Sunday Stamps - Food and Drink; USA, Brazil

 I guess many of us have seen a lot of food and drink over Christmas and the New Year but I still had trouble finding stamps for this theme.

The 150th Anniversary of the Statehood of Illinois had some farm buildings and fields of grain on this stamp.

USA - 12 February 1968

The Celebrate the Century Series  contained this curious stamp for the 1900s which fits the food theme I suppose.

USA - 3 February 1998

Agricultural products appear on a number of stamps from Brazil and no it's not coffee that I have found.

Brazil - 1 September 1981

This is Anacardium Occidentale, the evergreen tropical cashew tree that gives us the cashew seed and the cashew nut. Its apple  is used for a drink and concentrated juice.

For more food for thought, or drink if you prefer go over to 

Sunday Stamps - Flags; Hungary plus?

 It's evident from my stamp collection that it is the USA that features its flags the most. However in Great Britain it was 2001 before the Union Jack appeared on a stamp as the subject in its own right along with the White Ensign in a series on the submarine service.

!962 was a World Cup year, Chile was the host country and the cup was won by Brazil.

It was Hungary however who had a series of stamps showing the competing nations.

Hungary - 21 May 1962

These are six of the eight stamps in the series. How many flags do you recognise?

The stamps are designed to be viewed with the flagpole vertical so I hope you do not get a crick in your neck.

 For more flags test your knowledge of vexillology at Sticks and Flags.  

Sunday Stamps II A-Z 'X' Mexico, Brazil, Denmark

I could only find stamps from two countries with an 'X' in their name so had to extend my search as you will see.

Mexico - 26 October 1963
100th Anniversary of the Red Cross

Maybe that cross in not an X but it was the nearest I could get.

Searching for names with an X in them led me to Brazil.

Brazil - 1954 Luis Alves del Lima e Silva
Duke of Caxias

The Duke earned the 'title' of Peacemaker, and his birthday became the date on which Brazil honours its soldiers.

In 1969 Denmark commemorated the 100th anniversary of writer - 

Denmark - 28 August 1969
Martin Andersen Nexo

But the nearest I could get to an X on a stamp was provided by the 700th anniversary of the Fall of the Dannebrog from Heaven.

Denmark - 12 June 1969

The Dannebrog, the Flag of the Danes, is believed to be one of the oldest flags in the world. You may read about the history of the flag and the legend behind it at The History_of_the_Flag where you will find the X waving at you.

To see how others have solved the X-word puzzles cross over to the links at Sunday-Stamps-II-162.

Maps - Sunday Stamps II

A wander round the world with maps from different countries in date issue order.

To the Caribbean for a Federation that survived a mere four years.

1958

To Alaska Statehood

1959 - Dig Dipper, North Staay, Alaska map

Down south to Brazil

1962 - 50th Anniversary of the Postal Union of the Americas and Spain

And across the oceans to Bangladesh

1971 (I think) - Independence

For maps of other places check out Sunday-Stamps-II-73. and follow the links.

Stamps on Postcards

As there is no Sunday Stamp theme this week I went looking for another source of stamps by raiding a collection of postcards that have accumulated over the last 30 years or so.

Rio de Janeiro - Sunrise on Copacabana Beach

Brazil

Both the stamps were issued originally in 1982 although the card is clearly postmarked 1984.

The top two stamps show the Mamona or Castor Oil Plant; The bottom stamp shows ears of Trigo (wheat). Brazil is the third largest producer of castor oil behind India and China.

From France I found two different denominations of the same Marianne.

France

François Mitterrand became the 1st Socialist President of the Fifth Republic on 10 May 1981. However the Marianne on these stamps is that used during the presidency of his predecessor, Valéry Giscard d-Estaing.

This is the Gandon Sabine Marianne by the stamp engraver Pierre Gandon inspired by a painting by Jacques-Louis David,

The Intervention of the Sabine Women (1799)

'Mitterand's' Gandon Liberté Marianne did not appear until 1982.

Both the postcards with these stamps were to my daughter.

The Côte d'Azur

The card from Paris just had to be from my eldest son to his sister 

because the message ended, 'Il me plait que tu n'es pas ici!!' This is a long standing family joke even if it was in French.

World Cup - Sunday Stamps

With the World Cup in full swing it seemed appropriate to choose football stamps this week.

The tournament in Sweden in 1958 saw Brazil win the cup. Poor England had their worst result ever until this year when we are 'out' after just two matches. However my World Cup stamp from that year comes from none of these three countries.

World Cup 1958 - Czechoslovakia

1962 saw Chile host the tournament, won yet again by Brazil. My stamp for this is not from Chile either but from - 

World Cup 1962 - Hungary

A stamp from Ruanda commemorated the Cup in 1966.

World Cup 1966 - Ruanda

Of course the Cup that year was hosted by England; Great Britain issued a set of three commemoratives on 1 June 1966. I only have two of these.

World Cup 1966 - Great Britain

The stamps were:

• 4d Player with Ball
• 6d Goalmouth Melee
• 1/3d Goalkeeper saving Goal.

The 4d stamp was reissued on 18 June 1966 with the wording added "ENGLAND WINNERS"

I wonder how many tears there will be and how many years we will have to wait to see that again.

To see what others have chosen this week follow the links at Viridian's Sunday-stamps-176.

B-o-o-o-ring - Sunday Stamps.

What constitutes a boring stamp? 

What is boring to one person may not be to another. They say that familiarity breeds contempt so it may be those that you see regularly that are boring to you.

That's something that doesn't apply to the ones I've chosen. Perhaps however you will recognise a trend in those I've decided to show.

Brazil

If they are a bit colourless then the next ones aren't.

Hungary

And what's more the design is a bit more elaborate in the next also.

Indonesia (I Think)

My final two have both colour and a more intricate design; some might find they are not boring at all.

Turkey

Now it's up to you to spot the trend in the stamps I've chosen before you cross over to Viridian's  Sunday-stamps-146. to check on what other stamps we are bored by.

Hello Dolly - Sepia Saturday

I was sure I was going to have problems this week until I remembered.

But when we had an electrician working in our loft earlier in the week others saw the light.

1960s Doll

Originally this doll had a bottle which when filled with water resulted in the doll wetting herself. No bottle now and you can't see that she has lost her knickers. She is still the proud owner of a carry cot equiped with a pillow and blanket to keep her warm, and with a cover and hood to keep her dry.

She had a companion in the loft whom I thought had gone to a charity shop some time ago. So let me introduce, from the same era:

Tiny Tears

As her name implies she wept realistic tears. Perhaps she now fears what is going to happen to her.

Much to my surprise I found another doll on display in our house. So here's a Brazilian who seems to wink at you.

Doll from Brazil

So that you get some idea of size here are the three together - rivals to the Pussy Cat Dolls?

The family favourites have travelled a bit, probably more than the Brazilian. So all the way from Peru we have:

Paddington Bear

I hope you will agree that bears are allowed as well as dolls. Teddy made his intoduction at an early age.

Teddy in a future garden and loved already

He even took precendence over Paddington and the heartthrobs on the wall.

Teddy in prime position

Teddy has been all round the world and now resides with Paddington in the USA. He still looks good to this day.

At ease

Meanwhile his larger brother Herbert has had his share of love.

Herbert gets a cuddle

But Herbert wants to know when his turn will come to leave our loft and wend his way to the USA.

For tales of other dolls you now need to switch to Sepia-Saturday 109.

South American ABC - Sunday Stamps

With South America as this week's theme I thought I should start with the alphabet.

'A' is for Argentina, and it so happens that this country has a stamp that shows the whole continent.

Argentina

The second largest country in South America, Argentina gained its independence in 1816 and issued its first stamps in 1858.

'B' is for Brazil, the largest country in the continent; independent in 1822 Brazil became a republic in 1889. The Amazon flows from its source in the Peruvian Andes 4000 miles through Brazil to the Atlantic.

Brazil

'C' is for Chile which lies between the Andes and the South Pacific. Chile's Juan Fernandez Islands are supposed to be where Robinson Crusoe was shipwrecked.

Chile (my one and only stamp)

'E' is for Ecuador which became independent in 1822. Ecuador includes the Galapagos Islands so I'm pleased that I have a stamp of its fauna, a splendidly named bird on a 1977 stamp.

Ecuador

If like me you don't know Spanish, the bird is a Red-legged Boobie.

I  had only one stamp from other countries on the continent and so had to give Guyana (formerly British Guiana), Paraguay, Peru and Venezuela a miss and settle for the letter 'U'.

'U' is for Uruguay, the smallest of the South American republics which borders on the Atlantic; its first stamps were issued in 1856.

Uruguay

I understand that 'encomiendas' means 'parcels' 

For other stamps from down South America way you need to visit Viridian at Sunday Stamps 36