPO 67 in Montreal, Canada. According to the Scott Catalog, the stamp is worth 90 cents used.

The first inhabitants of the island were Caribe Indians. They wiped out the first British settlement in the 17th century. Later the French established themselves, bringing in large number of African slaves to work nutmeg plantations. The islands passed to the British but the island soon rebelled with a goal of creating a new Haiti. Gosh, when have anyone looked to Haiti for inspiration? The revolt was put down and there was slow development with the capital given electricity and an airport built. By the 1950s, Britain was looking for the door and a few locals were given free English educations. For some reason in colonial stories from this period the education seems to take the form of left wing, anti colonial dogma rather than administration. Britain hoped to turn over Grenada and other nearby islands to a West Indies Federation where Canada would take charge of colonial duties. No one was really opposed to the Federation but local politicians were unwilling to cede power and Canada unwilling to step up.

After the failure of the Federation, Britain ceded colonial administration to two locals who had formed rival left wing parties. From 1967, the colony became an independent state that freely affiliated with Great Britain and then full independence in 1974, still within the Commonwealth. One slight that Britain inflicted on Grenada was that they reserved the airport to British flagged airlines, none of whom were willing to offer daily service and keeping out Pan Am and potential American tourism.

Two leaders with two parties excluded other freely British trained would be leaders. Maurice Bishop formed the New Jewel political movement. The New Jewel was not just Mr. Bishop but also stood for joint effort for work education and liberation. Despite being a British trained barrister, he took on Che style pseudo military apparel. He lead a coup in 1978 and suspended the constitution. He believed Communism itself had to wait on the creation of a Proletariat but he was a willing dictator in the mean time. He started an army and with Cuban military help a new airport. Bishop said the new airport would promote tourism but the USA believed that it would also be used to support Cuban troops serving in Russia’s African colonies. Excuse me, Socialist fellow travelers.

President Bishop on his 1982 East German tour. He is the one with the beard.

In 1983 all hell broke loose. Bishop’s vice president lead a coup and had Bishop arrested. There were then large demonstrations that freed Bishop. Bishop then travelled to a military base to regain control but there was fighting between rival units. Bishop and four members of his Cabinet were lined up against the wall and shot. Bishop’s wife and legitimate children had emigrated to Canada a few years before. Bishop however also had a relationship with his Education minister who had bore him a child with the traditional Grenadian name of Vladimir Lenin. She was shot next to Bishop while allegedly pregnant. The bodies were burned but a finger of Bishop survived as it was cut off by one of the firing squad to steal his ring. An Army General then lead another coup and instituted marshal law with immediate execution for violators. The British Governor General, a local man, asked the USA and neighboring nations to intervene to end the chaos. He did this from house arrest but failed to first ask permission of the British government. The Americans quickly invaded and there was only a day or two of fighting at the airports and the Governor General’s House. The lack of input from Britain created a rift between Thatcher and Reagan. Vladimir Lenin joined his half siblings in Canada but was shot and killed at a Toronto nightclub at age 16.

The new airport opened without further Cuban help. Later it was renamed for Maurice Bishop who is well remembered. The old British airport is now a dirtbike track but still has a few derelect Soviet Cuban planes on it from Bishop’s period. Grenada is still in the Commonewealth and the invasion lead to increased aid to waste from the USA.

Well my drink is empty. I wonder if that old Mini is still puttering around Grenada? Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Poland 1976, would it be too brutal to try this again

So many young people want to move to the cities. That is where the jobs, nightlife, and other young people are. Developers only want to build posh buildings that only the old and established can afford. Once the communists showed a different way. 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.

Brutalist architecture is quite imposing in size and detail. They are thought of as angry looking. This was intensified when done on this stamp as a row. To see them go up must have been a sight compared to modern construction. They went up fast as the were constructed often of pre fab sections. Yet this Polish stamp takes all this to an even bigger level. Seeing a large prefab section being lifted not by a construction crane but by a Soviet Mi-6 helicopter. It was then the biggest in the world. Incredible, if it happened and not just a projection from a fanciful 5 year plan.

Todays stamp is issue C54, a 10 Zloty airmail stamp issued by the Peoples Republic of Poland in 1976. It was part of a four stamp issue in various denominations displaying then contemporary aviation in Poland. To date, it is Poland’s last air mail issue. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 50 cents used.

Brutalist architecture is most famous from then communist countries but the architectural style was also used on some mainly government buildings in the west. After Stalin’s death in the 50s there was more freedom granted to communist architects to allow more modern styles. There also had been some progress in the communist world and city planners had to house many families of workers. Instead of suburbs that required commuting by car, large swaths of land near city centers were set aside and public transportation was in place. The developments were somewhat self contained with schools, shopping, and parks contained on the grounds. They were by no means fancy, and the apartments were small but such buildings went up fast throughout the big communist cities. I believe the buildings on this stamp is the Smolna development in Warsaw that still exists. An updated 350 square foot one bedroom apartment rents for US$ 1020 a month.

These style of buildings quickly fell on hard times after 1990. Many were not well constructed and many former residents moved to the suburbs to have a house and car as soon as possible economically. For those buildings that survive, many are now experiencing a Renascence. They are so well located to the city center and the small units often have reasonable rents. I doubt  a major undertaking like these will ever happen again under any stripe of government.

The Mil Mi-6 helicopter was the largest helicopter in the world when it first flew in 1959. It had a payload of 26,000 pounds or 90 passengers and had both civilian and military purposes. It is a good deal larger than the American Chinook helicopter. The Mi-6 went out of production in 1980 when it was replaced by the even larger Mi-26, which is still in production. The Russian aviation authorities withdrew the certificate of airworthiness in 2002 for the Mi 6, though a few are thought to be in military service in the third world.

Well my drink is empty and I will pour another to toast the brutalist city planners of the 1960s and 1970s. In retrospect, there was a certain style and there was never doubt about dreaming big. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Netherlands 1984, we are doing pretty well so how about kicking in a little for the kids

This stamp is an appeal for charity. So one might expect a dramatic depiction of need. The Netherlands was pretty rich by 1984. So instead we see the appeal clothed in humor and the addition of luxury to the less privileged child’s life. Says something I think of the privilege of being Dutch. 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 am not fond of the aesthetics of this stamp. There is too much going on and it is simply not serious in the appeal. It is worth remarking that the stamp looks many years ahead of its time. It is 35 years old but could easily be an issue of today. To me that is not a compliment but to some it might be. Economic security brings more leisure and time for humor and even frivolity. With issues like this, we may be going beyond the basics of human dignity.

Todays stamp is issue SP238, a fifty plus twenty five cent semi postal issue from the Netherlands that was issued on November 14th, 1984. The four stamps of various denominations feature comic strips featuring earlier period children receiving music lessons on this and on others for example going to the dentist. The extra 25 cent charge was programed to support child welfare. This was a common beneficiary of Dutch semi postal issues. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 80 cents used.

Think about what this stamp implies is being provided to Dutch children in less then fortunate circumstances. One might think of a home, basic clothing, proper nutrition, access to healthcare and a free public education. These stamps promise way more than that showing private music lessons and aesthetic dentistry such as teeth braces. Exactly the type of thing that comes automatically to the rich but for the middle class something that only exceptional parents provide by sacrifice. Yet here we have a joking charity plea that implies such things will be given to the less fortunate. The people behind the stamp issue must think that there are a lot more rich who think of such things are automatic than middle class that struggle to provide such things to their children. Probably says most about the class that decides the stamp issue.

So where does Netherlands stand economically. Not bad at all. In terms of per capita GDP, the Netherlands is about 10 percent ahead of Germany and Belgium and 20 percent ahead of France and the UK. They are slightly below Scandinavia and the USA. One can see a stamp like this put out by the USA during a liberal administration that won’t have considered how annoying it is to those in the middle who did not vote for them. This theory does not seem to play out for the Netherlands of the time as it was then governed by a center right coalition supporting Ruud Lubbers, who presented himself as a conservative reformer. Lubbers after office took positions at the UN that would more appeal to liberals, so that may be indicative that politics in the Netherlands are more left than the USA. Lubbers was later forced to resign from the UN after metoo style allegations were found unsubstantiated but still leaked. Some things are the same all over. Lubbers, still married for 56 years and the father of three, died in 2018 at age 78.

Well my drink is empty and I am afraid I won’t be donating to music lessons for the Dutch less fortunate. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

PS. Happy birthday to my daughter Betsy, also a stamp collector, if she happens to be reading today.

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India 1984, Rakesh Sharma becomes a Cosmonaut and goes to space

Even before independence, in Bombay the foundations of a space and nuclear program were being established indigenously. By 1984, India was invited to send a test pilot to the Soviet Salyut 7 space station and becoming a hero of the Soviet Union and India. 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 Salyut 7 space station in Earth orbit. From the number of worldwide stamp issues it was easy to see how much excitement was generated worldwide by the American and Soviet space program. This was a step beyond that as an Indian was a full participant in the dangerous mission, and this was a marker of how far India had come in this technological frontier.

Todays stamp is issue, A662, a 3 Rupee stamp issued by India on April 3rd 1984. It was a single stamp issue marking the Soyuz T-11 mission to the Salyut 7 space station. According to the Scott Catalog, the stamp is worth 85 cents used.

The foundations of a Indian space program were being set even before independence. Cambridge trained physicist Homi Bhadha obtained private funding from industrialist J.R.D. Tata to form a research institute in Bombay in 1945. In the early 1960s the government got into the act by transforming the efforts into the Indian Space and Research Agency. Progress was swift. In 1974, the first Indian made satellite was in orbit and by 1980 India was able to start using their own design of launch rocket. This technology placed India in a small club of nations. Today the space program continues with moon and now even Mars orbiters conducting scientific research.

Seeing this progress and wanting close relations with the leader of the non-aligned movement, the Soviet Union invited India to participate in a mission to the space station. Indian Air Force Squadron leader Rekesh Sharma won the unique assignment. He had been a pilot of Indian examples of the Soviet Mig 21, that has been a staple of the Indian Air Force since the early 1960s when it was chosen over more expensive British Lightning fighter. Sharma trained for space and learned to speak Russian. He would be a science officer on the space station. One of his experiments was to see if yoga would lessen the detrimental effects of extended time in space. Sharma spent 7 days in space. The danger faced is pointed out by the next Soyuz mission to the space station. The station had degraded since the previous mission and that crew had to perform a very dangerous manual docking. Sharma was named a Hero of the Soviet Union and the Indian Ashok Chakra medal. He retired from the air force as a wing commander and is still alive.

Cosmonaut Rakesh Sharma

America sent two Indian American women to space as astronauts as part of the space shuttle program. One of them, India born Kalpana Chawla lost her life in 2003 when the space shuttle Columbia burned up on reentry from space.

Well my drink is empty and I will pour another for all those who dangerously voyage to space to further mankind’s knowledge. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Philippines 1965, Evangalina Macapagal showing local style to the visiting Dutch Princess

A new country has to establish itself with it’s own national identity. Style is a big part of that, both for outsiders to recognize as Filipino, and natives to be reminded of home and hearth. In the early 1960s, a Philippines First Lady Evangalina Macapagal tried to be an exemplar of that style. 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.

Philippines sure likes to show its elected leaders on it’s stamps. I think it comes out of the Spanish post Colonial claudillo(strongman) tradition. Wealth and power are in the hands of a few, of more pure Spanish stock. The mass of people are however more poor and indigenous. A smart leader then casts himself, whatever his background, as a fighter for the common man.  Nothing wrong with hope.

Todays stamp is issue A178, a 2 Sentimos stamp issued by the Philippines on July 4th, 1965. It was a four stamp issue honoring the visit of Dutch Princess Beatrix. First Lady Evanangalina Macapagal is wearing a traditional Maria Clara gown for the formal occasion. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents.

Eva’s husband Diosdado Macapagal served one undistinguished term as President from 1961-1965 representing the left of center party. He devalued the currency to increase exports and lower imports and made half hearted stabs at land reform and the corruption of large businesses called Stonehills, after a particularly flagrant American owned concern. He was sensibly blocked from sending the Army to Vietnam and gave up Philippine claims to part of Borneo that passed from Britain to Malaysia at the time. A deputy, Ferdinand Marcos, switched political parties and defeated Macapagal in his attempt at reelection.

The style of Eva Macapagal is what I want to spend some time on. She tried to inspire the women of the country to dress in a uniquely Philippine style. For formal occasions she wore the Maria Clara gown, named after the female protagonist in the national epic “Noli me Tangere”. The dress contains silk as well as pineapple fibers. For everyday, Eva wore patadyong  kimonas. Her clothes were done for her by local designer Pitoy Moreno. Being from the left, she also proposed a pag-asa cloth dress for the masses, locally made and affordable. Eva, a medical doctor in her own right, died in 1998.

Eva was not entirely successful in creating and preserving a Filipinne style. However the country  has only a few political families and her daughter Gloria Orroyo had her own undistinguished term as President from 2002-2009. Despite how she dressed as first daughter, she was most often seen in office wearing western attire. For her final 2009 State of the country annual address, Orroyo wore a Maria Clara gown, specialy made for the occasion and in honor of her late mother.

Well my drink is empty and I will pour another to toast Eva. The politicians around you were perhaps not the best, but there is something to be said for having style. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Upper Volta 1928, breaking off a small poor colony to better fight a hyena with an empty stomach

In the race to colonize Africa, France faced several armed struggles by native Africans. In order to deal with them large colonies were divided into smaller ones and those divisions were not able to be undone post independence. 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 features a African Hausa tribal chief. The decade before the colony had been broken off from French West Africa to better control a Bani rebellion. The rebellion nearly succeeded and perhaps showing a tribe that didn’t rush to join the rebellion helped justify the French position. There is also a big dose of National Georgraphic style recording of the exotic in the far flung empire for those at home in France.

Todays stamp is issue A5, a one Centime stamp issued by the French Colony of Upper Volta in 1928. It was part of a 23 stamp issue in various denominations. According to the Scott Catalog, the stamp is worth forty cents whether it was mint or used. In 1932 the colony was reintegrated into French West Africa, so the stamp did not have as long a run as some other similar French colonial issues.

France sought to bring under control interior areas of Africa adjacent to their already existent coastal trading posts. This was done in the hope of reducing tribal raids on the trading posts, economic development for the benefit of France and the bringing of civilization. At this point there was some hope of Africans resisting. The tribes had been trading with the colonials for more modern weapons and had large armies. The colonials presence was tiny in comparison. The biggest threat against the colonial push inland was Samori Toure’, the leader of then Wassoulou Empire. He was a Sunni Muslim. This made it difficult for him to form an effective alliance with other tribes to form a united front in West Africa against the encroaching French and British. Further hobbling his efforts was that much of the infantry force of his army were themselves slaves of the Wassaolou Empire have been taken during the still ongoing slave raids. The army proved no match for the much smaller French Army. Toure’ signed a series of treaties ceding territory to France. During one of the treaty signings Toure’ was described by Malian griot Massa Maken Diabati has a hyena with an empty stomach. Toure’ eventually had no more land to give up and was captured by the French and sent into exile in Gabon.

Wassoulou leader Almamy Toure’

During World War I in 1916, the Bani tribe again rebelled hoping to take advantage of Frances distraction. The Bani were able to put together an armed force of 15,000 troops, three times what the French could muster. Again though the French were able to defeat the Bani, though it took 2 years. After this France decided to break apart French West Africa into a series of smaller colonies for more direct control. Upper Volta was a landlocked area along the upper Volta River. It was very poor with bad roads and few railroads. The main industry was cotton plantations but these were quite unproductive without slavery. In the 1930s, Upper Volta was reintegrated with French West Africa.

Post World War II, the area of French West Africa was again subdivided. This was with an eye toward establishing some local government leading toward independence. As with Wassoulou leader Toure’, the Africans were not able to unite for progress and independence. Upper Volta was granted independence in 1960 and stayed desperately poor with one party rule. The first President spend more than half of each year at his villa in the south of France. In 1984, the country changed it’s name to Burkini Faso, which means the land of incorruptible people. I guess it is nice to imagine one’s ideal self. Over time since independence, there have been many schemes to unite the many small countries in the area. None have progressed and it probably wouldn’t have worked anyway. If the leaders have proved incapable of running a small, less diverse country, one can imagine the mess that would be made of a big one.

Well my drink is empty and I will open the conversation in the below comment section. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Germany remembers W111 when Mercedes built down for volume while Warszawa 223 built up

Yesterday we talked about how the Polish gradually improved their Warszawa model so it could serve properly local and even export automotive needs. This is important as without local production, cars must be imported and much wealth is exported. Germany through Mercedes addressed the same need by building an austere version of  a luxury car that could provide the production numbers required to make the whole enterprise worthwhile. How do the volume models compare? 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 the late 1950s, Mercedes worried that their pontoon styling, shared with Warszawa and many others, was becoming dated. So they joined with the American and Italian trend and added tailfins to their sedan. These “fintails” proved embarrassing both for following American trends and doing so late on a car with a long production life. This stamp dodges the mistake by emphasizing the front end of the car which has more in common with the earlier pontoon style.

Todays stamp is issue A1514, a 1.45 Euro stamp issued by Germany on April 2nd, 2015. The 2 stamp issue in the same denomination remembers the Mercedes W1111 220 S and the BMW 507. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth $1.60 used.

The W111 launched in 1959 and was built until 1968. This car shows the six cylinder version that was aimed at the private well healed buyer. It was less than one third of the volume of cars produced. Below that was a four cylinder gas 190 aimed at more frugal private and fleet buyers. Below that is the 190D with a four cylinder diesel engine that aimed at the taxi market in Germany and elsewhere. We learned yesterday that the proposed six cylinder Warszawa did not make it to production so lets compare the two cars where they matched up best, the 4 cylinders. For private owners, the Mercedes has some definite advantages. Sharing so much with a luxury model allows for higher build quality and better safety design. The smaller MB overhead cam gas engine beats the Warszawa slightly in acceleration and mileage but neither car is stellar and both have a top speed around 80 miles per hour. The smaller engine had to work harder to achieve the advantage and was far more complex. This was okay though as Germany was richer and therefore did not have to struggle for that last bit of life from their cars.

When we look at the diesel taxis power and economy are similar. The Mercedes taxis retain the complex independent rear suspension that may come up short compared to solid Warszawa rear axles in taxi service. Both cars had manual steering boxes and drum brakes with at first only manual transmissions. Mercedes and Warszawa both later added Borg Warner automatics. The Mercedes one was based on a design for the American Studebaker and the Warszawa was based on Borg Warner’s copy of the Ford Cruiseomatic.

Sophistication was the direction that this type of car was headed and therefore being built off a luxury car was ahead of the game. Poland gave up on the Warszawa line and replaced it with a smaller more disposable model based on the Fiat 125. In doing so, comparisons to Mercedes become ridiculous and instead the car was more comparable to a simpler Volkswagen Passat/Dasher. A sign that communism was preventing Poland from catching up to Germany.

Well my drink is empty and I am left wondering why no one thought of offering simplicity with the higher build quality. Wait calls are coming in, Rover on line one, Volvo on line two, and the real threat with their aggressive price dumping, Toyota on line three. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Philatelist 2 parter, Polish Pontoon today versus tomorrows German Fintail

There is a perception today that cars should only come from a few places. Poland no longer builds cars at the plant that built todays Warszawa 223, while Sindelfingen still builds cars where tomorrows fintail came from. Is that fair? 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 issue displays the products over time  of the Zeran car factory near Warsaw. The Warszawa 223 had left production 3 years before this stamp issue which also included the then current models. A great way to show heritage that was still evolving. The last Polish designed car left the Zeran factory in 2003 and the last locally assembled Korean car was in 2011. Neither event was recognized by a stamp. Sad endings…

Todays stamp is issue A665, a 1.5 Zloty stamp issued by Poland on November 6th, 1976. It was part of a four stamp issue in various denominations. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents whether it is mint or used. There is also a souvenir sheet with all four stamps from the issue.

The Zeran automobile factory opened in 1948. As a gift from the always generous Josef Stalin, the factory was given a license to build the first Soviet indigenous car, the GAZ M20 Pobeda. By European standards, it was a larger car that was suitable for lower level officials and police and taxi work. It was rear wheel drive with a 2.1 liter four cylinder engine. The car had some similarity to the 1938 German Opel Kapitan, a car designed for Germany by  Opel’s American parent General Motors. The Russian car was made in Gorky along the Volga river as part of the factory shift east during World War II financed by the USA. The Pobeda was succeeded by the Volga line of sedans.

A Polish copy of a Russian car influenced by a car designed in America for use in Germany. Well you have to start somewhere. Japan’s early offerings were similar except that their copying often lacked license. After the Pobeda left production in Russia, development continued in Poland. The Warszawa 223 featured a more modern body in the pontoon style common on Mercedes of the day. The engine was updated to an overhead valve design and the floor shift was replaced by a synchronized steering column shifter. I mentioned taxi service, and like Mercedes Warszawa added a diesel engine aimed at that use. In the late 1960s, an even more modern style body and a six cylinder were contemplated.

Prototype 6 cylinder Warszawa 210. German sedans had their new class in 1968, this is what Poland could have offered

Instead the Zeran factory licenced production of the Fiat 125 to replace the Warszawa 223. As with the Warszawa before it, the Poles designed a new modern body called the Polonez to go on the older design that allowed production to extend into the 21st century.

Poland tried to keep car assembly going after the Polonez faded. Korean Daewoos were assembled even after Daewoo itself went bankrupt and they made the Aveo till 2011 when the license ran out. 1800 workers then lost their job.

Well my drink is empty and I will pour another in anticipation of tomorrows study of the eqivelent Mercedes. What were they doing right that saw them survive, or was it luck? Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Hong Kong 1988, cellebrating 100 years of the peak tram

Getting from the bottom to the top is always something to celebrate. Doing so with only a few interruptions for 100 years even more so. 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 is the type of British Empire stamp, that was so much more common in the 1950s and 60s than the 80s. An areas status as a colony is winding down and the stamp issues begin to display what the British would view as their achievements in the area. What is missing though is Queen Elizabeth II smiling down on the achievement. This is strange since her profile in the corner was still a common feature of the Hong Kong stamp issues. Probably the people involved with this stamp were not knowledgeable of the rich postal history they were treading into, and a further issue may have been the tram’s private ownership and the need to function as advertising for it. The modern world will always intrude.

Todays stamp is issue A106, a HK $1.70 stamp issued by the British Crown Colony of Hong Kong on August 4th, 1988. It was part of a 4 stamp issue in various denominations celebrating 100 years of the Peak Tramway. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth $1.25 used.

In the late 19th century, there was an outbreak of the Bubonic Plague in southern China including the Chinese residents of Hong Kong. The British in Hong Kong were very concerned with catching it and this spurred development at the top of Victoria Peak, the highest point in the colony. There they hoped to find fresher water and Chinese were not allowed to reside there. A Scottish railwayman Alexander Findley-Smith proposed a private tram to ease climbing the hill. A steam powered tram was constructed between 1885-1888. It terminated near the Peak on property adjacent to Finley-Smith’s house that he redeveloped into a hotel and then sold for a huge profit after the tram opened.

Peak Tram line in 1897

Initially the tram operated in three classes. First Class was reserved for colonial British officials including the front two seats for His Excellency the Governor. If he wasn’t on board 1 minute before departure it was possible to ride in his seat. Second Class was reserved for British soldiers and police. 3rd Class was everyone else and animals. The class requirements ended in 1949. The tram was damaged and did not operate during the World War II Japanese occupation of Hong Kong.

In the 1950s the tram was electrified and in 1989 computerized. The tram is currently owned by the Peninsula Hotel and the Peak station is now within a shopping complex known as the Peak. Typical of an ex colony to edit out Queen Victoria. The tram serves 17,000 travelers a day.

Well my drink is empty and I will pour another to toast Mr. Findley-Smith, for his inspiration and the ability to follow through. A skill we all seem to be losing in modern construction. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.