Happy Armed Forces Day!

President Harry S. Truman led the effort to establish a single holiday for citizens to come together and thank our military members for their patriotic service in support of our country.

On August 31, 1949, Secretary of Defense Louis Johnson announced the creation of an Armed Forces Day to replace separate Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force Days. The single day celebration stemmed from the unification of the Armed Forces under the Department of Defense. 

Click here to visit Steven L.Ossad's Military History Depicted in US Postage Stamps website for a philatelic salute to our men and women in uniform.

Calgary Stampede Stamps Feature "Augmented Reality"

Canada's Calgary Herald reports, "To mark this year's centennial of the Calgary Stampede, Canada Post has unveiled two commemorative stamps. Both stamps, featuring a rodeo horse and a silver and gold belt buckle, were designed by Calgary graphic artist Xerxes Irani - who admits he broke down and cried uopn learning his designs had been chosen."

“It’s amazing for a designer to see his work reprinted millions of times,” Irani says of the estimated four million Stampede stamps that are now on sale in post offices and through Canada Post.

Canada Post’s Genevieve Latour is quoted in the article by Valerie Fortney as saying, "One unique feature of the Stampede stamp is that it comes complete with what is called 'Augmented Reality'; it’s the first time that owners of smart phones or tablets can download a corresponding app, which in this case includes a barrel race and interactive experience with a horse.

Shown above, Xerxes Irani and the stamps he designed.

To read the entire article and watch a video about Canada's first "augmented reality" stamps, click here.

Royal Mail Makes a Philatelic Fashion Statement

Georgia Bobley writes on the Guest of a Guest website, "Between the Royal Wedding, the Queen's Jubilee, and the upcoming Olympics, it's been a big year for Great Britain. With so much international focus on the country, English fashion has been thrown into the spotlight -- and now it's being displayed on stamps."

Britain's Royal Mail has launched a line of stamps honoring England's top 10 fashion houses, including Alexander Wang, Vivienne Westwood, and Paul Smith.

According to Bobley, "The stamps, which were designed by London-based graphic designer Johnson Banks and shot by Solve Sundsbo, were created by photographing live models wearing the designers' clothing and later removing the models from the image."

In a related story on the Fibre 2 Fashion website, it's being reported, "When shooting the outfits that appear on the stamps Sølve Sundsbø worked with live models, but did not use their facial features, to allow the designs to speak for themselves. The shoot lasted two days, and relied on the use of the actual original clothes – either obtained directly from the designers or meticulously sourced from specialist vintage fashion stores. "

Click here for more information.

A Passion for Philately

Minneapolis stamp collector Gary Haas and Fresno, Calif., stamp dealer Gary Deitz are featured in an article by Rick Bentley of the McClatchy Newspapers.

Bentley writes, "Gary Haas squeezes between a pair of ceiling-high book cases, arranged to create a small office area and a central location for his stamp collecting hobby.Haas' passion for collecting is evident. Most of the shelves are filled with volumes and volumes of stamps, categorized by date, country, color and subject matter.

He goes on to say, "The collection is so massive that Haas has no idea of the total. It's the accumulation of more than 40 years of collecting, which started when Haas received a stamp collecting starter set for Christmas when he was 8 years old."

Haas is quoted as saying, "In the 1970s, I got a stamp collecting merit badge through the Boy Scouts, where I learned some of the basics of stamp collecting.I started going to stamp shows about six times a year. It's a slow learning process."

Deitz, who turned his 65-year-old hobby into a business, says he'd like to see more people like Haas.

"I got started collecting when there were no TVs or video games, " Deitz says. "Back then maybe 1 in 10 kids collected stamps. Now it's maybe 1 in 1,000."

To read the entire article, click here.

Read more here: http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2012/05/15/2522424/stamp-lovers-passion-for-hobby.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2012/05/15/2522424/stamp-lovers-passion-for-hobby.html#storylink=cHaas is quoted in the article as saying, ""In the 1970s, I got a stamp collecting merit badge through the Boy Scouts, where I learned some of the basics of stamp collecting. I started going to stamp shows about six times a year. It's a slow learning process."

Read more here: http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2012/05/15/2522424/stamp-lovers-passion-for-hobby.html#storylink=cpy

From a Post Office Far, Far Away

Erin Blasco posts on the National Postal Museum's blog, Pushing The Envelope, "A stamp marked 'Magyar Posta' is from Hungary. 'Deutsche Post' is from Germany. But stamps purporting to be from Tatooine or Alderaan, fictional planets from the Star Wars saga, are pure fantasy. That didn’t stop London-based graphic artist Stefan van Zoggel from creating postage stamps from the high tech world of droids and the Millennium Falcon. He even designed a fictional postmark featuring R2-D2 as postmaster general."

Blasco goes on to say the US Postal Service has issued its own Star Wars stamps, "although they're probably not enough postage to be used on interplanetary mail."

Blasco would like to know, "What fictional world do you think should get its own postage stamps next? Stamps inspired by "Lord of the Rings" for the sending of postcards between Minas Tirith and Pelennor Fields? Narnia? And how about postal service between the Twelve Colonies of "Battlestar Galactica?" And who would you appoint postmaster general?"

Click here to voice your opinion. 

To view more Star War cinderellas as shown above, click here.

Blind British Photographer Takes Photo for "UK A-Z" Stamp Sheet

U.K.'s Leicester Mercury reports a picture taken by a photographer who is visually impaired is on the "UK A-Z" stamps sheet

According to the article, Brian Negus, 65, who is legally blind, took the photo last year while on a trip to Belfast. He then posted it on the image sharing website Flickr, not thinking anyone would show much interest.

Well, they did.

About seven months later he was contacted by the Royal Mail to ask if they could use the shot and offered him £200. Negus, who is chairman of the Leicester sight loss charity Vista, donated the money to the organization.

Negus said he took up photography in 2000 after camera companies began putting large LCD screens on their digital SLR cameras. He uses the screen and a magnifying lens on one eye which enables him to see the image.

He's quoted as saying, "Before digital cameras I wasn't able to take photographs but now I'm hooked. I can't use the viewfinder, so the LCD screens are perfect. I still need a lens which magnifies the screen 12 times."

Shown above, UK A-Z stamps sheet. Negus' photo appears in the lower right hand corner.


To read the entire article, click here.

Happy Mother's Day!

2009 Mother Day's stamps issued by Turkey.

For a history of Mother's Day on stamps, click here.

'Servicio Sanitario' Stamps

Stamp columnist John Weigle writes on California's Ventura County Star website, "The current issue of The American Revenuer, the magazine of the American Revenue Association, reports on two German towns that are issuing revenue stamps to show a tax levied on street walking prostitutes has been paid."

According to Weigle, "The magazine says that Bonn and Dortmund issued the stamps for prostitutes who walk the streets rather than work in brothels or sauna clubs, where it's easier to collect the taxes."

"The article doesn't say," Weigle writes, "but I suppose stamp collectors who wanted samples for their collections could buy the tickets if they visited the cities, but I'm not sure what spouses might think of the idea."

Apparently this is not a new idea and several other countries around the world have issued similar revenue stamps in the past.

Shown above a 1920 Argentine servicio sanitario (medical service) stamp that was pasted into the prostitute's libreta sanitaria (medical booklet) and cancelled in a way that showed the result of the exam.

For more on this, click here.

Handbag Designer Uses Stamps in Her New Creations

Reporter Olivia Alabaster writes on the Daily Star website, "Drawing inspiration from her stamp collection, handbag designer Astrid Honein used images of vintage Lebanese stamps in her latest offering. 'Greetings from Lebanon' marks Honein’s sixth collection, but the first to be exhibited publicly.

Alabaster goes on to pen, "The vintage stamps, from the ’50s and ’60s, which depict the cedar tree, or cherries, also feature on a range of loose-fitting cotton T-shirts ($45), which would go perfectly with denim shorts for the beach, or could even be dressed up with trousers and high heels."

Honein is quoted in the piece as saying, "“I really loved this image from the stamps, and I’ve just been obsessed with using it in my work."

To read the entire article, click here.

Letters - The New E-mails

The Spellman Museum of Stamps and Postal History believes letters are the new e-mails. That's the theme for this year's Annual Letter Writing Day on Sunday, May 20.

Recipients who received an e-mailed announcement about the event were asked, "When was the last time you wrote or received a personal letter?  Do you have some letters that you have saved because they are special to you?  Do your children ever write a letter rather than sending an email?  Are you just tired of receiving and answering emails?"

It goes to say, "Children's book author and illustrator Jennifer Morris will read from her book about sending a letter, demonstrate how she illustrates books and show pictures of her studio. In addition, she will help both children and adults create illustrated stationery and envelopes to use to send letters to friends."

In addition, visitors are being asked to share their personal stories about favorite letters they have received and even encouraged to bring some of these to the program. 

Museum Education Director Henry Lukas is quoted as saying "People should bring their friends' mailing addresses to send their letters.  The Museum will pay the postage." He added, "people will use a stamp rather than hit the send button."

For more information, click here.

Collection Goes Into the Guinness Book of World Records

India's Bangalore Mirror reports a philatelist and naturalist Daniel Monteiro, 50, from Bramhavar in Udupi district, who specialises in bird philately, has entered the Guinness Book of World Records for his unique collection of 4,911 stamps on birds from 263 countries.

According to the article by Deepthi Shridhar, in 2011, Monteiro had entered the Limca Book of Records for his rare collection of stamps on ducks and for securing 10 international awards. He has about 1,000 stamps on water fowls and claims it to be the largest collection of its kind in Asia.

To read the entire article, click here.

Get Ready For Summer!

Hey guys! If you're looking for a pair of philatelic shorts to impress your stamp club buddies...Sears has them!

These colorful swimming trunks (which double as walking shorts) feature whimsical Hawaiian postcards, Hulu girls and Honolulu cancellations in their design.

Made by Trader Bay, they can be purchased for just $14.99 (normally $30) at your nearest Sears store or on line by clicking here.

Hurry! Sale ends May 12!

Keeper of The Queen's Stamps Visits Bermuda

Bermuda's RoyalGazette.com reports,"Mr [Micahel] Sefi, the official Keeper of the Queen’s stamps, was recently in Bermuda to oversee some of the Queen’s most valuable stamps that were briefly on display in a special exhibition at the Masterworks Museum in the Botanical Gardens.

The stamps were part of an existing exhibition at Masterworks commemorating the 200th anniversary of Bermuda’s Post Office.

Reporter Jessie Moniz pens, "In today’s world of flashy technology, few children have the patience for stamp collecting, but when Mr Sefi was a boy, stamp collecting was all the rage. It was the height of excitement to pour over the little slips of paper depicting the faraway countries they came from."

According to the article, "Mr Sefi worked in the finance industry for many years, before taking early retirement. He eventually became President of the Great Britain Philatelic Society and was on the council of the Royal Philatelic Society. He also helped with several stamp exhibitions organised in London. Meanwhile, Charles Goodwin, who was then Keeper of the Queen’s stamps, asked him if he wanted to help with the Queen’s collection, and he agreed. Then Mr Goodwin fell ill unexpectedly and had to retire and Mr Sefi stepped in."

"Mr Sefi’s job involves administering the collection, logging and filing new acquisitions, conservation work and also dealing with researchers. He has also accompanied parts of the collection to various parts of the world to oversee exhibitions," writes Moniz.

To read the entire article, click here.

Sir Paul Smith - Stamp Designer

The Japan Times features an article about Sir Paul Smith whose "creations are more commonly found paraded on fashion catwalks or on hangers in boutiques around the world" rather than on postage stamps.

The British designer has now added to his portfolio the seven stamps shown above which he created for the Isle of Man Post Office to mark this summer's London Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Smith is quoted in a recent interview as saying, ""l looked at posters and artwork from previous Olympics and realized I wanted the stamps to be positive, powerful, colorful and, above all, optimistic."

Reporter Danielle Demetriou points out, "The apparent simplicity of the diminutive designs, however, belies a string of challenges posed by the fact that stamp design is strictly governed by rules and regulations."

"Actually the job was quite huge and I worked on the project for about a year," Smith explained. "Because stamps are governed by law, you have to incorporate certain things: the Queen's head in certain size, the Olympic logo, the price. And then, in addition to those restrains (rules), stamps are very collectable, so I had to design gift sets and collectors' items."

To read entire article, click here.

George Bernard Shaw - Stamp Collector

According toWikitelic, a new philatelic Facebook page that says it is "A fun place for stamp collectors to share information, ideas, resources as well as show and tells," Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) was a stamp collector.

The site says Shaw was once quoted as saying, "“Words are only postage stamps delivering the object for you to unwrap.”

My Fair Lady was adapted by Lerner and Loewe from George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion.  

Shown above, George Bernard Shaw working on his stamp collection.

To visit Wikitelic, click here