Stamp Exchange

Makanudo and others,
I am well aware that there is a thread to this theme
started by Makanudo recently.
However occupation stamps is such a wide field,that
I want to start the thread anew in a otherwise rarely
used forum.
It is not that easy to say,what occupation stamps
are.
Wartime issues are easy.But what about stamps
issued in (former) colonies ? Maybe people in such
countries may consider the former rule by foreign
masters as an occupation.
But I think it would be better to leave out colonial
stamps and stick to wartime-issues only.
Naturally the "big" players in Europe and the USA,
as well as Japan are the ones,who are responsible
for the bulk of occupation stamps.
Japanese Occupation of BurmaPeacock overprints)

Myaungmya Type II,issued May 1942

Henzada Type I,May 1942
Henzada Type II, not regularly issued.Most likely printed
after the war.Regularly this type of overprint was applied
on postal...

Recently acquired this US Scott #14 from the APS Stamp Store. It came with an APEX certificate that it was a genuine used stamp with a removed cancel, which I knew when buying it. Thought it would be a good learning experience for people that have never seen a stamp with a removed cancel (sort of). It appears to me that the cancel removal occurred from the upper right lip in a line to the right of Washington's left eye (viewers right) and then a little to the left. This area looks whiter than the rest of the stamp so some ink was removed in the process. Interestingly, I can easily some black ink from a cancel on the left side of the stamp.

I thought I would start a Musical Instruments on Stamps thread. Perhaps we can build an orchestra!

My favorite instruments are the viola, English horn and French horn. Current favorite depends on which one I’ve last heard. I played drums from 4th-12th grade and while I got fairly good at it, I always wanted to play a melodic instrument. I quit in 12th grade when a kid beat me out for 1st chair which I had held since 8th grade. I took German instead which came in handy for me. I did purchase an Alto Sax in high school, taught myself a little…but without guided instruction I didn’t get very far.

Of course, to play any instrument at the professional level is exceedingly difficult and requires a natural talent. That said, my impression is the French Horn is perhaps the most difficult to play well. I am open to other opinions!

A new topical (I think). It would be nice to learn about country-region-city specific holidays and see them on stamps!

Sechseläuten – A local holiday in Zurich, Switzerland. A very large ‘snowman’ is built in the town square, its head full of fireworks. The holiday celebrates the beginning of Spring. A fire is started, and crowds gather to watch as the fire reaches the snowman’s head which sets off a nice display. There is controversy if the fire takes too long, goes too fast or as has happened a couple of times - the fireworks fail to ignite. This occurs in the afternoon.

During the day, club bands march around the city playing. The tradition is they stop at each bar they pass and have a drink…It is funny to see the deterioration of the music as the day (and drinks) progress. The holiday is the third Monday of April. It has been held for over a century. Alas, there was no Sechseläuten this year.

(I would think there would be some nice cinderellas for this topic out there...)...

Philatelic Exhibition Labels by James Drummond, 894(!) pages, $129.00. Loose-leaf, 3-holed punched. All color images.

Comes now, James Drummond who has compiled and cataloged a number of philatelic sidelines. Clearly, vast amounts of effort and research went into all of his books. Perhaps his most popular are the three volumes and supplement, Philatelic Miscellany – not to be confused with McDonald’s excellent American Philatelic Miscellany. I do not have this series but hope to acquire it soon. All of his works may be purchased from www.ericjackson.com the place for revenue and ‘miscellany’ collectors. The pages load a tad slow for me but the website itself is full of goodies and easily navigated.

This book is, essentially, a catalog. All the images are in color and text is generally limited to descriptions and facts about the material – values, printings, dates, varieties, sizes. Again, the research required to obtain...

This was a British publication, similar to the U.S. Stamps Weekly but, obviously, published monthly.

I have a not quite complete run from 1946-1957. In 1956 it began incorporating the World Stamp Digest magazine. The November 1957 issue in front of me here is Volume 24, No. 274. An archive shows listing up to 1963, but there is a current Brit publication, Stamp Magazine. I do not know if they are one-and-the-same. ‘Stamp’ and ‘Magazine’ are somewhat generic and I do not see ‘Volume’ or ‘Number’ information on the latter.

The magazine itself is slightly oversized. It is printed on newspaper stock, similar to Stamps Weekly. The length of issues varies quite a bit, unlike Stamps Weekly. November 1957 is a tasty 46 pages, with the inside covers also utilized.

The first twelve pages are advertisements. Then we get to columns and articles. Topics, of course, lean towards GB and territories, but there is worldwide coverage. The first difference I noticed from...

Pat Paragraphs by Elliott Perry, Compiled and Arranged by George T. Turner and Thomas E. Stanton, Bureau Issues Association, Inc. 1981, Oversized Embossed Hardback, 648(!) pp. Current price range (eBay, Amazon, ABEbooks) $45.00- $125.00.

There are a few people in the history of U.S. postage stamps literature for whom one can say, “Anything they wrote is worth reading!” Elliott Perry is certainly one of them. Others – Melville, Luff, Chase, Johl, Brookman, Ashbrook, Sloane, Herst. It has also been said that anything from the BIA is worth having or reading.

Pat Paragraphs is a compilation of Mr. Perry's columns which ran from 1931-1958. Mr. Perry himself ran from 1884-1972. Over that time, there were 58 issues encompassing over 2000 pages.

The layout by Turner and his team is similar to Sloane’s Column. The columns have been organized by subject. But here, there are less subjects (though still quite a few) than Sloane’s and Perry digs in much deeper...

Hero Who Saved Christmas Receives Honor

The wait is finally over! One of the world’s biggest, best known and most love television stars has finally achieved his lifelong dream of being honored with his very own US Postage stamp.

In an interview following the unveiling ceremony the star was quoted as saying ‘It has been a long time coming. I’ve always known my skill set was limited and to be honored like this gives me a tremendous sense of satisfaction. It just goes to show that anyone, regardless of physical differences or public misconceptions, can achieve any goal they set for themselves.”

If you still don’t know who it is, you will kick yourself when you find out.

A staple on television sets all over the world during the Christmas holiday season, this beloved character overcame years of taunting and abuse from friends and family. He leapt into the spotlight 50 years ago and seems to have at least 50 years left.

For years, children all over the world have literally sung his...

I was browsing through my 19th century covers and noticed that some have the actual time stamp on the bottom and it got me thinking about when and why these came about. Apparently these came about because the timely delivery of your mail was (and hopefully is) paramount and so the time is relevant here. The early ones was just a few changes in the slugs at the bottom of the C.D.S. your used to seeing and I read that they started coming about in the 1880's. In fact I found this Patent info from a Walter D.Wesson on November 22nd 1881. The earliest known T.O.B.'s was recorded as "type Ia & Ib" featured a curved state marking and either 3 or 4 individual slugs in the date line. (I do NOT own one sadly) I really love the early T.O.B. as well as the C.D.S. cancels. enjoy. Any input and/or images would be appreciated.[/CENTER]