FOR STAMP COLLECTORS

Evening Star, Issue 21747, 15 June 1934, Page 3

FOR STAMP COLLECTORS

[By Philatelist.]

Those who regularly peruse one or other of the various philatelic journals must have noticed how increasingly numerous commemorative stamps arc becoming. To such an extent is the practice followed now by most countries that one is forced to the conclusion that it is done more with a view to securing increased revenue than anything else. A collector desirous of keeping his collection up to date must include the commemoratives, and this of necessity demands an ever-increasing expenditure. It is not surprising that many collectors are becoming tired of the continual flow of commemoratives that are pouring from the printing press, and arc seriously considering confining their activities to the pre-commemorative era. Such a decision calls for commendation, and, if universally adopted, might in time bring about a cessation of commemorative issues. One can overlook a general issue commemorating some very important incident in the early history of a country, such as its discovery; but it is quite another matter to countenance the issue one month of a special stamp in honour of the third' anniversary of this, to be followed a month or two later by the issue of another stamp to commemorate the fifth anniversary of that, and so on ad infinitum. Foreign countries have been the worst offenders in this respect, but some of the British possessions have not been too circumspect lately, with the inevitable result that their stamps are being neglected by many collectors. Santa Claus is the name of a little town in the State of Indiana, United States, and every year thousands of Americans send Christmas cards, letters, and packages to this town, from which they are mailed direct to the recipients, who literally receive them from Santa Claus. Indeed, so popular is this Indiana Post Office that the United States postal authorities have had to instal for the Christmas rush each year, two electrically operated cancelling machines capable of postmarking 40,000 letters per hour. Yet, during the rest of the year, a hand stamp takes care of the few letters posted by the hundred odd inhabitants. There are three towns named “ Christmas ” in the United States, situated respectively in the States of Arizona, Florida, and Kentucky, and at Yuletide each year the local post offices have also to cope with a heavy stream of mail matter upon which is desired as a postmark the seasonable name' of Christmas. Reference has previously been made hi this column to the recent growth of interest in the collecting of postal obliterations, or, as they are generally called, “ postmarks.” Two out of the way place postmarks are mentioned in the preceding paragraph. Here are a few more:—The Gully, The Summit, Goober Sedy, Hell, Paradise, The Desert, The Wells, Jericho, Moose Jaw, Rellbird, Pern Tree Gully, Dark Corner. Runaway Bay. A collection of quaint postmarks would be unique and interesting. For the information of any that may be interested, the postmark “ Hell ” is obtainable from Norway.

A GREAT DISCOVERY. The first regular issues of Greek stamps have always interested the advanced philatelist because, in addition to their “ classic ” head of Hermes, they present more abstruse problems for the student than most early issues. The stamps of this large Hermes head type, too, have been abundant; they wore in use for more than a quarter of a century from 1861, and during that period went through a considerable number of printings—some in Paris, where the dies were engraved and the plates made, and others, printed less skilfully, in Athens. Some of the greatest philatelists at Home and abroad have made it their hobby, for many years, to identify the various printings, and to account for the numerous flaws and varieties. There has even been a wide divergence of opinion among experts as t/ the unusual method by which Si. Albert Barre, the engraver, contrived the construction of the plates. Now, after many years, during a "learance qf basements or cellars at the State Printing Works in Athens, the seven plates which Barre is known to have sent to the Pincus in 1861, have been found, cleaned up, and prove to be in a very fair state of preservation. They are destined for a place of honour in a new postal museum to be set up by the Greek Post Office. These plates should enable the philatelic experts to elucidate many of the points that have puzzled them—and on which there has been almost endless controversy—for nearly fifty years. WHAT PAPER IS THIS? Young collectors are often troubled to distinguish between the different typos of paper on which stamps are printed, laid, wove, pelure, granite, and so on. It is interesting to learn, therefore, that the souvenir label of this year’s philatelic congress has been printed in seven different colours on seven different typos of paper—wove (hand-made'), printed in black; wove •(machine-made), blue; laid, green; pelure, red; wove, batonne, purple; laid, batonne, orange; quadrille, sepia. The idea is to provide collectors with a guide to the papers commonly used in stamp printing, and the set would be quite an interesting and useful item for mounting on an introductory album page. The design shows an early postman delivering letters. It is a beautiful piece of engraving, and is quite the best philatelic congress souvenir yet produced. A FILM INSPIRATION. Inspirations for stamp collectors have been sought and found in many curious places, but we imagine that never before has a “ still ” from a cinema'been “ lifted ” for the purpose. The design of Austria’s 12gr winter sports stamp was actually taken from a film made by the Urania Company, while the designs used for the 24 and 30gr of the same series were ordinary camera views made by the famous Austrian sports photographer, Loth an Rubelt. The series contained four stamps, the high value being 50gr. and was valid for postage until March 31. Only 50,000 sets were printed, and these were sold at double face value, the premium being devoted to the funds of the International Ski-ing Federation.