POSTAGE STAMPS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 3, Issue 284, 17 March 1941, Page 6

POSTAGE STAMPS

DOGS APPEAR ON FEW The dog may be man'i- best friend, but you could never prove it by the number of appearances he has made on the "world's postage stamps. So far as is known there are 15 postal items that pay tribute to the dog. With a single exception, these have been issued in New-World Countries. It is not easy to understand "why the dog should have been so neglected by postal authorities. There arc several thousand postage stamps portraying fishes and birds, and all sorts of animals from the moss common domestic breeds to dwellers of unknown hinterlands. The world's first adhesive postage stamp was printed in 1840. It was a matter of 17 years after that before the lirst "'dog stamp" made its appearance. Newfoundland was the. first country to honour the dog. In 1887 it issued a half-cent stamp depicting the Newfoundland dog, with a design after a famous Landseer painting. In 1932 the postal officials in Newfoundland again paid tribute to the country'.; canine namesake tin's time with a full-length, reproduction. The French-owned islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon issued a set of 11 stamps in 193.';. All of them depicted the Newfoundland dog, to make this particular canine the most popular of all breeds portrayed on postage stamps. In 1927 Canada issued a s'pecia!;' delivery stamp 1o commemorate the Gtith anniversary of the founding of the Dominion of Canada. Different modes of mail transportation are deoicted on this stamp, ineku!-

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Ina dog team pulling a sled through northern snows. That was a htoughtful tribute, for dogs have played an important part in the development ot' Canada's Isolated northlaud. Aside from these North American contributions, one other country has issued a canine postage stamp. That particular adhesive Avas printed by the Saar in 192(5, at which time it ivas under French control. This stamp depicts a blind man being guided by one of the famous "Seoingeye" dogs.