The Tree

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In this post we will continue to focus in the Americas,with stamps from Cuba and Chile...

Let us start with Chile ,with stamps from the 30's to the 70's...

3 single stamp Commemorative series about President's of Chile.. the first Honors the life of Manuel Bulnes and 2 stamps are presented , because the printing was made with two different papers.. the 2nd stamp is a much more thin paper...The 2nd series show us Bernardo O'Higgins and the 2nd stamp is from a different shade of blue..The 3rd president showed is José Joaquin Peréz (the stamp is of the same size as the others, of course... my digital work is not very good yet...)

1931 "Manuel Bulnes" (1[2]) [Litho] Sc(181)[the information of the papers appeared in my SG old catalog of South America, and it revealed to be very accurate...]

1932 "Bernardo O'Higgins" (1) [Litho] Sc(182)

1934 "José Joaquin Peréz" (1) [Litho] Sc(185)

These are stamps from a series about the main Industries and Landscapes of Chile..it is a 12 stamps series,and I've got 2 still missing ...The series is divided in (c) stamps and (p) stamps..the first 7 stamps (the 5c is missing above) are [Litho] printed and the other 5 (with the 1.80P missing) are [Recess] Printed... the designs are very beautiful and the final result is a very well accomplished series... 

in my continuous quest for strange 'Stamp things' I found 3 of them in the same stamp.. Printing problems , for sure, but they are there!!.

1938/1940 "Industries and Nature" (12) [Litho] Sc(199,...,204)

Some more presidents ...The first two stamps are from series about Bernardo O'Higgins .. these two series have 2 stamps each , one with wmk and other without...the stamps I show from these series are with wmk in the first case and without wmk in the 2nd.. The personality presented in the other two stamps is Francisco Antonio Pinto, also President of Chile in a specific period of time...the 1st is from a series of several portraits, and the last is from a Various Designs series...

1948 "Bernardo O'Higgins" (2) [Litho] Sc(252)

1952 "Bernardo O'Higgins" (2) [Litho] Sc(265)

1956/1958 "Various Portraits" (7) [Litho][1958] Sc(295)

1960/1967 "Various Designs" (8) [Litho][1960] Sc(324)

 [Left] the two stamps have the same design, and in it's original form (1st) it belongs to the above 'Various Designs' series from 1960/1967...this design exists also in another larger size with a difference in the descriptive label .. in this stamp it appears between the two currency numerals ... in the other stamp (of this same series) it appears below the label "Correos de Chile" ...The 2nd stamp offers us a surcharge over the original stamp.. it is an obligatory tax...
1st) 1960/1967 "Various Designs" (8) [Litho][1962] Sc(326)
2nd) 1970 "Surcharge over Sc(326)" (2) [Litho] Sc(RA1)
[Right] portraits from the Politician Diego Portales and from the President Jorge Montt..
1st) 1975 "Diego Portales" (10) [Litho] Sc(481)
2nd) 1965 "Jorge Montt" (1) [Litho] Sc(354)

1st) beautiful stamp commemorating Robinson Crusoe's presence in the Juan Fernandez Island... 
1965 "Robinson Crusoe commemoration" (1) [Litho] Sc(349)

2nd) a landscape stamp commemorating a campaign to plant trees and to contribute to our planet's Good Health...
1967 " National Afforestation Campaign" (1) [Litho] Sc(363)

1st) a stamp about the Rapel Dam
1969 "Rapel Hydroelectric Plant" (1) [Litho] Sc(377) 
2nd) 1968 "The 5 Cities Celebration" (1) [Litho] Sc(371)

CUBAN STAMPS

Now we are leaving the domain of the [Litho] printed stamps and we are entering the [Recess] printed Territory... some of the stamps I will show are real beautiful specially the 2c stamps of the Tobacco Industry Series of 1948...

these are 1914 stamps and they represent the map of the Golf of Mexico where Cuba appears as the largest Island...  

1914/1915 "Cuba's Map" (10) [Engr (ABNC)][Recess (J.L. Rodriguez,Havana)] Sc(253,254,257)

I will now show a small presentation of the stamps related to the Anti Tuberculosis Fund...

[Left] 1938 "Anti Tuberculosis Fund" (1) [Recess] Sc(RA1)



[Right]  1939 "Anti Tuberculosis Fund" (1) [Recess] Sc(RA2)




 [Left] 1940 "Anti Tuberculosis Fund" (1) [Recess] Sc(RA3)



[Right]  1941"Anti Tuberculosis Fund" (1) [Recess] Sc(RA4)

[Left] 1943 "Anti Tuberculosis Fund" (1) [Recess) Sc(RA8)

[Right]  1950"Anti Tuberculosis Fund" (1) [Recess] Sc(RA10)

1951"Anti Tuberculosis Fund" (4) [Recess] Sc(RA12,...,RA15)

General Calixto Garcia was a very important Personality in Cuba's History , because of his involvement in three Wars against the Spanish Rule over Cuba, that led into the Independence of the Island  after the Spanish-American War... the other stamp of the series must be a nice stamp,with the General riding a Horse.. very nice..!

1939 "General Calixto Garcia" (2) [Recess] Sc(359)

I have showed the other two stamps of this series in a previous post with Cuban stamps.. it is a series about the Tobacco Industry, one of the main income source of the Island..

1939 "Havana Tobacco Industry" (3) [Recess] Sc(358)

Another series related to the Tobacco Industry... I think the 2c stamps is the most beautiful stamp of all that I have presented today..

1948 "Havana Tobacco Industry" (3) [Recess] Sc(420,421)

Hope you like this post  and thank you for your visits and Continuous support...

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The Smiling Skeleton

New Entries

Some more stamps from Cuba... the 30's, 40's and 50's of Cuba's Society...It is a little hard to ignore Politics , when you are dealing with Cuban stamps.. Cuban always was, in my opinion, like a disinherited Son for US.. the proximity of the Island always led to business, contraband and other ways, legal or not, of prospering..The end of the war with Spain contributed to a bigger influence of US in Cuba , that as We all know ended in the 50's ..What really interest us , and Politics does not, is what the US left behind in Cuba's Philately, the influence in the design , the printing methods adopted, in a way  the influence of ABNC (American Bank Note Company)... I think that this influence was very positive, like in many other Central and South American Countries...

Let us start , chronologically , with a stamp from the 20's....

 this is a beautiful stamp, one of the almost 400 Air Mail stamps issued by Cuban Postal Authority..

1927 "Flying boat over Havana Harbour" (1) [Des (O. Fontes Y Acosta)][Engr (Security Bank note Co., Philadelphia)][Recess (Cia. Nacional de Artes Gráficas de Cuba)] Sc(C1)

It is significant that I really don't have much data about designers in these period of time, neither in Cuba or other Central america Countries..the name of this designer of Cuban Origin , for sure , appears twice in the production of these early Air Mail stamps.. In many cases , I have info about the Printing Process , but the Designer is neglected.. I think that in these cases we have the 'dissolution' of the individual designer in the total work of the big company's like ABNC, Waterlow, etc..it was a wrong procedure , because it kept the Artist from receiving the credits for his work..
I left you here a very interesting small pdf article about the individual designers and engravers in the early days of ABNC..it is about Chile stamps , but it is a very good Article (in Spanish...)

These are stamps from the two Air Mail series of 1931..As you can see in a close inspection of the pictures I present , these stamps are fertile ground for color and Printing variations...
These series were issued from 1931 to 1948 (the 1st series - with the airplane heading right..) and 1956 (the 2nd series - with the airplane heading Left..).. so in these long periods of time printing methods evolve, the workers evolve and the result is a better printing work, with more definition... in the 1st picture 4 stamps are presented with variations both in color and quality of printing.. in the 2nd picture two stamps are presented with an obvious difference in the quality of printing (only SG present the violet 5c stamp because the original is the Purple one..) ; in the 3rd picture there are still missing the 15c and 50c ..

UP/RIGHT : 1931/1956 "Air Mail" (6) [Des (O. Fontes Y Acosta)][Recess (Cia. Impresora de Cuba)] Sc(C12)
DOWN : 1931/1948 "Air Mail" (9) [Des (O. Fontes Y Acosta)][Recess (Cia. Impresora de Cuba)] Sc(C4,C40,C5,C7,C8,C9)

Here We have a Special Delivery stamp .. I couldn't refrain myself from thinking that the design is to simple.. it could be much better with some clouds in the Background....

1935 "Aeroplane near Morro Castle" (1) [Engr (ABNC, New York)][Recess (J.L. Rodriguez, Havana)] Sc(E7)

[Left] Complete series about the figure of General José Miguel Gomez, Ex- President of Cuba.1936 "Inauguration of the Monument to President Gomez" (2) [Recess (P. Fernandez, Havana)] Sc(322,323)

[Right] The influence of the Ideals of Democracy and Freedom from the US is the central point of these stamp and Series.. it is a rich stamp in history and Personalities.. At the Center of the stamp lies the Cuban Coat of Arms... The personalities presented in the stamp are: Lt. General José Antonio De Maceo Y Grajales , Simon Bolivar  , Benito Juarez and Abraham Lincoln

1942 "Spirit of Democracy in the Americas" (5) [Des (Cabrera Y Cuesta)][Recess] Sc(369)

from 1943 until 1952 , at least , there was a series every year with the label "Retiro De Comunicaciones" ... the money collected with these stamps was dedicated to the Postal Workers Retirement Fund.. I have some stamps of these series between those I have to show You today..

These are stamps from the 1st of these series...
1943 "The Long Road to Retirement" (3) [Recess] Sc(381,382)

[Left] stamp from one of the main series of the 40's in Cuba..The stamp is about Bartolomé de las Casas, protector of the native's... This Dominican Friar is seen as one of the first 'advocates' of the Human Right's..

1944 "450th Anniversary of the Discovery of America" (7) [Recess (P. Fernandez, Havana)] Sc(388)


[Right] 1944 "150th Anniversary of the Economic Society 'Friends of Cuba'" (2) [Recess] Sc(395) ; in these stamp are represented Luis De Las Casas (Governor General of Cuba , from 1790 to 1796) and the Bishop Luis Maria Penalyer , both Founding Members of the Society..

[Left] 1944 "Centenary of the 1st Postage Stamps of the Americas (Brazil)" (1) [Recess] Sc(393)

[Right] 1945 "Special Delivery" (1) [Recess] Sc(E12) ( Good Postmark.!.)

[Left] 1946 "3rd Anniversary of the Founding of "Manuel Marquez Sterling" Professional School of Journalism" (1) [Recess] Sc(403)

[Right] 1946 " 80th Anniv of International Red Cross" (1) [Recess] Sc(404)

These are once again stamps from the Retirement Fund I was talking about some lines above..The 1st image show us a complete series from 1948 and the 2nd show us two stamps , one from the 1945 series and other from the 1947 series... I have to highlight here that almost every time I say very good things about the Designers and their stamps, but in the particular case of this series from 1945 (1st stamp, 2nd image) I have to ask "How can a stamp like this could be issued???" do You believe in the old Woman's smile ??? It look's like a skeleton smiling..!!.. in this case I prefer not to know the Designer's name....

ABOVE : 1948 "mother and child" (3) [Recess] Sc(415,416,417)
BELOW : 1st image] 1945 "Aged Couple" (3) [Recess] Sc(397) 
                2nd Image] 1947 "Antonio Sarret (1st President of the Association of Retired Postal Workers)" (3) [Recess] Sc(417)

 

[Left] This series is dedicated to the Philanthropic life of Marta Abreu  ;
1947 "Birth Centenary of Marta  Abreu (philanthropist)" (4) [Recess] Sc(411)

In my last post about Cuban stamps , I believe I have shown the other stamp of this series about José Marti, a Cuban Hero..
1948 "50th Death Anniv of Jose Marti" (2) [Recess] Sc(419)

This Dull Yellow Green doesn't help at all to appreciate the quality of the stamps.. even the design details are kept from the viewer by this kind of fog that covers the pictures.. 
The 1st stamps show us a Spanish Fortress and the two other stamps are from the Retirement Fund series of 1950 and 1949 respectively..I like to say that the 1950 stamp is dedicated to the Employees of the Communications Department and not only to the Postal workers..
1st) 1949 "Bicentenary of Jagua Fortress" (2) [Recess] Sc(433)
2nd) 1950 "Train Wreck" (3) [Recess] Sc(452)
3rd) 1949 "Ismael Cespedes (Telegraph Worker)" (3) [Recess] Sc(438)

I Left this stamp to the end , not only because of the Chronological display I have assumed in this post, but also because of the it's Actuality .. Clara Louise Maass was an American Nurse that voluntarily accept death in the name of Science ( in this particular case , while experimenting new 'drugs' against the Yellow Fever ).. it is very Actual today , because of all the Physicians and Nurses that are losing their lives fighting the Ebola virus...  

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The Ship

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My recent attempt to highlight the designers names and biography's , allowing them to have the notoriety they deserve when we speak of postage stamps , transformed all the time schedules for the posts... preparation is delayed with much more time spent in research...however , there are times when the research in the Internet is not sufficient. ; today's post is representative of this problem.. I could not find almost anything about the designer's of today's stamps ... 

when I have some money to spend , I will start "digging" and buying books and catalogs about these thematic. I think this is a part of our hobby, that has been neglected for too long.. different countries have their own data about their stamp designers ( when it is available..) , but there isn't a centralized place with all these information  about the different countries.. 

Cuba

the stamp represents Queen Isabella II of Spain.. ; there were 3 different emissions with  this design, in 1855, 1856 and 1857..they differ in the paper used .. I managed to classify this stamp only because it is the only blue stamp on white paper.. the other one present in this 3 emissions is "Greenish blue" on blue paper ( the 1st stamp of Cuba..)..so , there is yet no possibility for me of distinguish some papers by touch or by another more "advanced" knowledge, that only appears with the pass of years.. 

from a series (3) 1857 "Queen Isabella II of Spain"  

Perf: N/A

Sc(12)

[Typo]

[Left] Coat of Arms of Spain

from a series (4) 1875 "Spain's Coat of Arms"

Perf: 14

Sc(65)

[Typo]

[Right]

 from a series (6) 1878 "King Alfonso XII of Spain"

Perf: 14

Sc(79c)

[Typo]

In my opinion , King Alfonso XIII of Spain was poorly represented in Cuba's Philately (fortunately , for the Cuban's...) ... these are two of the "less accomplished" Alfonso XIII stamps , if we compare them with the type "Medallón" or Vaquer" series from Spain..  

[Left] similar in design to the "Pelón" series of "King Alfonso XIII" (Spain) , the stamp belongs to a series (24) "King Alfonso XIII (1890/1897)"

Perf: 14 x 13.5

Sc(144)

[Typo]

[Right] from a series (20) 1898 "King Alfonso XIII".

Perf: 13.5

Sc(163)

[Typo]

South Africa

I will start with some stamps from a period where successive repetitions of the same designs , sometimes differing only in small or very small details, difficult the classification of the stamps..

First aspect we have to consider is that South African stamps of this period can have labels either in English or Afrikaans; sometimes the stamps were issued in pairs , one for each language.. catalogs always deal with these stamps differently : as pairs, single English or single Afrikaans stamps ( with different catalog values for each one of these possibilities..).

1st) this stamp represents a 'Springbok" , that is a gazelle very common on South Africa.. the importance of this animal is highlighted by the fact of it's presence in several of the watermarks of South Africa.

After a first analysis of the perforation (15 x 14) , we could exclude the first emission of the stamp (1926/1928)(14.5 x 14 [Typo][Engr]).. so it is a redrawn [Photo] for sure ; now we have to distinguish between the (1930/1945 and 1933/1954) emissions [ same Wmk, perf, labels] .. the 1933/1954 stamp has 28 horizontal lines in the center background and a smooth white horizontal line inside each of the superior and inferior green bars.. these are indeed , small details..!(each of these aspects is clearly visible in a single image of the stamp.. I do not upload this image , because I would be repeating it and to avoid possible confusion to the viewer...) 

from a series (23) 1933/1954 "Various Designs"

Perf: 15 x 14

Sc(46a) [issued in 1937]

[Photo]

   2nd) it is a 'Rose Carmine & Grey Black' stamp from the same series..the stamp represents the 'Drommedaris' , Jan Van Riebeeck's leader ship from the fleet that arrive to Cape in 1652 , with the purpose of establish a station for the East India Dutch Company.

Perf: 15 x 14

Sc(49a) [issued in 1940]

[Photo]

3rd) from the same series, we have a pair , with both languages, 'Carmine & Black"

Perf: 15 x 14

Sc(50) [issued in 1951]

[Photo]

4th)5th) the last two stamps represent a Gold mine.. mine's are one of the
great resource's from South Africa , not only from Gold but from other minerals and metals with high economic value.

the two stamps differ in it's size..

Perf: 15 x 14

Sc(51b,52b)[issued , respectively, in 1936 and 1941]

[Photo]

the search for the designer of this series has taken me a great amount of time... and in the end , I've got no results ; even now I spent the last hour or so , in a last attempt to find a name.. many pages about this series, and nothing...(but it was useful in many other ways...).. perhaps , the artist belongs to the Postal service , or the name is in front of everybody who have a South Africa Catalog...! well, I give up..
This is a famous series, known to every fan of the "Wildlife" topic..it is one of the classics...this five stamps are all from the original 1954 series..in 1959 a new Watermark was used and the currency is the same... in 1961 , the new Wmk was used again and also some of these designs (together with some designs from 1960 series..), but a new currency was used...
The first 4 stamps of this (14)  series have Perf: 15 x 14 and the others 14 ; the 3d stamp is damaged and waiting for substitution.
Perf: 1)2) 15 x 14 3)4)5) 14
Sc(201,203,204,205,208)
[Photo][Wmk]

 

[Left] Complete series 1964 "75th Anniv of South African Rugby Board."

Perf: 14 x 15

Sc(301)

[Photo][Wmk]

[Right] stamps from two series: the first 2 stamps are from a series (3) 1966 "Verwoerd Commemoration." (Hendrick Verwoerd was Prime-Minister of South Africa , from 1958 to 1966 , when he was assassinated... He is currently seen has the mind behind the Apartheid System...) 

Perf: 14 x 15

Sc(314,315)

[Photo][Wmk]

the remaining stamp is from a series (3) 1992 "Environmental Conservation"
Perf: 14.5 x 14
Sc(816)
[Des] Johan Van Niekerk
[Litho]

To finish this long post, more wildlife stamps have joined us..

1)2)from a series (19) "Endangered Fauna (1993/1995)", with Scientific labels in Latin..
Perf: 14.5 x 14
Sc(853,857)
[Litho]
3) it is a 45c stamp, but with no currency label.. it is a stamp projected for standard mail.
it is from a series (19) "Endangered Fauna (1996/1998)" , with the same designs , but with Scientific labels in English

Perf: 14.5 x 14
Sc(867f)
[Litho]

[Des] Denis Murphy : (b 1935/ d 2012) Wildlife painter ,received numerous Honors and Awards for his Art work and for his work in Philately.. Designed stamps for several countries in the South of the African continent.

The last stamp is from a series of (40) "Endangered Fauna (1998/2000)" ; the stamp itself has no currency label (Standard mail 1.30r) and no frames.. 
Perf: 14.5 x Horiz. 14 One Side
Sc(1039)
[Litho]

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