SCOTTISH PAPER FOR THIS YEAR’S HEALTH STAMPS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 15, Issue 58, 19 June 1950, Page 3

SCOTTISH PAPER FOR THIS YEAR’S HEALTH STAMPS

There will be pride in Scotland when New Zealand’s 1950 health stamps are printed—not only will the stamp portray Princess Elizabeth and her son Prince Charles, but it will be printed on paper made in Fifeshire, Scotland. The stamps will be sold at Whakatane from October 2.

Experts say it takes good paper to make a good stamp, and the Scottish paper being used contains esparto grass, chemical wood and ash, which is regarded as of great importance. It is several years since Scottish paper was used in the manufacture of New Zealand stamps.' The last health stamp issue, for instance, was printed in England on paper W/hich was made from rag, woodpulp, titanium, blane fixe and China clay. One expert explained that the selection of paper for stamp printing is a particularly exacting task, and constant experimentation goes on to find the best finish.

Orders for first-day covers of the 1950 health stamp, which is to be released on October 2, have already begun to pour in from overseas philatelists.

With this issue, Prince Charles will be the youngest member of the Royal Family to appear on a British stamp. The design submitted by Mr R. S. Phillips, of Rangiora, and Mr James Berry, of Wellington, incorporates a photograph taken late last year.