Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!

 

To all my Blogger friends out there have a really great Christmas and a safe and very prosperous New Year!! I already have a lot of Blog ideas for next year...

Stay Stamp Crazy!!

Pictures of History

Ships Ahoy!

One of the first things that attracted me as a young boy to stamp collecting was discovering the history locked inside the miniature artworks on every stamp. My first set of stamps was a beautiful set of Sailing Ships from Australia. For a long time I left the hobby only to rediscover it a few years back. Naturally I started where I'd left off. My collections included KGV stamps and of course Sailing Ships on stamps.

The first thing I did was go back to my beloved ships. In my years of hiatus I'd forgotten how much I love the hobby. Reliving the historical facts I'd uncovered as a kid was immensely rewarding. I'd like to share a snippit of the interesting information I have found while reassembling my Sailing Ships Thematic collection.

Laos 1992 

Piri Res, an Ottoamn Admiral is famous for his world map of 1513. He was a renowned seaman. By 1547 he was the Commander of the Ottoman fleet. He was beheaded in 1553 for failing to support the new Ottoman Governor of Basra. 

 

Surviving Left-Hand portion of 1513 Piri Res map

 

 Laos 1992

On 3 August 1492, Christopher Columbus set sail across the Atlantic in search of a western route to the orient. The three ships of the fleet included the 'Santa Maria', which was the flagship. It was a large Carrack.

Australia 1964

Captain James Cook was the first recorded European explorer to reach Australia's Eastern coastline in 1770. He was known for his excellent seamanship, superior surveying, and cartographic skills.

Australian Antarctic Territory 1972

In 1772 Captain Cook circumnavigated the vast continent of Antarctica.

Australia 1970

On 26 January 1788, Arthur Philip and a few dozen marines officers and oarsmen landed in Sydney cove, claiming the land in the name of King George III. The ship in the background is presumably the 'Supply'. From which sailors and convicts watched the planting of the British flag.

This is just a brief taste of the information theme collectors can place with their miniature works of art...

Stay Stamp Crazy! 

Christmas Twist!

A Different Christmas Theme.

I love thematic collecting. It provides refreshing relief from the rigours - and expense - of building my KGV collection. Then I thought why not combine the two!

So I came up with a Christmas theme with a twist after discovering a great KGV cover from Australia with a Christmas slogan.

Not long after I found this cover I found another. The slogan on this one isn't as clear, but still discernable.

Then recently while trolling through some KGV Southern Rhodesia I'd purchased, I discovered this gem that was posted on Christmas day!

   
The moral of this story has to be that the sky's the limit when it comes to themes, and you don't have to spend a fortune! But most importantly, make sure you have fun!!

Stay Stamp Crazy!

Exciting Moment!!

A New Postmark Identified!

 

I always get a little thrill when I start to collect a new country and I identify my first postmark within that country. My latest thrill came yesterday after I received a small lot of KGV Southern Rhodesia stamps. While sorting I put this stamp aside to see if I could find the origin of the postmark...

My investigation didn't take me as long as I'd first thought. The Post Office of origin for this stamp was Gwelo. Gwelo was changed to Gweru in 1982. Gweru is located right near the city centre of Zimbabwe (Zimbabwe is what Southern Rhodesia is now called).

One more Post Office identified!!

Happy Stamping!

Christmas Island's First stamp Set.

In 1901 when the first post office was opened on Christmas Island, the island, although mainly ruled by the phosphate production commission, was a part of the British Straits Settlement colony. It remained that way until 1942. From 1946 to 1958 it was controlled by Singapore and used its stamps. As we will see later, the first stamp issue of Christmas Island was inspired by the Singapore stamps of the time. 

***

The first stamp issue of Christmas Island was released on 15 October 1958. It was adapted from Australia’s 1/7 stamp of March 1955. 

The stamp design utilized a bas-relief profile of Queen Elizabeth II by W.L. Bowles. The design of the Australia 1/7 stamp, created by F.D. Manley, was restyled by G. Lissenden. The words CHRISTMAS ISLAND and the Malayan dollar value within a circle were overprinted in black.

The colours chosen for this series were inspired by the definitive stamps in use in Christmas Island at the time, those of Singapore. 

Initially one hundred sheets were printed. Once completed, the hundred sheets were sent by ship from Fremantle to Christmas Island.

 

Happy Stamping!!