Tag: New Zealand stamp

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New Zealand 1989, a small country remembers playwright Bruce Mason

A small country has a difficult time with high culture. As New Zealand felt less a part of the wider British Commonwealth, there was a tendency to issue stamps for local figures that may not rise to that level of acclaim. 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 is an example of why I am more comfortable with old issues. This was a four stamp issue of NZ authors. None are well known. There is the prerequisite woman, two undistinguished white guys and  a Maori writer. The designers clearly planned it out that way. As with racial and sexual quotas with employment, the enterprise tends to lessen the achievement of those given the awards with this criteria.

Todays stamp is issue A328, a 70 cent stamp issued by New Zealand on March 1st, 1989. The four stamps were in various denominations. According to the Scott Catalog, the stamp is still worth 70 cents, though now in United States dollars.

Bruce Mason was born in 1921 and served in the army in World War II and in the forestry service post war. He also was a playwright and a founding partner of the Downstage Theatre in Wellington. His most famous work was a semi autobiographical play named “The End of the Golden Weather” It is the story of depression era boy traumatized by local riots who befriends a mentally challenged boy named Firpo. Firpo dreams of running in the Olympics but has no athletic ability and ends up in a mental institution. Sounds like pretty dreary stuff and when made into a movie it was recast as a buddy picture.

Mason went on to many other plays that often hinged on the downsides of the Maori experience, though that was not Mason’s heritage. He also was a critic in the local paper in Wellington. No word whether all his critiques were not dreary enough. Mason died of cancer in 1981 and his Downstage Theatre closed in 2013. No worries, the government has taken up his legacy and not just with the stamp issue. His name is used on a reward to promising local playwrights. They also attached his name to an event venue in Auckland that is preparing to put on a musical based on the life of Nelson Mandela. I am sure all this makes Kiwis very proud. I hope those putting on the Mandela musical will remember the legacy of Mr. Mason and make it dreary. I am confident.

Well my drink is empty and I may pour a few more while I ponder the future of stamp issuance in the pc age. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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Niue 1979, A “Savage Island” remembers Cook’s landing at “Traitor’s Head”

Discoverers don’t just have trouble with mother nature, sometimes the natives are not overjoyed to see 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.

I like this stamp a lot. On one hand it is a fairly old fashioned commemoration of British explorer James Cook aimed at the commonwealth collector. It is however modern enough to show the challenges Captain Cook faced with natives he found. In doing so one can see the event from both sides. The printing is excellent and done on behalf of Niue by New Zealand Post.

Todays stamp is issue A68, a 30 cent stamp issued by the New Zealand Dependency of Niue on July 30, 1979. It was part of a 4 stamp issue in various denominations honoring the 200th anniversary of the death of the explorer James Cook. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 85 cents mint.

Captain Cook joined the Royal Navy in 1755. After showing great skill mapping the Saint Lawrence River during the French and Indian War, Cook was tasked with exploring the Pacific. His journeys took him to Australia and New Zealand most famously but also Hawaii and the islands depicted on todays stamp.

The stamp depicts Captain Cook’s attempted landing on the Vanuatu archipelago island of Erromango in 1774. Cook found the natives unfriendly and several of his men were hurt and several natives killed. From this experience, Cook referred to the place he landed as Traitor’s Head. This event might have had special meaning on Niue as they also were so unfriendly that Cook did not actually land at Niue but gave it the name Savage Island.

Erromango was later found to have a large supply of sandalwood, for which there was a rich market for in China. The British could not convince the natives to work in a forestry operation but word got out of the riches available. Hawaii sent a expeditionary force to take over the island but when the force got there if found two ships, one from Rotorua in New Zealand with Maori workers and another from Samoa. While none of this treasure seeking involved Europeans, none were welcome by the natives of Erromango. Of the near 500 Hawaiians sent, only 30 made it back to Hawaii. Eventually these rival Polynesians slashed and burned their way through all the sandalwood.

Eventually traders and missionaries were allowed on Niue. The tribal King repeatedly petitioned to Queen Victoria to be made a British Protectorate. This was finally granted in 1900, but administration passed to New Zealand in the 1960s. Offered independence. the island chose to remain associated with New Zealand and their people are New Zealand citizens. Over time about 75 percent of the population has moved to New Zealand. The population is now barely over a thousand. So far New Zealand has been rebuffed in it’s suggestion that the remaining population leave as it becomes more difficult to offer services there.

Well my drink is empty and so I will pour another to toast Captain James Cook. I recently returned from a great trip to New Zealand where I got to enjoy both the heritage of the British and the still preserved culture of the Maori, the local Polynesians. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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New Zealand expands a War Memorial

The stamp today signifies the expansion of a war memorial after another war. 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 stamp today is a bit of a repeat. Another stamp from this New Zealand issue was covered by The Philatelist previously. see here, https://the-philatelist.com/2017/10/12/the-british-royal-family-picture-to-honour-end-of-wwii-in-nz-hmmm/.The text will not be a repeat. This is a better designed stamp that better relates itself to the topic at hand of celebrating the end of World War II. It does make the point that the ANZAC WWI memorials role will be expanded to include dead from later wars and even UN peacekeeping missions.

Todays stamp is issue A103, a 1 Shilling stamp issued by New Zealand on April 1st, 1946. It displays the New Zealand National War Memorial in Wellington. It was part of an 11 stamp issue in various denominations. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is undervalued at 80 cents mint. It is the most valuable stamp in this issue.

The National War Memorial was dedicated on ANZAC day in 1932. The stamp only shows the Carillon, which was all that existed at first. A carillon is a musical instrument in a tower that contains a series of bells that can  be used to ring serially to play a melody or in concert to play a musical cord. They are controlled from a keyboard. When opened this example contained 43 bells. It is now up to 66 bells. Other additions since the stamp have been a hall of remembrance added in the early 1960s, a tomb of an unknown soldier added in 2004 and an expanded park added in 2015.

ANZAC Day is a day celebrated in Australia and New Zealand that recalls the ANZAC Corps landing at Gallipoli in the Ottoman Empire during WWI. ANZAC stands for the Australia New Zealand Army Corp. This was the first combat of the newly constituted force. The landing occurred before dawn on April 25th 1915. It was supposed to be a lightening strike to take Constantinople and the Ottomans out of the war. The attack did not go as planned facing stiff resistance from an Ottoman force commanded by later Turkish President Kamal. There was an 8 month stalemate until the Allied forces were evacuated. 2721 New Zealand soldiers died in the battle which is a huge number in the small country. By tradition, ANZAC remembrances are at dawn with a gunfire breakfast following. Gunfire breakfast includes coffee with rum added to match the breakfasts of the soldiers on the day of attack.

As this stamp previewed, the war memorial was taken to honor the dead of all subsequent wars. This included Vietnam which lead to services of the era being disrupted by anti war protestors and even feminists protesting wartime rape victims. Over time, thankfully the remembrances have become less controversial.

Well my drink is empty so I will pour another to toast the brave men of Gallipoli. Not much of a coffee or rum drinker though. Kemal announced later as Turkish President that modern Turkey is now friendly  with the countries of the Gallipoli campaign. Therefore the dead of both sides can rest in peace side by side and all veterans are welcome to visit the old battlefield. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.

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The British Royal Family picture to honour end of WWII in NZ. Hmmm…

Welcome readers to todays offering from The Philatelist. So slip on your smoking jack, fill your pipe, take the first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. We have an interesting story to tell which questions if loyalty is a two way street.

While you may not be familiar with this particular stamp. it’s type should be familiar to any serious worldwide stamp collector. In the period soon after the end of World War II, the British controlled a large empire. In addition, there were many self-governing dominions, like New Zealand in this case. So the British influence on the stamps is unmistakable.

The stamp today is issue A96, a two penny stamp issued in New Zealand on April 1st,1946 to celebrate the arrival of peace after the long war. This stamp casually depicts the British Royal Family, but most of the other stamps in the 11 stamp issue relate directly to the efforts and sacrifice of New Zealanders in the recent war. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents cancelled.

Looking back, this seems a strange stamp for New Zealand to have issued, especially as part of a peace issue. New Zealand was and remains a British Dominion. This means that the British Sovereign is the official head of state of the country. World War II lead to a reassessment of the relationship with Great Britain and the status of New Zealand as a Dominion is ever more controversial.

On September 3rd, 1939, New Zealand declared war on Germany. This was two days after the invasion of Poland. Michael Savage, the Prime Minister of New Zealand declared, referring to the UK, “Where she goes, we go. Where she stands, we stand.” This was from a Socialist PM of Irish ancestry. Volunteers were recruited and a large army of New Zealanders fought at the side of the British. This was most notable in North Africa and Italy. There was much glory and sacrifice on the part of New Zealand, but it left the home country rather naked in the face of the WWII menace of the advancing Japanese. Having lost Singapore, and being distracted elsewhere, there was little Britain could do to help. It was left to the Americans to assist in the defense of New Zealand and Australia. Britain even went so far as to refuse the return of New Zealand troops home to face the threat.

Given how fresh this history was in 1946, it seems insensitive to include a family picture of the Royal Family  in a peace issue of stamps. There was obviously a great well of loyalty to Britain, and personally to the Royals themselves. It was also though a time to question whether that loyalty was a two way street. What was Britain doing in 1946 to show their loyalty to their colonies and dominions? In 1951 New Zealand signed a mutual defense treaty with the USA. Since then there has been a dramatic shrinkage in the size of the New Zealand armed forces.  For example, in 1945 New Zealand has over a thousand combat aircraft. Today it has none.

Well, my drink is empty and so it is time to open up the conversation in the below comment section. Is affinity enough to keep a relationship between nations going when the benefits only flow in one direction? Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.