Australia – HMAS Sydney

Being an ex-Navy man, I just could not resist posting the picture of this fine ship. Laurent sent me this striking card. HMAS Sydney (FFG 03) is an Adelaide class guided missile frigate of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). The frigate one of six modified Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates ordered from 1977 onwards, and the third of four to be constructed in the United States of America. Laid down and launched in 1980, Sydney was named for the capital city of New South Wales, and commissioned into the RAN in 1983.

During her operational history, Sydney has been involved in Australian responses to the 1987 Fijian coups d'état and the Bougainville uprising. The frigate has been deployed to the Persian Gulf on five occasions in support of United States operations during the Gulf War, War in Afghanistan, and the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and has completed at least two round-the-world voyages.

Sydney is expected to remain in service until 2013. The frigate will be replaced by a Hobart-class destroyer, and likely to be named HMAS Sydney also, making it the 5^th Ship named after the City in RAN history.

Russia – Vladivostok 150Years

Further to my post on this subject on 27^th July 2010, I display a cover and both sides of a card issued during the celebrations. One side of the card shows Vladivostok town and harbour as it is today. And the other side shows the same area as it was in 1910. My good friend Elena sent these to me.

Malaysia – Old Post Offices

On the world postal day Malaysian post issued a set of postage stamps featuring various old post offices around the country. Brief details of all the 14 stamps are also displayed, along with the first day cover and the info sheet.

India - A Marvel Of Architecture

Brihadeeswarar Temple is an architectural wonder and reflective of the artistic skills of the erstwhile Chola rulers who ruled peninsular India in the early medieval period. Built by the Chola king Rajaraja I in the 11th century, it is one of the tallest temples in the world. It was so designed that the vimana never casts a shadow at noon. The Brihadeeswarar Temple belongs to the south Indian style of temple architecture: The basic structure of temples in India is a room or the Garbha Griha (sanctum sanctorum) where the idol of the main deity is kept. The temple is approached by a flight of steps and is often built on a platform. A porch covers the entrance to the temples, which is supported by carved pillars. A prominent roof called the shikhara surmounts the top of the Garbha Griha and dominates the surroundings. Gradually, with the passage of time, small temples grew into temple complexes. Thanjavur Brihadeeswara Temple: Thanjavur is "Rice bowl of Tamil Nadu" and a great pilgrim destination of South India. It was the capital of Chola kings who ruled the region during 9th to 13th centuries. Thanjavur is a flourishing centre for bronze sculpture and painting. The temple, dedicated to Nandi, the Bull is a masterpiece of the captivating Chola architecture. The mount of Lord Shiva i.e. Nandi has been made from a single granite rock.
Thanjavur Brihadeeswara Temple is unique to have the tallest tower (216 ft) over the sanctum sanctorum unlike other temples. The Temple, made over a 29 m square base, is surrounded by moat on two sides and Grand Anaicut river on the other side. The compound within its inner wall measures about 500 feet x 250 feet. The walls of the sanctum are adorned with the wall paintings of Chola and Nayak periods. The temple has a soaring vimana and a stunted gopuram. The inner sanctum and the gopuram were constructed over a period of 12 years. It was constructed from a single piece of granite weighing around 80 tonnes. I must thank My friend Kasinath, who designed this wonderful maxicard for sending it to me.

USA – Valley Forge

1977 Christmas issue featuring General George Washington kneeling in prayer at Valley Forge during the Revolutionary War. This stamp was issued on October 21, 1977.

With winter almost completely setting in, and the prospects for campaigning greatly diminishing, General George Washington sought quarters for his men. Washington and his troops had just fought what was to be the last major engagement of 1777 at the Battle of White Marsh (or Edge Hill). He devised to pull his troops from their present encampment in the White Marsh area (now Fort Washington State Park) and move to a more secure location for the coming winter. Though several locations were proposed, he selected Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, 18 miles (29 km) northwest of Philadelphia. It proved to be an excellent choice. Named for an iron forge on Valley Creek, the area was close enough to the British to keep their raiding and foraging parties out of the interior of Pennsylvania, yet far enough away to halt the threat of British surprise attacks. The high ground of Mount Joy and the adjoining elevated ground of Mount Misery combined with the Schuylkill River to the north, made the area easily defensible.

On December 19, 1777, when Washington's poorly fed, ill-equipped army, weary from long marches, struggled into Valley Forge, winds blew as the 12,000 Continentals prepared for winter's fury. Grounds for brigade encampments were selected, and defence lines were planned and begun. Though construction of more than a thousand huts provided shelter, it did little to offset the critical shortages that continually plagued the army. This nice cover was given to me by my good friend Hemant.

Malaysia – Lifestyles of the Aboriginal People

Please click on the displayed sheets for an enlarged picture and a complete and detailed explanation about the Aboriginal people of Malaysia, and about the pretty stamps on the Cover. Thank you Budin.

Personalised Stamps

A personalised stamp is a postage stamp where a picture or photograph can be added to the stamp by a member of the public, some non-governmental entity, or a governmental entity that is not in an official stamp-issuing capacity; it is obviously to be distinguished from personalised rubber stamps as well as "Postal Pal," a label with picture on which a regular postage-stamp can be placed. In addition to mere personal expression the design of personalized stamps have served a number of other purposes such as the attempt to find missing persons. Some stamp-issuing entities have in turn used their personalised stamp systems to issue "personalised" stamps personalised by the stamp issuing entity.

Displayed are typical examples of personalised stamps created by the citizenry of Finland. It is such activities that encourage philately, which seem to be losing in the battle between the use of the hand-written and stamped letter to the use of the almost instantaneous and very efficient internet e-mail systems. Personalised stamps are available in Finland in sheets of 20 and eight-stamp booklets. My friend Ella created the stamps on the cover shown. Very pretty indeed!

Finland – Day of the Stamp

On 13^th September Finland celebrates the Day of the Stamp. Over 50 post offices issue their own personal stamps on that day. Most of them showing the local buildings. Shown here are two maxi cards issued by a PO in Helsinki. One of cards (with the black and white stamp, showing the mail sorting area) shows the PO building in 1938 when it was finished. The other card with a colourful stamp on it, is the personal stamp of a PO from the year 2009. The postmarks on the cards are special ones for the Stamp Day in 2010. (Postimerkin päivä means The Stamp Day).Thanks Ella for the cards.

Fashions and Style 13.9.2010

The autumn stamps kick off with pop antiques from the 1960s. Many homes in those days had the Cobra phone, go-go boots, ball chair and floral mirror shown on Pekka Piippo’s stamp. The Antiques stamp series thus makes a leap in time from the previous Gustavian and Art Nouveau stamps. About POP stamp. The golden time of plastic! 60's and early 70's was the period when in the Nordic countries the main material for the innovative design products was plastic. Furnitures and even clothes were made of different kind of plastic. Graphic designer Pekka Piippo has fitted this all in one stamp - a chair, a telephone, wall paper, Hifi Stereo by Salora, Go-go boots and the Palaset -shelf unit by Ristomatti Ratia. This is the fourth stamp in the series Antiques. Thank you Ella for this nice FDC.

National Park, Torronsuo 13.9.2010

The new series of postage stamps featuring national parks displays Finland’s most characteristic natural features during the different seasons. The second stamp in this series depicts Torronsuo National Park and it was issued on September 13, 2010. National Park is situated on the Häme Lake Upland and it includes mire that is considered the deepest in Finland with up to 12 metre-thick layer of peat. Large flocks of crane use this thousands-of-years-old mire as flyway stopover site. Torronsuo National Park was established in 1990 and it covers 30 square kilometres.

Traditional Festive Food

Malaysia is a unique country with various races and a myriad ethnic groups from Sabah and Sarawak that is rich in religions as well as different cultures and customs. This can be seen by the wide variety of food dishes that are served during festive occasions, by the different race and ethnic groups. The dishes vary widely in cooking styles, taste and decoration. The dishes shown on the First Day Cover are from Left to Right, Malay, Chinese, Indian, and then from Sabah and finally from Sarawak. I would like to mention here, that the 5 stamps on the FDC are only half the set. The other half of the set are another set of 5 stamps featuring the other half of the dish shown on the FDC. They were issued on the 10^th of August, 2010 and all have a face value of 80sen. Thank you Budin for a very tasty ;-)) FDC.

Natural Wealth & Autumn Sports 13.9.2010

The Finnish post is welcoming the fall or autumn by publishing a minisheet of three self-adhesive stamps along with the nice FDC on 13^th September 2010. The stamps depict a well-cooked crab, a pair of mallards, and the king of the Northern forests - an elk! In the background there is a typical Finnish lake landscape. Graphic designer Asser Jaaro is well known as a stamp designer. He works using traditional methods - a pen and paintbrush.

If you look very carefully you will notice the Braille writing on the sheet for blind people. You can feel it with your fingertips. I think this is very thoughtful indeed. For those interested in such sport Crayfishing is allowed from 21^st July to the end of October. Duck shooting is allowed from 20^th August to the end of december. Moose-hunting is allowed from the end of September to the end of December. All these hobbies: crayfishing, duck shooting and moose-hunting belong to autumn time. That’s why these three creatures are on the stamps. This pretty FDC was sent to me by my dear friend Ella.

Malaysia – Grand Knight of Valour

As the title suggests, this award is for bravery, and was instituted on 29 July 1960. It is the highest bravery award, which can be awarded in Malaysia. It is also the Highest Award in the Federal ranking of awards. So far there have been 26 awardees. Of these 11 recipients are still living. To commemorate this prestigious award Malaysia Post issued these three stamps and the first day cover on 31 July 2010. The first stamp of 70sen shows that the members of the general public could also be given this award (In fact the first awardee in 1962 was a civilian MR V Rajavelu), the next stamp of 60sen shows members of the armed forces, and the stamp below of 80 sen portrays the Royal Malaysian Police. My friend Budin contributed this nice FDC to my collection.

Space Exploration 1.10.1991

October 4th to the 10th, every year 55 Nations celebrate the World Space Week. The UN had started this in 1999. In my own small way I decided to remember the day by this very topical and timely display of this First Day Cover from the USA.

On October 1st, 1991 the U.S. Postal Service issued a booklet of 10 different setenent space stamps, (two horizontal strips of five stamps joined together vertically and horizontally). Each stamp had a face value of 29 cents. The stamps were issued for National Stamp Collecting Month and commemorated the successful exploration of the 8 of the 9 planets (since then of course, Pluto was demoted from that exalted status) in our Solar System, plus the Earth's satellite. The Moon, by U.S. spacecrafts and are identified as follows: -

• #2568: Planet Mercury/Mariner 10 Spacecraft.
• #2569: Planet Venus/Mariner 2 Spacecraft.
• #2570: Planet Earth/Landsat Spacecraft.
• #2571: Planet Earth's Moon/Lunar Orbiter Spacecraft.
• #2572: Planet Mars/Viking Orbiter Spacecraft.
• #2573: Planet Jupiter/Pioneer 11 Spacecraft.
• #2574: Planet Saturn/Voyager 2 Spacecraft.
• #2575: Planet Uranus/Voyager 2 Spacecraft.
• #2576: Planet Neptune/Voyager 2 Spacecraft.
• #2577: Planet Pluto... not yet explored! It is a bit too far anyway.

The October 1, 1991 first day of issue cancellation on these covers is a pictorial hand cancellation, that shows the planet Saturn with its rings and other stars in the background with 3 lines of text:"First Day of Issue, October 1, 1991, Pasadena CA 91109". Another postmark called a "bulls eye cancel" may appear in addition on some covers like this one which is displayed, which consists of a small circle postmark with the name of Pasadena CA at the inner top of the circle and the date of Oct. 1, 1991 appearing in the center of the circle, This is also a "first day of issue cancellation" and is called a "bulls eye" cancellation because there are no killer bars. (It is often used where there is not sufficient space to apply the larger first day of issue postmark). Pasadena California is the location of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is the control center for the spacecraft listed above. The words postmark and cancellation are being deliberately used. However, as far as I am concerned, they really mean the same thing. I am sure Hemant who sent me this lovely card would agree.

Åland – 350th Anniversary of Postal Services

It is quite appropriate to show the First Day Cover issued by Åland on 4^th January 1988 to commemorate the 350^th Anniversary of its Postal Services, immediately after my last post about the 350^th Anniversary of the Finnish Postal Services. Because, both started almost at the same time in both territories. On the stamp one can see mail being loaded into a boat at Eckero. From about the 1830’s letters and other postal items were sent in sealed barrels. The idea was that, in case of any mishap the barrels would float and be washed ashore somewhere, and the contents safely retrieved. I am not aware about the success of this practice. The building in the background is the Eckero Post and Customs House. This was the work of the German architect Engel, which was completed in 1828. Thank you Ella for this nice card.

Finland – FINLANDIA 88

On 6^th September 1638, Governor General Per Brahe established Postal Services in Finland, which was part of the Kingdom of Sweden at that time. Hence, in 1988 the Finnish Post celebrated its 350^th Anniversary. The World Stamp Exhibition FINLANDIA 88 took place in 1988. Each year from 1985 to 1988 Miniature sheets of stamps were issued and the proceeds were used for organizing the Exhibition. I am displaying here the nice cover with the special miniature sheet, which was issued that first year in 1985. Incidentally, this was indeed the first minisheet ever issued by the Finnish Post. Its value therefore, is quite obvious. 25% of the total value of the minisheet, namely, two marks was used for organizing FINLANDIA 88.

The picture on the minisheet depicts the map of Sweden-Finland from the year 1698. One can see the postal routes of that time. Some routes were only used during the winter months. You can also see the island of Åland. By the end of the 1600’s about 6000 letters were sent from Stockholm to Finland each year. Ella, this is indeed a very memorable First Day Cover. Thank you.

Fashions and Style 6.5.2009

Wow! That’s what I call a real stylish and fashionable FDC. On the mini sheet one can see clothes, shoes and bags designed by Finnish designers, models for Spring 2009. The designers are Minna Parikka (red shoes), Jasmine Santanen (red dress), Sanna Kantola (bag), Julia Lundsten (shoes on the right), Thomas Laitinen and his sister Anna (lilac dress with figures). No further explanations are really needed here. Thank you very much indeed Ella.

Ukraine – 100 yrs of the Electric Tram in Odessa

Stan sent me this lovely card commemorating One Hundred Years of the First Electric Tramcar in Odessa. The four pretty stamps almost depict the evolutionary trend in Railway engines.

Threatened Habitats

Malaysia issued these three pretty stamps and the cover, as a timely reminder of what is happening to our environment, and what we should be doing about it. As the information sheet very rightly mentions that rainforests, wetlands such as rivers and other wildlife habitats are crucial for the survival of thousands of creatures including mammals, birds, aquatic creatures, plants and insects. Thus, habitat conservation for wildlife is one of the most important issues facing the environment today – both in the oceans and on land. It is the responsibility of everyone to keep the habitats such as our forests, oceans and rivers healthy and productive. A very laudable thought indeed. This nice FDC was sent to me by Budin.