Royal Mail Chief Exec Scores Big Bonus Pay Day

Britain's Telegraph is reporting that the Canadian chief executive of Royal Mail, Moya Greene [shown here], received a £371,000 bonus last year, just weeks after she pushed through a record increase in the price of stamps.

According to Senior Political Correspondent Christopher Hope, "Miss Greene’s basic pay was unchanged from the year before at £498,000. However she also picked up £371,000 in a 'short term incentive plan', £38,000 in benefits and £200,000 for her final salary pension scheme."

In all, writes Hope, Greene was paid £1.1million, making her one of Britain’s highest paid public officials.

Shadow postal affairs minister Ian Murray MP is quoted in the article as saying, “At a time when the public are furious about levels of boardroom pay it is extraordinary that the chief executive of Royal Mail will be awarded such a generous and disproportionate package relative to the performance of the company."

Murray went on to say, "“This has happened just a matter of weeks after consumer stamp prices rose by up to 40 per cent, the public purse has taken on its £8billion pension fund deficit and ordinary people up and down the Country are facing a squeeze on living standards with frozen pay and higher costs.”

To read the entire article, click here.  

Take a Stamp "Staycation"

 The American Philatelic Society (APS) is encouraging everyone to take a “Stamp Staycation.”

In press release announcement, the APS says, "Through the magic of postage stamps one can stay at home and experience the world! Become a time traveler and visit the Civil War, or go abroad to the Louvre to marvel at the world’s art masterpieces. Tour the nation’s national parks, from the Grand Canyon to the Great Smokies, or revisit the movies to meet Luke Skywalker and R2-D2. Stamps are the vehicle that can carry a family on a cross-country trip or an adventure beneath the sea."

"Just what exactly is a 'staycation'?”

The APS says that "According to the online Merriam-Webster dictionary, 'a staycation is a vacation spent at home or nearby.' The concept has been around for almost eight years and more Americans are taking staycations than ever before. The reasons for this growing phenomena range from saving money to spending more time with the family, from boosting the local economy to avoiding the hassles of travel. It also is the perfect vacation solution when family members are unable to travel."

To read the full press release and get some 'Staycation" ideas , click here.

Portland Postman Creates Radio Cartoon

Letter carrier Sullivan Brill has created Letter, Lens, Looking Glass: A Portland Postman's Radio Cartoon. He calls the program "a humorous reaction to the economic uncertainty epitomized by the Postal Service."

According to a press release from PR Newswire, the setting for the audio play is "The City of Roses," Portland, OR.

Brill, who worked as a postal clerk for 20 years at the downtown Portland main office, is quoted in the release as saying, ""Letter carriers are part of the fabric of our society. In the middle class and poor neighborhoods of Portland, we take a unique snapshot of the good, the bad, and what's left. Laughter is a soothing balm, a buffer to the stresses and strains that affect all of us. It's my hope that this funny portal into the world of the Post Office brings a smile to many faces,"

To listen, click here.

Scammers Pose as US Postal Service

Joce Sterman reports on Baltimore's WMAR-TV that e-mail scammers are sending out messages seeking charges for a package that can't be delivered.

According to Sterman, "The schemers hope to scare you into clicking links that come attached to the email message. But if you click, experts say the links will actually release malware into your computer. Barnett says that malware is targeted to uncover your financial account information."

To read the article, click here.

South Korea Honors Canadian War Hero on Stamp

Randy Boswell of Postmedia News is reporting on the Canada.com website that, "South Korea has bestowed a unique honour on Canada's oldest surviving veteran of the Korean War, issuing a then-and-now set of stamps showing Maj. Campbell "Cam" Lane as he appeared during the 1950-53 war alongside a portrait of the 99-year-old Ottawa man — military medals proudly displayed — at the veterans' home where he lives today."

According to the article, Lane's daughter, Cathy Lane, said the family was "extremely pleased" with South Korea's remarkable postal tribute as were representatives of Canada's "ever-dwindling" community of Korean War veterans.

Bill Black, head of the Ottawa branch of the Korean Veterans' Association, is quoted as saying the depiction of Lane in the two stamps is a one-of-a-kind honour reserved for a centenarian ex-serviceman who was close to 40 when he served in Korea.

Lane, who headed a unit of the Royal Canadian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers during the Korean War, was hailed during a ceremony for playing "a highly significant role in restoring peace and freedom to the Republic of Korea."

To read the entire article, click here.

Baseball Stamps a Hit with Little Leaguers

Some California little leaguers participated in a little slice of baseball history this past weekend writes Erin Wiltgen on the News of Orange County website.

According to Wiltgen, "Hillsborough Youth Athletic Association’s baseball and softball teams helped Postmaster Tom Pollard dedicate a new series of commemorative baseball stamps during HYAA’s playoff games Saturday, June 16. The stamps—which will officially go on sale nationwide July 20—depict four famous players of America’s pastime, a piece of the past that Orange County’s children seemed thrilled to be a part of."

She goes on to say, "Pollard presented the gathered players with a giant replica of the stamp’s four designs featuring Joe DiMaggio, Larry Doby, Willie Stargell and Ted Williams. Each player landed a spot in the Hall of Fame, left a legacy as a perennial All-Star selection and had his own impact on the game of baseball. The Hillsborough Post Office took preorders at the game and will continue to do so at the post office."

Shown above, Hillsborough Post Office Supervisor Shayne Thompson, center left, and Postmaster Tom Pollard with stamps and players.

To read the entire article, click here.

Ten Billion To Mail a Letter

An article about the German economy in a recent issue of The Economist starts off with, "A stamp collection in Berlin’s German Historical Museum sums up what, to many Germans, is the price of economic recklessness. A Weimar-era postage stamp worth five pfennigs in 1920 doubled in price the following year, then jumped to ten marks in 1922. It cost 30 marks in January 1923, 1,000 marks in May and 800,000 marks in October. By the end of 1923, sending a letter took ten billion marks. Next to this 'document of an insane era', the museum shows how worthless banknotes were defaced by Nazis with caricatures of Jewish speculators. It was at the height of hyperinflation, explains the display, that Hitler staged his failed Munich beer-hall putsch."

For more on hyperinflation and the Weimar Republic postage stamps, click here.

Click here for additional photos and information.

New and improved Mail Transport Equipment (MTE)

The USPS NewsLinks website reports flat tubs have a new look.

It goes on to say,  "New tubs have the Mail Transport Equipment (MTE) hotline number and email address on the equipment to report misuse. The change was made to encourage the return of flat tubs to Post Offices and to advise customers that MTE is not available for private use."

Replacing missing or misused MTE hurts the Postal Service’s bottom line. USPS will spend more than $120 million this fiscal year to replace missing and damaged MTE according to the post.

USPS encourages employees and others  to report MTE that’s being misused, stored unnecessarily or located outside the postal network. Send leads and tips to HQMTE@usps.gov or call the MTE hotline at 866-330-3404.

Rapping about Stamps

Owney Gets an E-Book

According to the National Postal Museum's website, "One of the most popular exhibits in the National Postal Museum is the story of Owney, the scruffy mutt who became the unofficial mascot of the Railway Mail Service in the late 19th century. Owney’s unusual life and wide-spread travels have inspired several children’s books. Elementary schools across the United States continue to use the story of Owney as a way to connect their students with those in other states by sending stuffed toy dogs from school to school through the mail accompanied by messages from students to one another."

It goes on to say, "The Smithsonian National Postal Museum has brought the true story of Owney to “life” with beautiful animation, a fun (and historically accurate) story, the deep grandfatherly baritone of Trace Adkins, and a catchy theme song. Owney: Tales from the Rails is available as both an iPad app on the Apple iTunes Store and an e-Book on the museum's website."

For more on Owney and to open the e-book, click here.

Wine and Stamps Give Emotional Return on Investment

Britain's Yorkshire Post reports, "Affluent individuals in Yorkshire are choosing to invest in wine and stamps as well as cars, jewellery or art during current economic uncertainty. But they are making such investments for pleasure rather than big financial returns, according to a report from Barclays."

Most of those surveyed, who all have more than £1m in disposable income, held their treasures for enjoyment (69%) rather than financial motivations (11%).

According to the article, "Cellars in Yorkshire and the North East are more valuably stocked than in the rest of the country, wine being one of the most popular investments in Yorkshire and the North East with 45% of those surveyed currently owning collections."

It goes on to say, "Stamps are another favourite of the well-off in Yorkshire and the North East, with the region being home to the highest proportion of wealthy stamp collectors. One in three of those surveyed in the region have owned a collection in the last five years – more than double the amount for Londoners (14%)."

Head of behavioural finance at Barclays Dr. Greg Davies is quoted as saying, "“It was found that the more that collectors say they acquire treasure for financial reasons, the less enjoyment they tend to derive from it. Treasure assets may, if you’re lucky or very knowledgeable, give you a financial return, but buy something you enjoy and it will always give you an emotional return.”

Shown above, sign outside Oregon's Benton-Lane Winery.

To read the entire article, click here.

Miles Davis Stamp NYC Debut Attended by Family and Friends

Billboard magazine reports, "Miles Davis and French singer Edith Piaf were both honored with Forever stamps June 12, which debuted simultaneously in the U.S. and France."

According to the report, "In a ceremony at the Rubin Museum of Art in New York City, the stamps were unveiled in front of a crowd that included Davis' son Erin Davis, daughter Cheryl Davis, and nephew Vince Wilburn, Jr., as well as Blue Note Records chief creative officer Don Was, SiriusXM program director Mark Ruffin, jazz bassist Ron Carter, producer George Avakian, actress Cicely Tyson, and U.S. deputy postmaster general Ronald Stroman, who dedicated the stamps."

Los Angeles will host a second stamp dedication June 27, which will be followed by a "Miles Davis Celebration" concert hosted by Herbie Hancock at Hollywood Bowl. Hancock will be providing the musical score for an upcoming feature film starring Don Cheadle and based on Davis' life.

Shown above,  (from left to right) Davis' nephew Vince Wilburn, Jr, Davis' daughter Cheryl Davis, and son Erin Davis.

For more photos and to read the entire article, click here.

Summer Olympics Album - Free and Downloadable from the APS

The American Philatelic Society (APS) has added Summer Olympics to their impressive list of free downloadable mini-stamp albums.

According to the APS, "The series now totals forty-seven. Album topics range from sports to states to history to space. The mini-albums have been designed for the beginning collector. The albums feature full-color images of the stamps and information about the subject of the stamp.

"The albums range from as few as four to more than 30 pages and include background information on the illustrated stamps. Albums are not necessarily comprehensive. They focus on face different stamps that the average collector has a reasonable chance to acquire often excluding expensive items and varieties. With the exception of U.S. annual pages most are licensed by Scott Publishing Company and include the Scott Catalog numbers."

To view the latest album as well as the rest in the series, click here.

World's Ugliest Stamp

According to the Durianon.tripod.com webpage, Stories About Famous Stamps,"A tiny scrap of bright-red paper, worth at least a million dollars, is locked away in a Pennsylvania bank vault, and the key has been thrown away. It's one of the world's rarest stamps, the famous Penny Magenta, yet nobody can inspect or buy it."

It goes on to say, "Many feel that is the world's ugliest postage stamp ever issued. It is crudely printed, cut to shape, and heavily canceled."

It then goes on to give a history of the Penny Magenta of British Guiana noting that in 1856 "when a regular shipment of stamps failed to arrive from England, the British Guiana government printers produced provisional issues of one-cent and four-cent stamps, printing them on several papers, including a few on magenta colored paper."

For more on this famous - and not too pretty - stamp, click here.

70th Anniversary of V-Mail

This week marks the launch in 1942 of V-Mail , the overseas communication service used between military personnel, family and friends.

According to Jessica Porter Sadeq of the Smithsonian,"During World War II, Army Post Offices, Fleet Post Offices and U.S. post offices were flooded with mail sent by service members and family. V-Mail was a solution to the volume of mail competing with essential wartime supplies for cargo space.

She goes on to say, "The U.S. adapted Great Britain’s Airgraph service and integrated microfilm technology into its wartime system. V-Mail letters were copied onto microfilm, which was shipped overseas and reproduced at one-quarter of the original size at a processing station where it was then delivered to the addressee.

"V-Mail required standardized 8 ½-by-11-inch stationery like that pictured here from the Wessel Co. in Chicago. The distinguishing marks and uniform size of the stationery helped workers gather the folded letter sheets to be photographed onto 16 mm microfilm. All sheets were set to standard dimensions, weight, grain and layout so they fit in the Kodak microfilming machines.

"Correspondents could obtain two sheets per day from their local post office for free. Others opted to purchase the materials that were available in neighborhood stores.

"The National Postal Museum’s collection of V-Mail stationery demonstrates the intersection of governmental and commercial efforts to facilitate mail for the military. Frequent letter writing was encouraged for its morale-boosting effects on America’s soldiers."

For more on V-Mail, click here.

Famous Director Stamps Get Their Day in Hollywood

The Round-Up was at a special event put on by the Post Office at the Directors Guild of America headquarters in Hollywood yesterday morning honoring John Huston, Frank Capra, Billy Wilder and John Ford. The legendary directors are pictured on a block of four stamps which were issued last month in Silver Spring, Md.

 Gary Marshall, well known television and film producer, director, writer and actor, acted as the master of ceremonies. Marshall confessed during his remarks that he too was a stamp collector and jokingly "chastised" the audience to buy the stamps and get the special Directors Guild cancellation which is shown here.

Several of the children (including film star Angelica Huston,daughter of legendary director John Huston) as well as some grand and great- grandchildren of the directors were invited up on the stage for the ceremonial unveiling.

Following the event, Marshall, the directors' relatives, postal officials as well as Jean Picker Firstenerg, president emerita of the American Film Institute and chair of the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee, signed autographs.

For more on the stamps and special event, click here.

Flag Day USA!

Today is Flag Day USA!

According to Todd R. Uebele, Sr., creator of the the "Flag over Porch" stamp website, "The United States Flag was officially adopted by The Continental Congress on June 14, 1777. It was selected as the Nation's Flag in 1877. New York State started in 1897 to celebrate the Flag annually on June 14. Finally in 1949, Congress officially recognized June 14 as 'Flag Day'. We have been celebrating our 'Stars and Stripes' annually since then."

Uebele writes, "The US Flag first appeared on postage stamps in 1869 with the 'Eagle and Shield' Stamp [seen above],  Scott #121 & 131. Many Flag stamps have appeared over the years. A very attractive 4 cent 48 star Flag stamp, Scott #1094 was issued in 1956. This was followed by a 49 star stamp, Scott #1132 in 1959, and then a 50 star stamp, Scott #1153 was issued in 1960."

He goes on to say, " From 1960 thru 1995, the USPS issued several 'Flag over . . . .' Stamps in both commemorative and definitive formats. In 1995, after the 'G' Flags, USPS issued the newly designed "Flag Over Porch" (FOP) series. It is interesting to note that these were the first stamps to have the year date printed on the bottom of the stamp. Also these stamps were the first regular issue stamps to be offered in both the water activated and self adhesive formats concurrently."

He then talks about the different "Flag Over Porch" formats.

To visit his website, click here.

Alex Haimann Gets his MBA and Running for APS VP

Congratulations to Alex Haimann who received his MBA last month from Olin Business School, Washington University in St. Louis!

Alex is very well known, liked and respected in the stamp collecting world and is a candidate for the American Philatelic Society (APS) Board of Vice Presidents along with Mick Zais and Yamil Kouri.

Mick, Yamil and Alex write, "As APS Vice Presidents, we will bring our diverse organizational leadership experiences in and outside of the hobby to enhance the firm foundation of excellent APS member services supporting local stamp clubs, education, new collector outreach, and research through the American Philatelic Research Library."

They go on to say, "Each of us developed our passion for stamp collecting in childhood. The thrill of adding a new item to our collection, learning about different areas of the hobby and meeting other collectors continues to drive our commitment to philately in all its forms. American philately is blessed to have the APS, an organization with a rich 126-year history representing the structural backbone of our hobby from its inception to the present day. As three lifelong stamp collectors with over 70-years of cumulative APS membership between us, we would be honored to serve the society and its members as APS Vice Presidents. 

"

To view Alex's graduation speech (with a...wait for it... big surprise at the end), click on photo above. 

To visit Mick, Yamil and Alex's campaign website, click here.

Youth Cover and Essay Contest

"Every Cover Has A Story," the American First Day Cover Society contest which invites young people to write short essays about their favorite philatelic covers, is back according to the Society's website.

The contest is open to youths in five age groups, through age 18. Entries must arrive by July 18.

Those entering choose the cover – first day cover, event cover, or any other piece of mail – and write a story about it. The story and cover are both mounted on a single 8-1/2"x11" sheet of paper. Each contestant may enter only once a year, but membership in the AFDCS, by the entrant or a relative, is not required. Entrants do not have to produce the FDC or cachet themselves.

Four winners will be chosen within each of the age groups – Grand Award, First Place, Second Place and Third Place. The winning exhibit pages will be displayed at Americover 2012, which is being held August 10-12 in Irvine, Calif. Every participant will receive a certificate.

Shown above, an example of a previous year's entry.

For more information, click here.

'Grandparents Month' at Spellman Museum

Massachusetts' Weston Town Crier reports  it's 'Grandparents Month' at Spellman Museum of Stamps & Postal History. The Museum is inviting grandparents to bring their grandchildren to the museum to help them learn about stamps and stamp collecting.

According to the article, "The museum has prepared free children’s starter packets that include U.S. and world stamps, first day covers, a beginner’s album, a booklet about how to start the stamp hobby, and many helpful websites."

Education Director Henry Lukas is quoted in the piece saying he hopes “the younger generation can learn from the older generation (about) the many benefits and joys that can come from starting a stamp collection.”

Also on display will be many U.S. commemorative stamps starting from the 1930s that should bring back grandparents’ recollections of their collecting days. Grandparents are also welcome to bring their old album to share with the museum staff.

Shown above, 1982 Aging Together stamp.

To read the entire article, click here.

Interesting Philatelic Factoids

Brian P. Russell writes on the Blog Critic website, "The introduction of the U.S. postal stamp actually began in England in May of 1840. A U.S. Senator, Daniel Webster, recommended that the English postage stamps be used in America as well. The idea was well received and the first adhesive postage stamp ever produced in the western hemisphere was born on February 1, 1842 in New York City by a carrier service called “City Despatch Post.” The first U.S. stamp issue, featuring Benjamin Franklin, worth 5 cents, and George Washington, worth 10 cents, however, didn't become available for sale until July 1, 1847 in New York City."

According to Russell, "There are a few stamp sets that are considered to be the most popular of all stamps in American history. The first series of these stamps was the Liberty Issue stamp set in 1854. The Presidential stamp set from 1954 to 1965 came next. From then on it was the Prominent Americans stamp series from 1965 to 1981, the Great Americans stamp set from 1980 to 1994 and finally the American Celebrities stamp series in 2000."

He goes on to write about each of these series.

Russell includes one interesting philatelic factoid about Andrew Jackson.He pens, "Jackson's appearance was the first to be presented on two Confederate stamps, which made him the only U.S. President to be introduced to the postage by the Confederacy rather than the postal office."

Shown above, Daniel Webster  on 2002 U.S. stamp honoring Masters of American Photography , a 1965 US Andrew Jackson stamp which was part of the Prominent Americans series and a 1862 Confederate Andrew Jackson stamp.

To read the entire article, click here.

Bike Stamps Debut in Minneapolis

Minnesota's Star Tribune reports, "Giant postage stamps towed by bicyclists cruised around downtown Minneapolis Thursday morning. They were publicizing the national rollout of four new stamps from the U.S. Postal Service in a ceremony on the steps of the Central Library."

According to the article by reporter Kristian Hernandez, "At the library, four people arrived on bikes of the kinds depicted on the stamps: Postmaster Gina Hellerman, on a BMX-style bike; Erick Keskey, a business solutions specialist for the Postal Service, on a commuter bike; Louis Moore, president of the Major Taylor Bicycling Club, riding a road racer; and Oliva Bordon, a third-grader at Lyndale Elementary School, on a kid's bike."

Minneapolis-St. Paul television station KARE reports, "The release is in conjunction with Bike Walk Week in the Twin Cities, an annual celebration inviting people to kick off summer by trying bicycling and walking for at least one trip during the week that they otherwise would have driven."

For more on this story, click here.

Eight Ways To Make Collecting Pay Off

Columnist Deborah L. Jacobs, writes in the June 25, 2012 Investment Guide issue of FORBES magazine and on line, "They’re not liquid and no sure thing, but collectibles (a.k.a. tangible personal property) can be a profitable investment."

Jacobs says if people want to maximize the return on their collectibles, they should follow the advice of  Perri Capell, owner of the Boise, Idaho liquidation company Estate Sales Solutions. Capell says rule number one is "If something is touted as 'limited edition' or 'collectible' it probably isn’t."

She then goes on to list eight ways to make collecting - whether it's stamps or antique cars - pay off...

1. Buy, hold and trade up

2. Curb your compulsions...

3. But not your passions

4. Build intellectual capital

5. Know the tax rules

6. Donate items to a related group

7. Have a disaster plan

8. Leave heirs a road map  

To read the entire article, click here.  

Stamp Lovers Keep Philately Alive

In response to an article that appeared in California's Monterrey County Herald, reader George Krieger responds...

"Your May 17 article on philately focused too much on economics.

"Philately is a hobby for most participants. For a few, some dealers, it may not be much more than a business and thus the economic slant may have been based upon who you decided to interview, one a dealer.

"Philately is a window on geography and history. Studying the origins and reasons for a stamp or a series is a trek into a fascinating world of history, people and geography. I started at age 8 and by age 10 knew every country that exported coffee or tea. I knew their currencies and rulers and the importance of coffee or tea to the livelihoods of the residents.

"I am able to enjoyably occupy many hours researching and writing about what I have learned so others do not have to but can pick up where I left off. I have made friends in in several countries who have similar collecting and or research interests. When I used to travel, my knowledge of a country's postal history led to much more interesting conversations than the latest movies and led to meeting people I might not have met otherwise.

"Philately is so much more than finding a piece of printed paper to fill a spot on an album page."

Shown above, Gary Haas, who is quoted in the article as saying, "If you were to buy everything, from all the countries, released in one year, you would need $10,000." 

To read the article, Stamp Lovers Keep Philately Alive, that Krieger is referring to, click here.

Swiss Artist "Tidies Up" Stamp

Denise McCarty reports in the latest issue of Linn's Stamp News, "Swiss artist and comedian Ursus Wehrli has deconstructed a stamp design to illustrate his tidying up art."

McCarty goes on to write, "Wehrli  takes well-known pieces of art and reassembles in a neat, organized  fashion. He has also used this method to clean up other items, including parking lots with cars arranged by color, bowls of alphabet soup with letters all rows in alphabetical order, and fruit salad with the fruit lined up by type."

Shown above is combined original and "tidied up" stamp Wehrli came up with. The combination stamp was issued last month by Swiss Post.

To view more of Wehrli's work, click here.

Global Philatelic Library Now On Line

The Postal News Blog reports, The Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum has announced the launch of the Global Philatelic Library website, a centralized information gateway to the world’s greatest philatelic research.

According to the post, founding partners include the National Postal Museum and Smithsonian Libraries in Washington, D.C., the Royal Philatelic Society London and the American Philatelic Research Library in Bellefonte, Pa.

The post goes on to say, "This ambitious project has become a present-day reality thanks to the inspiration and dedication of the founding partners. The website establishes a single destination—a responsive centralized gateway—by which philatelists around the world can search, locate and access philatelic research from partner libraries in real time, from any computer. Searchable listings of books and publications, as well as resource locations and access, are now just a click away, providing invaluable resources to those doing philatelic research."

Some of the items that can be found in the Global Philatelic Library include a world-class collection of printed, electronic and other media as well as an "Anthology of fascinating, informative and sometimes even scandalous articles written throughout the past century about philately and some of the people involved in its history."

For more on this story, click here.

To visit the Global Philatelic Library website, click here.

The Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum announces the launch of the Global Philatelic Library website, a centralized information gateway to the world’s greatest philatelic research. Founding partners include the National Postal Museum and Smithsonian Libraries in Washington, D.C., the Royal Philatelic Society London and the American Philatelic Research Library in Bellefonte, Pa.

More Information: http://www.artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=55805[/url]
Copyright © artdaily.org

The Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum announces the launch of the Global Philatelic Library website, a centralized information gateway to the world’s greatest philatelic research. Founding partners include the National Postal Museum and Smithsonian Libraries in Washington, D.C., the Royal Philatelic Society London and the American Philatelic Research Library in Bellefonte, Pa.

More Information: http://www.artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=55805[/url]
Copyright © artdaily.org

British Artist's Collages Give Stamps a New Lease on Life

To celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II this year, British artist Rachel Markwick has created a Union Jack stamp collage using stamps of Great Britain issued during the Queen's 60 year reign. 

The This Is Gloucestershire website reports Rachel started making stamp collages like the one shown above a decade ago after the death of her father who was a stamp collector. In fact, both her parents had run a business dealing in stamps as a sideline and, even after selling many of them, the family was left with boxes of old stock.

Rachel is quoted as saying, ""The stamp dealership took up a whole room and we have had to sell most of it, but I did keep some of the stamps and that got me going on the whole idea of stamp collages."

According to the article, "Despite being a stamp collector herself, Rachel has no problem with cutting the materials she uses in her designs.Value-wise they are worth just a few pence each at most and, as far as she is concerned, it's better to have them out in the open displayed as part of a collage than languishing unseen in a drawer."

"My designs give stamps a new lease of life," she said.

To read the entire article, click here.

To view some of Rachel's other collages, click here.

Young People Rejuvenate Hobby With Winning Designs

Canada's Edmonton Stamp Club, which turns 100 this year, sponsored a stamp design contest for young people according to a write-up on the Edmonton Journal website.

The club's Alberta Youth Stamp Design Contest's theme this year was the Royal Canadian Mounted Police’s role in the province of Alberta. The contest garnered about 5,000 entries from schools all over the province with the winners  receiving $500 in prize money according to reporter Candice So.

The results of the contest were unveiled at the Royal 2012 Convention and National Stamp Show held this weekend.

So says, "Most of the convention-goers this weekend are over 50, and that worries John Attrell, the contest organizer. He said while the competition encourages a love of art, it also aims to reignite young people’s interest in the hobby."

Shown above, one of the winning designs by Emily Wang, age 11.

To read the entire article, click here.
 

Britain's Post Office in Pictures

On June 7, Martin Devereux, the British Postal Museum and Archive's (BPMA) digital content development manager, will be speaking at The Lumen URC, Bloomsbury about the foundation of the General Post Office Photograph Library in the 1930s, its subsequent development and re-establishment when the Post Office became a statutory corporation in 1969, through to its closure in the 1990s.

Mr. Devereux's talk is being given in conjunction with the exhibition, The Post Office in Pictures, that showcases a number of  BPMA photographs.

According to the BPMA website,  "In 1934, the General Post Office (GPO) established its Public Relations Department. Headed by the entrepreneurial Sir Stephen Tallents, the department's aim was to promote good relations with the public, to provide guidance on using postal services, and to gather and interpret customer feedback to help shape the work of the GPO."

It goes on to say, "Photography was one of the key tools used by the PR Department to reach and engage with the general public. In order to supply its fledgling Post Office Magazine with professionally-produced photographs, Tallents secured the services of skilled photographers from the Engineer-in-Chief's Department. Members of the GPO Photographic Unit began to accompany the magazine's journalists, creating visually appealing, informative and often humorous articles about daily life in Britain."

Shown above, postman holding some unusual mail in the returned parcels section. No date given.

For more information and photos, click here.

Symbolic Stamp Would Support Veterans Programs

The Stars and Stripes reports, "...a bipartisan group of lawmakers has sought to fire up that patriotic spirit with the Victory for Veterans Stamp Act. The act would provide for the sale of a 21-cent stamp to generate money for veterans programs, paying down the national debt and propping up the U.S. Postal Service. The stamp could not be used for postage, even though it would be offered for sale by the Postal Service. Rep. John B. Larson, D-Conn., the bill’s chief sponsor, said the stamp would be a way for Americans to show their patriotism and support for the troops."

According to reporter Richard Simon, "Larson came up with the idea for the stamp while going through letters his parents sent to each other during World War II.

“I couldn’t help but notice a unique ‘victory’ stamp that was used at the time as a means to help support the war effort,” he said, referring to a 3-cent violet “Win the War” stamp featuring the American eagle with wings spread in a V, encircled by 13 stars.

Larson is quoted in the article as saying the new stamp could spur school campaigns to write troops. It could be attached to the envelopes, in addition to the postage.

For more on this story, click here.