Tag: Isle of Man stamp

Islands need to be in regular touch with the mainland for import/export, travel. and also in the stamp context, the mail, Not satisfied with the irregular service provided by private companies, Isle of Man decided on government ownership of a steam packet shipping line, a decision they had to make again with the same company in 2018. 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 ship on todays stamp is the TSS/RMS Manx Maid II that was built by Cammell Laird and launched in 1962. The ship had six decks, a crew of  60, and a passenger capacity of 1600. It only looks modern in terms of the really old ship on the other stamp of the issue. It was however the first of the new class of roll on roll off ships that better facilitated travelers with cars and tour buses. Two years after this stamp, the Manx Maid was retired and scrapped. The Isle of Man Steam Packet Company recently ordered a new roll on/roll off vessel, though this time not from the newly reconstituted Cammell Laird shipyard, instead the order went to Hyundai in South Korea. They decided to call the new ship Manx Man instead of Korea Man. Can’t let the mask fall.

Todays stamp is issue A64, a 19.5 Pence stamp issued by the Isle of Man on October 5th, 1982. It was a two stamp issue to mark the anniversary of the founding of the company. According to the Scott Catalog, the stamp is worth 60 cents whether used or unused.

The idea for a Manx government owned steam packet line came up in 1829 and the first ship Mona’s Isle was on regular service  to Liverpool by 1832. A steam packet ship could handle cargo or passengers and in the early days the ships still had auxiliary sails and steam powered paddles. The mail carrying contract was important for the steady income provided and the prestige of the RMS designation when carrying mail.

By the early 20th century, the fleet was up to around 15 ships and there was regular service to new places including Blackpool, Belfast and Dublin. The finest hour of the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company  came during the Dunkirk evacuation, when 8 of their ships took part evacuating 24,699 troops from France. The line lost 3 ships that day, 20% of the fleet.

The 1980s saw losses and fewer travelers on the ships. It was decided to let the company be privatized. To encourage the service to continue, the company was granted free use of port facilities. Not surprisingly, the new arrangement was not a moneymaker except for the bankers. The shrinking shell of a company passed through the ownership of a  hedge fund and two caretaker banks. In 2019, there was a deal to buy back what was left of the company  for less than half what it sold for in the 1980s. The fleet was down to two ships owned that were built in the 1990s and nearing the end of their useful lives. Year-round service was only to Heysham, with seasonal routes to Belfast, Dublin, and Liverpool.

Well my drink is empty. It is interesting the whenever I do an industry stamp from anywhere, the most recent 20 years of the story is one of shrinkage and hollowing out. Come again on Monday for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

When does one have too much intelligence? Perhaps when extra abilities get you sent away from the place you love to meet your potential and you are left writing poems to keep your memories stirring. Thus the story of T. E. Brown. 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.

Isle of Man did a great job with this stamp. Leaving the portrait of Brown to the top corner and bringing some of the cast of characters from Brown’s poem. The stamp size then allows those with exceptional eyesight to enjoy a few unifying verses. Imagine trying this format with one of the self aggrandizing but country loathing modern national poets.

Todays stamp is issue A48, a seven penny stamp issued by the Isle of Man on May 6th, 1980. It was a two stamp issue. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents used or unused.

Thomas Edward Brown was born in 1830 on Isle of Man into a family of Baptist preachers. Even as a boy Brown displayed remarkable intelligence and at age 15 the local schoolmaster arraigned for him to attend the local Manx University. Even as a very young man at university, it was thought that Brown was not adequately challenged. Brown was sent on to Christ Church, Oxford on a full scholarship.

Brown was now severely challenged but not academically where he excelled. At the time students given a free ride were referred to as servitors. They were expected to act as servants for the faculty. There was also much hazing allowed from the paying students. Brown felt himself damaged and humiliated by the treatment.

Nevertheless he set upon a career as a school master at a string of high brow public schools in England. He attempted to be a modernizing force that put more emphasis on the sciences and less on the classics.

All the while and far from home, Brown was composing and publishing poetry that romantically portrayed his home island. Fairly uniquely, it was written with the accent and rythem of the Manx dialect of English. This dialect also owes much to Gaelic.

Getting older and feeling the pull of the island, Brown took early retirement from his last public school Clifton College and returned to Isle of Man to concentrate on his poetry. Once there there was conflict between the isolation of the island and his old role as school master. When he was invited back to Clifton to speak to the new crop of students Brown jumped at the chance. He was giving a rousing speech when suddenly a blood vessel burst in his brain and he collapsed dead.

Well my drink is empty. I am not sure I am in favor of sending away the best and brightest from everywhere to just a few places. We can understand the conflicts within Mr. Brown but left unexplored is what a more direct contribution to the island he so loved would have been possible had he stayed. Come again on Tuesday when there will be another story that can be learned from stamp collecting. Enjoy the Martin King holiday.

Question; At what point does art rise above pavement art for tourists to high art that deserves it’s place among the best of it’s time? Possible Answer: When it is this good. 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 comes from an issue of impressionist harbor scenes of Douglas on the Isle of Man. Perhaps commissioned for the stamp I thought, to introduce the story of interesting ships that had passed through long ago. Such is a staple of the stamps of the tiny islands where the sun has yet on the Empire. This is different though, a local artist from 100 years before that had raised the game of art on the island.

Todays stamp is issue A96, a 29p stamp issued by the Isle of Man on February 18th, 1987. It was a four stamp issue in various denominations displaying the work of artist John Miller Nicholson. According to the Scott Catalog, the stamp is worth 90 cents whether used or unused.

John Miller Nicholson was born on the Isle of Man in 1840, the son of a house painter. His early career was as a draughtman. He had a hobby though of sketching in pencil the people and places of the island. A trip to Italy had been transformative. He had been schooled there in the technics and color choices of the impressionist art movement. He also returned with a load of watercolours showing scenes of Venice. His technic for painting was somewhat unusual. He would sketch his subject in pencil making notes as to color choices. He then returned to his workroom where his canvas was already mounted in his frame.

Word of what he was achieving got out. The then Governor of the Isle of Man Loch had the idea that the island should be a natural home for artists so founded an art school that John was involved with over a long period. Soon there were also showing of his art in some of London’s finer galleries but John did not have the skills of self promotion necessary to be recognized among the top painters in Victorian Era UK. He was recognized at home though with several posthumous biographies written and the Manx Museum acquiring an extensive collection of his work from the trust of a local collector.

There is a further connection to postage stamps beyond this stamp issue. His grandson John Hobson Nicholson was also an important local artist. He also was a stamp designer for many of the early issues of the Isle of Man.

Well my drink is empty, so please come back Monday when there will be another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

Here we have the story of a man who did his best in a hopeless battle and was awarded a Victoria Cross. His daughter never knew of the medal in his lifetime, not due to estrangement or embarrassment. Rather he just never thought to mention it. Worth remembering even if us in younger generations can’t  hope to measure up to the mountain of sacrafice of those that 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.

Here we have a German Tiger II tank coming for Major Cain in Arnhem. All Major Cain has is a PIAT anti tank rifle that has no hope of penetrating the Tiger’s Armor and 25 % of it’s shells are duds. Yet he doesn’t run away. He is hoping that if the tank crews hear a lot of scary sounding booms they will back off and more of his men can be rescued. This all happened but the stamp shows a Tiger II when the tanks coming for him were really Sturmgeshutz III assault guns. Don’t blame the stamp designer, Major Cain’s Victoria Cross Citation got that detail wrong.

Todays stamp is issue A59, a 10 Penny stamp issued by the Isle of Man on September 29th, 1981. It was a four stamp issue in various denominations honouring the Royal British Legion on it’s 60th anniversary. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth only 25 cents whether used or unused.

R. H. Cain was born in Shanghai to Isle of Man parents. He joined a Territorial Army (reserve) artillery unit while attending King William’s College and then working for Royal Dutch Shell, work which took him around the world. In 1940 he accepted an emergency reserve Commission in the Army and was assigned to the 1st Airborne Division. In 1943 he parachuted into Sicily as part of Operation Ladbroke. He was promoted and given command of a company.

After D Day, the British high command put together Operation Market Garden that would land the Ist Airborne division and an attached Free Polish Airborne Brigade in Arnhem in the hopes of seizing bridges over the Rhine River. The Rhine was a natural last line of defense for western Germany. What they did not realize was that there were two SS German divisions stationed in Arnhem getting refitted. Refit meant incorporating new recruits and new equipment including tanks. Airborne forces cannot parachute in heavy weapons. The battle saw inexperienced but well armed Germans facing fewer lightly armed but battle hardened men like Major Cain. The Germans were able to keep Arnhem  but many more of the British and Polish paratroopers were able to be evacuated thanks to the bravery and the inexperienced Germans not pressing their advantage. The scary booms of the PIAT rifles really were intimidating. Late in 1945, Major Cain left the army and returned to his job at Royal Dutch Shell. In 1965 re retired back to the Isle of Man and died of cancer in 1974.

The Royal British Legion was a merger of three veterans groups of World War I. It was decided for the first time that officers and the ranks should be in the same organization to ensure equal treatment of the veterans from the lower classes. After World War II membership got up to 3,000,000 members. It still exists and promotes an Armed Forces Covenant that stresses that the unique sacrifices of the armed forces means that their service should be respected by all regardless of politics. They are behind the red poppies on lapels.

I mentioned above that Major Cain’s daughter did not know of his medal in his lifetime. She later helped get his story out. She was married to Top Gear’s Jeremy Clarkson and he hosted a BBC documentary on his late father in law. Time better spent than dropping pianos on old Morris Marinas.

Well my drink is empty and so I will have to wait till Monday for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.