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Dr. Arthur Woo’s classic birds |
 Dr. Arthur Woo started to collect stamps just after World War II and recalled: ‘The first stamps that I collected were those of Hong Kong. My second country was USA and I didn’t collect selected issues from the whole world until a few years later. As in most countries we all started to collect stamps when we were schoolchildren – in Hong Kong it was no different’.
But, why does he now go for classic birds? Woo said: ‘It’s simply the beauty of the Western Australia Swan, the Guatemala Quetzel, the Colombia Andean Condor, the USA 1869 Eagle and Shield etc. These wonderful designs, coupled with patience and determination, enabled me to form the collections I have now’.
Perkins Bacon printings
When asked what was his favourite bird stamp design Woo replied: ‘The Western Australia Swan, printed by Perkins Bacon. It is recess-printed and the design of the swan is truly beautiful, as are most of the other early Perkins Bacon engraved stamps’. Woo’s collection is also unique in that, whilst some would seek to pigeon hole it as a thematic, the fact that it includes so many classic issues has elevated its status.
Woo noted: ‘Classic issues of the world have always been popular. In the case of birds, classic issues with birds are even more alluring, and it has definitely been a huge challenge to collect’. Woo has managed to find birds on stamps, covers, and cancellations that most philatelists wouldn’t have thought of – like a Zeppelin cover with a red bird cancellation. The 1933 cover has five Yemen stamps and a red Cockatoo cachet in the centre, as well as the Friedrichshafen and South America marks signalling the, Germany to South America, Zeppelin flight route.
Also among his pieces are an Antarctic Expedition with Penguin labels; Falkland 1933 Centenary 5/- Penguin with a unique imprint block of four in the scarce yellow-orange shade; and a China 1897-1900 Wild Goose issue. Woo also owns a rare North Borneo registered cover with a strip of five of 5 cents (showing peacocks) to a little village in Baden, Germany – a very desirable item.
He also has the New Zealand Great Barrier Island Pigeon Post; the Japan 1875 12s Goose, 15s Wagtail and 45s Goshawk issues; a couple, multiples and rare usage Japan Post on cover to Blackpool with two HK stamps; the German large or small eagles on the Coat-of-Arms issues; the Lubeck, Prussia and Modena stamps and Poland and Austria. The famous Quetzel, originally the coat-of-arms issue, was beautifully adopted as the main bird design for Guatemala. In his collection Dr. Woo possesses all the proofs, essays, sheets, rare cover combinations, plus the famous inverted centre of the 5 centavos on cover.
Woo explained: ‘To single out one is difficult but I will say that the Guatemala Inverted centre cover should be one of my favourites because it is the only known legitimate usage on cover for this inverted stamp’.
Inverted Western Australia swans
For classic Western Australia Dr. Woo has three copies of black swans inverted and even the rarest piece of all, the vertical strip of the blue four pence on piece. These are such pedigree pieces that one can trace back their date of find, and the previous owners.
Astonishingly the rarest piece, the four pence Blue Swan issue with the inverted frame in a vertical strip, is a piece which was only found 1937, in a London-based shop of the well-known dealer F.B. Smith. It was found when he and his employees sifted through a big bag of ‘rubbish’ stamps on pieces. By turning over the whole bag on a big table and looking carefully, they suddenly discovered this item which was in poor condition, but which had survived. Since there was a bit missing of the ‘inverted swan’, they frantically looked for this tiny piece but couldn’t find it. It may be an ugly piece but it is the only ‘inverted swan’ in a multiple.
From Bolivia he has a superb, rare 1867 5c mauve issue on cover from the 1867-68 Condor issue (only five covers with 5c mauve franking have been recorded). Dr. Woo explained: ‘This design came about in February 1863 when a Presidential Decree authorised the production of a series of postage stamps and the contract was awarded to Justiniano Garcia in Oruro. However, the following month this decree was rescinded and the stamps he produced were never issued. Following this, in 1864, Martin Reider from France produced some essays, but the government rejected them and they never got beyond the proof and essay stage’.
USA & Switzerland
From the USA he has the famous 1869 American Eagle 30c flag invert on a card proof, mint, and used, and the 10c and 30c values. The US highlights include a fine array of proofs for both values, costing easily $100,000 to $120,000, as well as an extensive range of covers. The covers include combination franking with Hawaii and France, and a triple combination usage with Peru and British stamps.
For Switzerland Woo has an astonishing selection of Basle Doves – three singles, two on cover and a horizontal pair, of which one pair is on cover (only two are in private hands). Double Geneva eagles on and off cover, showing also the eagle in the wrongly-cut ‘Double Geneva’, and enormous multiples of the small and large Geneva eagles.
Collecting these kinds of stamps means big money but Dr. Woo is also humble. When asked about what individual exhibition honour gave him the most pleasure he recalled: ‘I do remember that although I showed only a few selected pages of my Bird Collection in Claridges 1999, the positive comments I received from several world-famous philatelic personages in respect of my collection was something I will probably never forget’. |
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Tales by Mail - Book 1, by Karen Cartier
 Tales by Mail is for children of all ages, perhaps up through 60 or so. It brings together stories literally from around the world ... from Botswana to Denmark, from New Zealand to the Faroes, from Saar to Israel.
The stories are short, each with a message, and each illustrated by a stamp issued by the country of the story's origin. Each who reads this book no doubt will develop a different favorite story, which is to be expected. Formatted simply, each story is preceded by a full-color illustration of the commemorative stamp that no only is impressive in its own right but also serves through its design to set the stage for the story that follows.
For those who wonder of the relationship between a stamp design and what is "behind" the design, this book serves as an excellent example.
Teddy Bears Celebrate 100th Anniversary
 Teddy bears, enormously popular symbols of human caring and loving, are being honored by the U.S. Postal Service with the issuance of the Teddy Bears commemorative stamps. The 2002 issuance of the stamps coincides with the 100th anniversary of teddy bears.
The Teddy Bears pane of 20 self-adhesive stamps depicts four lovable, cuddly teddy bears. Photos of the bears appear in the header; details of the photos appear on the stamps. The four stamp designs are repeated five times each on the pane. All four teddy bears were manufactured in the United States and are now owned by private collectors. The Ideal bear dates to circa 1905, the Bruin bear from circa 1907 and the Gund bear from circa 1948. The unlabeled "stick" bear dates from the 1920s. Mass- produced stick bears were characterized by their short arms, thin legs and upright posture. The Ideal bear, the Bruin bear and the stick bear belong to Paul and Rosemary Volpp of Carson City, Nev. The Gund bear belongs to Helen Sieverling of Pasadena, Calif.
The idea of the teddy bear was born in 1902 when President Theodore Roosevelt refused to shoot a captive bear during a hunting trip. Washington Post cartoonist Clifford Berryman depicted the incident on the front page of the newspaper, and soon toymakers began to manufacture the "teddy" bears associated with the president's name. People in all walks of life love teddy bears, and enthusiasts—known in the teddy bear world as arctophiles—pay top dollar for the collectibles.
Today there are teddy bear magazines, clubs, collector shows and programs, both educational and medical, that feature these little stuffed companions. Teddy bears have had endless books, songs and poem written about them. Widely viewed as symbols of security and comfort, teddy bears are often used by police officers and hospital staff to calm the young and old alike in traumatic situations
Second Set Of Penguin Stamps
 British Antarctic Territory has issued its second set of penguin stamps on a miniature sheet and in a booklet from the Port Lockroy Post Office.
The 12 airmail postcard values feature photographs of Chinstrap, Emperor, Adelie, Gentoo and Macaroni penguins, including juveniles.
All the photographs were taken by members of the British Antarctic Survey.
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