Stamps with borders

Though I collect postage stamps, I know very little about them and my collection of just over 13,000 is very modest and juvenile compared to those of real enthusiasts and experts. Whatever I say on here about stamps is likely to be inaccurate and wide open to criticism. That's fine .... I'm a hobbyist not an expert. 

That disclaimer out of the way, I often find I am drawn as much to the periphery of stamp collecting, as I am to the stamps themselves. For example, a couple of years ago I posted about "Cinderella" stamps and other non-postal issues, which are interesting in themselves.

This post is about the borders that surround the sheets of stamps. Until recently I thought the borders were mostly plain and served no other purpose than providing a Colour Swatch. But then I came across some German stamps with highly decorated borders. Though the patterns and decoration on the borders is usually very repetitive, I found some stamps where the borders were far from repetitive. 

Take the commemorative stamps of illustrious composer Carl Orff, issued in 1995 to celebrate 100 years since his birth. All around the border of the sheet is a musical score. Viewed as a complete sheet, the musical legend would be continuous and complete, but when separated each individual stamp is more unique with it's border attached than it would be without it.

Another example is the 1994 issue commemorating 500-years since the birth of Hans Sachs, a master of poetry and song. The border here is of Court Jesters climbing through Vines, with some titles printed along the top and bottom borders.

Though I have many examples of these decorative borders, in the main they are just individual stamps. The nearest I have to a complete border is with the 1996 issue marking 450-years since the death of Martin Luther.

For me, these unique borders add another dimension to the stamps they adorn. I don't buy mint condition unused sheets of stamps, which seems like the only way to see complete borders. But to discover these gems unseparated and stuck onto envelopes and parcels, is quite magical. Given how many people discard stamp borders without a thought, it raises the question, how many stamps with borders still attached actually get posted and survive to become part of someone's collection.

Previous posts about Postage Stamps

When is a stamp, not a stamp ....

Stamp Collecting

When is a stamp, not a stamp ....

.... when it's a Cinderella. 

Almost since the beginning of postage stamps, there have been 'stamps' produced that are not official Postage stamps. Often referred to as 'labels', these non-postage stamps became known as "Cinderella's". The term was introduced by early philatelists because, like the fairly tale character, these were downtrodden and inferior when compared to proper postage stamps.

Though Cinderella stamps have no intrinsic value, and are essentially worthless, they can still demand high prices by collectors if they are sufficiently rare. To many, like me, the interesting stories behind these 'labels', are what make them collectable. Here are just three examples from my own collection:-

1. Lundy: Lundy is a small island that lies 10 nautical miles (19 km) off the coast of Devon, England. In 1928 the General post Office withdrew it's interest in Lundy so it's owner, Martin Coles Harman introduced his own service, carrying mail free of charge to the mainland. In 1929 he introduced the first Lundy stamps to offset his costs. At first the Lundy stamp charge, or Puffinage, only covered carriage to the mainland but since 1974 an additional charge has been incorporated and separate UK stamps are no longer needed. Lundy is the oldest private postal service operating in the world today.

2. Berlin Airlift: The Berlin Blockade (June 1948-May 1949) was one of the first major crises of the Cold War. The Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies' railway, road, and canal access to the sectors of Berlin under Western control. From 26 June 1948 to 30 September 1949, American and British air forces flew over Berlin 250,000 times, dropping essential food and fuel. The plan had been to drop 3,475 tons of supplies daily but by the spring of 1949, twice that was often being delivered. As an off-shoot, a concurrent Operation Little Vittles saw aircraft nicknamed "raisin bombers" dropping candy to generate goodwill among German children.

3. Republik Maluku Selatan: Labels inscribed 'Republik Maluku Selatan' are among the most well-known of all Cinderella stamps. Part of modern-day Indonesia, the 'Republic of the South Moluccas' was a self-proclaimed (and unrecognised) independent nation, established on 25 April 1950 from part of what had been the Dutch East Indies. Most South Moluccas stamps are known to be the work of New York stamp dealer Henry Stolow, and aimed squarely at collectors. Maluku Selatan stamps are therefore considered to be bogus or fantasy issues. I'm sure the very badly guillotined stamp in my collection would be worth good money if it were a genuine postal stamp rather than a worthless piece of paper.

Cinderella stamps .... of little value but far from boring.

Stamp Collecting

One of my many hobbies is "stamp collecting". I started collecting as a teenager, sticking them into paper albums using Stamp hinges, the way most people start. Though I've gone for decades at a time without ever looking at my collection, I've never wanted to part with it. 

Although I have a few stamps 'of interest' none of them have any real value. Many stamps these days are commemoratives and can be quite large, glossy, and colourful works of art. These are great ways of learning about World History as most significant events around the world are commemorated with an issue of stamps.

These days my stamps are stored in Stock Books, which allow the stamps to be stored loose without attaching them to the page. I have just over 10,000 stamps from 202 countries and I believe this to be what 'real collectors' would call a small collection.

I once asked an online group of stamp collectors what stamps I should collect, which was a silly question, because the answer came back "whatever interests you". Duh!! Why didn't I think of that? But that answer explains exactly why my albums contain many old and damaged stamps that most collectors would throw in the bin. I am much more interested in the age of a stamp than it's condition. I marvel at how a small rectangle of paper can have been licked, stuck on an envelope, man-handled over land, sea and air, stuffed into bags, thrown from container to container, poked through letter boxes in all weathers and eventually discarded ... yet still be intact today, over 150 years later. So if it has a corner missing, a tear, or damaged perforations, so what? It's still worthy of having a place in my collection. Sure, it has no value, but to me that's not the point.

 

A change of emphasis

It's been almost 2 years since I last posted and I just can't believe where the time has gone. One of my main reasons for not posting has been a shift in my interests. I found myself spending more time with other hobbies, and also getting involved in new ones. Suddenly I didn't seem to producing 'art', which is what this blog was all about. Don't get me wrong, I still draw and paint but much less so than I did, and I still have my Art Forum which remains as active as ever. Looking back at some of my posts I was amazed to see that I eluded to this very thing back in May 2021. It's time to do something about it.

I considered having multiple blogs for the other subjects, but didn't want to spend all my time managing blogs. The only solution that seems to make any sense is to have an eclectic blog that covers anything I get involved with, so that is what I'm going to try.

Going forward I intend to post about my radio controlled scale model Toyota Venture 4x4 vehicle, my photographic endeavours, my growing collection of postage stamps, my beginners efforts at both Marquetry and Pyrography (wood burning) and an occasional drawing or painting. It will be an interesting journey and I hope some of you will tag along. 

More time on my hands

Well that was the plan, but now I'm not so sure.

Though I still have a couple of years before my official retirement when I can finally start drawing my pension, I decided, with my wife's blessing and enthusiastic support, to stop working now and live off our savings. It was a huge decision and took quite a while to arrive at. In September I handed in my notice with a view to finishing at Christmas. Unexpectedly, the company was not happy about losing my services entirely and after many discussions and much thinking I accepted their offer to continue in a part-time capacity. So, for the time being I am only working 3-days per week, and I hope to reduce that to 2-days in due course.

During the last few months I've been eagerly planning my days off .... but so have others. LOL. My wife, bless her heart, hasn't said a word over the last few years about my reluctance to do any DIY. We almost always had some decorating on the go, but I found it harder to work in the evenings after a day at the office, and became very neglectful of things that needed doing. To reward her patience, my first priority for my new-found time, is to start doing some decorating and make up for lost time. We also have a number of significant changes we want to make in our garden, especially the expansion of our vegetable garden and the growing of lots more produce.

I have also been planning my hobbies. I have a large box full of thousands of stamps. I inherited it years ago and decided to put it to one side until I retired from work. I have also promised myself some quality photo-shoots. As a keen amateur photographer I have been looking forward to getting out places with my camera, as well as trawling back through all the thousands of photo's stored on my computer waiting for me to do something with them. Of course, I also have my art. Plans include experimenting with different mediums, taking more time over my work, doing much more by way of practice, and (heaven forbid) even taking my pads outdoors for some plein aire work. Finally, I have my web site, which is long overdue for a serious upgrade (rebuild) and as a part of my extra online activities I planned to spend more time on my blog and certainly make a better effort to get round the blogs I follow.

So now I look at my two free days per week and expessions about quarts and pint pots come to mind. And the more I think about it the more I think that maybe the Monkey's got the right idea.

OAP on Board!!

Last Sunday was my 65th Birthday. Yippee .... I once again have a source of income. When I retired early last April I was unable to start collecting my retirement pension so I've been one of the countries 2.53million unemployed, and technically NOT a pensioner. Well now I am, and after 46 years continuous employment during which my longest absence was 2 weeks a few years ago following surgery on my shoulder, I am very proud of my long and conscientious work record. I've never ever taken a 'sickie' ... not one. Hey, you've all seen those car stickers that say "Child on board", well my daughter sent me one that says "OAP on board" ... I love it!!! She has a great sense of humour and also sent me a T-shirt with the words  "I don't want to .... I don't have to ... You can't make me ... I'm retired".

I had lots of great presents and as a special treat my wife booked us into a converted barn on a farm in the Cotswolds, near Broadway. Though I was away on holiday, I didn't spend a huge amount of time painting/drawing as we went out everyday to see places of interest, and when we arrived back at the 'barn' we were staying in, I used the time to catch up with a bit of reading and watching some DVD's I'd received as presents. Still, I did manage a little art, and I'd like to share it with you.

One of my presents was a small set of Faber-Castell PITT artist pens containing Sepia ink. I was keen to try them so sketched a collection of pots and containers sitting beneath one of the windows. Pen & Wash is one of my favourite mediums and I haven't held a brush for quite a while, so it felt really good once I'd finished the sketching and started to apply some colour. It really wouldn't have mattered how this one turned out as I was just enjoying the process to the max, but as it happens, it turned out quite well and I'm really, really happy with it.

On Monday we went to Tewkesbury. I had heard tell of "the hidden charms along narrow alleyways where the eaves of crooked timber buildings nearly touch". I had visions of streets like the famous "Shambles" in York. Disappointingly, the claims are either grossly exaggerated or we failed to find them. But we did find the famous Abbey only for it to start raining just as we pulled into the Car Park. As we sat in the car waiting for the rain to finish, which it didn't, I did this sketch in my Moleskine. The ex-accountant in me won't let me discard my Moleskine until it's full, but I may have to give in and toss it ... I really can't get on with it.

Tuesday found us visiting the nearby village of Broadway and the famous Broadway Tower that sits high on the surrounding hills. The tower is an odd shape having an hexagonal core flanked by 3 cylindrical towers (yeh, I know, I've only draw two - lol). I took lots of photo's from the top of the tower and was amazed to discover that, on a clear day, some 16 different counties can be seen over a distance of 62 miles. I started the sketch standing in the field at the tower but finished it later back at 'the barn'. I found the Moleskine resisted my every attempt to achieve a smooth graduation of tones and it was hard to get the graphite to take once a couple of good layers had been laid.

Another pressie was an Introductory set of 10 tubes of Windsor & Newton Designers Gouache and I'm waiting until I am able to have a long and uninterrupted session before opening them.

With some DIY tools, a set of Olympic stamps for my collection and a bottle of my favourite Talisker Whisky, I've been very well treated and consider myself very, very fortunate. What's more, I can now apply for my free bus pass. lol.

Size matters.

In my art forum we have a number of projects going on for us all to join in with. I haven't had a lot of time for my art over the past few weeks but found myself with the best part of an hour available so I looked at the challenges to see what I could do.

The result is this quick sketch of Robin Hoods Bay on the Yorkshire coast. I'm the first to admit that it's not the best drawing I've ever done.

HOWEVER ....

What I AM pleased about is that the topic I chose to do was "Small". This sketch is only 4cm x 3cm (approximately 1½" x 1"). I've never drawn so small before but found it much easier than I'd expected. Stating the obvious, keeping the pencil sharp was essential (understatement). Under normal circumstances we have to reduce our images to get them online but this time I've had to enlarge it. LOL.

I show the sketch here with some postage stamps just to put it into perspective.

This was a fabulous practice exercise and was great fun. I shall be doing more if these miniatures.