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What you missed at our Diamond Jubilee Meetings
4th February 2008
The following Talks and Displays were given by members of the Council:
Poland 1914 to 1945 by John Dennett
Background
Russia attacked Germany on 17th August 1914 and the Tzar’s army was directed to capture the seaport of Konigsberg in the north, and also attack Austria in the south. The Russians were no match for the Germans, who destroyed them at Tannenberg later that month. The Russians were more successful in the south, but the Germans sent reinforcements to Austria and gradually pushed the Russians back to the thick line (see map below), which was the new border set by the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in March 1918 and remained the border until the cessation of hostilities in November 1918.
The stamps
Germania stamps were produced overprinted ‘Russiseh Polen’ for military authority use in occupied Russian Poland on 12th May 1915. When the Germans occupied the rest of
Russian -Poland, more Germania stamps were overprinted ‘Gen. Gauv Warsehau’ and were issued on 1 August 1915. Polish civilians wanted to use stamps (the military ones were not for them and the old Russian ones were invalid), so The Warsaw Citizens post came producing 4 stamps in ‘Gresze’ currency, this was surpressed on 20th October 1916, but the next day the Poles used some rubber stamps, which were in use to the next April. By this time all Russian – Poland was occupied and on 26th April 1917, the German currency was introduced in the north, 100 fenige = 1 mark ( fenige not the German pfenige). The Austrians in the south imposed their 100 halerz = 1 krone (halerz and not the Austrian heller). At the end of WWI, the German occupation stamps were still available and re-issued blacking out the ‘Gen Gauv Warsehau’ and adding ‘Poczta Polska’, some with and some without overprinted values. The Warsaw Citizens Post stamps that were surpressed, were re-issued but ‘Poczta Polska’ overprinted the groszy currency and the ‘new’ values were added in ‘Fen’, issued 17th November 1918.
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The Austrian occupation of the south and their military post stamps were also overprinted with Polska- Poczta’ but added a Polish eagle in the centre. These stamps were originally issued in 1917, but after the war the Polish post office continued to use them while awaiting for replacements. In March 1919, the first designs for the south were issued, imperforate depicting the Polish Eagle produced by Zielinski Printing Works. These stamps were ungummed and for the convenience of the public, the post offices provided pots of glue on their premises. In the north the first definitives set was issued, soon to be followed by an identical set in the south.
The north set has a microscopic ‘F’ after the value and the south has an equally microscopic ‘H after the value. There was a set of stamps produced for the 1st Polish Philatelic Exhibition (3-15 May 1919) which was to support the White Cross Fund. In the Treaty of St.Germain, September 1919, Austria gave up Galicia to Poland. The Hanseatic town of Danzig became a ‘Free City’ and the town was incorporated into the Polish customs area, its foreign affairs being directed by Poland. Then followed a succession of commemoratives, 1st Parliament, new constitution and the peace with Russia. The first commemorative set was shown and 5 sheets of definitives plus those for the White Cross Fund.
The plebiscites of 1920 and 1921 were shown for Danzig, Marieniverder, Memel, Eastern and Upper Silesia and Allenstein. More commemoratives : Red Cross, Silesian Miner (to celebrate the Silesian province ceded to Poland), Copernicus’s birth, then came the provisional inflation stamps of 1923.
In 1924 the new Reichsmark was introduced in Germany, so a new set of Polish stamps was produced with the new currency 100 groszy = 1 Zlotz. The L G V Scneider Plane set of 1925 was followed by various commemoratives, most notable the Gordon-Bennett Balloon Race of 1936. During the years from 1925 to 1936, Poland overprinted their own sets of stamps with ’Port Gdansk’ for Polish posts in Danzig. This seaport, with a population of 96% Germans, became a free state in 1920 under the protection of the League of Nations, but the Poles were allowed to use the port. In 1938, when Poland was celebrating the 20th anniversary of independence, a new set of stamps was produced including the ‘Port Gdansk’ into the design (ie not overprinted). The following year Danzig was incorporated into Germany. There the story ends but John rounded off with some WWII occupation issues and Free Poland issues plus those showing the ruins and the rebuilding of Poland.
John stated at the beginning of his talk that he had assembled the stamps from the circulating Society packets, showing anybody could mount a display from easy to come by material and not fork out vast sums in so doing. He told me (Editor) he knew nothing about the Eastern Front, being fed on Western history at school, so it was a grand opportunity to find out what did happen over there.
Northeastern Airways and 1971 postal Strike Mail by Bob van Goethem
Part one of Bob’s display concerned Northeastern Airways, which started flights on 3rd October 1938 but they were only granted a licence to operate north to south in the UK. Five labels were issued to mark the occasion, for example, on the routes Leeds to London and Perth to London. They only had two aircraft and made one flight a day. Mail was only taken between Newcastle and London so that which states it is from Leeds/Bradford was actually taken by train to the stop-off point. There were several covers on display, Leeds to London then on to Doncaster and Leeds to Bradford then London. They had time clocks and one showed a time of 12 midday but it actually arrived at 1pm.
Part two concerned the Postal Strike of 1971. Bob displayed a set of covers cancelled for each of the 47 days of the strike and on 15th February there was the change to decimal stamps. Bob can only assume they were produced by a postal employee, as they all bear the postmark of Hampton in Arden, Solihull. We can muse as to whether they were produced daily or all in one go at the end of the strike.
GB Postage Due Stamps by Derek Rock
Derek’s display started with pre-stamp items, including a cover with 2d more to pay as it was over ½ ounce. There were Penny Red items, both perf and imperf, and a number of postcards with different handstamp shapes of 1d, oval with a number at the top and oval with the number at the base. Derek pointed out that the rest of the display consisted of labels as Postage Dues are not stamps. The 1914 Postage Due Labels were the first and the same design was in use continually from 1914 to 1970. Each different set issued was displayed. These were followed by the new design of label, inscribed Postage to Pay, and Postage Due presentation packs, including the last labels. The display rounded off with four sheets showing Post Office Training stamps (POTS).
GB and Empire Jubilee Issues 1887 to 1935 by Margaret Emerson
Margaret started by saying this was her first display of stamps given at the CSPS and indeed at any stamp club. Her topic was Jubilee issues and she explained that she had intended to cover the issues up to the QEII era, but there was so much material that she stopped at 1935.
The first sheets were for the 1887 GB ‘Jubilee’ or Unified series, although as a Margaret explained, they were not issued for the Jubilee of Queen Victoria and excluded a 1d value, as the Penny Lilac continued in use. Changes in rates resulted in two new values being issued the
4½ d and 10d, the ½ d was changed from vermilion to green to follow UPU rules and a new bi-coloured 1s was issued to avoid confusion with the ½d. Examples of mint blocks and used values were shown including a 4d value with a major frame break and a 10d on cover with Penny Post Jubilee Guildhall cancel and one on piece with an SETPO cancel.
Officials were next including a ½d vermilion with the Officiai error of overprint and an Army Telegraph overprint. Issues overprinted for use in the Empire followed, including those for Zululand displayed as mint, used and Specimen sets. There were overprints for the British Bechuanaland Protectorate including varieties, British Bechuanaland and those additionally overprinted ‘Mafeking Besieged’. A cover was shown and its insert, an invitation to a seat at the Diamond Jubilee Procession. The 1897 Diamond Jubilee was marked by issues for Barbados, Canada and Newfoundland, although this was one value in a set to mark the 400th anniversary of the discovery of Newfoundland.
The 1935 Jubilee was marked by a set of four stamps in Great Britain and booklet and sheet stamps were shown. Overprints for the Morocco Agencies were next. There were three covers showing the different ways to make the 1½d letter rate. The Empire was represented by stamp issues from Australia, Canada and New Zealand, with several blocks shown, overprints from the Cook Islands, Nauru, Niue, Samoa, New Guinea, Papua and South Africa. Margaret rounded off with two sheets of the 1935 Jubilee Omnibus issue, showing the three different printings and some varieties. There were some issues from Nigeria including a Specimen set which Margaret said had been included as a tribute to a Founder Member and Past President, Neville Jones, having come from his collection.
The History of Telecommunications by Ian Briant
This was again a debut display and as Ian worked for British Telecom for number of years, his display concerned communications. The first item was a 1947 Canadian stamp marking the centenary of the birth of Alexander Graham Bell. This was followed by a Europa set from 1979 and the ‘Talking Drums’ on a Nigerian issue. Canada again featured with an issue in 1974 for the centenary of the birth of Marconi, the radio pioneer. Ian brought some props along and the first was a booklet ‘Ringing the Changes’. Telegraphs were next with stamps from New Zealand and telegraph poles featured on a stamp from Costa Rica and might well be the earliest such issue showing them. There was a Swiss stamp marking the 25th anniversary of the UPU.
Covers were next for the 150th anniversary from Rumania and a 1953 issue from India, marking the centenary of Indian Telegraphs with old and new poles. Telegraph poles featured on a 1947 stamp from Austria and also on later issues from Cuba, Norway and Australia. The poles had insulators and there was an item asking people to stop throwing things at the insulators.
Cables were next with a stamp to mark the opening of the Australia to Tasmania submarine telephone cable in 1936 and in 1963 the opening of the COMPAC (Trans-Pacific telephone cable). There was a lot of expansion in the 1950’s and 60’s with telephones on stamps and telex. The Post Office Tower was featured on cards and stamps and was for microwave technology. The centenary of the Telegraph Union was marked in 1965. There were a number of attractive stamps from the French Colonies.
Props number two and three were a MORSE code device and a telephone. In 1976 stamps were issued for Bell and a miniature sheet, with old and new phones depicted. Germany marked the centenary of its telephone system in 1977 and 1983 was marked as World Communication Day.
Satellites were next with a lot of fancy covers issued which Ian displayed to show the various dishes, lot s of them. There were a number of oddities in the way communications are depicted on stamps with very few switchboards, few telephone exchanges and only one he could find with an engineer depicted. A phone boxes booklet was next.
Finally the future is in the transfer of data, mobile phone technology and even bigger dishes!
Ian concluded by wearing a hard hat and this can be seen in the photographs of our evening.
3rd March 2008
The second of the Jubilee evenings consisted of six talks and displays by invited members.
Postal History of Tunbridge by John Weston
Tunbridge became a postal town in 1669. The first item was a letter to The Golden Bell London in 1703 containing a letter from the Elisa Harcourt family. A map of the area in London dated 1770 was shown. Next was a two line mark from 1745, the first postmark and the cost was 6d from Tunbridge to London. Another item from Tunbridge to East Grinstead went via London and was charged 3d to London and then another 3d to East Grinstead, showing how the charge was made up.
The first mileage mark was next and a Bedford Coffee House letter. The undated double arc appeared in 1829 and when not available, a Penny Post handstamp was used. In 1828 a Penny Post was set up with three receiving houses at Leigh, Penshurst and Pembury. In 1839 the 4d Uniform Post was paid on delivery and from 10th January 1840 the Uniform Penny Post (pre-paid) commenced. A first day cover was shown. The first handstamp for Tunbridge was shown next. Penny Blacks could not be purchased in Tunbridge and a paid handstamp was used. A Penny Post item with a Penny Black was shown as it had passed through Tunbridge. A Mulready with Pembury Penny Post was next and a mis-sent to Tunbridge item.
There was a letter to Gibraltar, from the Right Hon Russell Dean family costing 1s. This was taken on board HMS Vesuvius John told us, as he had matched the dates.
There was a block of seven 1d reds and a halfpenny on cover with what until then was a unrecorded stamp Tunbridge to Cannes. Parcel post labels from 1883 rounded off the display.
Memories of Scotland by George Goodall
George explained his wife was from Scotland and that he had worked there during his career. He started with a cover marking the railway race to the north between the East and West Coast Mainlines. There was another marking the electrification of the line from Euston to Glasgow, the cover having been carried on the up service. There was a Glasgow to Greenock railway anniversary cover and the 2000 National Philatelic Exhibition was featured.
The Clyde ferries were shown on cards as was Edinburgh Castle. There were covers for anniversaries of the Postbus and two FDC’s for the Scottish Parliament. Various ships and ferries were depicted and maps showing where the places were. Scenery featured too with the highest roads, the highest village (Castleton), Kirkwall where George had worked and views of amongst others Loch Lomond, Balmoral and Glencoe. The last items were for the trains between Edinburgh and Glasgow and the saying ‘The train back to Glasgow is the best thing about Edinburgh’.
Berlin and 1948 by Ron Oughton
Ron started by expressing his thanks to the Society Librarian, John Dennett for his help in locating relevant articles and information. Ron displayed various items and stamps concerned with Berlin including the military stamps issued, the Red Army issues and philatelic items ie miniature sheets, produced by the Allies and the Russians. The Berlin Airlift which started in June 1948 was next with covers out of Berlin, Berlin Tax stamps and a cutting from a newspaper. With 12 marks to the pound, it was known as a light tax.
There were various stamps with watermark, perforation and shade varieties and tax stamps on cover. An issue was made for the first anniversary and 25th and 50th anniversary items were also shown. There was the Help Berlin issue and the Allies issues showing the rebuilding of Cologne Cathedral. There were items from the French zone and a Russian issue, an overprint of the Allies issue. German personalities were next, all Communist.
What else happened in 1948 apart from the setting up of the CSPS? Not very much Ron had concluded although he showed the GB Olympic Games set. To keep the theme of 48 going he showed a Penny Red plate 148, a Zeppelin item for LZ48 and L48 the Naval version.
Duck Stamps by John Wells
These issues are concerned with wildlife conservation and the Duck Stamps are not postage stamps but hunting licence issues. They are valid for one year and the revenue goes to the Wetland Habitats. We were told that $2billion has been raised.
Birds dropped in number due to settlers, the need for food and the demand for feathers for hats. In the 1920’s hunting took off again and 1million acres of wetland was drained. The Migratory Bird Conservation Act was brought into force. The birds had suffered with the Dustbowl conditions.
The first Duck Stamp was issued in 1934, 16th March, featuring two Mallards and were copied from actual paintings of the birds. The first was a $1 issue and they were attached to hunting certificates. The bulk of the display featured the birds and the conservation stamps. It was 1935 that they were first sold to collectors and to other countries in the 1980’s and 1990’s and Ducks Unlimited appeared. There is one duck stamp design each year from the paintings. In 1935, 2 million were printed and 480,000 were sold. They have a high face value and are now rated at $15. The stamps are destroyed after 3 years and so can be scare. A 10th anniversary sheet from New Jersey was shown.
1911 Coronation Durbar in Delhi by Peter Harris
Peter started by saying that he owed this display to his son, Paul, who had spotted an item at a fair, showed his father who then caught a bus and went searching for the other items.
The Durbar lasted two weeks and there were a number of items concerned with the event including the postage rates, times and postmarks all depicted on a sheet. There was a memo about the officers, presumably, wearing dress uniform. There was also a selection of dinner menus. There was a list of members in each of the tents, including Mr J Zuberbuhler in Tent 64, the writer of the seven letters displayed. All but one of these letters came complete with the envelope.
The letters home gave details of the journey on the train, the layout of the camp, details of a journey in a horse and cart, which had fallen over, and the details of the final day. All the cancels tie in with the leaflet and show their authenticity.
Disappointments by Brain Viner
Brian started by telling members that before he joined the Civil Service he had worked at Harris Publications. One day an old Austrian man had come into the shop with a collection. He wished had had been able to buy it, as with what he knows now, it was worth a great deal. Then a GB Specialist’s collection passed by sold by the wife of the collector.
These two stories lead into the display of holiday disappointments. Brian is interested in music and went to Naples where William Walton is buried. The buses there are terrible we were told. On this holiday the train was delayed getting to Gatwick, he need not have worried as the plane was then delayed, the taxi to the ferry was driven madly, the ferry was packed and the hotel full, despite making a reservation so they had to go elsewhere. Cards to remind Brian of the holiday were shown.
The next disappointment was a holiday in New Orleans but there was no jazz band just a piano trio, again shown in cards. A 1960’s card of the Festival Hall was next and Brian told us £94m had been spent on the refurbishment but he noticed no real difference. There was a Berlin philharmonic cancel. In his office Brian had recovered covers from the rubbish bins. Finally there was a holiday in Poland where Chopin grew up and a card of the Warsaw monument. This one had gone well
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