Urban Sunday Stamps - Singapore, Sweden,Switzerland

 After much searching I decided to use some buildings for this Urban theme.

A tourism series in 1990 from Singapore included a building with a famous name - Raffles Hotel.

Singapore - 4 July 1990

A notable building from Sweden has a Chinese look.

Sweden - 28 August 1976

 This shows the facade of the Chinese Pavilion in the grounds of Drottningholm Palace in Stockholm.

In contrast the railway station of Bellinzona in Switzerland is much more mundane.

Switzerland - 8 September 2016

Perhaps that is a good place to start your journey to more urban environments at Sunday Stamps

Sunday Stamps - Things made of wood: Sweden

 Rather than 'Things made of wood' I have chosen 'Wood from which things are made'.

Sweden - 9 February 1970

If you have floated timber down a river there will come a time when timber transport is required before things can be made.

Sweden - 4 June 1971

For other wooden things just visit Sunday Stamps

Sunday Stamps - Water; Sweden

In 1998 I met two men from Sweden's Post Office at an auditor training course I led in Denmark. 

They sent me these stamps depicting Stockholm - 

Sweden - 14 May 1998

These are stamps for letter post (brev).

You can see from the text that Stockholm classes itself as the city on the water.

For other splashes of water check out other posts at Sunday Stamps

Sunday Stamps - W4 Sweden

At least Sweden has a 'W' in its name. However I did not expect to find so many relevant stamps from here.

If you fancy a trip on a boat then why not travel on a Waxholm boat.

Sweden - 1 January 1971

It at least does not want the wind to drive it unlike this structure with sails.

Sweden - 4 June 1971

I visited the town of Vasteras in the 1980s but not the Town Hall outside which stands a sculpture - The Grotto of the Winds - by Eric Grate

Sweden - 27 January 1976

For other 'W' related stamps please check out the links at Sunday Stamps.

Sunday Stamps 'S4' USSR, Sweden, South Africa

India and the Soviet Union signed a Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation in 1971. A stamp commemorated this friendship in 1976.

USSR - 8 September 1976

A ceiling painting from  Dädesjö church in Småland depicts St Stephen, the Stable Boy.

Sweden - 9 February 1970

South Africa  has many superb animal stamps. You could say that the Springbok is iconic too.

South Africa - 14 October 1954

For more 'S' related stamps please visit Sunday-stamps-s.

Sunday Stamps I4 Iceland, Ireland, Sweden

I could have show this under H - for but saved it for this week.

Iceland - 6 October 1961

This commemorated the 50th Anniversary of the University of Iceland. Björn M. Ólsen was the first rector in 1911.

Another 50th anniversary occurred on 21 January 1969 - for the Irish Parliament.

Ireland 

On 5 September 1969 Sweden issued a set of stamps - Three Swedish Artists - which included --

Karl Isakson

Karl Oscar Isakson was a Swedish painter who spent much of his professional life in Denmark where he is considered to be one of the fathers of Modernism.

For other 'I' related stamps please visit Sunday-stamps-i.

Sunday Stamps E4 - Norway, Sweden

On a trip in the Norwegian mountains I once saw the rear end of one of these as it disappeared in the woods.

Norway - 7 April 2000

It was back in the early 1980s when I worked in Stavanger that I saw 'my' Elk.

Staying in Scandinavia I found a Swedish/American inventor whose steam locomotive, The Novelty, was beaten in a Lancashire railway competition in 1829. The winner was George Stevenson's Rocket.

Sweden - 9 October 1976

John Ericsson (1803-1889) invented the screw propeller for ships. The British Admiralty were uninterested in this, but it was widely adopted by the US Navy.

For a wider look at 'E' related stamps follow the links at Sunday-stamps-e.

Sunday Stamps V3 - Rwanda, Sweden, Singapore

The Stampworld catalogue heads this stamp 'Waterfalls and Volcanoes.'

Rwanda - 24 June 1966

The Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda borders National Parks in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda. It is the home of mountain gorillas and golden monkeys and was a base for Dian Fossey. The five volcanoes in the park are five of the eight in the Virunga range - Karisimbi, Bisoke, Muhabura, Gahinga, Subyinyo - but I don't know which one is depicted on the stamp.

Sweden - 26 April 1973

I'm sure you will all recognise the Viking ship. One from Norway stands on our mantle piece.

Although we get cats in our garden, none match this - 

Singapore - 6 June 2007

If you look closely you can see its Latin name is Viverra zibertha.

For 'V' related stamps take a look at the links on Sunday-stamps-v.

Sunday Stamps U3 - Germany, Netherlands, Sweden

 Some letters are proving more difficult as we near the end of another A-Z round but the DDR gave me an unexpected surprise with - 

DDR (East Germany) - 6 December 1967

This was Walter Ulbricht, the German communist leader and someone I vaguely remember.

In the Netherlands I came across this heavily postmarked commemoration for the 100th anniversary of the United Nations Telecommunications Union (ITU).

Netherlands - 17 May 1965

Finally it was Sweden that came to mind, I just knew that Uppsala would appear on a stamp - even in this case with a double U.

Sweden - 2 June 1977

Founded in the 1477 it was a donation from King Gustavus that put Uppsala University on a sound financial footing.The stamp commemorates its 500th anniversary.

For 'u' to see more related stamps visit the links at Seeitonapostcard

Sunday Stamps II A-Z 'N' Nobel Prize winners

Three Nobel Prize winners from 1911 appeared on these Swedish stamps issued on 10 December 1971.

Count Maurice Polidore Marie Bernard Maeterlinck
Nobel Prize in Literature

The Nobel Prize in Literature 1911 was awarded to Maurice Maeterlinck "in appreciation of his many-sided literary activities, and especially of his dramatic works, which are distinguished by a wealth of imagination and by a poetic fancy, which reveals, sometimes in the guise of a fairy tale, a deep inspiration, while in a mysterious way they appeal to the readers' own feelings and stimulate their imaginations".

Maeterlinck was born in Ghent, Belgium

Wilhelm Wien & Alivar Gullstrand

Wilhelm Wien, born in a part of Prussia that is now in Russia, was affiliated to Würzburg University in Germany when he won the Nobel Prize for Physics. During his career he submitted 24 nominations for a Nobel Prize and was nominated 9 times for the Physics Prize.

Alivar Gullstrand was Swedish and in 1911 was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. He was also a multi-nominee for Nobel Prizes including the one for Physics.

For other 'N' related stamps please visit Sunday-Stamps-n. where you will find another world famous scientist.

Sunday Stamps II - A-Z (2) 'D' - Dancers, Douglas and Old Toys

I looked for a stamp for Mothers' Day but only had one from Dubai commemorating Arabs Mothers Day. That is on the 21 March this year so I went for Greek dancers instead.

Greece - 2 January 2002

Now I just have to find out what dances are depicted.

I have never been to the Isle of Man or walked down - 

Douglas Promenade - IOM - 5 July 1973

Hidden away amongst the toys from Sweden I found this - 

Old Doll - Sweden - 14 November 1978

We still have two of my daughter's old dolls but their home made clothes are not as elegant as this.

To see what other 'D' related stamps have been chosen this week check out what's on offer at Sunday-stamps-d.

Winter sports - Sunday Stamps II

There's a Nordic slant to my stamps this week once you've been to winter sports at Bariloche in

Argentina - 17 June 1971

and to see a bobsleigh team for 

San Marino - 15 December 1955

at Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy.

In Norway you could partake in ski sports at Hjemland

Norway - 15 Jan 1975

I don't remember seeing a skier dressed like that!

I only remember the football World Cup in 1966 so would not have been aware of the World Speed Skating Championships held in Gothenburg that year.

Sweden - 18 Feb 1966

I've managed to find four different winter sport disciplines so check out Sunday-Stamps-II-109. to enjoy others.

Horses - Sunday Stamps II

This proved a harder theme that I thought as I have used all my stamps of real horses before.

However Iceland and Sweden rode to the rescue with a horse or two, even if the Iceland stamps show a pony.

Iceland - Icelandic pony 1958

My Swedish stamps are slightly newer, the first from a postal history and nature series.

Sweden - 16 October 1967

From an earlier time in history a block of four,

Sweden - Horse & Viking ship, 26 April 1973

A mosaic embroidery sheet  issued on 26 November 1974 depicted some horses. I don't have that sheet but one of the horses is in this pair.

Sweden - 1974?

Now you may ride over to Sunday-Stamps-II-85. and follow the links to some splendid 'real' horses.

Winter Scenes - Sunday Stamps II

I looked for something depicting winter storms but came up with a blank. I thought I was going to forced to show something from Winter Olympics like this one from Cortina, Italy.

San Marino - issued 15 December 1955

To find non-sporting winter scenes I finished up in Scandinavia.

Sweden - Mountain scenery, 15 March 1967

Sweden - Timber Transport, 4 June 1971

I wouldn't have looked at that one twice if it hadn't been for the sledge, nor this one until I realised it depicted footsteps in the snow.

Sweden - Oskar Andersson, 24 March 1977

The Swedish cartoonist Oskar Andersson was born in 1877 and was well known for his signature OA which you can see on the stamp. Tragically he committed suicide in 1906.

I found more mountain scenery depicting tourism in Sweden's neighbouring country.

Norway - 24 March 1983

If you fancy a winter holiday where better than on a snowy slope as on this Europa stamp

Norway - Holidays, 26 March 2004

I'd prefer to be at the head of this line - going down to where it's warm.

That's my wintry tour for today, you may follow others at Sunday-Stamps-II-59.

Bridges - Sunday Stamps II

Having selected a bridge as my favourite choice last week I had to search my collection for something different this week.

From Iceland I found the Skeioara River Bridge, a stamp posted in 1978.

Iceland - 1978

At 900 metres the bridge was the longest in Iceland.

Two stamps from Sweden left me wanting to know more.

Sweden - 1969

This shows one of the bridges to Tjörn Island. I am still trying to find out whether this was the one destroyed by an out of control ship in 1980.

My second stamp from Sweden shows an aqueduct carrying ships along part of the Daislands Canal.

Sweden - Aqueduct in Håverud

I believe the bridge in the back ground is a railway bridge.

I've also found this video which is worth including.

Thanks to Paul Christiansen for the video and the following information. The aqueduct was planned in 1863 but due to lack of ideas, it wasn't finished until 1868. It was made in Stockholm and transported to site, where it was put together with 30000 rivets. It is 32.5m long, 4.05m wide and 1.8m deep. The whole system has 4 sluice gates, operated manually.

You can see that Sunday Stamps gets me to all sorts of unexpected places just from researching the background to the stamps I show.

To see other bridges check out the links at Sunday-Stamps-ii-55.

Happy New Year

Playtime, toys or games - Sunday Stamps II

This has proved a difficult theme for me. However when looking for some stamps for Words and Numbers last week another William Caxton stamp caught my eye.

Great Britain 1976 - Game and Playe of Chess

Then I've had to cheat a bit and go to New Zealand for some 'games'.

New Zealand 1974 - Xth British Commonwealth Games

I know that Sunday Stamps has a Christmas theme for the next two weeks but I found a different New Zealand stamp which shows a game in progress.

Cricket on the beach - Christmas 2013

I struggled to find a toy that I had not shown before but an old Swedish toy saved the day.

Sweden 1978

My wife usually asks me on a Sunday whether I have finished playing with my stamps. Little did she know that 'Playtime' is very appropriate for Violet this week at Sunday-Stamps-II-51.