Sunday Stamps 'Q4' - Ecuador, Japan

I thought i would have to resort to stamps showing foreign queens this week until I found this stamp from Ecuador.

It depicts the Third Ecuadorian games held in the capital of Quito in 1975.

I had to cheat somewhat again by showing a Japanese national park containing the letter 'Q' on my second stamp.

Sado-Yahiko Quasi-National Park

To see other 'Q' related stamps just visit the links at Sunday-stamps-q.

How many of you remember the Japanese stamp appearing under 'J'  in an earlier A-Z round, I wonder?

Sunday Stamps H4 - Ecuador, USA

I hesitate to enter into American politics but do so with a stamp from Ecuador.

This stamp was issue to commemorate Hubert Humphrey on 28 November 1978. Humphrey had been the 38th Vice President of the USA from 1965-69 under Lyndon B Johnson. He stood as Democratic presidential candidate in 1968, narrowly losing to Nixon by only 510,000 votes.

The woodwinds that open Citizen Kane, the shrieking violins of Psycho and the plaintive notes of the saxophone of Taxi Driver were all the works of Hollywood composer - 

USA 16 September 1999

Herrmann (1911-1975) was one of the composers in the American Music Series.

I wonder whether Humphrey saw these films and heard Herrmann's music.

For other H related stamps cross over to Sunday-stamps-h.

Maps - Sunday Stamps II

In alphabetical and date order, I have three stamps to show.

From West Africa a map of of a Portuguese colony - 

Angola - 1955

Commemorating the Pan- American Road Conference in Quito -

Ecuador - 15 November 1971

I don't usually hang on to damaged stamps like that with the missing corner but the design with the white line passing through Quito on the equator is why I have kept it.

The Delta Works in the south west of the Netherlands has been called one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World. The dams, sluices, locks and storm surge barriers was the largest hydraulic engineering project in the Netherlands in the 20th century.

Netherlands - 16 February 1972

If you need other maps to find your way around the world, then visit Sunday-Stamps-II-117.

Children, Games and Toys - Sunday Stamps

I found stamps from several countries that met the theme this week.

Dubai -  Children's Day - 1968

And the Year of the Child:

Ecuador - 1979

For toys I found a Teddy Bear

Sweden - 1978

And then one of my daughter's favourite bears all the way from Peru.

Great Britain - Paddington, 10 Jan 2006

"More About Paddington" by Michael Bond with Peggy Fortnum's illustrations was first published in 1959.

These four stamps were what I originally meant to post until I found this presentation pack of mint stamps on my favourite market stall.

Great Britain - 16 May 1989

The stamps depict from left to right;

• 19p - Toy aeroplane and train
• 27p - Building bricks
• 32p - Board games
• 35p - Toys

The information card is a gem in itself covering the history of toys. The pack also contained a second set of the stamps and a Stamp Card for each one, like this;

Royal Mail Stamp Postcard

To play more children's games and with more toys please go over to and follow the links at Viridian's Sunday-stamps-122.

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