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Firsts |
First postal datestamp |
 Britain’s then Postmaster General, Colonel Henry Bishop, produced the world’s first postal datestamp in 1661 in response to criticism that letters were often delayed in the post.
An announcement in the April 1661 issues of Mercurius Publicus explained: ‘A stamp is invented that is putt upon every letter shewing the day of the moneth that every letter comes to the office, so that no Letter Carryer may dare detayne a letter from post to post, which before was usual’.
The so-called ‘Bishop mark’ was a small circle divided in two horizontally. The top segment bore letters (to indicate the month) and the bottom a figure to indicate the date. So AP/1 would be April 1st. The stamp was made of wood and resembled two small rods with a semi-circular section, bound tightly together like the old-fashioned wooden clothes peg.
Bishop marks survived in London until 1787 and in Edinburgh until 1806. They also spread to Canada and the USA. Exeter and Bristol were the first English provincial towns to use datestamps in 1697, and they used modified forms of the Bishop mark. |
First mail on the Moon |
 The three astronauts – Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins – onboard the historic 1969 Apollo 11 space mission, which landed the first men on the Moon, took a die for a postage stamp showing them setting foot on the Moon’s surface.
When the lunar module touched down the astronauts pulled an impression of this die on paper and created the Moon’s first postage stamp. The die returned to earth with the spacemen and was later used in the production of the printing plate for the USA 10c airmail ‘FIRST MAN ON THE MOON’ issue of 1969. Later Antigua & Barbuda produced a miniature sheet to mark the whole exercise.
The astronauts also took an envelope franked with an imperforate coloured die proof of the stamp. This was cancelled on the Moon with a special postmark inscribed ‘MOON LANDING USA’ with the date, ‘JUL 20 1969’’, in the centre. The equipment for the ‘first lunar post office’ was one rubber stamp and an ink pad. |
The world’s first self-adhesives stamps |
 The world’s first ever self-adhesive stamps were issued by Sierra Leone on February 10, 1964, and they came in the shape of a map of the African country.
The stamps were printed in the UK by Walsall, and a special aqueous-based acrylic adhesive was developed as it was felt that a solvent-based adhesive might have a tendency to migrate through and bleed around the edges of the face paper .
The stamps were printed in litho and by relief stamping – the latter process giving the effect of recess printing. They were precision die-cut but this cutting didn’t extend into the backing paper or its silicone coating.
Three months after the stamps were first launched a second, very similar, issue was released to commemorate the assassinated US President John F. Kennedy. In conjunction with this a small presentation folder was issued to publicise the issues.
It wasn’t until 1969 that another country issued self-adhesives when the Pacific island of Tonga followed suit with unconventionally shaped self-adhesives in the shape of bananas. |
Stamp-on-stamp firsts |
 There can’t be many countries which haven’t issued stamps that have postage stamps as their subject. Reproducing old stamps, usually commemorating a centenary or some other significant anniversary, in the designs of new issues has long been a popular practice. Known as stamp-on-stamp the practice is still very popular today, but here we look at a few of the first stamp-on-stamp issues…
The honour of issuing the first stamp-on-stamp goes to the Indian feudatory state of Sirmoor. It introduced distinctive stamps in June 1876, consisting of 1 pice in pale green. The stamp was reprinted in blue two years later – these sufficed for all purposes until 1891 when a fresh supply was ordered from a printer in Calcutta. These reprints were produced merely to satisfy demands from philatelists, and it may be for that reason that the printer took as his model an illustration of the stamp in a dealer’s catalogue, complete with lines simulating the perforations. These perforations thus appeared as printed serrations in the reprints. The following year, when the original stamps ran out, the postmaster of Sirmoor pressed the reprints into service and for that reason they are listed separately in the catalogues. Technically speaking the stamps listed as SG 3-4 are stamps-on-stamps (with perforations beyond the printed denticulation).
In 1931-2 stamps of Finland and Romania celebrated the 75th anniversaries of their first stamps but were not so much ‘stamp-on-stamp’, as modifications of the originals. In September 1934 Brazil marked the National Philatelic Exhibition in Rio de Janeiro with stamps reproducing the ‘Inclinados’ of 1844-6, so-called because the numerals were set at an angle.
Stamps-on-stamps really took off in 1940 when several countries reproduced the Penny Black on stamps to mark its centenary. On May 6 that year Mexico marked the actual anniversary with a handsome set of 10 stamps, (five ordinary and five airmail), reproducing the Penny Black. The individual stamps are quite attractive but to see them at their best you need to view the entire set in their eye-catching two-colour combinations.
Cuba was content with a single stamp (also released in a miniature sheet). Although the issue was delayed until November 1940 it was worth waiting for. The large 10 centavo stamp had a map of Cuba in the centre but in the four corners were reproductions of the Penny Black and the first stamps of Cuba as a Spanish colony (1855), and as an independent country (1899), with a portrait of Sir Rowland Hill in the upper right-hand corner. |
The world’s first official aeroplane post |
 The first official post by aeroplane was organised as part of an exhibition in India in February 1911, held in the city of Allahabad. Mail flown on this special, one-off, flight bore a special postmark. Some 5,000 to 6,500 items are said to have been flown including about 40 to 50 large-size specially printed postcards and signed by the French pilot, Henri Péquet. These ‘official’ cards are now rare.
In 1908 a large exhibition was held at Nagpur, which led to influential people supporting a proposal for a larger exhibition. A public meeting in Allahabad on July 29, 1909, endorsed the idea for an exhibition, and a large sum of money was subscribed on the spot. The site selected was open land, which covered 120 acres.
The United Provinces Exhibition was scheduled to open on December 1, 1910, to run for three months, and to close on Tuesday, February 28, 1911. The exhibition opened on December 1, 1910. On entering, immediately to the right, was a domed building occupied by the Post & Telegraph Offices, which also contained relevant exhibits. Another Post & Telegraph Office was also provided for the use of the camps: ‘In tents outside the Exhibition ground, halfway down the Exhibition road’.
It had been agreed early in the planning stage that an aviation meeting should be part of the exhibition, largely with the aim of educating people to this new development in transport. In 1910, Captain Walter George Windham, R.N. was invited to bring some aeroplanes from England to take part. He founded The Aeroplane Club in 1908, and in October 1909 had taken part in what was (arguably) the first aviation meeting in Britain at Doncaster.
Windham arranged to take six aeroplanes, and two flyers – Henri Péquet and Edward Keith Davies – together with two mechanics, Billon French and Haffkin English. Captain Windham shipped the aeroplanes to Bombay in large crates, and they were then sent on by rail in special trucks to Allahabad.
There were two biplanes and four monoplanes, all made under licence by the Coventry-based motor firm Humber. One was fitted’ with the light four-cylinder rotary 50h.p. water-cooled engine. Both biplanes gave splendid exhibition flights. The monoplanes were based on French Blériot designs and had three-cylinder 30h.p. air-cooled engines. Unfortunately the monoplanes weren’t a success at Allahabad. Somewhat underpowered, they would not rise more than 20 or 30 feet. Matters weren’t improved by air pockets caused by the varying temperatures over the ground.
There were problems with punctures of the aeroplane tyres caused by large thorns which appeared on the flying ground. It was necessary to repair tyres after almost every landing. |
The first Christmas stamps |
 Canada’s 2 cent stamp, celebrating the introduction of imperial penny postage but inscribed ‘XMAS 1898’ is usually regarded as the world’s first Christmas stamp. But the stamp wasn’t intended primarily for use on greetings cards and almost 40 years would elapse before the first stamps intended for that purpose were released.
Austria released a set of stamps early in December each year bearing a charity premium in aid of a wide range of good causes. By sticking Winter Relief stamps on their Christmas mail more affluent Austrians got a feeling of doing some good. In 1937 in a set of four charity stamps which illustrated child welfare, feeding needy children, protecting the aged and nursing the sick but there was a growing opinion that something more jolly would be appropriate to greetings cards. Why should those who couldn’t afford the few groschen over and above the postal rate have to fork out for the privilege of decorating their Christmas cards with special stamps?
On December 12 that year the Austrian postal administration introduced a pair of special stamps in a common design but denominated 12 groschen in blue-green for postcards and 24 groschen in carmine for cards in sealed envelopes. Professor Willi Dachauer designed this pair, which was recess printed by the Staatsdruckerei. The motif showed an elegant little glass vase containing a bunch of roses, flanked by two vertical panels engraved with the signs of the zodiac. The country name was inscribed near the foot, with the numerals of value below.
Unfortunately there was no inscription to indicate the special use of these stamps. From the date of issue it seems obvious the stamps were intended for greetings cards of all kinds, both Christmas and the New Year. They were the last stamps issued by the pre-war Republic of Austria. On March 13, 1938, Austria was absorbed into the Third Reich as the province of Ostmark and Austrian stamps were promptly replaced by German ones. Then stamp collectors – who have vivid imaginations – fancied they saw the portrait of Adolf Hitler, complete with toothbrush moustache, in the large central rose. Any resemblance was quite by chance but it was a controversial beginning to Christmas stamps. |
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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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