Free choice - Sunday Stamps II

While trying to catalogue my stamps I have had some problems, some of these applied to Mexico.

One stamp in particular proved hard to date until I found a Stanley Gibbons catalogue.

Mexico - 1895

The image is not very clear - perhaps this is not surprising considering the age of the stamp. The Statue of Cuauhtémoc dates from eight years earlier in 1887. 

Cuauhtémoc was ruler of Tenochtitlan from 1520 to 1521, making him the last Aztec Emperor of all.

In the late 1990s/early 2000s I used to pass his monument on Avenue Reforma in Mexico City on the way to my hotel. I never knew who it represented.

Monument of Cuauhtémoc

Yet another lesson I've learnt from stamps.

To see what others have chosen to start the new year check out the links at Sunday-Stamps-II-107.

Happy New Year!

A Virgin Case - Sepia Saturday

I struggled to find anything appropriate for association with a suitcase until I remembered a story, 'A Virgin Case,' written about my journeys to Mexico some years ago. Let me introduce you to Anita, the case in question.

'Anita' Antler

This isn't actually Anita but a more recent model. Not that Anita's shy; it's just that I can hear her sobbing inside her black plastic bag up there in our loft. Her sobbing is not so loud as it used to be before the extra 4 inches of insulation was added to aid to reducing our energy consumption

My acquaintance with Anita began when I was looking for a larger case in which to carry Mexican training course material. She was to replace a smaller relative who had done sterling service in Europe and the Middle East. As you can see Adam is looking rather tired as a result.

Adam Antler

The last thing Anita was told before she left a North East department store was to beware of anyone trying to undo her zips!

She was to share her trips to Mexico with Sam Sonite, a small shoulder bag.

Sam Sonite

Sam was always bragging about his superiority which earned him the right to travel in the warm cabin of the planes while Anita had to resist the attentions of loads of luggage down in the cold hold.

These days Sam would have been accused of sexual harassment for all the things he said he would like to do to Anita when he got her alone

On early morning in a Mexico City hotel bedroom the earth moved for Anita. 

No - not due to Sam; just a little 'trembolo,'  an earthquake to you and me.

Note: 'A Virgin Case' is much too long a story to tell in full. You will just have to be satisfied with what appears above.

In case that is not enough then I suggest you take a look at what other Sepians have to say this week at Sepia-saturday-213.