It all started way back in the mid 1950s. Rosing was asked to design Greenland’s very first commemorative stamp featuring a scene from the Mother of the Sea, an old traditional story. It’s a very attractive stamp which was beautifully engraved. The 1957 version was printed in greenish blue colour. It was then reprinted in 1961 in plain blue. The 1957 variety is four times as costly as the reprint.

1966 The Boy & his Fox Series

In the 1950s and 60s most Greenlandic stamps were designed by Viggo Bang. Rosing was mainly commissioned to design the stamps with purely Greenlandic motifs. Thus his second stamp was the 1962 Drum Dance followed in 1966 by yet another stamp in the Greenlandic Legends series. The stamp shows The Boy and the Fox and it marks the beginning of Rosing’s long association with legendary Polish-Swedish stamp engraver Czeslaw Slania.

Until well into the 1980s all Greenlandic stamps were recess-printed in one colour only (with very few exceptions). In my view this is the classic period of Greenlandic philately. Starting in 1985 more and more stamp issues were either printed in offset or in a combination of offset and recess printing. These later issues are of course more colourful but lack the classy appearance of the one-colour recess printed stamps.

Leafing through my Greenland album I rediscover all of Rosing’s wonderful stamp designs and I realize that his work could easily be grouped together as a specialized collection telling a lot about the life, traditions and culture if the Inuit people on the big island in the Arctic. In addition there are numerous appearances of Greenland’s wildlife. The stamps designed by Rosing are still very affordable and a complete collection can very possibly be assembled for less than $200.

Jens Rosing was born in 1925 in the town of Ilulissat (Jakobshavn in Danish). He married a Danish woman and they had four children. Until the late 1950s, the family lived in the Nuuk (Greenland’s capital) area. In the 1950′s he helped introduce domestic reindeer into Greenland and in the 60s he took part in several scientific expeditions. He also served as the director of the museum in Nuuk.

The family then moved to Denmark. They lived in Humlebaek, a Copenhagen suburb. Despite being so far away from Greenland he continued to work for the Greenlandic postal service. In 1985 he designed the coat of arms for the local government in Greenland. It shows a standing polar bear. It is shown on a 1986 stamp (which Rosing did not design).

1986 Standing Polar Bear Coat of Arms stamp

In addition to designing stamps he was a very talented artist using various materials and techniques to produce his works. Rosing also provided the illustrations for several children’s books. He was the renowned author of a number of books on Greenlandic culture. Towards the end of his life he received many awards in recognition of his distinguished services to both Greenland and Denmark. On May 24, 2008 Jens Rosing passed away at the age of 83.

His very last stamp was released in 2007. It shows his beloved dogs pulling his sled somewhere in Greenland. This is also the country’s largest stamp so far. With a face value of just 3 kroner I guess this beauty can still be picked up for about a dollar. Greenland collectors all over the world appreciated the design which was voted the most beautiful stamp in 2007. Rosing learnt about this honour a couple of months before his passing.

Jens Rosing’s last stamp: 2007 3kr Dogs pulling sled

Greenland has lost one of its most important cultural personalities and also one of its major ambassadors in portraying the island and its people to the outside world.

The Grand Old Man of Greenlandic philately has left us but the Rosing name will still be associated with Greenlandic stamps. Jens Rosing’s daughter Ina is a very talented artist who has already designed several stamps for Greenland. She was born in 1965 in Denmark but has spent some time in Greenland. I expect we will see more of Ina Rosing’s work on future Greenlandic stamps.

If you enjoyed this article, you might also like...

1. Stamps of Greenland (Thule): The First Issues (1938)
2. Stamps of Denmark: The First Issues (1851)
3. Frimindeks

However, there is so much more to make Elsinore an interesting place to visit. It is one of Denmark’s oldest cities strategically located at the narrowest part of the sound between Denmark and Sweden. In the past South Sweden used to be part of Denmark and the Danes levied custom fees on all shipping from and to the Baltic Sea going through the Sound.

Above: 1964 GB 2/6d Shakespeare Festival

The income from the custom fees created considerable prosperity for the city of Elsinore. Some of the money was used to build a beautiful castle. Called Kronborg the castle dominates the coastline and can be easily seen from Helsingborg on the other side of the Sound. Today Kronborg Castle is a maritime museum and well worth a visit.

Hamlet is certainly one of the most well known plays in theatrical history. Written by William Shakespeare, the play takes place in Kronborg Castle. The castle is depicted on one of the three field post stamps issued in support of the pro-Nazi Danish Legion in 1944. The design is extremely peaceful despite being released during very troubled World War I1 times.

Above: 1944 Field post issue showing Kronborg Castle

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was born in Stratford upon Avon and was educated at a local grammar school where he probably learnt Latin. Shakespeare is undoubtedly the most important figure in world literature and he had a considerable influence on the development of the English language.

Strangely enough not much is known about Shakespeare and his life and work. What we do know is that he got married, had children and moved to London. He was part owner of The Globe Theatre on the South Bank of the Thames. The Globe was destroyed in a fire during Shakespeare’s lifetime but was rebuilt some 20 years ago.

Shakespeare wrote more than 40 plays and a large number of sonnets. Not a single manuscript in Shakespeare’s handwriting has been preserved. All we have today are some signatures of the great bard.

We don’t really know what Shakespeare looked like as there are no contemporary portraits of him. There are a number of portraits which are supposed to depict the famous playwright and they have been used on various occasions for stamp designs. From 1899 to 1926, a series of Shakespeare labels in nine different colours were sold for one shilling each in support of the church in Stratford upon Avon. These labels show what is believed to be a fair portrait of Shakespeare.

Above: Shakespeare label supporting the church in Stratford upon Avon

The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke is probably Shakespeare’s most famous play. It was first performed in 1601.

The dramatic events begin with the demise of King Hamlet. Claudius, the late king’s brother, gets not only the throne of Denmark but also Queen Gertrude. Prince Hamlet harbours strong suspicions that Claudius has killed Hamlet’s father. He organizes a play with an ingenious plot in order to find out what really happened.

As his suspicions grow stronger, Prince Hamlet realizes that his own life is at risk and he pretends to be mad. Claudius decides to send his nephew to England to have him killed. However, Prince Hamlet returns to Elsinore and Denmark to face Claudius. It all ends in total tragedy with the deaths of almost all the principal characters through poisoned swords and wine.

By far the most significant part of the play is the skull scene where Prince Hamlet pronounces the words “To be or not to be, that is the question”. This scene is depicted on the 216d stamp released by Great Britain in 1964 in connection with the Shakespeare Festival. The 216d value was part of a set of five stamps but the only one that was recess printed.

Shakespeare often found the inspiration for his plays in other literary works. Hamlet was no exception. The play is based on a story in the Danish Chronicles by Saxo Grammaticus. It was also included in Histoires Tragiques by French writer Francois de Belleforest.

In the late 1500s many Scottish and English actors performed their plays in Elsinore. It is quite possible that Shakespeare met with some of these actors getting first hand accounts of the Danish city.

The tourist authorities in Elsinore like to suggest that William Shakespeare could possibly have been one of the English actors having visited Elsinore. However, there is absolutely no information about Shakespeare ever having left his native England.

Ever since the early 1800s, Hamlet has been staged at regular intervals by different theatre companies in the compound of Kronborg Castle.

Visitors to Elsinore should call at the city’s Tourist Office where they can obtain a leaflet describing a Shakespeare Walk which includes the castle, the old part of Elsinore and a garden outside the city centre. All these places feature prominently in Hamlet.

If you enjoyed this article, you might also like...

1. Norway, Sweden & Denmark Map (Lincoln Stamp Album 1899)
2. Stamps of Denmark: The First Issues (1851)
3. Sweden Map (1996)

On Christmas Day 1871 Norway released an entirely new kind of definitive stamp: the crowned posthorn. This is a design which has now been around continuously for 135 years – certainly something for the Guinness Book of Records.

On 3 May 1871 Norway introduced a new postal law and new postal rates. It was felt that there was a need for new stamps (and new designs) to meet the requirements. Post Office officials asked Andreas Friedrich Wilhelm von Hanno to prepare a suitable design for the new stamps. At the time von Hanno was a well known architect who had designed numerous monumental buildings in Kristiania (now Oslo), the Norwegian capital.

Hanno prepared a number of sketches which all included a post horn and a crown. The choice of a post horn was not at all surprising as this was a well known symbol of most European postal services. It is still included in the emblems and trade marks of numerous postal services.

Perhaps Hanno had seen the 1860½ groschen stamp issued by the Kingdom of Hanover in today’s Germany. It’s quite a simple design featuring a post horn and a crown. This particular stamp is quite similar to Hanno’s sketches. The very first posthorn stamp was issued on 25 December 1871 and had a denomination of three skillings. It was printed in red. During the next four years until 1875 there were five additional post horn stamps with denominations in skillings. Thus began a series of definitives which is still being printed today albeit in a slightly different way.

In 1877 Norway started issuing posthorn stamps using the new currency of kroner and øre (oere). However, it is only in recent years that the post horn design has been used with denominations in kroner.

The postal authorities and the general letter writing public must have been delighted with Hanno’s post horn stamps. How else can we explain that the same basic design has been used continuously for the past 135 years?

The Norwegian posthorn stamps were apparently appreciated abroad as well. When Crete released a set of postage due stamps in 1901 they simply plagiarized Hanno’s posthorn design adding Greek inscriptions!

The posthorn stamps have survived the dissolution of Norway’s union with Sweden, two world wars, a long period of German occupation and several currency reforms. Our catalogues indicate that they have now been printed in 11 different major types. There are numerous paper, watermark and other varieties making it a somewhat complicated issue to collect.

From 1962 onwards the Norway’s Banknote Printing Company was responsible for producing the country’s stamps. New types of definitives were produced using engraved designs. However, the posthorn design was retained for the lowest values.

Then when the ten-øre coin was discontinued only the 50-øre posthorn stamp remained. In 1991 it became possible to print stamps in many colours and four posthorn stamps with denominations in kroner were released reflecting the ever higher postal rates. Today there are nine posthorn stamps from 1 krone to 9 kroner on sale. It seems that Post Norway has no intention of ever abandoning the classic posthorn design.

With 11 different major types and numerous printings resulting in a plethora of paper, perforation, watermark and colour varieties the Norwegian post horn issue might be deemed a formidable challenge for most collectors.

Fortunately there is now help available in the form of a 16-page full colour booklet compiled by Norwegian stamp expert Finn Aune. Titled Posthorn-Noekkel, the booklet was published in time for the 135th anniversary of the post horn stamps.

Basically the booklet is a key to understanding the complexities of the various posthorn types. Using blown-up parts of the designs Aune shows how to distinguish between different types and different printing methods.

The many printings often resulted in distinct shades and these are shown in the booklet. As far as I can determine the colour illustrations are of excellent quality and very helpful in assigning the correct shade to a certain stamp.

The only drawback for international collectors is the fact that the minimal text is in Norwegian only. But I suppose anyone genuinely interested in the post horn issues will quickly learn enough Norwegian to use the key correctly.

The booklet can be ordered from Skanfil AS, probably Norway’s biggest stamp firm. For more information on price contact the firm at Boks 2030, NO-5504 Haugesund, Norway. There is also an email address – skanfil@skanfil.no

The booklet will probably cost some $20 which might seem on the high side for a 16-page publication. However the key will definitely help collectors classify their posthorn stamps with considerable ease which in itself is worth a lot of money.

Many collectors (including this writer) are fascinated by very long sets of stamps with basically the same design. It’s usually only the denomination and the colour which are different. A large band of British collectors specialize in the many definitive stamps featuring the Machin portrait of Queen Elizabeth II. I suppose they find it interesting to follow the development of the design from printing to printing with the resulting colour, paper, perforation and watermark changes.

If you enjoyed this article, you might also like...

1. Norway, Sweden & Denmark Map (Lincoln Stamp Album 1899)
2. Norway: Polar Bear Stamp and Postcard (2008)
3. King Oscar II of Sweden and Norway, and His Family (1899)

The stamps were in pristine unmounted mint condition and they were priced at less than 50 cents a set. The dealer had some 15 sets which he was happy to sell to me. This turned out to be one of my best stamp investments ever; now two decades later leading dealers charge more than $15 for such a set.

The three bi-coloured stamps all depict the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, the Chinese capital.

When going through my programme for a visit to China in the spring of 2006 I recalled my purchase in Stockholm. The Temple of Heaven was one of the famous sights in Beijing that was included in the packed schedule. I really looked forward to having a look at the temple which had aroused my curiosity all those years ago.

The Temple of Heaven as depicted on the stamps of China

Along with my Chinese guide Miss Li Jing I spent several hours at the Temple of Heaven. As it turned out this was far from sufficient to have a look at everything. The Temple of Heaven is a huge park with a number of important temples and other buildings which were used by the Chinese emperors in a number of religious ceremonies.

The Temple has a very long history going back to 1420. It was originally built by Emperor Yongle and then used by all subsequent Ming and Qing emperors to pray for good harvests. During the centuries the temple complex was continually reconstructed and enlarged.

The Temple of Heaven is the largest sacrificial architectural group in the world. It is also the best preserved.

The temple complex has numerous important buildings including the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests which is the building shown on the stamps. It is a round building with magnificent interior decorations in orange, red, yellow, green and other colours.

This is where the Qing dynasty emperors held a ceremony each year praying for good harvests on the 10th day of the first lunar month. All the other buildings served special purposes in connection with these annual ceremonies. I was lucky to have an excellent guide to tell me many of the interesting facts.

The Imperial Vault of Heaven is also known as the Echo Wall. Jing ran to the other side of the building and then pronounced my name at normal voice level. I heard my name clearly thanks to the acoustical qualities of the semicircular wall.

The Divine Music Administration was another highlight of the visit. This is where students learnt to play a variety of instruments in connection with the ceremonies. Today it is a museum devoted to the history of Chinese music. At times concerts are also given here. All in all there are more than 600 architectural constructions in the park which is also famous for its many old cypresses.

In 1918, the Temple of Heaven was opened to the public as a park. Then in 1998 it was listed on the World Heritage List by UNESCO. Today the Temple is a must on the itineraries of all visitors to the Chinese capital.

Even after China had become a republic in 1912, the Temple of Heaven remained a powerful symbol for the Chinese people. It has been depicted frequently on Chinese stamps. In 1913 China released a new set of definitives with the denominations from 15 to 50 cents depicting a man reaping rice. If you look carefully at the design you will also see the Temple of Heaven in the background which is most appropriate as the emperors used to ask the gods for good harvests at the temple.

In 1923, China adopted a new constitution and this important event was commemorated by four elegant stamps (Scott # 270-3). Once again the stamps show the Temple of Heaven.

When the People’s Republic of China issued its first airmail stamps (Scott # Cl-5) in 195 1 the design depicts a mail plane over the Temple of Heaven. Obviously the temple has become a national icon very much like the Great Wall of China.

In subsequent years there have been many other issues which incorporate the Temple of Heaven in one way or the other.

Having found the Temple of Heaven one of the absolute highlights of my visit to China I am considering assembling a small exhibit of the stamps that have been issued to commemorate this important historical treasure in the Chinese capital.

Writing this story and looking at the stamps made me relive that pleasurable spring morning in Beijing when I and Jing explored the many temples and other buildings making up the Temple of Heaven. We even listened to some Peking opera and had a look at an exhibition of paintings by art students from Xian.

If you enjoyed this article, you might also like...

1. Cho-Khang, the Temple of Lhasa, Tibet Map (1902)
2. China sells stamps to help earthquake victims
3. China: Beijing Post Office (2010)

Postal administrators and designers everywhere are having to discard the traditional concept of a stamp as being a piece of paper. Instead they are being forced more and more to the revolutionary idea that a postage stamp is after all, only a receipt for a service, and, as such can be almost any shape, size or design which can be produced within the limits of modern technology.

But to understand Burt Todd’s ideas you must first understand the man and appreciate his motivations.

Those who know only of his association with the Bhutan Stamp Agency sometimes think of him as a smart American operator seeking to exploit both Bhutan and the collecting public. Such operators do exist in the philatelic world, but Burt Todd isn’t one of them. His motivations are quite different and the monetary side of his philatelic activities are of little concern to him because in his own right Burt Todd is an enormously wealthy man, a millionaire many times over. In any list of the hundred wealthiest and most influential families in the United States. Burt Todd and his family would figure very prominently.

To understand his involvement with Bhutan, a tiny kingdom in the Himalayas, it is really necessary to go back more than a quarter of a century when Todd as a young man had just received his discharge from the U.S. Air Force after wartime service in Italy. He felt that before returning to the U.S. to take up a position to guide the destiny of his family holdings in the steel industry in Pittsburgh he should widen his horizons by study and travel.

As the first step in this programme he went to Oxford to study and there met a fellow student from Bhutan, a young woman who was a member of the Bhutanese ruling class. She so interested young Todd in her country that when he finished his studies at Oxford he determined to visit the tiny state on a hitchhiking tour across Europe, the Middle East and Asia on his way back to the U.S.

This hitchhiking expedition was undertaken with two other students and when they finally arrived in India they discovered that getting into Bhutan was not such a simple matter as they imagined. In those days there were no air services and no roads into the country. The only access was on foot or on the back of mules over wild mountain tracks through the foothills of the Himalayas. But they persevered and finally made it into the capital of where they received a right royal welcome from friends of their Oxford Bhutanese classmate.

Despite, or because of, its backwardness, Burt Todd fell in love with Bhutan, with the traditional centuries-old customs, with the friendly, hospitable people of the country. He was so “sold” on Bhutan that when he returned to America and married he insisted on taking his bride back to Bhutan for their honeymoon!

His wife equally enchanted with this fairy-tale like land in the Himalayas, and that was really the commencement of a life-long love affair between the Todds and Bhutan.

On each of his visits Todd was entertained by members of the Royal Family of Bhutan and because of the influence of his family on the US. industrial scene he was asked to become an honorary financial advisor to the Bhutan government, a task which he readily assented to as a means of repaying the countless acts of hospitality he had received at the hands of the Bhutanese. Besides, by this time he really wanted to do something to help the Bhutanese solve some of their major problems – mainly in the fields of health, social services and transport.

When the Bhutanese government decided to apply to the World Bank for a $10-million loan to help built hospitals, roads and an airfield, Todd became a key advisor in shaping the application. Came the fatal day when the application came up for consideration, and Todd was amongst the small delegation presenting the Bhutanese case. But the answer of the World Bank was NO. This was because relations between Bhutan and India were extremely touchy at the time and the World Bank did not want to appear to be taking sides.

Bhutanese Dzong

Going down in the lift after the meeting, Burt Todd was speaking to the top-ranking U.S. government official who had attended the talks as an observer. The U.S. official told Todd not to worry unduly about the setback and suggested that there were other ways that a small country like Bhutan could raise revenue. Todd said “Such as?”

The official asked whether Bhutan had ever considered postage stamps as a revenue producer, adding that quite a few small states such as San Marino and Monaco balanced their budgets in this way.

Burt Todd was not a stamp collector and had never given a thought to postage stamps but, never one to pass up an idea, he made some investigations and found that what the official had said was true.

Up to that time Bhutan had never issued any stamps. They were not really needed on the primitive internal postal system. and the small amount of international mail leaving the country at the time was sent to the nearest Indian post office where Indian stamps were affixed for onward transmission. It was a clumsy and inadequate system but it had not been questioned because so many other things in Bhutan operate that way.

Todd put a submission to the Bhutan government that they should issue their own stamps as a means of raising revenue. The Bhutanese were extremely sceptical about the ability of postage stamps to raise revenue, but liked the idea for an entirely different reason. At the time relations with India were very strained as a result of conflicting border claims, and the Bhutanese saw in the issue of stamps a way of declaring their independence to the world as a sovereign state. It was their way of telling the Indians to stay in their own backyard.

They therefore agreed to the idea of issuing postage stamps and asked Burt Todd whether he would undertake the arrangements for printing and distribution outside of Bhutan.

Burt Todd knew nothing whatsoever about stamp design and production and even less about the mechanics of distribution to the world stamp trade, but with typical thoroughness he set about learning.

He had an artist prepare designs, and thus the first stamps of Bhutan came into being in 1962, a set of seven quite attractive definitives featuring a postal runner, the Crest of Bhutan, an Archer, a Wild Yak, a Map of the Country, and the Maharaja fortress and monastery.

To say that the philatelic world fell over backwards over these stamps would be an over-statement. Collectors virtually ignored them, largely because they didn’t know of their existence. This was because Todd had no knowledge of the complex philatelic trade channel system or of philatelic journals which could have helped him promote the issues. For this, and for several subsequent stamp issues the going was rough so far as generating revenue was concerned. Todd sought and got lots of advice, philatelic and otherwise, and this was not always sound, as he cheerfully admits, but gradually the philatelic world became aware that a new country had been added to the albums of the world.

Paro Valley, Bhutan

After three years, Burt Todd took stock and had to admit that although the stamps he had designed for Bhutan were pleasing to the eye, he hadn’t exactly set the philatelic world on fire or raised the revenue he had hoped.

Never one to accept defeat easily, Todd began to cast around for ideas and gradually came to the realisation that if he was to achieve his goals for Bhutan he would have to make the country’s stamps so DIFFERENT that they would be instantly recognisable as coming from “that unusual little state in the Himalayas”. They would have to get themselves talked about. To do this, he realised, he would have to depart from orthodox thinking on stamp design and printing.

His first experimental issue was the 1966 Gold Coin issue to mark the 40th anniversary of the accession of King Jigme Wangchuk to the Bhutanese throne. These stamps were circular in shape and embossed on gold foil backed with a multicoloured patterned paper.

The set was frowned upon by serious philatelists but received an enthusiastic reception from general collectors. A triangle-shaped series followed showing the “Abominable Snowman” and this set also sold very well, possibly due to its unique theme.

But it was the 1967 three dimension space stamps that really put Bhutan on the philatelic map. These were produced in Japan after exhaustive tests and created a philatelic sensation. The designs showing spacemen and spacecraft were printed on to a laminated prismatic-ribbed plastic surface which gave them a startling three dimensional effect. Three dimensional printing at that time was quite a novelty and for hundreds of thousands of collectors, the Bhutanese space stamps were the first three dimensional pictures they had seen. And they flocked to buy the stamps in multitudes.

The success of the 3-D stamps spurred Burt Todd on to greater efforts and in the intervening years he has produced a remarkable range of stamps that would have Rowland Hill turning over in his grave.

For example, there were the Religious Banners series of 1969 printed on silk, and there have been several unusual series of paintings produced in bass relief giving an amazing effect, especially for the impressionist issues. But perhaps the most unusual of all were the 1971 Sculptures of Antiquity series die stamped on plastic. If possible, these are even more startling in their appearance than the three dimensional issues.

A very large body of philatelic opinion of course, is solidly against these novelties from Bhutan. They have been roundly denounced as “gimmicks” both by philatelic societies and stamp editors, and they have been boycotted by some world catalogues – though this particular boycott will be difficult to maintain now that Bhutan is a member of the United Nations.

The main objection to the issues seems to be that they are different to the normal concept of what a postage stamp should look like. It is very difficult for the average collector to accept the quite revolutionary thought behind Burt Todd’s creations – that a postage stamp need not necessarily comprise a design printed on to a piece of paper. Once this concept is accepted, there is really no limit to the size, shape or dimension of a stamp, and this is how designers of the future will approach the issue.

The 1967 Bhutan space stamps were three dimensional in appearance. The 1971 Bhutan Sculptures were in fact three dimensional in touch. Who knows but stamps of the future might be round balls – or cubes – or squares. So long as they can be attached to a letter in some way, there is no limit to the possibilities. The mind boggles at what the designers of the future may conceive after sessions in philatelic “Think Tanks”.

Burt Todd has pioneered this new field of stamp design just as Rowland Hill with his Penny Black of Britain in 1840 pioneered a new form of prepayment of postage on mail.

And what kind of a man is this who has turned the philatelic world upside down in less than a decade? He is a quiet, unassuming individual, with a delightful sense of humour and a down to earth manner. He is quite unlike the typical picture of the American multimillionaire and industrial tycoon. Although his enormous and varied interests in steel, oil and a number of other industries occupy the major port of his busy daily life, he still finds time to think of new ideas for stamps for his Bhutanese friends.

The time and effort he has put into this hobby far outweighs any financial returns but this is quite immaterial to his thinking on the issue. He points with enormous pride to the airfield, to the hospitals and the schools which have been built in Bhutan as a direct result of the revenue raised by the sale of the stamps he has created and sold to collectors throughout the world. For to Burt Todd, Bhutan is more than a tiny inaccessible state in the Himalayas. It is his spiritual home and if he can assist the people of his second homeland through postage stamps he cares not a whit what the philatelic purists think.

If you enjoyed this article, you might also like...

1. Probable Issue of stamps for Tibet: A Chinese Foreign Post Office? (1909)
2. “Year of the Dog” on Stamps
3. The White Lion of the Mountains: A letter from Tibet, the Mysterious Land (c.1913)

Samarkand is located in Uzbekistan and Timbuktu can be found in Mali. I suppose we associate these two cities with something distant and unknown.

The two cities have a lot in common despite being located on different continents. Their moments of greatness took place many centuries ago when they were both important hubs for trading caravans.

However, in this article I intend to spotlight Timbuktu or Tombouctou as its name is rendered in French. The city is located in an oasis in the central parts of Mali in West Africa. Today it is the administrative centre of a province with the same name. Its current population amounts to some 10,000 people.

Timbuktu was founded by the Tuareg people around 1100. For many years it served as an important hub for the many caravans crossing the Saharan desert carrying gold, salt and slaves to different parts of Africa. When Islam reached the region several important religious schools were established in Timbuktu.

For many years Timbuktu was part of the legendary Mali Empire which comprised most of West Africa. In 1591, Morocco conquered the area which led to a period of decline for Timbuktu. Today the city is part of the Republic of Mali.

Timbuktu is famous for its many historic buildings. They include some of the most exceptional mosques of the Islamic world. For this reason the UNESCO has added the city to its World Cultural Heritage List.

In 1961, newly independent Mali decided to release a new set of airmail stamps. Two of the very handsome stamps were devoted to Timbuktu. The 100-franc stamp shows the Sankoré Mosque and a Tuareg. The 200-franc value is devoted to a view of mysterious Timbuktu. The large-sized stamps were issued to mark the opening of Timbuktu’s new airport (although this is not mentioned on the stamps).

Above: 1961 Mali issues showing Sankoré Mosque and mysterious Timbuktu.

If it is fairly easy to get to Timbuktu today it was quite a different matter in the 19th century. In fact, for many years the city was forbidden for Westerners.

At the beginning of the 19th century French interest in West Africa was very strong. At first trading stations were only established along the coastline. The interior was still virgin territory and completely unknown. Timbuktu was seen as a mythical place and many Westerners doubted that it even existed.

Now enters a young and enterprising Frenchman on the scene. René Caillié (1799-1838) had a fascination for Africa. He was only 17 years old when he sailed to Senegal in order to study Arabic and Islam.

But his greatest desire was to visit the mythical Timbuktu. After years of study and preparations he started the difficult trek towards Timbuktu disguised as an Arab traveller. He reached the city in April 1830. After careful observations of the city he joined a caravan heading for Tangiers in Morocco.

Back home in France Caillié wrote a book about his travels in Africa which found a most receptive audience. The French Geographical Society awarded him a medal in appreciation of his exploration work in Africa.

Thanks to Caillié’s visit to Timbuktu, people in the rest of the world finally obtained reliable information about an area which had been closed to foreign visitors for so many years. He could tell about a city with wonderful architecture from the era when the Malian Empire dominated most of West Africa.

René Caillié died in 1838. In 1939, the eight colonies making up French West Africa released a set of three stamps each marking the centenary of the explorer’s death. The stamps also commemorated Caillié’s memorable visit to Timbuktu. Others had tried to visit the city before him but all those attempts had failed.

Above: Two stamps from the omnibus edition commemorating René Caillié’s visit to Timbuktu.

The stamps show a portrait of René Caillié and a map of the northern part of Africa. Caillié’s route from Boké all the way to Tangiers has been traced on the map. The following colonies took part in the omnibus: Dahomey, French Guinea, French Sudan, Ivory Coast (Côte d’lvoire), Mauritania, Niger, Senegal and Togo.

The issue was very much a low-budget one. All the colonies used the same design, the same colours and the same denominations. The stamps passed through the press twice with the country name being printed during the second operation. Interestingly enough all three denominations exist without country name. A set of three stamps can probably be had for some AU$4 in mint condition; a set without the country name is valued at far more than AU$300.

Shown below is a nice cover which was mailed from Saint-Louis in Senegal on September 20, 1930 to an addressee in Boghé in neighbouring Mauritania. The postal services in French West Africa were apparently very efficient as the cover is backstamped at Boghé on September 22. A closer study of the 90c Caillié stamp reveals that the country name is missing making the cover highly desirable.

Above: Senegal-Mauritania cover from 1930.

The French Yvert & Tellier catalogue has decided to list the stamps without country name under the heading of Côte d’lvoire (Ivory Coast) as it is impossible to determine to which colony the error stamps belong. Obviously some of the stamps without country name were on sale at the Saint-Louis post office in Senegal.

French forces finally took complete control of Timbuktu in the 1890′s. By then Timbuktu was a sleepy small town without any particular significance. It is only fairly recently that the outside world has realized the historic and cultural significance of Timbuktu.

[Published by kind permission of the Editor of Stamp News Australasia.]

If you enjoyed this article, you might also like...

1. West Africa Map (1935)
2. South Africa Union, West Map (1935)
3. Philatelic Society for Greater Southern Africa (PSGSA)

Around 1910 there were several enthusiastic young Swedish aviators organising demonstration flights throughout the country. There was a strong interest in this new aspect of travel and several experiments were realised to prove the feasibility of air transport.

in late August 1912 the Stockholm daily, Dagens Nyheter, printed a special air mail edition that was carried by plane from Stockholm to Uppsala. The experiment was a success. The plane was piloted by Olle Dahlbeck, a man who had put forward the idea to improve the distribution of newspapers by using aeroplanes. In spite of the success of the Dagens Nyheter experiment however, it was many years before aeroplanes were commonly used to transport newspapers to Sweden’s more distant parts.

Sweden's first airmail stamp

In addition to piloting planes during air shows, Olle Dahlbeck wrote books and articles about flying. In his writings he suggested that aeroplanes should be used to speed up the delivery of mail. The organisers of the Children’s Day in Stockholm liked the idea and decided to organise Sweden’s first air mail in connection with festivities in late September 1912. They decided to carry out the flight on September 21 and Dahlbeck was hired for this purpose.

September 21 was a Saturday and the weather was excellent. Early in the morning the mail sacks were loaded onto the plane and Dahlbeck was ready to start at 8 am. Unfortunately a gust of strong wind forced the Bristol plane into ditch and the propeller was smashed. The damaged plane had to be repaired and could not be used for the mail flight. But Dahlbeck also owned a Sommer monoplane, which was taken to the airfield. At 5.30 pm the plane lifted and Dahlbeck flew to the nearby Jarva field where he dropped the two sacks of mail (reportedly comprising some 20 kilos). The mail was taken to the Tureberg post office where the covers were backstamped before entering the regular mailstream.

Olle Dahlbeck

On the following day there was to be a second air mail flight. The idea was to make a repeat of Saturdays successful flight dropping the mail at Jarva. Thousands of spectators had assembled to watch the plane take off. Everything went as planned, but when the plane had not returned after some 15 minutes people realised that something had gone wrong. In fact, soon after lift-off the engine ceased functioning and Dahlbeck had to land in the sea. Luckily a sailing ship was located nearby and the plane was towed to a wharf to be repaired.

The mail carried on this second flight had of course been damaged by sea water. It was decided to organise yet another flight, as the September 22 mail had been unsuccessful. This third attempt took place on September 26, 1912. This time Dahlbeck used the Bristol machine, but due to bad weather the flight was very short. He just flew around the airfield and then landed. The mail was taken to the Riddargatan Post Office where it was backstamped.

In preparation for the first air mail, the organisers had ordered the printing of 10,000 special stamps. The Centraltryckeriet in Stockholm printed them in sheets of 64. They were sold for 60 öre each, which included ordinary postage. Mail to foreign destinations needed two stamps. Ordinary postage stamps were apparently added by the organisers.

A special cancel incorporating the text “Sweden’s First Air Mail’’ was also made. It was generally used to cancel the postage stamp only and the airmail stamp was often left uncancelled. Some 3,000 stamps were used on cards and letters.

In 1937, 4,800 airmail stamps were overprinted to commemorate the Silver Jubilee of the first air mail delivery. This leaves us with only some 2,000 mint copies. Today an unmounted mint copy is valued at about AUS$140 as are the 1912 covers. The 1937 issue exists only on flown covers and such a cover can be had for about AUS$50 as many were produced by the stamp dealers of the day.

The stamps are unofficial and hence unlisted in the malor catalogues. However, they are listed in the Swedish Facit specialised catalogue. The 1912 airmail organised by the Children’s Day Committee was a way of collecting funds for that organisation and its summer camps.

However, earlier in 1912 aeroplanes had been used to deliver mail in Sweden, so the Children’s Day covers were not Sweden’s first airmail, strictly speaking. It seems the organisers were not aware of this fact. The Children’s Day stamp was Sweden’s first airmail stamp and the September flights were the first time when large quantities of mail were carried by plane.

Published by kind permission of the Editor of “Stamp News Australasia“.

If you enjoyed this article, you might also like...

1. Norway, Sweden & Denmark Map (Lincoln Stamp Album 1899)
2. Sweden Map (1996)
3. King Oscar II of Sweden and Norway, and His Family (1899)

The 1940 cover had a May 6th Sea Floor, Bahamas postmark. It was obvious that this cover had an interesting story to tell.

The world’s very first adhesive postage stamp went on sale in England on May 6, 1840 and the Bahamian cover was produced to commemorate the centenary of the Penny Black.

My research indicates that the Sea Floor post office in the Bahamas opened on August 16,1939 and closed some time in 1941. Large numbers of covers were postmarked at the undersea Po st office and mailed to collectors all over the world. Some covers had pictorial cachets; others just had different varieties of cancels indicating the unusual place of posting. It must have been an interesting novelty for the collectors of the day.

Today there is a considerable interest in the Sea Floor covers. On eBay they sell for prices ranging from $30 to as much as $200. It seems I got a real bargain.

The undersea post office was created by US photographer John Ernest Williamson (1881-1966). He is remembered today as a pioneer in undersea photography and he was also deeply involved in the production of a number of motion pictures including one based on Jules Verne’s Twenty-Thousand Leagues under the Sea.

Williamson’s father had invented a kind of tube which could be used to facilitate communication and the flow of air down to depths of more than 200 feet. In 1912, Williamson designed a kind of chamber with a thick glass window which was attached to the tube and then lowered to the sea floor. From this vantage point Williamson was able to observe the undersea creatures and to take photographs. He called his invention the “Williamson Photosphere”.

The crystal clear water of the Bahamas allows the sunlight to penetrate deep down and it was an ideal location for Williamson’s Photosphere. In 1914, he shot his first under water motion picture in the Bahamas. This was the first of numerous expeditions many of which were scientific in nature.

His wife and daughter also helped him produce underwater films. They were shown during highly successful (and profitable) lecture tours throughout the United States. Much of the film material has now been donated to scientific institutions in the USA.

On July 1, 1938 the Bahamas issued a 4-penny stamp depicting the Sea Garden at Nassau. It is a delightful design featuring tropical fishes in a coral landscape. The design was based on a photograph by Williamson. This very same stamp was then used to frank many of the covers posted at the Sea Floor post office.

In 1939, the Bahamas-Williamson Undersea Expedition to film underwater was started. This was basically a scientific expedition but it also marked to creation of the Sea Floor post office. This undoubtedly was an excellent way of creating publicity for the expedition. The philatelic press of the day wrote about the Sea Floor post office and collectors all over the world ordered covers. It really must have increased the volume of mail from the Bahamas.

Williamson had quite a few famous visitors to his underwater chamber. It is known that the Duke of Windsor paid a visit to the photosphere. After abdicating from the British throne to marry the woman he loved, the ex-king served as governor of the Bahamas for a few years.

In 1965, the Bahamas issued a long set of definitives. The 1 shilling value once again depicted the sea garden. Williamson’s photosphere and the 1939 Sea Floor post office are depicted on the five-shilling denomination. The same pictures were used again in 1966 and in 1967 on new definitive stamps in connection with the change to decimal currency.

Now returning to my cover it is probably overpaid as it has a complete set of the 1937 Coronation issue along with the above-mentioned 4d Sea Garden stamp. All are neatly cancelled by the Sea Floor Bahamas dated postmark. The cachet depicts the Williamson Photosphere.The cover also has a straight-line cachet indicating that it was “Posted in the Williamson Photosphere”.

The cover was mailed by Grace Williamson at the US consulate in Nassau to Henry S. Villard at the Department of State in Washington, DC. Why and how this cover ended up on a dealer’s table in far away Sweden is anyone’s guess but stamps and covers do tend to get around.

The Sea Floor post office faded into oblivion in the early 1940′s. By then people all over the world had far more urgent matters to attend to.

However, there is an interesting twist to the story. In 2003, the Pacific nation of Vanuatu issued stamps depicting the underwater post office at Hideaway Island. Visiting divers and snorkellers can post special waterproof postcards at the underwater post office. It is certainly not the same kind of Sea Floor post office as the one in the Bahamas but I guess it helped create some interest in Vanuatu and its stamps.

If you enjoyed this article, you might also like...

1. Blatter and the Bahamas
2. The Postal History of World War II Mail Between New Zealand and Switzerland
3. New Zealand: The Wellington Post Office (1973)