The Weird World of Philately

President's Night took the form of an entertaining presentation from our President, Bruce Chadderton, which he titled The Weird World of Philately. He began with stamps from war-time Norway, noting that there were two stamp issuing agencies at that time - in Oslo and in London, the London issues being on behalf of the Norwegian government in exile. Bruce also displayed a German propaganda label that bore the head of the German Minister for the Interior Heinrich Himmler, rather than Hitler. The stamps were printed by the British Political Warfare Executive, and designed to create tension between Hitler and Himmler. Letters and newspapers bearing the Himmler stamp were posted in postboxes all over Germany and sent to Switzerland and Sweden as well.

Bruce showed a few stamps from the Ottoman Empire, noting that these tend to be listed in catalogues as being Turkish. Turkey was but one of many parts that made up the Ottoman Empire.

Our attention was drawn to an interesting website that specialises in weird and wonderful stamps: http://www.raster.it/stefano/a/ This site has a wonderful collection of weird stamps, with illustrations and explanations. Initially, the aim was to post stamps on this site that had an unknown origin. But over time, stamps have appeared whose origin is obvious, but do not seem to be listed in one of the standard catalogues such as Yvert et Tellier, Michel, Scott or Stanley Gibbons. The site has not been updated since 2000, but is still worth a visit.

Bruce also spoke briefly about the language of stamps. The positioning of a stamp on an envelope was designed to convey a message, and became a discrete method of courtship in the Victorian era.

Various meanings included:

In December 1908 a massive earthquake struck Messina on the island of Sicily, followed by a 40 foot tsunami. Nearly 70,000 people lost their lives. Assistance was provided by British and Russian fleets which happened to be nearby, and a photographer who accompanied the rescue teams took many photographs which became postcards. Charity seals were produced by eleven countries to raise funds for orphans of the earthquake. The seals were made in sets of 11, and in the denomination of the issuing country.

Stamps exist for the Mirdites Republic of Alania, although you will not find them properly listed in the standard catalogues. Serbia achieved independence following the conclusion of World War I, but was landlocked. A rebellion in northern Albania, in the second half of 1921, saw the creation of the Mirdites Republic of Albania, which would have provided port access for Serbia, but the Albanian Government crushed the revolt. A set of five stamps, which also appear with overprints, was issued, but they are described in the Scott catalogue as being unauthorised and never placed on sale.

Bruce mentioned and displayed a variety of stamps issued by short-lived countries that existed around the Russian periphery. Russia ended its involvement in World War I when it signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. Various ethnic groups, such as the Georgians, Azerbaijanis, Ukrainians and Byelorussians created independent nations and had stamps printed. In the case of the Ukraine, stamps were printed in Austria, but by the time the stamps were ready, Ukraine had been re-occupied by Russia.

Bruce also explained the issuing of stamps for Trieste immediately after World War II, when the rural area around the city was occupied by the Yugoslav army, and the city was under the control of New Zealand troops under the command of Bernard Freyberg.

The bicycle post in Timaru also got a mention, as did a very peculiar New Zealand stamp issued to commemorate the Dalai Lama in 2005. New Zealand Post made available stamps that were blank apart from the name of the country, the denomination and a NZ Post logo. People could add there own designs, so stamps appeared with images of the Dalai Lama on them. Really weird!