1794 Letter from Prisoner-of-War in Cuba
Since 2002, Guantanamo Bay in Cuba has been the location of various combatants captured in Afganistan. When was the start of Cuba’s association with prisoners-of-war? Go back 104 years to 1898. Cuba was the scene of the Spanish-American War. A few ...
Friday, June 13th, 2008
A Giant of Philately: Alfred F. Lichtenstein (1876-1947)
This World War II censored cover was posted 'On His Majesty's Service' from Canberra A.C.T. on 17 FEB 1942 with a machine cancel postmark 'REGISTER/VALUABLE/MAIL' on the 3½d overprint on the 3d blue KGVI stamp. It was sent to Mr. ...
Wednesday, April 1st, 2009
Additional Information on HMAS Sydney
Prompted by Tony Lyon’s interesting article on this subject I decided to comment on several points raised and add information about other Sydney mail known to me. The navy has always been security conscious in times of war and generally it ...
Friday, April 4th, 2008
Admiral Bertie Cornelius Cator of Beckenham, London (1787-1864)
This entire has a strip of three of the 1855 Perkins Bacon, London printing rose-carmine TWO PENCE (S.G. # 20) imperforate stamps of South Australia postmarked with 2 strikes of the ‘empty’ circle & bars cancel of Adelaide as well ...
Friday, October 9th, 2009
AIF overprints on King George V stamps: New discoveries
For many years philatelists have been puzzled by these overprints, who produced them, and the circumstances which led to their production. Fig 1. First category of covers – Those without cancellations. Note stamps applied after cancellations. The solution was thought to be ...
Sunday, January 20th, 2008
Air Mail Stamps: Made to Fly
I rather like Air Mail stamps of the world, used on airmail covers (of course), which logically is why they were issued. The sight of the familiar blue and red bordered airmail envelope emits a subliminal message, evoking images of ...
Wednesday, February 17th, 2010
Airposts and their Stamps (1921)
This article is probably one of the first airmail articles, certainly of any length, to be published in a philatelic journal. It was first published in Stamp Collectors' Fortnightly (January, 1921) from a paper read by Major RS Archer, MC, ...
Thursday, June 19th, 2008
Alfred George ‘Dick’ Salisbury and the 6th Australian Philatelic Exhibition
Covers from the Australian Philatelic Exhibitions fall into the philatelically contrived items, but this one has the virtue of being addressed to an Australian of some considerable note. The cover has an ‘R6' Registration label ‘6th AUST. PHILATELIC / EXHIBTN MELB. ...
Saturday, May 2nd, 2009
An 1890 NSW Postcard
with David Benson David Benson came across a 1890 NSW 1d. postcard which he thought might be an interesting item for recording in the New South Wales Philatelist. The front and reverse of the postcard are illustrated in Figures 1 and ...
Monday, June 16th, 2008
An Air Mail Pioneer: The Story of Qantas Empire Airways
The possibilities of the aeroplane as a swift means of communication throughout the remote parts of Australia were envisaged during the first world war, and in 1919 shortly after the termination of hostilities, the Commonwealth Government commissioner two well-known aviators, ...
Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008
August Dietz, Confederate States Philatelist, Editor & Publisher
The registered cover was addressed to Aug Dietz Esq, 900 West Clay Street, Station A, Richmond, Virginia, United States and had a magenta 8d ‘Lyre Bird' New South Wales stamp canceled with a REGISTERED/ OC 7/96/ SYDNEY postmark as well ...
Tuesday, February 17th, 2009
Australia’s First Seaplane Carrier, H.M.A.S. “Albatross”
This cover is unusual in that it appears to be printed to celebrate the christening and launching of the HMAS Albatross on 23 February 1928, but the cover was not posted until 10 years later from SYDNEY/ 4 15 A ...
Monday, January 19th, 2009
Australia: Ballarat Post Office 1914 Postcard
The Ballarat Post Office in Victoria, Australia, with the exception of the Melbourne General Post Office, was the largest Victorian building of its kind. It is the third building erected onto the current site since 1858. If you enjoyed ...
Saturday, January 5th, 2008
Australian Coronation Contingent, 7 May 1937 at Crowning of KGVI (England)
This cover was addressed to No 1157. L.A.C. Palmer, T.P., R.A.A.F. Detachment, Australian Coronation Contingent, Australia House, London W.C. 2, England, and the two mauve 9d ‘Kangaroo on Map of Australia’ stamps were postmarked with an ASHFIELD/ 1 AM/ 7 ...
Monday, May 19th, 2008
Automatic Postal Devices in Paris (1910)
[I discovered this interesting article in an English newspaper, The Standard published in 1910. It should be of great interest to French postal historians.] “Monsieur Millerand, the new minister of Public Works, who has the department of Post and Telegraphs under ...
Sunday, March 16th, 2008
Belgium Registered Airmail Letter to Gwalior – A Cover Story
The sender ostensibly mailed this envelope to his wife in India. Earlier in the 1930's the Belgian postal authorities had frowned on self addressed post-restante letters, as they were always out of pocket from the return journey. This assertion is ...
Saturday, July 19th, 2008
Blatter and the Bahamas
Lot 142 in the Postal History Auction run by Yorkshire Cover Auctions, which closed 5 June 2004, appeared to have a familiar address (see for example NSW Philatelist, Article 449, November 1996). And yes, it was another Blatter cover, this ...
Wednesday, December 24th, 2008
Captain Ronald Edgar Smith, 2nd Son of James “Philosopher” Smith
A large number of covers have been seen at stamp auction sites addressed to Westwood Forth, Ulverstone Forth or Ulverstone either to Lieutenant, Captain or Major R.E. Smith over the past 3 years, but none compare with the present one ...
Friday, April 11th, 2008
Cetinje, Montenegro Via Suez From Mackay, Qld: 1894 Postcard
The Queensland Universal Postal Union 1½d postcard has the ’Rays 33' on the printed stamp with a MACKAY/ D/ JY 21/94/ QUEENSLAND postmark alongside, as well as a transit BRISBANE/ JY 24/ 94/ QUEENSLAND postmark. In addition ...
Monday, March 1st, 2010
Clarrie King: Putting more fun in Philately
Amongst the many WWII Military covers I've handled over the years, occasionally a humorous illustrated cover with the attribution "Clarrie King" would emerge. I noted a number of different cartoon-like illustrations as time went by, but ...
Sunday, February 28th, 2010
Dr. Lowell Joseph Ragatz, Professor of American History and Philatelist
This possibly unique cut-down cover was sent from the Australian National University, Canberra (pen-deleted) airmail with 26 all coil stamps (block 12 of orange ½d roo, plus blocks of 8 and 6 of the green 3d QE II) were postmarked ...
Sunday, May 24th, 2009
E.L. Angeloglou, Dean of Cairo Stamp Dealers
The cover has a total postage of 1/ 7d made up of a pair of ½d orange KGV heads and the 1/6 Hermes airmail stamp. It has two ENMORE/ 130P 16 JL 36/ N.S.W postmarks plus a blue By Air ...
Friday, February 22nd, 2008
Edwin Cradock Nowell: An Extraordinary Tasmanian Clerk
Edwin Cradock Nowell A series of 7 covers addressed to Edwin Nowell in Hobart from January 1850 to February 1860, from South Australia, New South Wales and Tasmania appeared in a Tasmanian stamp auction in April 2005. The covers were well ...
Thursday, July 3rd, 2008
Ernest A. Kehr, Philatelist & Prolific Writer About Stamps (USA)
The following item appeared on Ebay Australia and was withdrawn by the vendor prematurely: “Advertisement Cover produced by The Royal Horticultural Society of NSW to promote the World's Buckjumping Championship held in Sydney during the Royal Easter Show from the ...
Wednesday, May 14th, 2008
HMAS Sydney
The HMAS Sydney (II) was launched 22 September 1934. It arrived in Australia 2 August 1936 and remained in home waters until departing Fremantle in April 1940 where she was part of an escort of a convoy to the Middle ...
Friday, March 14th, 2008
Indo-Pakistan War Letters 1965 and 1971
Indo-Pakistan War 1965 In 1965, August 5th, Pakistan, believing that India having suffered defeat in 1962 against China would not react to a quick war over the disputed territory of Kashmir, crossed the Line of Control disguised as Kashmiri locals and ...
Sunday, February 22nd, 2009
Japan to Australia by Airmail in Early Postwar Years
Correspondence between Japan and Australia resumed reasonably soon after the end of WWII. The earliest item I have is a Stationery card dated 17 September 1946, in which a penpal states "Now the war is over & we are privileged ...
Thursday, May 14th, 2009
Kalgoorlie, Western Australia to Poquetanuck, Connecticut
This cover with the blue 2½d Swan stamp (A.S.C. # 28) travelled 6½ weeks across Western Australia to the east coast of America, its journey being well documented by its multiple postmarks and manuscript routings. The front is postmarked by ...
Saturday, February 9th, 2008
King Edward VII Mourning Cover & A.R. Fowler (1847-1911)
This somewhat ordinary mourning cover reveals a story of considerable importance to the entire British Empire, particularly the State of Tasmania. The 1d Mount Wellington pictorial (with a 'T' perfin) is postmarked with a roller Hobart cancel dated 18.5.10 7-0 ...
Thursday, January 14th, 2010
Le Style francais
Something of a stroll down memory lane for me this issue, and the first occasion on which I have featured covers from a foreign country. The article is prompted as a consequence of having recently sorted and classified our 15-year ...
Thursday, April 17th, 2008
Markings on a Letter to France (2002)
[Published by kind permission of the author.] I recently acquired a cover which has a 2EDON marking, which I had not seen previously. The cover has also quite a few other markings. Which ones can you identify and explain? If you enjoyed ...
Monday, November 17th, 2008
Mourning Cover to Arthur A. Bartlett, Prince Edward Island (Canada)
A mourning cover from Australia led to an exciting story of Nova Scotia stamps remainders. It was addressed to A. A. Bartlett Esq, "The Hill", Charlottetown, P. E. I. (Prince Edward Island), Canada and it had a manuscript Per SS ...
Monday, February 18th, 2008
Notes on Royal Australian Navy Mail
Ronald M. Lee Australian ships served in many countries overseas and an indication as to where they served can be found in the abbreviated schedules. It is hoped that some Australian naval items may be discovered in specialist country collections. If you enjoyed this ...
Saturday, April 5th, 2008
Notes on Tasmanian Revenue Stamps 1827-1990
Bill Lloyd-Smith. Tasmanian revenue stamps have a long and fascinating history. Their genesis arose in 1826 when the Governor, Sir George Arthur, tried to control the press when certain people published articles that he did not like. Thus he introduced a ...
Monday, January 28th, 2008
Pan Am Airlines: As Luck Would Have It
Ed Wolf. J.E. Whitbeck was a worried man. He felt his job was on the line before he had a chance to prove himself. Here it was October 19 1927 and disaster was about to strike. If you enjoyed this article, you ...
Monday, June 9th, 2008
Parcel Post Agreement Between the U.S. and the Gold Coast Colony
This article was originally published by the United States Government Printing Office in 1929. It contains no images but we have published it believing it to be of great interest to postal historians of West Africa, who may be interested ...
Monday, December 14th, 2009
Postalhistory.org
If you collect postal history, or are interested in discovering more about this fascinating branch of philately, you will find information here to help you. If you ...
Monday, April 7th, 2008
Postmarks from the Past
Postmarks From the Past is dedicated to writing about and preserving Michigan postal history, in particular those post offices which have closed. If you enjoyed this article, you might also like...Travelling Post OfficeWhy I Love Collecting QueenslandE.L. Angeloglou, Dean of Cairo ...
Wednesday, May 7th, 2008
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882-April 12, 1945)
This simple cover, addressed in what is suggestive of a child’s hand, is addressed to President Roosevelt or His Secretary, America. U.S.A. and the green 1d KGV Head stamp plus the red 2d Submarine Cable stamp are postmarked ULVERSTONE/ -4 ...
Thursday, February 21st, 2008
Rhodesia: A Tale of Two Postcards
Sean Burke. At a meeting of the RPSV in April, Paul Peggie gave a talk and displayed over 60 items of early Northern Rhodesian missionary mail. The following two cards were part of that display: If you enjoyed this article, you might ...
Friday, February 22nd, 2008
S.S. Wairarapa Shipwreck on Route from Sydney to Auckland 1894
On Monday, October 29, 1894, the S.S. Wairarapa, with more than 230 passengers aboard, besides the crew, crashed on to rocks at Miner's Head on Great Barrier Island in the Hauraki Gulf, New Zealand. Captain McIntosh, the master, and ...
Sunday, February 21st, 2010
Self-adhesive stamps of Tonga
Were these weird stamps ever used? The short answer to the question is ‘Very much so'. I have recently seen a large holding of commercial covers of Tonga dating from the 1960s and bearing many different frankings from the myriad ...
Thursday, June 12th, 2008
Slow boats from Danzig to China and back
Giles du Boulay. The message from Danzig on the back of this card is a simple enquiry: why has it been so long since we have heard any news from you? The writer’s anxiety may well have been heightened when the ...
Thursday, March 13th, 2008
The Bahamas: the World’s First Undersea Post Office
Earlier this year, I visited a stamp show in a small town in south Sweden. At one of the dealer tables a colourful cover caught my attention. After some negotiations I was able to purchase the cover for the equivalent ...
Friday, May 29th, 2009
The Byrnes Bassett Shipping Line
Bernie Beston FAP. FRPSL. Following the opening up of the Moreton Bay District to free settlers in 1842, the influx of migrants and squatters increased rapidly. As the best grazing land nearest Brisbane was taken up, adventurous pastoralists scoured further and ...
Wednesday, April 9th, 2008
The First Mail from US Forces in Australia During World War Two
The receipt this week of a photocopy from Andrew Brockett of an item posted in Darwin in January 1942 and thought to be from an American serviceman started me thinking about how little has been written in Australia about the ...
Friday, March 13th, 2009
The Last Cancellation from Colone Cosme
Ronald M Lee. I am sure most of us have an accumulation of papers we intend to study in more detail when time permits. Recently I began looking at such a pile in a corner of my study and discovered a ...
Monday, April 21st, 2008
The New York City Post Office: 1600s – 1870s
[First published by T. B. Thorpe Harper’s New Monthly Magazine (October 1871).] There seems to be no preserved evidence that for very many years after the settlement of what is now known as the city of New York there was any ...
Tuesday, June 17th, 2008
The Pony Express, A Postal History
The Pony Express, A Postal History by Richard C. Frajola, George J. Kramer and Steven C. Walske; ISBN 0-911989-03-X; hard cover; vi + 165 pages; published 2005 by The Philatelic Foundation, 70 West 40th Street, New York, NY 10018. The Pony ...
Sunday, March 16th, 2008
The Postal History of Hong Kong
The Postal History of Hong Kong by Edward B. Proud is one of the latest on the Proud-Bailey series of books on the postal history of the British Colonies. It is a mammoth volume with well over 1,100 pages covering ...
Tuesday, March 25th, 2008
The Postal History of World War II Mail Between New Zealand and Switzerland
The Postal History of World War II Mail Between New Zealand and Switzerland by Robin M. Startup FRPSL FRPSNZ and Charles J. LaBlonde CPhH; ISBN 0-9085887-3-9; soft cover spiral binding; iv + 131 pages; published 2005 by the Postal History ...
Tuesday, February 26th, 2008
The Principality of Bulgaria and its Stamps
[Published by kind permission of the Editor of Stamp News Australasia.] On 1st January 2007 Bulgaria became a member of the European Union. The road to full membership has been far from easy. The country's economy could have been in a ...
Saturday, March 7th, 2009
TO and FROM. Modern Poland: A Journey Through Postal History
TO and FROM is a tantalizing, new pictorial history of Poland as seen through the eyes of real people and their stories found on postcards. If you enjoyed this article, you might also like...The Postal History of World War II ...
Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009
Travelling Post Office
The Travelling Post Office is a website dedicated to mail trains. Explains how the system worked and provides some history, Information and photographs of T.P.O. If you enjoyed this article, you might also like...Australia: Ballarat Post Office 1914 PostcardThe Bahamas: the ...
Wednesday, March 5th, 2008
War-time Reporter Meets General MacArthur
The newspaper wrapper that prompted this research is postmarked PAID AT SYDNEY/-14 MY 43/ N.S.W. and is addressed to Lewis Sebring, Tribune Herald Newspaper, USA Army Hdqrs., (General Douglas MacArthur), AUSTRALIA. This was sent by "Reveille", Official Organ, R.S.L (N.S.W. ...
Friday, June 27th, 2008
Why I Love Collecting Queensland
There are many philatelic commonalities amongst the different areas that we all collect. To explain further, if we collect Postal History or stamps of a particular country or period, then our individual reasons for collecting them will in general be ...
Sunday, March 23rd, 2008
World Philatelia
Personal blog of Kon Grekiotis featuring covers and stamp exchanges from all over the world. Greek and universal philatelic info. Contact through snail mail at; Kon Grekiotis – P.O.Box 60010 – GR - 15310 Agia Paraskevi - Greece. Website: ...
Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009
WWI – Belgium Armoured Car Division in Russia
In August 1914, Belgian Lieutenant Charles Henkart, put his two armoured Minerva cars at the Army's disposal. Cockerill & Co (Engineers) in Hoboken had added some armour plating and a Hotchkiss machine gun to each as shown below. Despite previous ...
Tuesday, June 17th, 2008
Zeppelin Flight To Palestine
There is a certain romance about Zeppelins. The famous pop band Led Zeppelin took its name from the airship. Z 127 Graf Zeppelin was a large rigid airship (or dirigible). It was named after the German pioneer of airships, Ferdinand von ...
Wednesday, December 26th, 2007
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