At the time of this stamp both North and South Yemen had rival entities claiming the future. In the North that even meant rival stamp issues. With the Egyptian pullout, perhaps it was time to see if the sides had more in common, like needing a new patron. 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.
When two sides in a civil war are putting out stamps, The Philatelist did a Royalist one here, https://the-philatelist.com/2019/06/20/fake-north-yemen-stamp-remembers-the-barefoot-bazooka-guy-freedom-fighter/ , you can bet the issues are more to raise revenue than for actual postage. So here we get an elaborate oversized issue on Flemish painting masters. Bizarre thing for socialists of North Yemen to be spending time on. Anyway the painting is “The Peasant Wedding” by Pieter Brueger and is from the 16th century. Brueger is noted for finding the nobility in his images of peasants. There is a mystery as to who the groom is in this wedding celebration. There is an old Dutch proverb that says it is a poor man that cannot be at his own wedding so this may be a take on that. Though Brueger mainly operated out of Antwerp, the painting today hangs at a museum in Vienna.
This stamp is issue A60 a 1/4th Bogaches stamp issued by the Yemen Arab Republic in October 1967. It was 15 stamps on Flemish painting masters issued in three groups of five. The higher denominations were airmail issues. According to the Scott catalog, these were real stamps as this force was holding Sana the capitol and the post office. They put the value at 25 cents whether unused like this one or cancelled to order.
In 1967, Egypt pulled out it’s military presence from North Yemen as they were needed at home after the 1967 Sinai war with Israel. The socialists that they supported still held the capital of Sana and the Saudi Arabian backed rebels the highlands. After an unsuccessful siege on Sana in 1968, the Royalists were nearly spent. So however were the socialists without Egypt.
It was time for Abdul Rahman to make his move. He was the son of a judge but at different times he was put in prison by the King and by Nasser in Egypt. Rumors persisted around Rahman that he was a secret Jew named Hadad that was adopted by his important Muslim family. He says Hadad was his stepbrother. In any case in 1970 he was able to form a government of conciliation that included socialists and royalists. This government had the backing of Saudi Arabia, which is so important with Saudi Arabia so rich and Yemen so poor.
In 1972, forces of the old South Arabia tried to make a comeback in South Yemen with backing from the Saudis and North Yemen under Rahman. What a change from being a part of the free Yemeni movement against middle eastern royals. The war was not successful but the two Yemens agreed in principle to join into one Yemen. It took 18 years for that to happen.
That area or the world is not known to be forgiving of losers. In 1974 Rahman was couped out of office under a program, pogrom?, of correcting the revolution and getting rid of the legacy of decadence. Easier said than done. He lived the rest of his life in exile in Damascus.
Well my drink is empty and I will confine my toasting to the wedding couple on the stamp’s painting. Hope they were able to track down the groom. Come again soon when there will be another story that can be learned from stamp collecting. First published in 2020.
