Tag: Albania stamp

This looked like an interesting old bridge. I picked this stamp to write up to see if it was Roman or Ottoman in origin. It was Ottoman. Don’t look for it today as it is underwater, I wouldn’t have guessed that. 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 1920s was a politically unstable time for Albania. The Ottomans were gone. Serbians, Greeks, and Italians had ambitions and blood feuds among the locals were rampant. So why not do an issue of stamps showing things that look as if they had been around forever and probably be there forever to promote stability. Fine and dandy until another group  of forgotten, failed politicians decide to recast the very name of the country to show the new sheriff in town. The resulting overprint on my copy of this stamp ruins the effect.

Todays stamp is issue A18, a 25 Quintar stamp issued by Albania in 1923. The overprint was added in 1925 after republic was declared. It was a seven stamp issue in various denominations. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth $1.10, forty cents more thanks to the overprint. So I guess, viva Albanian republic. The catalog warns however that counterfeits exist. Imagine some sad sack stamp dealer in Vienna trying to fake the overstamp for the extra penny or two back then. Not the hobby’s finest hour.

The bridge shown is the old Nemjeme bridge built in the 17th century over the Drin River in what was at the time of the stamp called Vezirit, later called Kukes. Whatever you call it it was a small market town founded by the Romans, on the road near the border with what is now Kosovo. The most famous moment for the bridge came in 1912 when the Serbian army crossed it only to be forced back when faced with strong resistance

I have done before stamps of the apparent building spree that happened under the Albanian communist regime from 1945-1990. I didn’t think this stamp would be one of those but you never know where a stamp story will lead. In the 1970s, a new town of Kukes was constructed 3 kilometers from where the old town stood.

This was done in preparation for a new large dam being constructed on the Drin river with the help of the Chinese. Over 14,000 workers were assigned to the project. The resulting Fierza Hydroelectric plant opened in 1978 and the resulting resevior left old Kukes submerged.

Well my drink is empty. Come again soon for another story to be learned from stamp collecting

You don’t think of Communist, suddenly Atheist, Albanians building a Greek style temple to culture. That is what they did though and it shows how serious they were about going it alone under Enver Hoxha. 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 keep coming back to this stamp issue from 1953. I have covered other ones here https://the-philatelist.com/2017/11/09/communism-provides-smokes-for-atheists-and-then-a-refugee-camp-for-muslims/   , and here https://the-philatelist.com/2018/08/24/albania-1953-it-was-correct-to-chose-the-forces-of-hoxha-over-fake-royal-zog/ . The communist government was new and facing many challenges. It also had an ideal of where it wanted to go. To get there, the country had to have a unique advanced culture. In 1953, the country opened its first film studio, in order to tell the countries’ story at home and abroad. The Greek temple like structure shows how important it was to Albania, and how much resources were allocated. This had never happened before and to date has not happened since.

Todays stamp is issue A94 a 5 Lek stamp issued by Albania on August 1st, 1953. It was an 8 stamp issue in various denominations. The stamp displays the new that year Kino movie studio. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth $2.10 unused.

Germans and Italians abandoned their occupation of Albania in late 1944. The former royal, King Zog was quickly deposed and sent abroad. The most effective resistance to the Axis was Communists. Communism is an international movement that was to be locally organized. Marshal Tito in neighboring Yugoslavia thought that he did the hard work of kicking out the Axis while local Communist leader Enver Hoxha was just a subordinate.. At first there were attempts at cooperation. A joint 5 year plan had the Albanian Lek currency devalued and all raw inputs from Albania exported to Yugoslavia to be processed and then reimported at high prices. Hoxha saw this as exploitive and broke ties. There was a scism among Communists in the 1950s between Stalinists and those who wanted a reformed Communism. Albania stayed Stalinist, isolating itself. After Mao died in China, Albania also broke ties with it. Some international communist organizations began referring to themselves as Hoxhaist.

The Albanians made some progress going it alone. Literacy went from 5 percent to 98 percent. Starting lower and ending far higher than what India achieved in the same period. See https://the-philatelist.com/2019/07/17/india-1958-is-this-girl-really-reading/ . The country was electrified. A free national health service expanded to even the smallest villages.  The country had no foreign debt and a small trade surplus. Albania was still the poorest country in Europe and always has been as would be expected of a Muslim country, and Hoxha was trying his best to spread scientific Atheism. Hoxha also built modern cultural institutions such as the Kino studio in Tirana.

The Kino studio opened in 1953. The first film produced was called “Scanderbeg” about a 14th century Albanian that rose up against the Ottomans. The Albanians are portrayed as noble and the Ottomans are portrayed as unEuropean pedophile brutes. A perhaps stereotypical Balkan portrayal of Ottomans see https://the-philatelist.com/2018/10/16/ottoman-empire-1873-what-to-modernize-what-to-protect-what-bills-to-pay-and-what-to-do-with-all-these-people/   , but a professional movie with a classic orchestral score and a large cast. You can watch it here https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=film+scanderbeg&view=detail&mid=3E543D940FC0815BE1C33E543D940FC0815BE1C3&FORM=VIRE  . Pretty good for a small, poor, mostly illiterate, Muslim country. The studio went on to make over 200 films. Hoxha was against bringing in foreign culture to Albania. He found the modern culture with it’s long hair and rebellion  to be degenerated and designed with a glossy veneer to convert the masses from strivers into passive consumers. He spotted all this before the smart phone when it all became more obvious.

Hoxha died in 1985 and the regime was not the same without him. It was overthrown in 1991 and Hoxha’s statue was pulled down in Scanderbeg Square. Ironic no? Kino studio would not be needed by a modern Albania and closed in 1996. The building on the stamp still stands but now is a derelict. Albania now is famous for exporting it’s people and it’s mob crime. The trade balance has gone negative and they have acquired much foreign debt. Not it worry, there is attempt to join the EU and the EU gives over a billion Euros a year in pre-entry aid. Money well spent?

Well my drink is empty and I will pour another to toast Hoxha. It is not popular to toast people like him but I don’t think there has been anyone better for Albania before or since. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

A small country faced a choice in how to go forward after World War II. Stamp offerings of the Socialists celebrated the common man in a way different from what came before. 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 do like a good communist workers stamp. In fact a tobacco factory stamp from this same Albanian issue is one of my favorite articles here at The Philatelist. Here is a link. https://the-philatelist.com/2017/11/09/communism-provides-smokes-for-atheists-and-then-a-refugee-camp-for-muslims/.   Another aspect of Communism was the better treatment of women. Here we have a happy peasant women selling her wool to the new textile factory in Fier, a small city in Southern Albania. No doubt she will get a fair price for her goods, not just be transporting the goods for some Pasha or crony of Zog.

Todays stamp is issue A94, a 2.50 Lek stamp issued by the republic of Albania on August 1st, 1953. It was part of a 8 stamp issue in various denominations showing industrial progress throughout Albania. According to the Scott Catalog the stamp is worth 25 cents used.

Before the war, Albania was ruled by a King, well sort of. An Italian supported President had Albania declared a Kingdom and Himself crowned King Zog I. He had been an aristocrat and legitimately held the title of Bey. He was also a fairly close relation of Egypt’s royal family. All this should not suggest that he was accepted by other royalty. He built up a large debt to Italy and then reneged on it. Now seeing himself as Royal, he broke off an engagement to a local girl to marry an American with some aristocratic Hungarian blood. Under Albanian blood feud rules, his jilted fiancé’s family had the right to kill King Zog and he surrounded himself with bodyguards and put his mother in charge of the Royal kitchen to prevent poisoning. A few days after the birth of Crown Prince Leka, Italy invaded and Zog’s family escaped with a large supply of gold. King Zog was subject of more than 500 blood feuds and survived over 50 assassination attempts. He died in 1961 in Paris after being unsuccessful in reestablishing his throne post war,

The resistance to the Germans and the Italians was divided into Royalist and Socialists. In terms of the actual fighting, it was almost entirely socialist. This was despite the British giving Zog’s forces aid. Albania eventually freed themselves of the German occupation without foreign invasion in 1944. The British advised the Royalists to not oppose the Socialists final march to Tirana and helped the leaders escape into exile. Enver Hoxha was declared the new leader of the peoples republic. It is pretty obvious he offered more hope to the people than the return of Zog.

Zog’s son Leka I returned to Albania in 1996 to reclaim his thrown. He did so on a passport issued by himself that listed his profession as King. He formed a Royalist political party that he was not a member of. He was after all above political parties, even his own. The question of a return to Monarchy was put to a vote in 1998 with two thirds voting to stay a republic. Leka was however allowed to stay in Albania and given a real passport.His own son Leka II is now head of the house of Zog. He was born in exile in South Africa in 1982. The South African government generously declared his maternity ward Albanian territory for the day to meet Albanian birth requirements.

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

Welcome readers to todays offering from 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. We have an interesting story of a modern factory to provide ample cigarettes for a newly communist, newly atheist country. and ended up a ramshackle refugee camp for Muslims.

The stamp here is communist, it could be nothing else. A tobacco factory, with no emblem, because it is state owned. It is large so the people will believe they will soon be inundated with ample low cost smokes. Communism will work, no more capitalist or religious distractions. The good life fellow Albanians, a popullore people’s republic.

The stamp today is issue A94, a 50 Quintar stamp issued by the people’s republic of Albania on August 1st, 1953. The stamp depicts the tobacco factory in Shkoder, Albania. It is part of an eight stamp issue in various denominations showing industrial sites around Albania. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 45 cents in its mint state.

After World War II, Albania freed itself of Italian, Greek, Ottoman, and Montenegrin domination. The new Albanian communist leader Enver Hoxha envisioned a new country where everyone would be Albanian, and everyone would be the same religion, atheist. This way a peaceful prosperous country without all the Balkan rivalries could form. Religious practice, both among Christian and majority Muslim was banned and religious property seized and repurposed. Ethnic minorities were forcefully made to conform to Albanian nationhood. After all the ethnic and religious wars, I can see the appeal. Indeed Albania was the first nation to be officially atheist. According to the 1976 constitution,”the state carries out atheistic propaganda in order to impart a scientific, materialistic outlook in people.”

After communists fell from power the cigarette factory fell into disuse. The cigarettes were of low quality and now foreign tobacco was available. Religion and ethnic tribes were also reemerging. The northern Albanian city of Skoder was at one time half Catholic but found itself receiving thousands of Muslim ethnic Kosovars that were fleeing the Serbs in the late nineties wars in former Yugoslavia. They were housed in the now abandoned tobacco factory seen on todays stamp. The tobacco drying racks were repurposed into beds. It was generous to take in the Kosovars, but no more cigarettes and the return of tribe and religion seems such a failure compared to the optimistic future proposed on todays stamp.

Interestingly, in 2008 a new tobacco factory opened in Shkoder. Much smaller and only employing 20 people. Cigarette taxes had gone up making local sourcing more sensible. Better than nothing, but conforming to modern ideas of low expectations.

Well my drink is empty and so it is time to open up the conversation in the below comment section. In the full course of history, the Albanian and Yugoslav experiments with communism seem a peaceful oasis in a turbulent place. How much repression was required to pull it off for a while I am not sure. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.