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Jordan 1983, a Hashimite King tries to rule a substitute Palestinian homeland.

Coming out of a great military tradition, the Hashemites might seem poised to provide for a pan Arab vision to contend with Nasser’s Egypt. The country was changing though and growing with people who are not loyal to the great traditions that were of no benefit to them. 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.

Jordan had it’s King and it’s army. The population was poor but growing and mainly were displaced persons from the Holy Land. The Army was capable and the King flexible and the people are under marshal law.So why not celebrate King Hussein. No one would have predicted a long reign and a death by natural causes. People under marshal law can be made to say Long Live the King, but it is really something when it is achieved.

Todays stamp is issue A170, a 40 Fills stamp issued by the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in 1983. It was part of a 6 stamp issue in various denominations that honor King Hussein, who was on his 30th year on the throne. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 40 cents mint.

King Hussein ascended to the thrown in 1953. The Hashemite tribe of Bedouin warriors had been defenders of the Saudi holy places until displaced by the House of Saud in that role. A relationship developed between them and the British that resulted in a quite capable military force and Hashemites on the thrones of Palestine, Jordan, Iraq, and even briefly Syria. However, one by one these territories faded to just Jordan. Hussein’s father was assassinated and his brother was removed from the Throne due to mental incompetence. No one saw a long rule from Hussein as he was only 18. The country was taking in so many refugees from Palestine that they were two thirds of the population. The area lacked oil and many of that generation saw a socialist pan Arab future that did not include Hashemite Kings. Israel saw a majority Palestinian country that could function as a homeland if they could just get rid of the Hashemite King. Not so fast though.

The army was competent. Enough so that Israel tried to avoid fights with it. When the local Palestinians armed Fedayeen(self sacrificer) fighters to attack Israel from Jordan and get rid of Hussein. The King ordered the Jordanian Army into action. The Fedayeen was defeated and sent to Lebanon, an allied with the Fedayeen Syrian relief force was quickly defeated and martial law was expanded. The King remained. The Palestinians tried to form a Black September Organization to exact revenge on King Hussein but the terrorism was only successful at uniting the world against them and they quickly promised attacks only on Israel.

So Hussein stays in power but without oil wealth and the majority of the people poor exiles it sounds pretty miserable. Well not entirely. He was King after all and while the people were kept under marshal law he was not. He had 4 Queens including one British and one American. Through them he fathered 12 children. He also had a child out of wedlock with American actress Susan Cabot. He flew fighter planes, rode Harley Davidsons through the desert and even collected stamps. He maintained enough of a relationship with all sides in the middle east that he was the go to for any peace talks. These efforts were perhaps his second greatest legacy, after surviving 36 years in power. His son Abdullah, by the second English Queen Antionette(titled Nuna) has now himself ruled 19 years and counting. Maybe pan Arabism under Hashemites would not have been so bad, unless you are the exile under marshal law.

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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Bangla Desh 1971, maybe if we splinter again, things will get better

A small but populous nation splits off from a country. A generation before, Pakistan in the East and West, did the same, depriving post independence India of instant superpower status. 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 first stamp issue of an independent Bangla Desh. Notice the spelling. Writing Bangla Desh as two words only lasted for a few months. Surprising that at least in English it is not just called Bengal. But this stamp came after local politicians  had declared independence but while there was still a large Pakistani army and administration on hand that did not agree. That makes the stamp aspirational, which to me are the best kind.

Todays stamp is issue A1, a 1 Rupee stamp issued by the Awami League provisional government of Bangla Desh in 1971. It was part of an eight stamp issue in various denominations that aspirationally  imagined an independent Bangla Desh. The stamps featured maps, flags, slogans and potential leaders of the hoped for country. According to the Scott Catalog, the stamp is worth 30 cents mint. There was a later version with the new currency that were rejected by Bangladesh officials but then issued anyway by representatives in London during 1972, they are considered fake but have similar values.

The area of Bengal had been part of the Mughal Empire before the arrival of the British. Their East India Company took the area after the battle of Plassey in 1757. British India comprised modern India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. They also administered nearby Sri lanka and Burma. This large area would have been far and away the most populous country in the world and even in colonial times, the gross national product was larger than Great Britain itself. It was the intention of most independence advocates that after the British left, it would all be one country. These leaders were mostly Hindu though and the area contained many Muslims and peoples of different races and languages. A Hindu independent greater India was not to be and the British tried to limit bloodshed by dividing off mostly Muslim East and West Pakistan. This was less than ideal for several reasons. Though the same religion, East Pakistan was of a different race and language. In addition, it was separate geographically. Thus the Bengal territories did not feel itself a part of Pakistan. Independent India was sympathetic to the plight of the Bengals. In the 1960s, there was a socialist movement of Bengalis called the Awami league lead by Sheik Mujibur Rahman. He wanted more self rule and that Bengali become the official language of East Pakistan. When this movement was suppressed, independence was unilaterally declared and the Awami League started establishing the institutions of a separate state. There were 90,000 troops loyal to Pakistan in Bangladesh that contested the will of the people and it took a two week war with India for them to realize that they were far from home and their situation untenable. Pakistan’s surrender was the largest since World War II.

Independence was not an immediate panacea. The people were desperately poor and the British had set up the economy for large crops for export and not enough for local food. Independence leaders had all been trained by the British and were socialists. As such they took over the plantations but kept them operating now for the benefit of the state. However whatever revenue came from that was declining and with little getting to improve the lot of the average Bengali. There was a large famine in Bangladesh in 1974 and this lead to much tumult and fighting internally inside the Awami League and outside of it. Bangladeshi officers formerly aligned with the Awami Leaguge staged a coup killing Sheik Mujibar Rahman and his family in an attack on the Presidential Palace starting a long period of coup and counter coup. There are rumors that the coup was arraigned by the American CIA but I think that exaggerates Bangladesh’s importance to the USA.  Peoples hopes had been raised and the results were just not fast enough in coming, and with no more British to blame, it was natural to turn on the leaders.

Well my drink is empty and I may have a few more while I ponder how independence could have gone better. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Spain 1939, a local inventor’s contraption flies over Madrid

Getting mankind off the ground involved brave engineers testing their theories in some far off places. Some worked, most didn’t but things were eventually sorted out. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.

The printing of this stamp really lets it down. The color barely lets you see the autogiro over Madrid. The autogiro was invented in Spain and must have created quite a stir in the 20s. I generally find the elaborate colors of modern stamps clownworthy, but in this case better printing and color choices would have helped. If Cierva had invented the autogiro in Argentina under Peron, the stamp engravers there would have known how to handle it.

Todays stamp is issue AP30, a 20 Centavo airmail stamp issued by Spain in January 1939. It was part of a 7 stamp issue in various denominations that honored Juan de la Cierva, the inventor of the autogiro. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 40 cents used. There are overptints of this issue denoting airmail or a stamp show in San Sebastian in 1948 that were applied privately and so do not effect value. There is also an imperferate version that is real and ups the value to $40.

Juan de la Cierva was born in 1895. By his late teens he was obsessed with a theory of sustained flight by the lift effect of the auto rotation of a rotor. This would allow the craft to take off without a runway to build speed and airflow around wings like a conventional airplane.  An autogiro differs fom a helicopter in that an engine propeller provides the airflow to turn the rotor rather than powering it directly. The flight controls are more like a conventional airplane and Cierva thought this a big advantage over a helicopter.

There were many issues around how to achieve the tilting of the rotor and how to transmit the engine torque. So several generations of flying prototypes were built. Cierva then moved to Britain after successfully demonstrating a prototype to the Air Ministry. With the help of Scottish industrialist and flight enthusiast James Weir, Cierva set up an aviation company. With this he was able to  license his technology to others working in the Netherlands and Germany and incorporate their advances. In 1936, Cierva was killed in a plane crash of a KLM DC2 on the way from Croydon to Amsterdam. Work on Cierva’s designs ended at the outbreak of World War II.

Post war, the company tried to continue where it had left off, only now with conventional helicopters. The prototype of the then largest helicopter in the world with 3 rotors on outriggers crashed in 1948 killing the pilots who were also the executives of the company. Juan de la Cierva was made a Spanish Count and a member of the aviation hall of fame posthumously.

Cierva War Horse, 3 rotor post war prototype

 

Well my drink is empty and I will pour another to toast Juan de la Cierva. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Argentina 1954, Peron invokes Ceres to ennoble the Grain Exchange

Social Security, national health care, paid family leave, and urban Jews rising to prominence. Sounds like Argentina shifting left, but the image on this stamp tells the real story, Peronism was not just socialism but national socialism, albeit more Italian than German. 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.

Whatever else you think of him. Peron really unleashed his stamp designers. Under his brand of politics, professionals are part of a grand tradition to benefit the state above all. This stamp is for the 100th anniversary of a financial institution. As a comparison, look at this American stamp I covered here. https://the-philatelist.com/2017/12/18/celebrate-the-savings-and-loans-now-the-party-is-almost-over-and-the-hangover-terrible/

The stamp attempts to show a solid, useful institution but none of the over the top majesty of today’s Argentine stamp. This type of image was only under Peron. See also a before Peron bank anniversary stamp from Argentina I did here.https://the-philatelist.com/2017/12/26/the-radicals-are-revolting-in-the-park-so-we-better-start-a-bank/  Just the founder and a stone edifice.

Now look at how the stamp engraver saw himself under Peron. See article on it here.https://the-philatelist.com/2017/11/03/paying-extra-to-celebrate-the-art-of-stamp-designing/

The stamp today is issue A242, a 1.5 Peso stamp issued by Argentina on August 26th 1954. It was a single stamp issue that marked the centennial of the Buenas Aires Grain Exchange. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents.

Juan Peron was elected President in 1946. He had served in the military and in political positions previously and been exposed to the by then defeated fascist governments of Italy and Germany that Argentina earlier had a flirtation with. His political movement was influenced by them but the Argentine masses were much poorer so his movement was more centered on elevating the poor. His policies were quite left wing but his image making was definitely from the right. He was thus able to attract support from both left and right which guaranteed reelection but made for an unstable alliance.

The massive government programs put in place created much inflation, which of course is terrible for those that are already established. Peron tried to clamp down on opposition via control of the press and arrests of his political opponents. Eventually there was a coup that sent Peron into exile in Franco’s Spain. His party was banned but  the string of grey men that replaced him were not able to bring stability or economic opportunity. Meanwhile Peron was able to issue missives from Spain telling how great thing would be after he returned. He eventually did return in 1973. When back in power he had to chose between his left and right wing supporters. He chose his right which splintered his base. He was by then a sick old man who died in 1975. He tried to will his movement to his young widow but soon the grey right wing generals were back in charge and embarrassing the country with their lack of achievement.

The stamp depicts the Roman God Ceres of Agriculture and female fertility. She comes up a lot in the imagery of right governments of the late 19th and early 20th century. In addition to this Argentine depiction. she appears on stamps of Napoleon III era France and on the money of the Confederate States of America.

Well my drink is empty and a may have another before consulting the crop report from the Buenos Aires Grain Exchange which still continues. I hope the harvest will not be drought effected yet again. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting

 

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Charkhari Indian Feudal State 1931, Rajputs are a forward caste, the British know this, or at least hope it

These feudal states and their Maharajahs are fun. Not to live in them but how their history was used. 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.

An exotic palace in a tiny place in a huge country that was still a colony. The Feudal states are not, though that only seems to benefit their leaders. The result should be stamp gold. This is ruined by the fact that stamp making was a business by 1931. Therefore the numbers of stamps printed are vast and so the values remain low. The early stamps from Charkari were unprofessional enough that philatelist understand that they were improvised for actual postage use and their values are through the roof. My taste in stamps is more toward a window into the exotic place I will likely never see, so I will stick with the cheap and cheerful Imlia Palace issue.

Todays stamp is issue A5, a one Anna stamp issued by the Feudal Indian state of Charkhari in 1931. It was part of a nine stamp issue in various denominations that showed the sites of the small city state. According to the Scott Catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents used. This value assumes that the cancelization is to order as the stamp was sold directly to stamp dealers. My stamp is definitely canceled to order as there is still gum on the back. The Scott catalog gives no value for the stamp with an actual postal cancelation. They must exist and are the ones I wish to had. Many of the feudal states played up the exoticness to western eyes on their stamps. So wouldn’t they have looked great on postcards home from western tourists of the time.

Charktari Feudal state came into being in 1765 after breaking the small city off from the Panna state. The Panna state itself formed when the Rajput people rebelled from the Mughal Empire. The Rajput were Bengals and Hindus of a higher caste. A Scottish historian and colonial administrator James Tod had spent a great deal of time with local leaders and chronicled the historic legends as told to him. His well produced and illustrated 2 volume “History of Rajistan” became a sensation in Britain and India. It put into print stories from earlier than Indian indigenous texts and promoted the Rajputs as an hereditary Indian nobility comparable to Britain’s own nobility. The East India Company that then ruled India was looking for local allies and the Rajputs seemed a natural and were awarded added honours.  This friendship became very useful during the Indian rebellion of 1857. The British East Indian army recruited it’s soldiers from Indians of higher castes and it’s officers from Great Britain. It was not a part of the British Army. Many of the soldiers did not like being judged by their caste in the army and even the higher caste resented that most officers were British. A new model Enfield rifle was the catalyst for a rebellion in the army. The round bullets had to be bitten before being loaded into the rifle. The grease on them contained both beef and pork fat that was seemingly designed to annoy Hindus and Muslims alike. One of the things that helped the British put down the rebellion were that the Rajput feudal states sided with the colonial administration. After the rebellion was put down the colony was put directly under Britain and the company was liquidated. The loyalty of the Rajput leaders was not forgotten though.

James Todd with a Jain Guru by the artist Gashi

These type of tribal/feudal arraignments were much more attractive to the British than the Indian people themselves. Most people do not come from the highest castes and therefore harbor resentment. It was not the system that was going to rule India post independence. The Feudal states were quickly pressured to join India after independence. The blow was softened somewhat by some recognition of the old titles and a stipend from the government that went along with it. All the states joined and it will surprise no one that the stipends ended in the 1970s under a reform package enacted by then President Indira Gandhi. Today the Rajputs are considered a forward caste that do not benefit, and thereby are punished by, India’s current affirmative action scheme.

Well my drink is empty and I will pour another to toast historian James Tod. Such people are not well remembered today, but I have a lot of respect to those that travel far, learn a great deal and then bring that knowledge back and spread it widely. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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300th Article, the library builds

John C Publisher

I have been doing this for a little over a year now and this is the 300th article. The archives on the right of the screen allows you to look at past articles. It only gives you a thumbnail but if you click on the stamp picture it takes you to the full article. or you can just keep scrolling down on the screen to go back in time. So far, against advice, I have let the article each day run in it’s entirety with out the reader having to keep clicking a certain place to keep reading. This is just a trick to increase page views and ad impressions.

Anyway here are some links to some of my favorites.

1. https://the-philatelist.com/2017/11/09/communism-provides-smokes-for-atheists-and-then-a-refugee-camp-for-muslims/

2. https://the-philatelist.com/2018/03/27/fiume-the-city-state-whose-principle-was-music-and-weapon-was-castor-oil/

3. https://the-philatelist.com/2018/06/22/andorra-we-already-have-2-foriegn-princes-how-about-a-russian-king/

4. https://the-philatelist.com/2018/06/05/spanish-guinea-in-the-rush-to-leave-spain-turned-it-over-to-a-witch-doctor/

Feel free to let me know in the comments which you  liked or didn’t. My to date high view day was a Danish bridge stamp that I thought was kind of a stinker, so I perhaps am not the best judge. Also let me know if there is a region or an era that you want me to cover more. Also fear not I am not nearly out of stamps and I only intend to decide if this website has a future once I have hit 1000 articles. If you are enjoying what I am doing, keep coming back and tell your friends. If you don’t, tell your enemies. Thanks for visiting.

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Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic 1921, Triumphant, so claims the stamp

Things were unstable and had recently been violent. What was needed was that the people believe that things will get better. 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.

Stamps are a slightly idealized version of how a country sees itself. That is why I love them. This stamp could only be Russian. The hunting trophy looks fierce and noble, and the shirtless man, strong brave and going places. Not many places would portray things this way. Former American Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice recently remarked about when similar shirtless pictures of Russian President Putin with a tiger, that it was a sign that the Russian President was insane. She always marketed herself as a Soviet expert, but Dr. Rice’s expertise apparently did not extend far enough to realize that this was a known Russian pose. As with most people, perhaps she would benefit from taking up stamp collecting.

Shirtless President Putin with Tiger. it’s better to have the stamp designer do it

The stamp today is issue A44, a 40 Ruble stamp issued by the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic on August 10th, 1921. It was a single stamp issue claiming the new Russia triumphant. The next year Russia was subsumed into the USSR. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth $1.90 mint. A used version of the same stamp is worth $160. As can be seen from the already high denomination on the stamp, the Soviets had not yet gotten a handle on inflation. There are overstamped versions of this stamp from the same year with a 5000 Ruble denomination. They are worth much less used.

The Soviets took over from the Kerensky regime in October 1917. At the time it was hoped that the Communist Revolution would quickly engulf the world. For a time the Soviet regime in Russia had no official name and little foreign recognition. Opponents of the regime proposed Sovdepedia, mocking the many workers deputies. Instead the ruling Council of Peoples Commissars came up with the clunky above title.

The Council had a Civil War with Czarist White forces, land reform and many wars with neighbors to deal with. The whole class system of Russia was being upended with assets taken from the previous landowning classes. This quickly resulted in food shortages as few were tending the crops. The peasant class was then divided into the poor and the less poor and the less poor Kulaks were  targeted for hording food. The Council of Peoples Commissars contained Lenin, Trotsky, Stalin, and even a female, Alexandra Kollonta. With so many goals, and little time to show results, it is not surprising that many of the Commissars were short lived. Lenin and a few others died of natural causes, but most were executed during Stalin’s purges. Alexandra Kollonta was an exception, she was allowed to go abroad and serve in Scandinavia as a diplomat. She foresaw marriage being replaced in Russia with free love and children raising to be heavily involved with the state. This never quite happened and she held her tongue during the time of the purges, that had taken her ex husband and several ex lovers. Her ideas were pioneering among later feminists.

In 1922, the Soviet Union came together in 1922 under a government modeled on the Russian Soviet Federated Peoples Republic. In 1946, Council of Ministers was refashioned as the Council of Deputies.

Well my drink is empty and I will pour another to toast our hero on todays stamp. He can see a bright future, if he could only figure out for us on how to get there. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

 

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France 1974, the Chess Olympiad mostly comes to Nice

The World Chess Federation brought the 1974 Chess Olympiad to the south of France in 1974. Except the South Africans and the Rhodesians were kicked out, the Tunisians refused to play the Israelis and the big Soviet chess master stayed home because he might defect  and the American chess master wanted more money. Well who doesn’t. 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.

An interesting thing happened in 1976 at the next Olympiad in Haifa, Israel. Arab teams refused to attend and set up a rival “Against Chess Olympiad” in Tripoli, Libya. Of course Libya put out a whole issue of stamps. They look a lot like todays 1974 stamp. That must mean that the French stamp design itself wasn’t controversial, and I can see why. It is a well drawn and well printed stamp. French stamp design excelled in the 1970s.

Todays stamp is issue A655, a one Franc stamp issued by France on June 8th, 1974. It was a single stamp issue celebrating the 21st official Chess Olympiad held that year in Nice, France. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 35 cents used.

FIDE a French acronym for the World Chess Federation, was founded in 1925 in Paris. Countries send 4 player teams that play a tournament of round robin play for points with the high three teams getting gold, silver, and bronze medals and the top individual player named world champion. There was a gap during World War II but since 1950 there has been a Chess Olympiad every two years. The Chess Olympiad is not associated with the Olympics.

The 21st Olympiad was held in Nice in 1974 and the Soviet Union took the Gold medal, Yugoslavia the Silver and the USA the Bronze. The Soviets had lost several of their top players to defections  but still managed the Gold. The American Bobby Fischer, the first non Soviet champion in 20 years was still reigning champion but refused to attend. He wanted an event with more prize money and wanted to change the rules on matches that end in a draw. He thought the Soviet strategy of getting an early point lead and then playing for draws disadvantaged him. His lack of presence definitely disadvantaged the Nice games and put a shadow over future Soviet champions as he remained out there, not playing, but claiming to be champion.

There were many other controversies with smaller teams. Arab nations refused to play South Africa and Rhodesia over racial politics. At first FIDE tried to get around it by using a statistical model to game how games might have gone. This was also controversial and first South Africa and then Rhodesia were forced to leave the tournament. Rhodesia had already played all of its matches. The Nicaraguan team showed up late and with only 2 players and was forced to withdraw. The Tunisia team refused to play the Israeli team and the statistical model was used to predict an Israeli victory.

FIDE is now based in Athens, Greece and the Chess Olympiad still happens every two years. The event occurred this year in Batumi in the Republic of Georgia. China took the Gold Medal, Russia is not as dominant as the Soviets used to be. Norwegian Mangus Carlson is the current world champion individual.

Well my drink is empty and I will pour another to toast the players that plow through all the politics to play the game. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Bavaria 1900, with King Otto too crazy to rule, the Prince Regent peacefully eases into Germany

With such an overabundance of Royals, it became devilishly difficult for Germans to unite. For Bavaria, a long lived but schizophrenic King Otto was sidelined by his uncle and therefore the inevitable unification happened. 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.

What is a Kingdom to do when the King is drugged and confined to castle. Do you do a nice portrait and put him on the stamp anyway? In Bavaria’s case, the coat of arms was used on the stamps of the period. The Regency is going fairly smoothly after all, so the system is working well enough.

Todays stamp is issue A5, a 40 Pfennig stamp issued by the Kingdom of Bavaria in 1900. The stamp had gone through numerous variations from 1867-1910. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth $1.10 used. A lilac 10 Kreuzer version from 1870 is $4,800 used.

In the nineteenth century, the Kingdom of Bavaria sought the type of dominance that Prussia had in northern Germany, for itself in Southern Germany. It was natural that there would be rivalries with Prussia to the north and Austria to the south. Bavaria did not have the military tradition of Prussia and was landlocked, so was playing a weaker hand.

Part of that weak hand and head was the state of the Royal House of Wittelsbach that had ruled for centuries. During the troubles of 1848, the last Bavarian King to have his sanity abdicated. His son, Ludwig was more interested in building castles than ruling and his cabinet was forced to declare him insane and remove him. He was found dead in a lake two days later under mysterious circumstances. That left the throne to Otto, who was King for 27 years but never ruled. Bavaria had agreed to affiliate with Prussia and Prince Otto had fought with the Bavarian army during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. He found the unification of Germany humiliating even though Bavaria was allowed some separateness. including an army and postal service. His mental state though was rapidly deteriorating with the onset of schizophrenia. There is debate whether this was caused by post-traumatic stress disorder from his war service or syphilis. Either way, Bavaria declared Otto melancholic and had his uncle Luitpold named Prince Regent. Otto had made a spectacle of himself by charging into the Catholic Cathedral during high mass in hunting clothes and then dropping to his knees and begging forgiveness for his sins from the Arch Bishop. He was then taken to his castle and heavily drugged the rest of his long life.

Crazy King Otto, no stamp for him

The Regent presided quietly allowing ever more integration with Germany but also much work building Munich as a cultural center. When he died at age 92 in 1912 his son took over the regency. Bavaria then finally changed it’s rules so that if there is not prospect for the King to actually serve after a year the regent becomes King. King Ludwig III was a lot like the earlier Ludwig and was more interested in the Royal Estates than his people. At the end of World War I, the Royal line was deposed and the people were finally heard from  in the form of the short lived Bavarian Socialist Republic of 1919. Even defeated Prussia/er Germany wouldn’t have that  and sent the Weimar Army to bring them back into the fold. The House of Wittelbach was anti Nazi and the current pretender to the thrown, Franz spent time in his youth at Nazi concentration camps. He still lives alone in Nymphenburg Castle, but not restrained there like crazy King Otto was.

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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British Guiana 1934, interesting picture but the wrong type of Indian

The sugar cane plantations were no longer making anyone rich. Diamonds and gold were also discovered but not in any great quantity. So why are we here again. To fight communism? 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 British must have loved this portrait of a local Lucayan Indian fishing with a bow and arrow. A version of this portrait lasted from George V through to Elizabeth II. It does have an exotic flair. Alas Guiana had been changed forever by the British. They had brought in first Africans and then post slavery contract worker Indians to work the sugar cane plantations. How the two groups interacted was the real story of Guiana, not the few and far between Lucayans.

Todays stamp is issue A41, a 2 cent stamp issued by the Crown Colony of British Guiana on October 1st, 1934. It was a thirteen stamp issue in various denominations. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth $1.90 used.

British Guiana was first discovered by Sir Walter Raleigh, His settlements did not last though as they were soon taken over by the Dutch, who also started the large scale importation of African slaves to work on sugar cane plantations. The British retook the area during the Napoleonic wars when Holland was occupied by France and therefore distracted from defending their colonies. In 1834, the British Empire banned slavery and the freed blacks were not anxious to continue on the plantations at the meager pay offered.

Britain still had India though, and a large number of Indians came as contract laborers. The plantations were consolidated under the Booker group, a British food wholesaler. Most Indians stayed after their labor contract expired. The colony became half and half ethnically with only a few British and Lucayans. As the British rule was winding down, an African decent politician named Forbes Burnham was trained at the London School of Economics and groomed to take over the colony for independence. This ignored the large Indian community and an American educated, Hindu (Kurmi caste), dentist named Cheddi Jagan formed a rival political party. To the British shock and horror, the Indian party won the pre independence election. While in America, Jagan had married a Jewish communist wife and ran in Marxist circles. During the cold war it would not have done for the British to have a colony go immediately communist post independence. So after the election, a state of emergency was declared, and the British tried to figure a way to give the colony to Burnham. This was done but delayed independence for a decade. Ironically, but not surprisingly, once independent Burnham ruled in the African president for life style and surprise, he was also a communist and nationalized the Booker plantation system. The sugar cane production only continues in now Guyana as the European Union buys the sugar at double the market rate as an aid scheme. The USA provides for free a grain supply to keep the country fed. One and a half percent of the country immigrates out every year, mainly Indians and mainly to the USA and Canada. They are currently trying to attract the Chinese to come in and take over the sugar industry.

Cheddi Jagan, the scary Indian communist

British Guiana is a famous place from a stamp collecting perspective. In the early 1850s there were a tiny number of stamps issued and printed poorly by the local newspaper publisher. The circular cottonreel stamps are quite valuable. A more professional stamp printed in London followed in 1852 but when these stamps ran out a local  badly printed copy became the most valuable of all. The 1 cent magenta stamp from this sold in 2014 for $9.5 million, the most valuable stamp in history.

Well my drink is empty and I will poor another to toast the Lucayan Indian fisherman. I hope he caught his families dinner. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting