Stamp collecting can be whatever you want it to be. There’s discovery and beauty, humanity and history—pretty much everything. Share the journey with me and stay in touch.
The Leaf, the Mask, and Halloween (USA, Slovenia)
The Autumn leaves are beyond their colorful peak in the Mid-Atlantic. This shriveled, half-decayed caught my eye today. I find it beautiful in a late Autumn way, and I photographed it. Contrast it with the costumed people I’ve seen today: Witches, Vampires, and plenty of masks.
The U.S. has celebrated 
Halloween with a variety of stamps. Perhaps the earliest was the 10-cent Legend of Sleepy Hallow stamp from 1974. And my favorite mask stamp is actually the Smiling Carved Pumpkin from 2016. I prefer smiles!
Previously I’ve written about the extraordinary Mask Tradition of Slovenia. These aren’t Halloween masks but are created for the annual Carnival festivals which end on Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday, which begins the Christian season of Lent. And much the same as Halloween traces its roots to ancient traditions, the Slovenia Carnival traditions of masks and costumes have ancient origins as well. Warding off evil spirits and bringing good fortune are chief among the historic purposes of the costumes. And though not meant for Halloween, there’s nothing like a good scare!
Cats (USA, Spain, Great Britain)
Our cat and companion Beck (left) was put to sleep last week. He shared our home for 16 years. Beck would sit next to you and lay next to you and was a great comfort. Often he would meow and turn his head to look at me as he was heading into the bedroom. I knew he wanted me to lay down on the bed. He would then jump up on the bed, circle about three times at my side and lay down next to me. We often dozed off together—comforting for us both. I miss him.
I’ve been thinking of other cats who have shared my life, Wolsey being the first. He could leap vertically six feet and grab a shaking stick. And then there was Lance, found on the street on a snowy New Year’s Eve. And Fluffy, our kids’ favorite. Oddly, I never wanted for a cat. The children had wanted cats, and my wife too. Other cats simply found me and agreed to share a life. I’ve been enriched by each one.
There have been hundreds of cats featured on stamps. I don’t collect cat stamps, but with Beck’s passing I began to look at some of those stamps. Here are a few I was drawn to: 
The gray Burmese shown on the 22-cent U.S. stamp of 1988 (along with the Maine Coon) looks just like Beck: gray fur, piercing yellow eyes. That stamp was one of a set of four, each featuring a pair of cats of different breeds. A Maine Coon lived next door and would wander our neighbors’ back yard (and ours), but would always return home when called. Beck, on the other hand, shot out our door a few times. I chased after him and couldn’t find him, but he lay outside our door the next morning. We became more vigilant when he was nearing an open door, and when we moved to an apartment he showed little interest in leaving.
The 1930 airmail stamp from Spain shown here, one of a set of eight airmail stamps honoring pioneering aviators, is the first instance of a cat appearing on a postage stamp. and his cat Patsy is shown at the bottom right of the stamp. This stamp honored Charles Lindbergh. The eight stamps promoted the Ibero-American Exhibition (Exposição Ibero-Americana de 1929) which took place in the Spanish city of Seville. It opened on 9 May 1929
and closed on 21 June 1930. The purpose of the exposition was to improve relations between Spain and the countries in attendance, all of which have historical ties with Spain. The exposition was smaller in scale than the International Exposition held concurrently in Barcelona from May 1929 to January 1930. Patsy was a frequent passenger on Lindbergh’s flights and could often be found curled up on his plane’s tail in the hangar (right). When asked why Patsy didn’t join him for the famed trans-Atlantic flight. Lindbergh said, “It’s too dangerous a journey to risk the cat’s life.”
In 2022 Great Britain issued a sheet of 20 stamps featuring cats. 18 of the stamps show different cat images. Two of the stamps are duplicated on the sheet—why, I don’t know. I think those of you with cats can identify with many of the poses. 
It was that s-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g cat on the £2.55 stamp that initially drew my attention. Beck liked a good stretch.
To learn more about cats on stamps check out the “Cats On Stamps” Study Unit of the American Topical Association.
Getting “Round To It!” (Israel)
Oftentimes I have trouble getting around to doing a particular task. Overcommitted? Weak organization? Confused priorities? Who knows.
Creating a new post with some regularity for this website is often one of those “getting around to it” challenges. But instead of fretting I decided to give myself a refreshing “break” much like I took with a February 2019 post. And I mixed in a bit of a “lift” too as I did with a December 2018 post. So I spent some time appreciating the sheet of four stamps pictured here that feature children’s artwork, one of my favorite art genres. I feel refreshed just looking at those dolphins leaping out of the water on the stamp at the left side of the sheet. And how about that happy pigtailed vet examining the little puzzled-looking dog on the 2.50s stamp. (I’d like to meet that dog.) Do you feel like you could jump on the back of the big black cat in the 1.40s stamp and take ride? I do, and I think this is my favorite of the four stamps. But I said I could use a “break” and a “lift”, and a balloon ride would do just that.
This sheet of stamps was issued by Israel to celebrate the International Stamp Show (PHILA NIPPON ‘01) held in Japan in the summer of 2001.
The Great Sailboat Regatta (Lithuania)
On June 14, 2024, Lithuanian Post issued the “Lithuanian Great Sailboat Regatta” postage stamp designed by Natalija Vaišnorienė (about whom I wish I knew more). Its design and artwork are a true delight. The vertically exaggerated sailboats integrate so well with a fantasy of color strips behind them that I hear music in the color harmony.
This year Klaipėda, Lithuania was the starting port of “The Tall Ships Races.” Klaipėda is a port city in Lithuania, where the Baltic Sea meets the Danė River, and is a city full of maritime culture—a most appropriate place to begin the race.
Have You Ever Seen a Flockdown Bird?
During the COVID-19 lockdowns of 2020, people found different ways of coping. Berni Martin, who spends a lot of time crafting as well as taking photographs, also spends time watching birds outside the window of her first floor apartment on the British Island of Jersey. The birds are attracted to the feeders she hangs on the tree
outside that window. To help cope with the Covid lockdown Berni decided to paint a bird for 100 consecutive days. She numbered each bird painting and posted them on social media.
Jersey Post took notice and eight of Berni’s birds became stamps and went on sale March 1, 2021. “I was over the moon
that they are now stamps,” Bernie said. “And I hope they make people smile and encourage people to send a postcard or letter to a loved one. It’s such a joy to receive a handwritten note in the post.”
Of her COVID painting project Berni commented, “It just kind of evolved as it went along. I love birds and they’re
quite quick to paint. As I was doing one every day, I needed something easy to commit to. They all have personalities of their own and mostly they reflected the mood on the day they were painted…happy, sad, colorful, crazy, fat, sleepy, flyaway! It was so quiet in the first lockdown and the weather was so lovely, we had an abundance of birdy visitors outside our windows…
they were the perfect subject. I had no idea when I created the birds that they would one day be featured on Jersey stamps, it was just a project I set myself and people seemed to enjoy them on social media so I kept it going. I think not knowing they would be stamps one day was good, there was no pressure to try and make them perfect. The original paintings have splashes of paint and some little imperfections here and there.”
Andy Goldsworthy’s Springtime
In 1995, Great Britain issued five visually amazing stamps (above) themed ‘Springtime’ and designed by Andy Goldsworthy. He is a British Sculpture who lives in Scotland. His work consists of natural materials, hence it changes and decays during its lifespan, and he has traveled widely to make sculptures in particular environments.
The 1995 stamps were created as follows:
19p — Dandelions collected on the way to work. Laid around a carefully made hole.
25p -– Sweet Chestnut leaves. Held with thorns.
30p — Garlic leaves creased, folded, bent. Held to the ground with thorns
35p -– Hazel leaves. Two greens.
41p -– Spring grass, fresh green blades, white stems. Laid around a hole
About his work, Goldsworthy says, “The work that I do with my hands, with thorns and leaves and snow that doesn’t last very long, is the heart of what I do. That’s the source from which I draw all the other aspects of my art.”
And he explains further, “When I’m working with materials it’s not just the leaf or the stone, it’s the processes that are behind them that are important. That’s what I’m trying to understand. Not a single isolated subject but nature as a whole—how the leaf has grown, how it has changed, how it has decayed, how the weather’s affected it. By working with a leaf in its place I begin to understand the processes.”
Designers and Engravers of the Animals of Niger Stamps
Niger’s complete independence from France was achieved on August 3, 1960, but France continued to influence and aid the new Republic du Niger. The first stamps issued by the independent Republic were a set of 12 stamps picturing six animals (two stamps for each animal). Three of those pairs were featured in the previous post. The 25fr Giraffe stamp was issued in late 1959, and the balance of the set in 1960. Stamps up to the 1970s tended to be large engraved issues designed and printed in France, with many strongly resembling the design of French stamps.
The designers and engravers of the first set of stamps issued by the Republic du Niger are identified on each stamp, but their names are very small and can be easily overlooked. Designer names appear in the bottom right corner of the stamps, and engravers in the bottom left corner. The names mostly parallel the bottom edge of the stamps, but some parallel the sides. Below are greatly enlarged portions of the three pairs of stamps featured in my last post and the Giraffes stamp above.
Crested Cranes Saddle-billed Storks
Left: R. Subert — Designer Left: R. Subert — Designer
Right: Bétemps — Engraver Right: Bétemps — Engraver
Giraffes Ostriches
Left: R. Subert — Designer Left: R. Cami — Designer
Right: Decaris — Engraver Right: R. Subert — Engraver
Some information about the artists noted above:
R. Subert
Unable to find any information about this designer/engraver.
Georges Bétemps (1921-1992)
Georges Bétemps (French cartoonist, engraver and painter) was born in Paris on February 19, 1921. He studied at the Ecole Esteinne (Parisian School of Art) and then at the Bordeaux School of Fine Arts, but interrupted his studies to join the French Resistance. After liberation in 1946 he engraved his first stamps, a definitive set for Cameroun. The engraved ‘Native Head’ design (below right) was one of his designs for that set of stamps .
In 1961 Bétemps engraved his first French stamp (below), which portrayed Honoré Daumier. It was
in 1983 one of the stamps in 
the Red the Red Cross Fund semi-postal series. In 1983 he was awarded the Grand Prix de l’Art Philatelique for his engraved rendering of Gustave Doré’s ‘Bluebeard giving keys to his wife’. This stamp (below left) was a masterpiece of an engraved rendering of a work of art for a stamp. Bétemps’ stamp engraving displayed the same intricacy of the much larger Doré original (below right).
He was again awarded the Grand Prix de l’Art Philatelique in 1990 for his engraving of a French Polynesia issue featuring the Maori World 
(left).
Georges Bétemps designed or engraved more than 1,500 stamps for France and other countries and was still active when he died on April 18, 1992.
Referenes:
https://stampengravers.blogspot.com/2017/02/biography-georges-betemps.html
https://stampsoftheworld.co.uk/wiki/Category:Betemps,_George
Albert Decaris (1901-1988)
Albert Decaris (left) is generally regarded as France’s Master Engraver of the 20th century. In addition to engraving, Decaris was also a painter in oils and watercolor. He was born on May 6, 1901 in Sotteville-lés-Rouen. At 14 he entered the Ecole Estienne, which specialized in industrial graphics, where one of his instructors was stamp engraver Antoine Dezarrois. Three years later as a student at the Paris Ecole des Beaux-Arts he won the Prix de Rome and the chance to study in Italy at the Villa Medici.
Decaris engraved his first stamp for France in 1935 (left) and went on to engrave over 600 stamps for France and other countries in addition to approximately 6,000 non-stamp engravings. Classical clarity was the foundation of his work.
One of his stamp achievements for France was a series of historical scenes (three are illustrated above) which were produced from 1966 through 1973. Each year he designed and engraved three stamps. The entire series presented a complete history of France.
Decaris was asked to produce a version of the Marianne. a definitive issue that appeared in various iterations from 1944 to the present. Marianne is a symbol of Republican France and conveys liberty, equality and fraternity. Only one value of the Marianne de Decaris (left) was produced however, and that was in 1960. Its short life was caused by the introduction of a new printing press, the TD-6. He also engraved the Marianne de Cocteau definitive designed by Jean Cocteau which was in use in various denominations from 1961-1967. Decarus’ non-Marianne 
definitive with his Gallic Cock design (below right) was introduced in 1962 and has become an iconic image. In 1985 his final stamp was issued to mark National Memorial Day.
During his lifetime Albert Decarus received many honors including being elected a fellow of the Académie des Beaux-Arts and the Légion d’Honneur medal. Perhaps his most unusual honor was receiving an Olympic Gold Medal for Etching and Engraving in 1948, the last Olympics that included engraving.
Decaris died on January 1, 1988. To mark his birth centennial a stamp was issued on 2001 (below left) which was designed and engraved by Claude Jumelet. The design expresses Decarus humorous side showing the Arc de Triomphe and Eiffel Tower dancing together. The designer was certainly influenced by Decaris’ engraving celebrating the centennial of the Eiffel Tower (below rightt).
References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Decaris
https://stampengravers.blogspot.com/2018/01/biography-albert-decaris.html
Robert Cami (1900-1975)
Robert Cami was born on January 1, 1900 in Bordeaux, France. He studied at the School of Fine Arts in Bordeaux until 1918 and then at the School of Fine Arts in Paris specializing in graphics arts.
In 1926 he won the prize for engraving from the Fondation Franco-Américaine Florence Blumenthal and in 1928 the First Grand Prix of Rome for engraving. From 1932 to 1942, he taught at the School of Fine Arts in Bordeaux where he established the school’s engraving studio. From 1945, he was Professor of Engraving at the National School of Fine Arts in Paris. His work was frequently exhibited in France and abroad.
Cami’s work on stamps began in the early 1950s. His first engraved stamp was the 1953 18f Hernani de Victor Hugo (above left). One of the first series he was involved with was the ‘Heroes of the Resistance’ (above center) beginning in 1957. His best known series was the ‘Tourist Publicity’ series which made good use of his expertise in landscapes and cityscapes. The initial stamp in that series depicted Château de Valençay and perhaps the most popular was issued in 1960 and featured Laon Cathedral (above right).
Cami was active until his death on January 12, 1975. His final work was the 1975 70c ‘Snowy Egrets’ stamp from the Nature Conservation set.
References:
https://stampengravers.blogspot.com/2017/09/biography-robert–cami.html
https://gallery-eng.ambafrance-ca.org/genese/artistes/cami.htm
Animals of Niger
Niger, officially the Republic of Niger, is the largest landlocked country in West Africa, with a population of over 25 million. The country is 80% desert, with population centers in the South and West.
At the 1885 Berlin conference colonial powers divided Africa into spheres of influence. France gained control of the area roughly equivalent to present day Mali and Niger. Independence for Niger was achieved in 1960 and it became the Republique du Niger with French continuing as the official language.
Niger suffers from droughts and limited arable areas. It is among the world’s poorest countries. The economy centers on subsistence crops, livestock, and some of the world’s largest uranium deposits.
I have always liked finely engraved stamps, and the 1959-1960 Niger stamps feature beautiful wildlife engravings with birds and animals produced in two different 
color versions. Illustrated here are three of my favorite pairs: Crested Cranes, Saddle-billed Storks, and Ostriches. I find the engraving and coloring extraordinary.
My next post examines designers/engravers of these stamps.
It’s been two years…
How can it be two years since my last post? I can’t exactly explain. I’ve frequently felt overwhelmed and at other times fatigued. Can you identify?
But philatelically I have experienced some highs:
1. The purchase of a collection of British Presentation Packs which are produced for every special stamp issue. I admire British stamp design (for the most part), and these Packs give detailed information about the issues and their designers. They’re beautiful.
2. I received the “Outstanding Volunteer” award for 2023 from the American Topical Association—truly an honor.
3. I continued as Editor of Philateli-Graphics, the quarterly journal of the Graphics Philately Association.
4. And I continued to operate my HipStamp store (stampsite) which requires considerable time–scanning stamps, providing descriptive information, etc. How long I can keep this going I do not know.
My hope is to get back to somewhat regular posts. I’m eyeing a set of stamps from Niger as my next post.
Tonga
Barely three weeks ago on January 14, 2022, a huge eruption on Hunga-Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai, an uninhabited volcanic island, and submarine volcano and accompanying tsunami of the Tongan archipelago in the southern Pacific Ocean, began. The eruption climaxed powerfully the next day. Hunga Tonga is 40 miles north of Tongatapu, Tonga’s main island, which suffered enormous devastation.
Located in Oceania, Tonga is an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, directly south of Samoa and about two-thirds of the way from Hawaii to New Zealand. It consists of 169 islands, 36 of them inhabited, and cover a 500-mile-long north–south line.
The volcanic eruption and accompanying tsunami severed an undersea fiber-optic cable and communications are still limited. Crops and water supplies were contaminated with volcanic ash. Buildings, vehicles (including precious farm equipment) and boats connecting Tonga’s remote islands to its mainland were damaged or destroyed. Amazingly the death toll seems to be limited to five.
Most banks and money-transfer services were forced offline. This crippled aneconomy characterized by a heavy dependence on remittances from the more than half of the country’s population who live abroad. These remittances to Tonga are the equivalent of 37 percent of the gross domestic product, the highest figure of any nation in the world.
Tonga is home to some 106,000 people, but more than double that number liveoverseas, mainly in the U.S., New Zealand, and Australia. Over 70% of the Tongan inhabitants live on its main island, Tongatapu. Although an increasing number of Tongans have moved into the only urban and commercial center, Nukuʻalofa, the nation’s capital.
While reports of the disaster have largely vanished from the news, tens of thousands of Tongans in the diaspora are dealing with the supply chain crisis in their ongoing efforts to help their people in the homeland.
Philatelicly, Tonga was one of the originators of shaped stamps, which were largely derided as gimmicks when first issued in the early 1960s. Today, more collectors value these early groundbreaking stamps. Shown at the beginning of this post is a philatelic souvenir cover with the complete set of the 1963 Gold Coin issue commemorating the first gold coinage of Polynesia. The stamps show the head of Queen Salote Tupou III as well as the Queen standing, which are the obverse sides of the koula coins, and the reverse side showing the coat of arms. Shown below is a registered letter from the Vava’u island group in Tonga to the capital of Nuku’alofa featuring pineapple-shape stamps of 1978. Also shown is a cover from Tonga to the U.S. marked “Return to Sender” (quite a round trip) partially franked with a five-sided stamp, also issued in 1978, featuring King Taufa’ahau IV.
