Sunday Stamps - Red: Great Britain, USA

Two old stamps to start this week, one from when I was a young boy.

Great Britain - 1939-1948

The 9th World Scout Jamboree, known as the Jubilee Jamboree, was held in Sutton Park in Sutton Coldfield in August 1957 and commemorated with three stamps. This is one of them.

Great Britain - 1 August 1957

By 1962 Jetliners had become a more common sight as shown by this one flying over the Capitol.

USA - 5 December 1962

We already have a poinsettia plant ready to be part of our Christmas decorations this year - I suppose that this would also be appropriate for next weeks secular theme.

USA - 10 October 2013

Father Christmas may well land on a red roof soon, so check it out at Seeitonapostcard.

 

Sunday Stamps - Father Figure: New Zealand

This proved a difficult theme to match until I found the 1946 Peace Issue from New Zealand.

New Zealand - 1 April 1946

King George VI and his family under the banner "IN PEACE, LONG MAY THEY REIGN."

By 1953 the father figure's daughter was Queen and she remains our longest serving monarch.

For other fathers follow the links at Father Figures on Sunday Stamps

Sunday Stamps - Mother and Children; Great Britain

The Queen addressed the nation at 9 pm on the 75th anniversary of VE last Friday at exactly the same time that her father (George VI) on VE Day in 1945.

It seemed appropriate for me to show these stamps today.

• Princess Elizabeth with her father, George VI, 1930
• Elizabeth II State Opening of Parliament 2012
• The Queen with Prince Charles and Princess Anne 1952

These stamps were issued on 21 April 2016.

For more mothers and children just visit Sunday Stamps - mum.

Sunday Stamps - Commemorative Victoria and George VI

After what seems a long break to me I thought I would return with two early stamps from my collection.

Queen Victoria - Diamond Jubilee 1897

And from the week before I was born - 

Coronation of George VI and Queen Elizabeth

For other commemorative stamps just follow the links at Sunday-stamps-commemorative.

A-Z Challenge 2017 - Houses, some real, some not - 'Y'

Y - York House

Having 'cheated' slightly on 'X' I was thinking of doing the same for 'Y' by posting on the royal members of the House of York.

But as you might expect there are many houses in England call 'York House'. The one I have chosen is one at the home of rugby in Twickenham.

York House, Twickenham
(!7 January 2015, by Jim Linwood - CC BY-SA 2.0)

This historic stately home currently serves as the Town Hall for the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames.

It occupies part of the site belonging from at least Tudor times to Yorke Farm; its name derives from that family.

Over the centuries the house passed through several owners after Queen Elizabeth I and King Edward VI granted Yorke farm to members of their household.

In 1897 the house was sold to the Duc of Orleans who had been a Pretender to be King of France, but by 1906 it was acquired by an Indian merchant Prince, Sir Rata J Tata. He was to be the last private owner.

Subsequently in 1924 the property was purchased by Twickenham Urban District Council. In August 1926, Twickenham received its Charter of Incorporation and in November the new borough held its first council meeting in York House. Appropriately the building was officially opened by the Duke of York (later George VI) on 16th November 1926. 

Orange or Yellow - Sunday Stamps II

Colours are not always what they seem to be. 

The earliest 'yellow' in my collection is the Golden Jubilee issue for Queen Victoria of January 1,1887.

Great Britain

The Stanley Gibbons catalogue describes this as purple 0n yellow.

On May 5, 1937 the first 15 definitives for George VI were issued and included a 2d orange stamp.

6 February, 1952 saw the issue of the Wilding definitives for Queen Elizabeth II. The lowest denomination of 1/2d is described as orange-red.

I had to wait until 25 February 1976 for a Machin derivative in a colour to meet the theme - 10.1/2p yellow.

The capital of Gambia was founded by the British in 1816, before the reign of Queen Victoria began and of course well before the first postage stamps. Founded as a trade post or base to suppress the slave trade it was named after the Secretary of State for War and the Colonies, the 3rd Earl of Bathurst.

In 1966 (on 24th June) a set of stamps commemorated the founding of Bathurst.

Gambia

Bathurst was renamed Banjul in 1973.

This is an orange or yellow post for Sunday-Stamps-II-93. Don't forget to check the links there for other contributions.

Island Stamps - Sunday Stamps II

One stamp from a Mediterranean island and one from the Indian Ocean are my selection this week.

Maldives

The grey heron on this stamp from the Republic of Maldives is seen in America and Europe too.

During WWII my elder brother served on aircraft carriers in the Mediterranean involved in the defence of Malta and this is the reason I have included a stamp from there.

Malta - 1938

George VI was our King during the war.

Mdina Cathedral is shown on the stamp. There were settlements in Mdina going back 4000 years. The walled medieval town is situated on a hill in the centre of the island. Called the Silent City by its inhabitants possibly because today it has no cars other than than those of its few hundred residents, emergency vehicles, wedding cars and hearses.

For stamps from other islands visit Sunday-stamps-ii-14.

Taxing - Sunday Stamps (on Monday)

I must have had a taxing time at the weekend as I missed the window for the link to Viridian's Sunday Stamps.

The theme this week was "stamps that leave you wondering: what is this stamp trying to show? What does it commemorate? Or, who is this person on this stamp anyway?"

In my case the stamp is quite clearly a GB definitive of King George VI.

Stamp receipt 1951

Apparently it was the practice for cash receipts to carry a stamp depending on the value of the goods - in this case 2d for purchases up to £20.

This receipt was for a carpet bought by my future mother-in-law in 1951. Neither my wife nor I can remember this practice after we were married in 1958.

It may have been abolished in 1971 when decimal currency was introduced. So there's the mystery; can anyone tell me more?

All I've turned up is the Receipt Duty explanation in this link http://www.cosgb.org/cosgbv1n2.htm

Despite my lateness you can still check out other posts at Sunday-stamps-82

Great Britain - Sunday Stamps

The use of postage stamps started in Great Britain with the famous Penny Black in 1840.

Penny Black (reproduction)

As the stamps were only for internal use the country's name was not included on the stamps; later it was agreed internationally that British stamps did not need the name but all should contain the sovereign's head. In fact there has only been one stamp that has included the name Britain - the stamp commemorating the Festival of Britain in 1951.

Use of the Penny Black was discontinued when it was replaced due to the black colour not showing postmarks clearly. The Penny Red took its place.

I have only one stamp showing Queen Victoria who reigned from 1837-1901 and I have shown this before.

Queen Victoria 1851

There is another stamp of the same value and colour as this. The difference between lies in the design; the stamp I've shown has 16 dots around each corner, the other only 14.

After Victoria Great Britain had four Kings as shown on these stamps from my collection.

Edward VII (1901-1910)

I've shown a reproduction here as my Edward VII stamps are so heavily postmarked.

George V (1910-1936)

Edward VIII (1936)

These are the only four stamps issued for Edward VII before his abdication.

George VI (1936-1952)

These early stamps from George VI's reign include the commemorative for his coronation.

Our present Queen came to the throne in 1952 and is to celebrate her Diamond Jubilee this year.

Elizabeth II

The first stamps issued became known as the Wilding issues as they were based on a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II by photographer Dorothy Wilding. Variations on this theme were used until 1967, when the Machin issues were introduced. The Machin design is a profile of the queen on a solid back ground.

Machin issue

In 1971 the currency was decimalised so the stamps changed again for the new values.

Decimal currency

 To save stamps from Great Britain you have always needed to recognise different water marks. In addition technical improvements in printing mean you also need to be able to identify graphite lines on the back of the stamp, phosphor bands (all over, single or double), position and design of the demonination value.There are literally hundreds of varieties.

With the advent of first and second class postage rates the demonination has been removed and in my opinion the design has been ruined by unsightly postage class numbering.

First and Second Class Postage.

 As you can see there is also a different stamp and charge for large envelopes. Postage rates have gone up by over 4000% since Queen Victoria''s days. She would not have been amused.

To amuse yourself further you should view other stamps at Viridian's Sunday Stamps