Cool Stamps

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[the-casual-philatelist]

Happy National Puppy Day! My dog isn't quite a puppy anymore 😢 But enjoy these puppies on stamps I was able to round up from my collection!

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Issued in 1966 in Mali, these two stamps are from a set depicting various river fishing scenes. While Mali has an economy based mainly in agriculture, there is a long tradition of river fishing, focused mainly on the alluvial plain of the Central Delta, prone to seasonal flooding from the Niger and Bani rivers. Mali fisherman utilize a variety of methods and equipment including spears, nets, and fish traps known as durankoro. Some of the most common fish caught and sold include multiple African catfish species and Nile tilapia.

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Happy World Frog Day! This stamp, issued in 1972 in what was then North Vietnam, reproduces a Đông Hồ folk woodcut painting titled Thầy đồ Cóc, or 'Frog Teacher.' Đông Hồ paintings are traditionally produced in the Vietnamese village of the same name, and the images often reflected symbols of good luck, historical or mythical figures, scenes of everyday life, or folk allegories, as in Thầy đồ Cóc. The painting represents an allegory of a Confucian scholar and students in the form of frogs.

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The Penny Red was issued by the United Kingdom starting in 1841 after it was realized that the black cancellation marks were hard to distinguish against its predecessor, the world's first postage stamp, the Penny Black. The imperforate version of the stamp (as in the example) was printed until 1854, and the perforated version continued to be printed until 1879. The stamps bore the image of Queen Victoria, and the letters printed in the bottom corners referred to that individual stamps position on the printing plate.

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Sorting more stamps!

Reminder that there's still time to enter my giveaway for some Japanese stamps; I'll be choosing winners later this evening (Friday 3/19/21, Eastern time). Link to the giveaway post!

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Issued in Romania in 1965 as part of a series on Stories & Legends, this stamp depicts the "Lupul Moralist," or "The Wolf as Moralist." This fable was written by Grigore Alexandrescu, a Romanian poet who lived and worked in the 19th Century, and often wrote works with satirical, political undertones. Lupul Moralist tells of a wolf who lectures the other animals of his kingdom about their immoral behavior, all while wearing a cape made from the skin of an innocent lamb.

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These are two examples from the definitives set which was issued in Ireland starting in 1922 until the release of the new definitive designs in 1968. The set featured four different symbols of Ireland; these are two examples of the stamps bearing 'An Claidheamh Soluis,' or the Sword of Light. The Sword of Light is a fixture of many Irish folktales, often the objective of a quest, enough that it is recognized as one of the distinct folktale motifs in Thompson's motif-index. Of the stamps pictured, the green one on the left is from the earlier printings in the 20s, while the purple one on the right is from the last printings in the 1960s, utilizing both new paper and a new printing process that led to a slightly smaller design.

[the-casual-philatelist]

This stamp was issued in Austria in 1949 to celebrate the Tag der Briefmarke (Day of the Stamp). While there would be several later Austrian stamps also commemorating this day, the 1949 issue was the first. Engraved by Hubert Woyty-Wimmer, it shows several covers bearing a 1933 Austrian stamp commemorating the Vienna International Stamp Exhibition, with one being examined by magnifying glass. The stamp is an example of a popular topical collection category, "stamps on stamps," stamps that depict other stamps and images related to the philatelic hobby.

[the-casual-philatelist]

Issued in the US in 2005 as part of a series depicting various constellations, this stamp shows an image of the hunter Orion. While Orion gets its name from the hunter of Greco-Roman mythology, throughout human history different cultures have interpreted the same grouping of stars as an archer, a fool, a deer, a shepherd, a bison, a giant, and even a representation of a child's string game. The constellation has been found depicted in prehistoric carvings, and is mentioned in many literary sources, from the Bible to the mythology of Middle-Earth. It is most prominent in the evening sky during winter in the Northern Hemisphere (or summer in the Southern Hemisphere).

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Sorting stamps is so soothing.

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The 1000환 denomination of this stamp was first issued in 1954 in South Korea, as part of a series of definitives depicting images of reforestation and national symbols. The stamp shows a male and female sika deer (Cervus nippon), native throughout East Asia. Unlike many other deer species, the sika deer does not lose its spots as an adult. It is considered a species of least concern, although there is currently no native wild population left in South Korea.

[the-casual-philatelist]

Issued in France between 1943 and 1966, this stamp series featured the provincial coat of arms of 61 different French regions of the time. A wide variety of heraldic elements can be seen in these examples. Many of them feature the fleur-de-lis, a design (or 'charge') symbolic of France. 6 of the 7 colors used in heraldry can be seen (missing from these examples is black, or 'sable'). Oran's coat of arms displays the multiple subdivisions common when families or locations wanted to merge their coats of arms (or 'marshall' them). Gueret's shows a stag 'passant', or 'trippant', a term used to describe an animal walking towards the left, with it's right foreleg raised and the other 3 on the ground. The language of heraldic blazon is incredibly formalized and descriptive.

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Reblogging to add that some further research clarified that these are the coats of arms of different French cities of the time, not regions! I had always seen this set referred to as the Provincial Coat of Arms series, but now I see it is also referred to as the City Arms.

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Reblog and tag yourself, I'm ♍ 😂

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Designed by Brigitte Lampert, this stamp was issued in 2015 in Liechtenstein as part of that year's Europa stamp theme, toys. The stamp depicts a goat figurine which was produced by a toy factory in Liechtenstein in the 1940s, and was deliberately designed to show the figurine as it might be found in the middle of a child's play, cheerfully balanced on top of a lemon.

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My favorite tag so far. (BTW, adore your MBMBaM header!)

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So excited to see some new followers! Huge thanks to stamp-it-to-me for the promo! I hope you all enjoy my content just as much as theirs! Wanted to say that I'm happy to take requests for topics/countries/etc for my stamp of the day series; just drop me an ask or a message. All of my content is drawn from my own stamp collection!

[the-casual-philatelist]

Issued in China in 1993 as part of a series of 4 stamps celebrating the Honey Bee. China is the world's largest producer of honey, producing nearly a 4th of the world's honey in 2019. A single honey bee produces on average about 1/12th of a teaspoon of honey in its lifetime. Cave paintings dating back at least 8,000 yeard depict humans foraging for honey. Honey has long been known to have anti-bacterial properties, and has been used in various folk and traditional medicines as a topical antibiotic for centuries.