Barcelona Olympic Games 2.3.1992

These three nice stamps were issued by Liechtenstein to commemorate the Barcelona Summer Olympic Games.

The stamps depict a relay race, a cycling event and a judo match.

Thank you Merja.

First Aerial Postal Flight

This Liechtenstein stamp on the FDC was issued on 8.3.1979 to commemorate its first aerial postal flight from St. Gallen in 1930.

Thank you Dear Merja.

The Dudesons' anti-bullying campaign 1.4.2014

The Dudesons stamps were issued on 1.9.2014 to fight school bullying and they also feature practical jokes

The cartoon-like stamps are part of the Dudesons' anti-bullying campaign. Since it's the Dudesons, the stamps also feature practical jokes.

The look of the Dudesons stamps has been created by graphic designer Janne Korsumäki in collaboration with Rabbit Merchandising Oy. In line with the theme of the stamps, the Dudesons are depicted as schoolchildren in full swing at school. Typical humor of South Ostrobothnia, the Dudesons' home province, is also showcased in the Priority labels, for instance.

Four golden rules for practical jokes. On the basis of their personal experiences, the Dudesons have concentrated their energy on fighting school bullying. Jukka was a bully himself, a fact that he now says he is deeply ashamed of. "I was a lively boy and did not understand that I was bullying others. Luckily, I was given a talking-to and I understood enough myself to stop bullying," Jukka says. For his part, Jarno has been bullied and knows what kind of wounds bullying leaves in one's soul for a long time. 

To brighten schooldays, the Dudesons recommend practical jokes instead of bullying. Daily practical jokes are all very well for keeping up good spirits as long as one remembers not to take the jokes too far. In fact, on the reverse side of the miniature sheet, there are four golden rules for practical jokes as a reminder for everyone:

Never play a joke on a kid weaker than you.

It's not a joke if you're not all laughing when it's done.

Don't play jokes on the same people all the time.

Never turn a blind eye to bullying.

The Dudesons have noticed that they clearly have enough credibility to talk about school bullying to young people. "It surely seems that they all, even the toughest cases, are listening to us," Jukka says. 

Jarppi points out that bullying also occurs in other places than just school. "Bullying generates negative energy and torpedoes good things at workplaces, for instance. People need to identify cases of bullying in their own life in order to be able to intervene." 

Thank you Ella for this lovely FDC.

Golden Age of Aland Music 25.8.2014

The Aland Postal Service has issued three new booklet stamps that has a postage value of Lokalpost named "Golden Age of Aland Music" on the 25th of August 2014. These new stamps featured three of the most popular Aland bands during the 1960s. They were the Anacondas, the Hitch Hikers and the Stockdoves. The stamp booklet features 9 stamps in a 3 x 3 format.

During some groovy years in the middle of the 1960s, dances were arranged in the Åland

community centres on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays and, sometimes, even on Sundays.

The bands Anacondas, Hitch Hikers and Stockdoves took pop music of the world to Åland and Finland. The three orchestras are now featured on the three stamps on the First Day Cover.

You can also listen to the bands by scanning the stamps with the free app “Sepac stamps” on your smart phones.

The 1960s was the decade when pop music took Åland by storm. The range of music in the early 1960s had more or less consisted of music performed on accordion, upright bass and guitar for the traditional dances hambo, schottische and foxtrot. But the winds changed and, inspired by bands such as The Shadows, The Spotnicks and The Violents, the Åland barbed-wire band The Anacondas was formed in 1962.


Håkan Rikberg remembers the Hitch Hikers’ tour bus, a rickety minibus, which the police did not like, and which is now featured on the cover of the stamp booklet.  “It had messages and expressions of affections from loyal fans from around the country scribbled all over it.”

Thank you Dear Ella.

 

Barcelona Olympic Games 6.3.1992

While the Actual Games were held in July/August 1992, these two first day covers and the three stamps on them were issued on 6.3.1992 as the Pre Olympic Games series of stamps. The three stamps depict the sports of Archery, Sailing and Volleyball. The two covers dict archery and sailing respectively.

The 1992 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event celebrated in Barcelona, Spain, in 1992. The International Olympic Committee voted in 1986 to separate the Summer and Winter Games, which had been held in the same year since 1924, and place them in alternating even-numbered years, beginning in 1994. The 1992 Summer Games were the last to be staged in the same year as the Winter Games. Due to the end of the Cold War, these games were the first without boycotts since 1972. In fact the Olympics was the final success of the former Soviet Union (despite only part of it taking part), and biggest of the "Olympic flag" (Nations from the former USSR competed as the Unified Team, coming 1st in the overall rankings).

Barcelona, the birthplace of then-IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch and the second largest city of Spain, was selected over Amsterdam, Belgrade, Birmingham, Brisbane and Paris in Lausanne, Switzerland, on October 17, 1986, during the 91st IOC Session. It had bid for the 1936 Summer Olympics, losing out to Berlin.

Thank you Maria.

Opening of the West Gate Bridge in Melbourne 15.11.1978

Souvenir postal cover issued by Australia Post on 15 Nov 1978, to commemorate the official opening of the West Gate Bridge in Melbourne. Includes 20c "Little Grebe" stamp, a postal stamp incorporating official West Gate Bridge Authority logo and a stamp of an Australia Post mail van with the words the "First Official Mail Across West Gate".

The West Gate Bridge is a steel box girder cable-stayed bridge in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It spans the Yarra River, just north of its mouth into Port Phillip, and is a vital link between the inner city (CBD) and Melbourne's western suburbs; with the industrial suburbs in the west and with the city of Geelong, 80 kilometres (50 mi) to the south-west. It is one of the busiest road corridors in Australia.

The main river span is 336 metres (1,102 ft) in length, and the height above the water is 58 metres. The total length of the bridge is 2,582.6 metres (8,473.1 ft). It is the second longest in Australia behind the Houghton Highway and its twin the Ted Smout Memorial Bridge, and is twice as long as theSydney Harbour Bridge. It is one of the highest bridges in Australia, most notably trailing that of the more iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge.

The bridge passes over Westgate Park, a large environmental and recreational reserve created during the bridge's construction. The bridge carries up to 200,000 vehicles per day.

Thank you Maria.

1992 EUROPA - Spain - 500th Anniversary of the voyages of Christopher Columbus 5.5.1992

These two stamps issued by Spain  on 5.5.1992 were on account of the ongoing EUROPA CEPT series of stamps. The theme for EUROPA stamps in 1992 was “Discovery of America” commemorating the 500^th Anniversary of the voyages of Christopher Columbus to the New World. 

In the early modern period, the voyages of Christopher Columbus initiated European exploration and colonization of the American continents and are thus of great significance in world history. Christopher Columbus was a navigator and an admiral for Spain. He made four voyages to the Americas, the first being in 1492 which resulted in the "discovery of America" from a European point of view.

The discovery of America has been attributed to others depending on context and definition. Some argue that Asians migrating across the Bering Strait to North America in prehistoric times (between 12,000 and 42,000 years ago) were the first to "discover" America. Others point to the Vikings which established a short-lived settlement in Newfoundland circa 1000. While Columbus was possibly not the first European to voyage to the New World and did not reach the mainland until his third voyage in 1498, his discovery led to the widespread knowledge of the existence of a new continent, for the first time in history. The breakthrough in geographical science led to the colonization of the New World by major European sea powers and is sometimes cited as the start of the Modern Era.

Thank you Maria.

European Campaign for the Countryside

Aware that the countryside represents 80% of Europe and that one European in three is a country-dweller, so that the grave crisis in rural society today affects society as a whole.

Convinced that the countryside's human potential, solid economic values and ecological and cultural heritage form major assets for European society.

Having taken note of the report on the 1988 European Campaign for the Countryside - A new management approach for rural areas, presented by the Committee on the Environment, Regional Planning and Local Authorities was drawn up in the areas of Agriculture, Farmhouses, Plants (Flora), Roads and Trees.

The stamp (about agriculture) on this FDC is one of a set of three highlighting the importance of the European Campaign.

Thank you Merja.

Bophuthatswana - Platinum in the chemical industry

Four postage stamps commemorating platinum, issued on August 15, 1979, are of particular historical interest. 4c stamp shows pouring of platinum and an African worker, 15c, 20c and 25c  stamps summarize the importance of platinum in the chemical industry, in telecommunications satellites and in jewelry. The stamps were issued by Bophuthatswana, a bantustan (homeland) in the Republic of South Africa.

At the time, Bophuthatswana consisted of seven enclaves dispersed in northwest South Africa. The homeland was set up to house Setswana-speaking peoples, with its capital, Mmabatho, situated in an area bordering Botswana. Bophuthatswana was given nominal self-rule in 1971, and became independent on December 6, 1977. A head of state was appointed by the South African government, but the new country was not recognized as independent by any government other than that of South Africa and Israel. In 1983, it had more than 1,430,000 inhabitants. Two attempted coups were suppressed by South Africa.

Thank you Dear Maria.

Solar Eclipse over Australia 23.10.1978

The special postmark  by Australian post was used to mark the Solar Eclipse in Australia on 23rd October 1978 when the zone of totality passed over SE Australia. Many scientific experiments were conducted during this period.

Thank you Maria.

Centenary of the ANWM 1994

These two stamps on the Dutch FDC of 1994 were issued to commemorate the Centenary of the ANWM.  The Royal Dutch Touring Club (Dutch, Algemene Nederlandse Wielrijdersbond or ANWB) is a travelers' association in the Netherlands, supporting all modes of travel. It's responsible for traffic signs and signage on roads and trails. It also offers test reports, travel services and roadside assistance, comparable to the German ADFC / ADAC.

ANWB was formed July 1, 1883 as Nederlandsche Vélocipèdisten-Bond (Dutch bicyclists' club) and renamed two years later. In 1905 the nameKoninklijke Nederlandse Toeristenbond (Royal Dutch Tourist Club) was adopted. ANWB has over four million members, and is the largest nonprofit association in the Netherlands.

In the 20th century, the association expanded to include motorists, hikers, equestrians, motorcyclists, as well as participants in water sports, winter sports and camping.

The second stamp or the one on the right was also issued as The 1994 FEI World Equestrian Games were held in The Hague, Netherlands from July 27 to August 7, 1994. They were the second edition of the games which are held every four years and run by the FEI.

Crystals

The stamp on this Liechtenstein stamp of 1989 depicts a Calcite crystal. The stamp is one of a set of three on the subject of crystals.

Calcite is a carbonate mineral and the most stable polymorph of calcium carbonate (CaCo3 ). 

The other polymorphs are the minerals aragonite and vaterite. Aragonite will change to calcite at 380–470°C, and vaterite is even less stable.

High-grade optical calcite was used in World War II for gun sights, specifically in bomb sights and anti-aircraft weaponry. Also, experiments have been conducted to use calcite for a cloak of invisibility. Microbiologically precipitated calcite has a wide range of applications, such as soil remediation, soil stabilization and concrete repair.

Thank you Merja.