Lets Talk Stamps

Provincial Birds of Finland

2012-01-06T00:22:00.000-08:00

Pia gave me this FDC with the three lovely bird stamps on it which were issued in Finland on 15.01.2003. The birds on the stamps, reading from left to right are described below.

Common Cuckoo. The Common Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) (formerly European Cuckoo) is a member of the cuckoo order of birds, the Cuculiformes, which also includes the roadrunners, the anis and the coucals. This species is a widespread summer migrant to Europe and Asia, and winters in Africa. It is a brood parasite, which lays its eggs in the nests of other bird species, particularly of Dunnocks, Meadow Pipits, and Eurasian Reed Warblers. Why a stupid human being is often compared to these pretty birds is beyond my comprehension.

Skylark. The Skylark (Alauda arvensis) is a small passerine bird species. This lark breeds across most of Europe and Asia and in the mountains of North Africa. It is mainly resident in the west of its range, but eastern populations are more migratory, moving further south in winter. Even in the milder west of its range, many birds move to lowlands and the coast in winter. Asian birds appear as vagrants in Alaska; this bird has also been introduced in Hawaii, western North America, eastern Australia and New Zealand.

Siberian Jay. The Siberian Jay Perisoreus infaustus, is a jay found in north Eurasia. The species has a wide range (estimated global Extent of Occurrence 10,000,000km²) and a large global population (estimated 680,000-1,400,000 in Europe). It is one of three members of the genus Perisoreus, the others being the Sichuan Jay, P. internigrans, restricted to the mountains of eastern Tibet and northwestern Sichuan, and the Gray Jay, P. canadensis, restricted to the boreal forest and western montane regions of North America. All three species

TULIPA BIBERSTEINIANA

2012-01-05T02:32:00.000-08:00

This Rare species of Tulip with golden yellow flowers and violet tinted back is featured on this stamp on the Moldovan FDC dated 25.12.1993 was sent to me by Lissea.

The radiant golden-yellow flowers of this rare treasure open in April on strong 18-inch stems. The "petals" – which are pointed in lily-tulip fashion – have a broad central band of olive-green on their exteriors. A sunny site with relatively dry soil in summer is ideal. Steppe/modified continental; E Europe. Zone 5.Normally found in theEuropean part of Russia (central regions), Crimea, the Caucasus, Aralo-Caspian region, western Siberia, Balkan Peninsula and Anatolia. In steppes, semideserts, foothills, plains and other dry habitats.

Wright Brothers - Equatorial Guinea stamp MNH 1979 Aviation sheet

2012-01-04T00:47:00.001-08:00

The Wright brothers, Orville (August 19, 1871 – January 30, 1948) and Wilbur (April 16, 1867 – May 30, 1912), were two Americans credited with inventing and building the world's first successful airplane and making the first controlled, powered and sustained heavier-than-air human flight, on December 17, 1903. In the two years afterward, the brothers developed their flying machine into the first practical fixed-wing aircraft. Although not the first to build and fly experimental aircraft, the Wright brothers were the first to invent aircraft controls that made fixed-wing powered flight possible.

The Wright brothers were two of seven children born to Milton Wright (1828–1917) of English and Dutch descent and Susan Catherine Koerner (1831–1889) of German-Swiss descent. Wilbur was born near Millville, Indiana, in 1867; Orville in Dayton, Ohio, in 1871. The brothers never married (no interference – that must have been the secret of their successes in Aviation). The other Wright siblings were named Reuchlin (1861–1920), Lorin (1862–1939), Katharine (1874–1929), and twins Otis and Ida (born 1870, died in infancy). In elementary school, Orville was given to mischief and was once expelled. In 1878 their father, who traveled often as a bishop in the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, brought home a toy "helicopter" for his two younger sons. The device was based on an invention of French aeronautical pioneer Alphonse Pénaud. Made of paper, bamboo and cork with a rubber band to twirl its rotor, it was about a foot long. Wilbur and Orville played with it until it broke, and then built their own. In later years, they pointed to their experience with the toy as the initial spark of their interest in flying.

This sheetlet of eight stamps was issued by the Republic of Equatorial Giinea on 1st May, 1979. The top four stamps feature Orville Wright, and the lower four show Wilbur Wright. These stamps were issued to commemorate Aviation.

C.E.P.T - 1985 European Music Year

2012-01-03T01:12:00.000-08:00

The theme for the Europa CEPT stamps for 1985 was that the year would be dedicated as the “European Music Year”. In keeping with this theme Cyprus issued these two stamps. One featuring two traditional musical instruments, and the other clay model figures depicting ancient musicians. And a well-illustrated cover celebrating this great cause on 6^th May, 1985. Merja sent me this nice and pretty First Day Cover.

Birds of Canada

2012-01-02T01:18:00.000-08:00

The birds featured on the stamps in this FDC issued on 21.02.2003, are (top left to right) Leach’s Storm Petrel and a brant, and (lower left to right) are shown a Great Cormorant and a Common murre. Maria sent me this lovely FDC.

Abe Lincoln Death Anniversary Centenary Issue

2012-01-01T01:08:00.000-08:00

This minisheet of four stamps in Honour of Abraham Lincoln was issued by Ghana to commemorate his 100^th Death anniversary.

Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and promoting economic and financial modernization. Reared in a poor family on the western frontier, Lincoln was mostly self-educated. He became a country lawyer, an Illinois state legislator, and a one-term member of the United States House of Representatives, but failed in two attempts at a seat in the United States Senate. He issued his Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 and promoted the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, abolishing slavery.

As the leader of the moderate faction of the Republican party, Lincoln's policies and personality were "blasted from all sides": Radical Republicans demanded harsher treatment of the South, War Democrats desired more compromise, Copperheads despised him, and irreconcilable secessionists plotted his death. Politically, Lincoln fought back with patronage, by pitting his opponents against each other, and by appealing to the American people with his powers of oratory. His Gettysburg Address of 1863 became the most quoted speech in American history. It was an iconic statement of America's dedication to the principles of nationalism, equal rights, liberty, and democracy. At the close of the war, Lincoln held a moderate view of Reconstruction, seeking to speedily reunite the nation through a policy of generous reconciliation in the face of lingering and bitter divisiveness. However, just six days after the surrender of Confederate commanding general Robert E. Lee, Lincoln was assassinated by actor and Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theatre while watching the play Our American Cousin. His death marked the first assassination of a U.S. president. Lincoln has been consistently ranked by scholars as one of the three greatest U.S. presidents.

Finlandia 88 – Agosthon Faberge

2011-12-31T00:24:00.000-08:00

This Finnish booklet on the cover commemorating Finlandia 88 has a stamp of the collector Agathon Faberge. Yes, he was a member of the same Faberge family that created the fabulous Winter Eggs for the Russian czar. I had written about the “Winter Eggs” in my post in this very blog dated May 01, 2011 . Agathon Faberge was one of the first “grand collectors” of Finnish stamps.

Agathon Faberge (1876-1951) was a famed philatelist, & rarities from his collection are shown on either side of the stamp as well as on the cover.This booklet served as an entrance ticket to the Finlandia88 exhibition (but of course it was also available to those who pre-ordered it from postal services or bought a full year set). Thus the booklets face value is 30 (Markka), but the stamp inside does have a postal value of only 5 (Markka).

I have no idea how many of these exist in “real used” condition, but I fear it’s not a great number. Most of the time this item can be found unused/mint or on official first day covers. Thank you Pia for this wonderful cover.

50th Anniversary of the Cyprus Football Association

2011-12-30T04:00:00.000-08:00

The C.F.A. or The Cyprus Football Association as it is commonly known, was established in 1934 by the clubs Anorthosis, E.P.A., A.E.L., Aris, A.P.O.E.L., Olympiakos, Turkish Club and TRAST, and its aim was to promote sport ideals and particularly football. The C.F.A. organizes all the national football championships - for all divisions - in Cyprus and closely cooperates with the various international Associations F.I.F.A. (since 1948) and U.E.F.A. (since 1982). In 1984, forty-two clubs are members of the C.F.A. This cover and the stamp on it commemorates the 50^th Year of the CFA. Merja gave me this FDC.

700th birthday of St. Bridget

2011-12-29T01:28:00.000-08:00

St. Brigit of Sweden (1303-1373) was born 700 years ago. Therefore a Euro 0.65 stamp, depicting a wooden sculpture of St. Brigit of Sweden, was issued on 6.6.2003 to honor the founder of the Brigittine Order. The sculpture is a detail from the altar screen in the Naantali Convent Church. The altar screen, Heavenly Coronation of the Virgin Mary, is from the 15th century. Pia gave me this FDC.

Bridget of Sweden or Birgitta Birgersdotter (1303 – 23 July 1373; also Birgitta of Vadstena, Saint Birgitta, Saint Bridget (or Brigid) of Sweden, or in Swedish den heliga Birgitta [literally the Holy Birgitta]) was a mystic and saint, and founder of the Bridgettine Order after the death of her husband of twenty years. She was also the mother of a saint —Saint Catherine of Vadstena. She is one of the six patron saints of Europe, together with Saint Benedict of Nursia, Saints Cyril and Methodius, Saint Catherine of Siena and Saint Teresia Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein).

Austrian Mail Coach

2011-12-28T01:10:00.000-08:00

The Austrian minisheet portrays a mail coach. It was issued on 12 September 2008.

A landauer coach with folding roof from the property of the Schwarzenbergs and later Wallensteins (built in the first third of the 19th century by London-based firms Barker&Co. and Thrupp) and a Berlingot coupé used by Austrian Emperor Ferdinand I during his long-time stay at Prague following his abdication in 1848 are the highlights of the sub-collection. An 1860 coach from Žamberk built to carry both passengers and mail or a classic mail coach built in Milano some ten years later belong to the typical postal vehicles. Some of the preserved parcel cars were used by the Austrian Post as early as around 1900; the next-generation cars were produced in Czechoslovakia in the 1930s.

The sub-collection also includes a separate set of several types of sleighs. The large horse-drawn postal sleigh, originally also from Žamberk, was built to carry both mail and passengers; the hand sled, used by the Bakov nad Jizerou post office to carry mail, was built in the 1930s and represents the most common type of sleighs, particularly in mountainous regions. The seahorse-shaped sled, cut from a single piece of wood, represents the type of leisure sleighs. Further materials held in this sub-collection include horse gear (e.g. an 18th-century ceremonial breast plate and harness for a team of four horses) and smaller things, such as coach lanterns, traveller luggage and models of horse-drawn cars and postal buses. My friend Anita from Austria sent this minisheet.

Aland Sea Scouting

2011-12-27T01:01:00.000-08:00

On 1 August, 1998 the Åland Post issued a stamp with a Sea Scouting design. The stamp focuses on Satahanka IX, an international sea scout camp held in Åland that August. The stamp, the first day cover and the special postmark were all designed by the Ålandian artist Allan Palmer.

The stamp depicts objects associated with Sea Scouting such as various knots and a compass. The number of active Scouts in Finland is a little more than 88,000. Co-operation, respect and mutual understanding across the borders have always been keywords to the Scouts. The Finnish Boy Scouts and Girl Guides joined forces in the early seventies and have had mutual activities ever since. The name of the main Scout association in Finland is Finlands Scouter r.f. The Guides and Scouts of Finland.

Outdoor activities such as camping, excursions and hikes are important elements of Scouting. Sea Scouts devote most of their time to activities related to the sea such as sailing, navigation and sea rescue. During the days 1-8 August 1998, a large Sea Scout camp was arranged in the historical environment of the ruins of the Bomarsund fortress in Åland. The Satahanka IX is the ninth international Sea Scout camp arranged by the Guides and Scouts of Finland, and it is also the largest Scouts event of the year. The first Satahanka camp was organized in Pargas as early as 1955. A total of 1,500 Scouts, of which approximately 300 from abroad, were expected to participate in this event. Some of the activities on the programme were sailing, archaeology and adventures on foot and bicycle and at sea. The participants also learned more about the seafaring traditions and the history of the province of Åland. Thank you Pia for this FDC.

Maritime Åland

2011-12-26T01:03:00.000-08:00

The stamp on the FDC is one of the first lot of postage stamps issued by Åland after she started printing her own stamps in 1984. The only special aspect of Åland stamps in the province's first year of stamps is an accent on Maritime affairs. The image on this stamp depicts the western harbour in Mariehamn. We can also see the museum ship Pommern and modern car ferries. Åland's fleet comprises some 60 vessels, with a tonnage well over a million tones. Of Åland's gross regional product shipping accounts for about 40% and ships provide about 3,000 jobs. Pia gave me this nice FDC.

Season's Greetings

2011-12-25T01:17:00.000-08:00

From Santa Claus himself :- Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

4th Congress of All-China Philatelic Federation

2011-12-25T00:34:00.000-08:00

This mini sheet was issued to commemorte The 4th Congress of All-China Philatelic Federation (ACPF) which was held in Beijing on Nov.17, 1994. Set up on Jan. 30, 1982, the ACPF was admitted as a full member by the International Philatelic Federation and the Inter-Asia Philatelic Federation respectively in 1983.

The Fighting Capercaillies- Ferdinand von Wright

2011-12-24T00:25:00.000-08:00

The Euro 0.90 self-adhesive stamp depicts the famous painting, Taistelevat metsot 1886 or The Fighting Capercailles, by Ferdinand von Wright (1822-1906) and was issued on 3.3.2003 along with the cover. This work, greatly admired by the Finns, is in the collections of the Ateneum Art Museum.

Ferdinand von Wright (March 19, 1822 — July 31, 1906) was a Finnish painter. He is known especially for his paintings of birds and landscapes, but was also a portrait painter.

Von Wright's parents, Henrik Magnus von Wright and Maria Elisabet Tuderus, owned the Haminalahti manor in Kuopio. His brothers Magnus and Wilhelm were also painters.

In 1838, Ferdinand traveled to Sweden to assist his brother Wilhelm in his illustration work, and worked as his brother's substitute as an illustrator at the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts. During 1842 he studied for some time at the academy, and then returned to Finland in 1844. He lived a secluded but productive life in a cottage he built near his family's home. In 1885, he was granted an artist's pension by the government. Despite suffering paralysis beginning in 1884, Ferdinand continued to produce artistic works until his death. It was during this time that he produced his work The Fighting Capercaillies, one of Finland's most famous paintings. Thank you Pia for this lovely FDC.

Europa – CEPT 1988 – Transport and Communications

2011-12-23T01:34:00.000-08:00

The Europa CEPT theme for postage stamps in Europe in 1988 was ”Transport and Communications”. Finland issued these two stamps and the cover to portray this theme on 23.5.1988. This FDC was given to me by Merja.

The stamp on the left depicts Electronic Communications. In telecommunication, communications-electronics (C-E) is the specialized field concerned with the use of electronic devices and systems for the acquisition or acceptance, processing, storage, display, analysis, protection, disposition, and transfer of information.

C-E includes the wide range of responsibilities and actions relating to:

Electronic devices and systems used in the transfer of ideas and perceptions;
Electronic sensors and sensory systems used in the acquisition of information devoid of semantic influence;

Electronic devices and systems intended to allow friendly forces to operate in hostile environments and to deny to hostile forces the effective use of electromagnetic resources.

The stamp on the right shows a horse drawn tram which was prevalent in Finland in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. Horse Drawn Tram. Trams in Finland go back to a horse-drawn Turku tramway network, which opened in 1890. Electric tramway traction started in Finland in 1900, and the horse-drawn trams last operated in 1917.

Although there were three Finnish tramway networks between 1912 and World War II, the number of networks had dwindled to just one, in Helsinki, by 1972. Since then, the Helsinki network has remained Finland's only tramway network. However, there have been, and still are, a number of proposals to set up new networks, in the form of light rail, elsewhere in the country.

Åland Islands - autonomous isles between Sweden and Finland

2011-12-22T01:02:00.000-08:00

First-time visitors to the Åland Islands, an archipelago of some 6,500 islands and islets between Sweden and Finland at the entrance to the Gulf of Bothnia, can be excused if they feel confused. Though the islands belong to Finland, hardly any of the inhabitants speak Finnish. Swedish is Åland's sole official language, and that is what you see on street signs and restaurant menus. But the currency is the euro, as in Finland. The reason for the muddle is the islands' chequered history. Once part of the kingdom of Sweden, Åland was ceded to imperial Russia in 1809 together with Finland. It has remained part of Finland since Finnish independence in 1917. Today the islands are autonomous, which is partly responsible for their economic prosperity. When Finland joined the European Union in 1995, Alanders' rights were set forth in a separate protocol. They are allowed to make their own tax laws, and to make tax-free sales to their numerous visitors. This FDC given to me by Pia illustrates the important facets of Åland on the three pretty stamps.

Åland flag. According to the 1951-revised Act on the Autonomy, an own flag for Åland was established in 7.4.1954. Its form relates itself to the Nordic cross flag tradition. The colors are a combination of Åland and Finnish weapon colors as well as the Swedish flag's blue and yellow.

Åland map. To describe the status of a new "country of stamps" with the help of a map is a good idea. Within the frame of the stamps left corner we see the European northwest corner, with Åland dotted in the meridians. When the same data exists on the island map, again with localisation coordinates, the location of Åland is clearly explained.

Seal of Åland. Norway's King St. Olaf (d. 1030) is mentioned as one of those who converted the natives to Christianity. He was declared patron saint of Åland and his image was captured in the province's old seal. The oldest imprint is from the year 1326. The seal contains the text "S. TERE. ALANDIE. ET. SCI. OLAVI. REGIS", or the Provincial Government and the St. Olav's seal.

Dogs from Belarus

2011-12-21T01:08:00.001-08:00

Man’s most loyal and trustworthy friend. And hence Belarus very thoughtfully issued this series of stamps on dogs, depicted on this miniature sheet on 14 October 2003. It portrays the German Shepherd, the German Mastiff, and the Golden Retriever.

2003 Men's Ice Hockey Championships

2011-12-20T00:50:00.000-08:00

This FDC was issued on 3.3.2003 to commemorate The 2003 Men's Ice Hockey Championships were held between April 26 and May 11, 2003 in Helsinki, Tampere and Turku, Finland. It was the 67th annual event, and was run by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). The Lion was the mascot chosen for these games, and features on the pretty 0.65 Euro stamp on the FDC. Sixteen countries participated in the Championships. Ice hockey is very popular in Finland. The Ice Hockey World Championships are an annual ice hockey tournament organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). First officially held at the 1920 Summer Olympics, it is the sport's highest profile annual international tournament. The IIHF was created in 1908 while the European Championships, the precursor to the World Championships, were first held in 1910. The tournament held at the 1920 Summer Olympics is recognized as the first Ice Hockey World Championship. Between 1920 and 1968, the Olympic hockey tournament was also considered the World Championship for that year. The first World Championship that was held as an individual event was in 1930 in which twelve nations participated. In 1931, ten teams played a series of round-robin format qualifying rounds to determine which nations participated in the medal round. Medals were awarded based on the final standings of the teams in the medal round. This basic format would be used until 1992 (although small variations were made). In 1951, thirteen nations took part and were split into two groups. The top seven teams (Pool A) played for the World Championship. The other six (Pool B) played for ranking purposes. During a congress in 1990, the IIHF introduced a playoff system. As the IIHF grew, more teams began to participate at the World Championships, so more pools (later renamed divisions) were introduced. Pia gave me this fine FDC.

MS Isabella

2011-12-19T00:54:00.000-08:00

The Stamp on the FDC was issued on 8th May 1998 for “Norden 98” exhibition, commemotating the ferry “Isabel”. MS Isabella is a cruise ferry owned and operated by the Finland-based Viking Line. She was built in 1989 by Brodogradilište Split in Split,Yugoslavia for SF Line, one of the partners in the Viking Line consortium. Since September 2008 she serves on the Turku–Mariehamn/Långnäs–Stockholm route. In January 2010 Viking Line's future CEO Mikael Backman stated the company are negotiating with several different shipyards about the possibility of constructing a pair of 60,000 GT ships to replace Isabella and Amorella on the Turku–Stockholm service. The projected delivery dates for the new vessels are in May 2012 and February 2013. Isabella's future in the Viking Line fleet is unknown, should the planned orders for new ships be realised. Pia gave me this FDC.

Fine Arts (Painting) - The Treasure of the National Art Museum

2011-12-18T01:37:00.000-08:00

These three striking paintings from National Arts Museum of the Republic of Belarus featured in a mini sheet issued by that country on November 28^th, 2007.
The paintings (from left to right) are: -
1. Kshishtov Veselovskiy (1636), by an unknown painter.
2. Grizeli Sapega(1632), by an unknown painter, and of
3. Alexandra Marianna Veselovskaya (1640), also by an unknown painter.
The National Arts Museum is the biggest museum in the Republic of Belarus. The collection was started in the first decades of the 20th century. During World War II the Nazi plundered the museum. The fate of the collection remains one of the greatest mysteries of the twentieth century. During the post-war period, due to the enthusiasm and dedicated work of the museum's workers, it was reconstructed. In 1957, the Art Gallery was renamed and moved to the new building. In 1999, the museum received its national status. Nowadays there are more than 25,600 exhibits.

Railway's of Ireland

2011-12-17T01:23:00.000-08:00

Tall Ship Pommern

2011-12-16T01:12:00.000-08:00

The Aland Postal Service issued a new stamp with postage value of 0,55 Euro named "Pommern” which Celebrated 100 Years" on the 6th of June 2003. The stamp depicts a ship named "Pommern" which was built in 1903 in Glasgow by a German shipping company. Originally the ship was named "Mneme" after the Goddess of Memory Mnemosyne, until it changed ownership in 1906 when it was renamed Pommern. At that time the ship used to sail between Europe and South America. In 1923, Gustaf Erikson from Aland the world's last big sailing ship owner, bought the ship. As with most of his fleet, Pommern sailed in the grain races and carried grain from Australia to Britain. In 1939 Pommern sailed to her homeport Mariehamn and remained there until she finally was donated to the Town of Mariehamn as a museum ship. Pommern is one of four original masted steel barque in the world today. A trip to Australia took almost a year to manage and life was hard. The space on ship you had to share with pigs, sheeps. dogs, cats and rats.....Food and water where strictly rationed, meat stored in salt somethimes even for several years, where called "Old ropes", (strings from hawsers, in old days produced from hemp). And when the rain come, after a long heated trip in the Tropics, the sailors where happy, at least they could have a bath.

The picture on the stamp was taken from a painting by an Australian painter named Arthur Victor Gregory. This painting was done in 1931 and shows the Pommern with full sails caught in a storm. The artwork may be admired at the Aland Maritime Museum. Pia gave me this nice FDC.

600 Years of the Kalmar Union

2011-12-15T01:38:00.000-08:00

This Åland picture postcard and the stamp on it were issued on 30.5.1997. Five heads of state - the Danish Queen with Prince Henrik, the Swedish and Norwegian royal couples and the Finnish and Icelandic presidents with their wives, joined 20 000 Swedes and 200 journalists to celebrate the 600th anniversary of the Kalmar Union. At one time Kalmar, in the south of Sweden, was the capital of the largest state in Europe. This state was composed of Denmark, Norway and Iceland and Sweden and Finland. And it was all thanks to a strong woman called Margrethe. She became regent of Norway, Sweden and Denmark through extraordinary manipulation amid most unusual circumstances. She came to be widely respected, often admired, but not much loved. Although she was a woman of royal parentage, she was never to rule from a throne simply because she was a woman. And it was ironically only when the present Queen of Denmark, Margrethe decided to be known as Margrethe II that the first Margrethe of the 14th century was elevated to royal status posthumously.

Margrethe embarked on her remarkable, nearly incredible, rise to power at the tender age of six. A treaty between her father King Valdemar Atterdag of Denmark and Magnus Erikson, the King of Sweden, pledged her to Magnus’s 18-year-old son Haakon who had inherited the throne of Norway through his mother, the granddaughter of Haakon V. Margrethe and Haakon did not live together as man and wife until she reached the age of 16. In 1371 Margrethe gave birth to her only son, Oluf. King Valdemar died in 1375 the following year leaving Margrethe as his only surviving child. She was successful in having her son Oluf proclaimed King of Denmark with herself as regent. Five years later, when Haakon died, Oluf was recognized as both king of Norway and of Denmark while Margrethe became regent of Norway also. Soon thereafter, Margrethe was called in by the Swedish nobility to help it topple the hated King Albrekt of Mecklenburg. She was able to establish Oluf as the legitimate claimant to the Swedish throne. Now Margrethe became regent to all three countries.

The sudden death of the 17-year-old Oluf in 1387 undid the stability Margrethe had managed to achieve. But she acted quickly to secure her position as royal guardian. She also quickly adopted the six-year-old son of her niece who was married to the Duke of Pomerania and chose him, Erik, as her successor. After being declared the regent of the Danish and Norwegian kingdoms, she formed common cause with the Swedish nobles and having had the distinct advantage of having consistently demonstrated outstand-ing qualities of royal administration and integrity, she did not have too much problem in being hailed as the rightful ruler of Sweden. Now she commanded all of northern Europe. Margrethe went on to propose a coronation ceremony for Erik. She called a special meeting of the powerful nobles, the clergy and magnates of Sweden and got their consent. In June of 1397, the Archbishops of Lund and Uppsala crowned Erik King of Denmark, Norway and Sweden in the town of Kalmar. Why Kalmar? It is important to remember that the borders looked somewhat different from what they do today and the Swedish provinces of Skåne, Blekinge and Halland belonged to Denmark. Kalmar was actually very close to Denmark being on the southern coast of Sweden.

After Erik’s crowning ceremony, Margrethe proceeded to negotiate a "union document". The document declared that Erik, having been elected King of Denmark, Norway and Sweden had further been elected King of the one consolidated combined Kingdom of Norway-Sweden-Denmark. And it is the 600th anniversary of this Union that was celebrated in 1997. This was a truly Nordic union as Iceland and Finland were also included. Pia gave me this FDC commemorating this important event.

60th Anniversary of Inner Mongolia

2011-12-14T01:04:00.000-08:00

This miniature sheet of two stamps was issued bu China to commemorate the 60th Anniversaryof the creation of the Autonomous Region of Inner Mongolia on 1.5.2007. The stamp on the left depicts people celebrating the event by indulging in sporting activities like horse racing, wrestling and archery. The second stamp shows a group of dancers in traditional costumes. Inner Mongolia is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China, located in the northern region of the country. Inner Mongolia shares an international border with the countries of Mongolia and the Russian Federation. Its capital is Hohhot and the largest city is Baotou.

Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region was established in 1947 on the area of former Republic of China provinces of Suiyuan, Chahar, Rehe, Liaopeh and Hsingan. It is the third-largest subdivision of China spanning about 1,200,000 km² (463,000 sq mi) or 12% of China's total land area. It has a population of about 24 million as of 2004. The majority of the population in the region are Han Chinese, with a substantial Mongol minority. The official languages are Chinese and Mongolian, the latter written in the Mongolian script, as opposed to the Mongolian Cyrillic alphabet used in the state of Mongolia.

Inner Mongolia, China's northern border autonomous region, features a long, narrow strip of land sloping from northeast to southwest. It stretches 2,400 km from west to east and 1,700 km from north to south. The third largest among China's provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions, the region covers an area of 1.18 million sq km, or 12.3% of the country's territory. It neighbors eight provinces and regions in its south, east and west and Mongolia and Russia in the north, with a borderline of 4,200 km

Relics of the Past

2011-12-13T01:27:00.000-08:00

This FDC given to me by Merja has two stamps on it. These Europa stamps were issued by Cyprus on 3.5.1983. One on the left shows a copper ingot, a bronze jug from the Roman period of 2nd century BC and a Copper engraving. The stamp on the right has a Cypro-Syllabic inscription. The Cypro-Syllabic script is, as the name itself indicates, a writing system of a syllabic character found in Cyprus from between the mid 11^th c. BC (the Opheltes obelos, ICS² 18g) to the end of the 2^nd c. BC It is composed of 56 signs at most, with more or less important local variations in the form of the signs, in the chronology and in the repertory. Almost all the signs, with the exception of ye (present only in the new Paphian syllabary) are found in the most widespread version of the syllabary, known as the “common syllabary”.

Texts written in the common syllabary are usually right to left, and their distribution area is quite large: they can be found in nearly the entire island, with the exception of the south-western region, the Paphos region, characterized by its own peculiar repertory known as the “Paphian syllabary”. This latter, unlike the common syllabary, is usually used in left-to-right texts, and it has its own chronology: the “old Paphian syllabary”, used essentially in texts dating from the 6^th c. BC, and the “new Paphian syllabary”, with documents dating above all from the 4^th c. BC.

Writing in the Late Bronze Age Writing first appeared in Cyprus around 1500 BC at a time when the island's trading activities brought increased bureaucratic demands. The earliest script was syllabic (each symbol denoting a vowel or a combination of consonant and vowel) and presented obvious similarities to Minoan Linear A. It was probably introduced from Crete and adapted to the needs of the ancient Cypriot language. The script is called Cypro-Minoan but has not been deciphered yet (as is also the case with Linear A). Cypro-Minoan texts have been found on clay tablets at Enkomi in Cyprus and Ugarit in Syria, suggesting that they were used both for administration and commercial transactions. Otherwise, Cypro-Minoan symbols have been occasionally found on clay cylinders (also of administrative use), bronze and ivory objects as well as on clay balls.

Luonnotar - Kalevala Art

2011-12-12T01:27:00.000-08:00

The Kalevala begins with a poem describing the birth of the world, based on an ancient international myth. Luonnotar was the Spirit of Nature, Mother of the Seas, who existed before creation, floating alone in the universe before the worlds were made "in a solitude of ether". Descending to earth she swam in its primordial ocean for 700 years. Then a storm blows up and in torment, she calls to the god Ukko for help. Out of the Void, a duck flies, looking for a place to nest. Luonnotar takes pity and raises her knee above the waters so the duck can nest and lay her eggs. But when the eggs hatch they emit great heat and Luonnotar flinches. The eggs are flown upwards and shatter, but the fragments become the skies, the yolk sunlight, the egg white the moon, the mottled bits the stars. This was the creation myth of the Karelians who represented the ancient soul of the Finnish cultural identity. After taking part in the creation of the world, she gives birth to the aged Väinämöinen. The Great Kalevala Featured on Gallen-Kallela March Miniature Sheet The Nordic post offices issued a new miniature stamp sheet with a Nordic mythology motif in 2004. The sheet is part of the Nordic joint stamp series entitled “The North”. The second and third part of the series were issued in 2006 and 2008. The first part was issued in all the Nordic countries simultaneously on March 26, 2004, as each postal administration issued a miniature sheet featuring mythical creatures. The Finnish miniature sheet featured a sketch by Akseli Gallen-Kallela entitled Luonnotar (1925, 66 x 44.5, watercolor). The sheet consists of two €0.65 stamps. Luonnotar was one of Gallen-Kallela’s illustrations for the Great Kalevala, a project that he began in 1925. It was never completed, however, as the artist suddenly died in 1931. Luonnotar is currently part of the permanent collection at the Gallen-Kallela museum. Pekka Piippo, who also designed the First Day Cover and Cancellation to go with the miniature sheet, designed the stamp. The First Day Cancellation features a part of Gallen-Kallela’s illustration with the same motif for the Jewel Kalevala (1920-1922). All eight miniature sheets published in the Nordic countries were to be issued together as a Nordic pack. The pack was issued along with the miniature sheet and priced at 16 euros on 26.3.2004. Thank you Pia for this fabulous FDC.

Panda’s on Stamps

2011-12-11T01:08:00.000-08:00

The stamps on these three minisheets featuring the exotic Panda, were all issued during Philatelic Exhibitions by the countries. The one at top left was issued by DPR Korea during Phila Nippon’91 (Japan WORLD stamp exhibition in Tokyo from 16 to 24 November 1991); the one at top right was released by Cuba during the Philatelic Mundial China’99; and the one below was issued by Nicaragua commemorating Phila Tokyo’81. Now, what is a Panda?

The giant panda, or panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca, literally meaning "black and white cat-foot") is a bear native to central-western and south western China. It is easily recognized by its large, distinctive black patches around the eyes, over the ears, and across its round body. Though it belongs to the order Carnivora, the panda's diet is 99% bamboo Pandas in the wild will occasionally eat other grasses, wild tubers, or even meat in the form of birds, rodents or carrion. In captivity they may receive honey, eggs, fish, yams, shrub leaves, oranges, or bananas along with specially prepared feed.

The giant panda lives in a few mountain ranges in central China, mainly in Sichuan province, but also in the Shansi and Gansi provinces^] Due to farming, deforestation and other development, the panda has been driven out of the lowland areas where it once lived.

The panda is a conservation reliant endangered species. A 2007 report shows 239 pandas living in captivity inside China and another 27 outside the country Wild population estimates vary; one estimate shows that there are about 1,590 individuals living in the wild, while a 2006 study via DNA analysis estimated that this figure could be as high as 2,000 to 3,000. Some reports also show that the number of pandas in the wild is on the rise. However, the IUCN does not believe there is enough certainty yet to reclassify the species from Endangered to Vulnerable.

While the dragon has historically served as China's national emblem, in recent decades the panda has also served as an emblem for the country. Its image appears on a large number of modern Chinese commemorative silver, gold, and platinum coins. Though the panda is often assumed to be docile, it has been known to attack humans, presumably out of irritation rather than predation.

Sailing ships

2011-12-10T02:23:00.000-08:00

Åland's geographical position created early opportunities for trade and shipping. Bond sailing developed, but it was only after the middle of last century that sea trade here got a major boost. Large sailing vessels were built in Åland shipyards. Although after World War I steamboats took over more and more freight, large Åland shipping companies did not abandon sailing ships. Gustav Eriksson (1872-1947) who lived in Mariehamn, was in the 1930s the owner of the world's largest private sailing vessel fleet. The sailing vessels pictured on the stamps on this FDC issued on 4.6.1988 are generally from that generation

GALEASSE ALBANUS (1,80 mk) about 100 net tonnage, was built in 1904 in Äppelö in Hammarland under the direction of ship builder Johan August Henriksson. After about ten years Albanus was sold to the kingdom. - In 1988 a new Albanus was built in the traditional way, she serves as PR- and camp training ship on the island.

SCHOONER INGRID (2,40 mk) 450 net tonnage, was built in Geta, Olofsnäs 1906-07 under the leadership of Eric Söderström. She is a typical representative of the ships that were used in the Baltic and North Sea Traffic. The vessel was sold in 1919 to England, where she was used as a motor sailor in coastal shipping until the 1930s.

BARKER PAMIR (11,00 mk) 4500 net tonnage, was built in the steel hull in Hamburg. Gustav Eriksson bought her in 1931 and she was inserted in the wheat trade between Australia and England. Pamir was sold back to Germany in 1951 and served as a training ship until 1957 when she sank in the Atlantic. Thank you Pia for this nice FDC.

Finnish Manor Houses

2011-12-09T01:27:00.000-08:00

A manor house (often fortified) is a country house that historically formed the administrative centre of a manor, the lowest unit of territorial organisation in the feudal system in Europe. The term is applied to country houses that belonged to the gentry and other grand stately homes. There were manor houses in most European countries, where they were sometimes referred to as castles, palaces, and so on. Ella sent me this FDC which features 10 of Finlands well known manor houses on their own respective stamps in this sheetlet on the cover issued on 14.6.1982. They are as follows:-

1/10 Kuitia Manor, in Parainen Lemlahti Island 1490 – is the oldest stone manor, built about 1480.

2/10 Louhisaari Manor, in Askainen (near Turku)1655

3/10 Frugård (Frugard) Manor, in Mäntsälä (Mantsala), Joroinen 1780, south Finland

4/10 Jokioinen 1798, in Jokioinen, south Finland

5/10 Moisio Manor, in Elimäki (Elimaki), south Finland 1820

6/10 Sjundby Manor, in Siuntio 1560 - Sjundby Manor in Siuntio, the history of the manor is known since 1417 The most well-known owner was Sigrid Vaasa, daughter of King of Sweden, Erik IV and Kaarina Maunu's daughter.

7/10 Fagervik Manor, in Inkoo (near Helsinki)1773

8/10 Mustio, Karjaa, south coast of Finland 1792. Mustio Manor, Svartå Manor. Svartå Manor is one of the most precious manor houses in Finland with a history of more than two hundred years. The Manor is situated about 80km west of Helsinki along the Finnish coast. Today it is a museum and has opened its doors to the public with guided tours.

9/10 Fiskars Manor, in Pohja, south Finland 1818

10/10 Kotkaniemi Manor, in Vihti, near Helsinki 1836.

The most well-known might well be Louhisaari Manor, the home of C.G.E. Mannerheim. After belonging to the Fleming family since the 15th century, Louhisaari was in 1795 bought by the Mannerheim family, which owned it until 1903. The Marshal of Finland C.G.E. Mannerheim was born at Louhisaari in 1867. The main building dates from 1655 and is one of the rare examples of palatial architecture in Finland. The festive floor and the service floor are in 17th-century style and furnished to match. The middle floor, where the actual living quarters were, was modernised during the 18th and 19th centuries, and the rooms in this part of the castle reflect the interior-decoration styles of that time. The castle is surrounded by an English landscape park. The main building of Louhisaari Manor was opened to public on 1^st June 1967. Louhisaari Manor is located on the southwest coast of Finland 30 km North of Turku.

150th Birth Anniversary of Albert Edelfelt

2011-12-08T01:15:00.000-08:00

I have made a mention of Albert Gustaf Aristides Edelfelt (21 July 1854 – 18 August 1905) a Swedish-speaking Finnish painter, quite a few times in my blogs. This stamp and cover was issued on 28.4.2004 to commemorate Edelfelt’s 150^th Birth Anniversary.

Albert Edelfelt was born in Porvoo, Finland. His father Carl Albert was an architect. Edelfelt admired the poet Johan Ludvig Runeberg, who was a friend of the family. The company of Runeberg had a lasting impact on Edelfelt, who from time to time turned to scenes from Finnish history in his paintings. Edelfelt went on to illustrate Runeberg's epic poem The Tales of Ensign Stål. He studied art in Antwerp (1873–1874), Paris (1874–1878) and Saint Petersburg (1881–1882). He married Baroness (friherinnan) Ellan de la Chapelle in 1888 and they had one child.

Edelfelt was one of the first Finnish artists to achieve international fame. He enjoyed considerable success in Paris and was one of the founders of the Realist art movement in Finland. He influenced several younger Finnish painters and helped fellow Finnish artists such as Akseli Gallen-Kallela (refer to my post dated 21.11.2011) to make their breakthrough in Paris.

Albert Edelfelt, the first Finnish artist to rise to international fame was born on 21.7.1854, precisely 150 years ago. In honour of the jubilee year, The Ateneum Art Museum is putting up the most extensive exhibition on Edelfelt’s art ever seen, bringing together all his most significant works. Edelfelt is known first and foremost as the pioneer and forerunner of Finnish art. He cleared the path for other young Finnish artists by establishing international connections and exporting Finnish art abroad. Just as his masters wished, Edelfelt captured dramatic scenes from Finnish history on his canvas and was also a highly talented portrayer of his own time. His portraits captured the beauty of several society ladies as well as many of the most notable people of the time, such as Louis Pasteur and Nikolai II. Edefelt’s skills both as an artist and a negotiator provided him with substantial power and he was even able to negotiate a separate unit for Finland in the Paris World Fair in 1900, despite all the resistance from Russia. All in all Edelfelt became well acquainted with Paris during his post-graduate years and his breakthrough in that Mecca of Art cleared the path for other young Finnish artists as well. Pia gave me this FDC.

Year of the Monkey - 1992

2011-12-07T01:09:00.000-08:00

This delightful minisheet featuring three different types of monkeys was issued by DPR Korea on 1.1.1992 to celebrate the Year of the Monkey. The three species of monkey’s deoicted on the three stamps are :-

1. 1. Common Squirrel Monkey (Saimiri sciureus). The common squirrel monkey (Saimiri sciureus) is a small New World primate from the Cebidae (squirrel monkey) family, and native to the tropical areas of South America.

2. 2. The pygmy marmoset or dwarf monkey is a New World monkey native to the rainforest canopies of western Brazil, southeastern Colombia, eastern Ecuador, eastern Peru, and northern Bolivia. It is one of the smallest primates, and the smallest true monkey, with its body length ranging from 14 to 16 centimetres (5.5 to 6.3 in) (excluding the 15-to-20-centimetre (5.9 to 7.9 in) tail). Males weigh around 140 grams (4.9 oz), and females only 120 grams (4.2 oz).

3. 3. The red-handed tamarin (Saguinus midas), also known as the golden-handed tamarin or Midas tamarin, is a New World monkey named for the contrasting reddish-orange hair on their feet and hands. It is native to wooded areas north of the Amazon River in Brazil, Guyana, French Guiana, Suriname, and possibly Venezuela. The population south of the Amazon River lacks the contrasting feet and hands, and is now commonly treated as a separate species, the Black Tamarin.

What does the Year of the Monkey mean to the people born in those years?The Monkey is the most versatile sign of the Chinese zodiac. Such people are often inventors, plotters, entertainers and the creative geniuses behind anything ingenious, including mischief. They have natural quick-wittedness which enables them to understand what is happening and then make a right decision. Even during a conversation person born in this year is aware of what is going on around him/her, and then make a mental note of who said what and store it away for future reference. In general, with their agile minds and multiple talents, monkey type of people can master any subject. They are reliable and host people so that any secret is safe in their hands. These people are also honest in their dealings. Monkey people are very good at problem-solving. Wherever you are, whoever you may be, if you've got a problem pick up the phone and dial-a-Monkey. Monkeys know how to listen closely and work out solutions at the same time.

In spit the fact that these people are trustworthy and unlikely to hurt someone out of spite, they would never let people escape if they have behaved badly or damaged monkey's reputation. Their stamina and determination to achieve their main goals can make these people appear vain or manipulative. It means that monkey type of people should be careful so not to damage their friendships. It is important to remember for this type of people that it would be wiser sometimes not to pursue their goals and simply let things pass.

Monkeys have flexible principles and serene self-confidence so they are completely content; but they usually manage to complicate the lives of others. After yet another plan or project has gone wrong, they are seldom there to help clean up the disorder and confusion that they leave in their wake. Monkeys can handle that too; with their charm and persuasiveness they can make people believe that just knowing them is a privilege!

Fazer 100

2011-12-06T00:50:00.000-08:00

Fazer is one of the largest corporations in the Finnish foodindustry. The company was originally founded by Karl Fazer in 1891, as a "French-Russian conditory" in central Helsinki. Today, it employs over ten thousand people in Finland as well as Sweden, Norway, Denmark, the Baltic countries, the United Kingdomand Russia. Fazer's production is divided into four major areas:

§ Fazer Amica, a chain of work-place restaurants

§ Fazer bakeries, producing various kinds of bread

§ Candyking, shop-inshop pick 'n' mix confectionery concept

§ Fazer Café, a chain of cafés. The main Fazer café is on Kluuvikatu in Helsinki. There is a counter where one can order things and then sit down in the front. There is also a back area where one can be served by a waiter. The areas are separated by an entrance area that sometimes has some kind of exhibit, as well as another counter, just for buying chocolates. They are known for their chocolate flavored tea.

Pantteri is a popular brand ofsalmiakki candies by Fazer (now byCloetta Fazer). Particularly Fazer's classic chocolate (Fazerin Sininen maitosuklaa) is famous throughout Finland, and the blue colour of its wrapper has been used by Fazer as a symbol for the whole product line. Fazer has bought a few other companies, including Finnish Chymos and Danish Perelly. The confectionery line was merged with its Swedish competitor Cloetta in 2000, to become Cloetta Fazer, though the merger lasted only until 2008 before the two brands were separated back to independent companies. Later, Fazer Keksit (which made biscuits) was sold to Danone. It was renamed as LU Suomi. Pia sent me this lovely FDC commemorating the 100^th Year of this very popular company.

The origins of Fazer Group lie in a family company founded in 1891 when confectioner Karl Fazer opened his first “French-Russian conditory", a café in Helsinki (Kluuvikatu 3). Today Fazer offers meals and bakery and confectionery products, and operates in eight countries. Fazer has several well-known and dearly loved brands, many of which were born already in the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Among these classics are Mignon, Kiss-Kiss, Wiener Nougat and Geisha. Over the years, Fazer’s brand portfolio has grown and now it also covers bakery products and cafés and restaurants. In addition to Fazer, also brands like Karl Fazer, Amica and Oululainen create taste sensations today. The common factor still remains the high quality of products and services, delicious taste and best ingredients.

FAZER Kiss-Kiss 180g. Kiss Kiss is one of the first ever candies produces in Finland. It was first introduced to the public in 1897 and it became a trademark in 1901.

Europa CEPT 1982 - Historic Events

2011-12-05T01:09:00.000-08:00

These two lovely stamps and the first day cover were issued on 29.4.1982 to commemorate significant historical events in Finland’s History. The 1.20 stamp is of the statue of Mikael Agricola is in front of the Turku Cathedral. Mikael Agricola, and the Publication of Abc-kirja Abc-book, (1st Finnish book), 1543. The Sculpture of Mikael Agricola translator, is by Oskari Jauhiainen, 1951, and the cover of Agricola's Abckiria.. The 1.50 stamp Fresco depicts the Turku Academy, 1st Finnish university. (Turku Academy Inaugural Procession, 1640, fresco originally painted by Albert Edelfelt. Repainted by Johannes Gebhard after it was destroyed in WWII. Pia gave me this historic FDC.

Now, what was the Abckiria? Abckiria (also sometimes spelled ABC-kiria, and spelled "ABC-kirja" in modern Finnish), in English "The ABC book", is the first book that was published in the Finnish language. It was written by Mikael Agricola, a bishop and Lutheran Reformer, and was first published in 1543. Agricola wrote the book while working on the first Finnish translation of the New Testament (which was eventually finished in 1548 as Se Wsi Testamenti). Abckiria was a primer meant to teach the basics of reading and writing. It contains the alphabet, some spelling exercises, and catechism. The first edition had 16 pages. The second edition, which was written in 1551, had 24 pages. No complete copies of either are known to exist, but general contents of the book have been discerned from the existing material.

Edelfelt, Albert (1854 - 1905). Albert Edelfelt was one of the most important Finnish visual artists of all time. He was above all a painter, but he also worked as a graphic artist and illustrator. In his era he was the most respected Finnish artist abroad. He was also in his time the undisputed leading figure in Finnish art. As a popular portraitist at European courts, he was of much greater social importance than other artists. Above all, he helped to lay the foundations for Finland's cultural prestige abroad.

The mural in the Great Hall of the University of Helsinki took up a considerable portion of Edelfelt's career. A competition was held in 1891 and resulted in Edelfelt's winning the commission for the main picture, Turun akatemian vihkiäiset ('The Inauguration of Turku Academy'). (The Turku Academy was the direct predecessor of the University of Helsinki.) He had researched the subject during his many trips abroad, but he did not complete the painting until 1904. It was an impressive finale to his career as a historical painter. Unfortunately the work was destroyed during the bombing in 1944.

European Tourism Year 1990

2011-12-04T01:00:00.000-08:00

1990 was designated European Year of Tourism (EYT) by the European Community. The six member countries of EFTA have also accepted the Community's invitation to take an active part.

Tourism occupies a dominant position in the economy of Cyprus. According to the World Economic Forum's 2011 Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index, Cyprus' tourism industry ranks 24^th in the world in terms of overall competitiveness. In terms of Tourism Infrastructure, in relation to the tourism industry) Cyprus ranks 1^st in the world.

In December 1988 the EC Council of Ministers adopted the European Parliament’s recommendation for the designation of 1990 as European Tourism Year. The recognition of the increasing importance of tourism, not only as a source of revenue and employment for all European states but also as an important means through which a United Europe could be created, in view of the abolition of borders in 1992, was the main reason which led to the aforementioned decision. Thus the main aim of the European Tourism Year was defined by the European Community, as the promotion of the idea of a United Europe and the underlining of the huge economic and social importance of Tourism in this New Europe. With this aim in mind, both the member-states of the Community as well as the other countries of Europe, would honour the European Tourism Year with the staging of various events and programmes.

Cyprus would also honour the European Tourism Year being itself a predominantly tourist country, which indeed depends to a large extend on Europe, since more than 60% of the tourist arrivals hail from the EC area. Tourism for Cyprus constitutes today one of the most important factors of economic, social and cultural developments.

The Department of Postal services of Cyprus issued a commemorative series consisting of 4 stamps in order to honour European Tourism Year. The 5-cent stamp is dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the Hotel and Catering Institute (HCI). This Institute was and is the basic factor for success in the development of this sector in Cyprus. For the development of this sector, HCI trains expertly qualified personnel, extending its work to students from overseas, a fact that has earned international recognition for the quality and importance of its contribution. The 7-cent stamps is dedicated to the completion of 11 centuries since the founding of the Saint Lazarus Church. Saint Lazarus took refuge to Kition after the beginning of persecutions against Christians, and was according to legend the first Bishop of the city, in which he was buried after he died for the second time. In 8980 A.D. Emperor Leon VI, the Wise, transferred his body to Constantinople and as a compensation he build the elegant Byzantine Church that stands over his tomb. It possesses a wood-engraved iconostatis of exceptional craftsmanship and a priceless old icon of the Bishop of Kition. The church has played an important role in the history of the city and constituted for centuries the necessary compliment to the pilgrimage to the holy Land. The 15 & 18 cent stamps are dedicated to the natural environment.

The Finnish Almanac

2011-12-03T01:06:00.000-08:00

The first Finnish almanac appeared in 1705. In the beginning, almanacs contained information about the annual cycle, church holy days, and name days, as well as information on market days and simple astronomical facts, but starting already in 1749 they ran numerous articles aimed at enlightening the rural populace in its labours and subsistence activities. These writings provided guidance in the areas of agriculture, cattle husbandry, commerce, forestry and health-care. In addition, they gave information on civic matters such as local government and the educational system. The Economic Society of Finland largely carried out the editing of these articles, but later a number of organizations and movements published almanacs for their own target readership groups. Such organizations included the Friends of Temperance, the Society for Popular Enlightenment, and the Social Democratic Party Commission. By the early 20th century, almanacs contained a large array of information aimed at helping the ordinary Finn participate fully in modern life, including lists of standard metric weights and measures, worldwide solar and lunar eclipses for the coming year, European heads of state, government bureaus and departments, a calendar of official hunting and fishing seasons, postal regulations, instructions and prices, railway ticket prices, official government documents and their prices, various national statistics, articles on current socio-political topics, humorous and satirical essays, educational articles on cooking, farming and hygiene, poems, and numerous advertisements for everything from insurance to bicycles, margarine, newspaper subscriptions and sewing machines, and even electrical and hot-air treatments by private medical practitioners to cure every possible disorder. Pia gave me this FDC which was issued on 14.1.2005.

Centenary of Singapore Fire Service

2011-12-02T01:16:00.000-08:00

Australian Fungi

2011-12-01T01:45:00.000-08:00

Maria gave me this pretty cover with Australian Fungi stamps. Compared with many other nations and continents, knowledge about fungi of Australia is meagre. Unlike many countries with centuries of accumulated knowledge both cultural and later scientific, Australia has lacked input on both. Little is known of aboriginal use of fungi apart from a few species such as Blackfellow's bread (Laccocephalum mylittae), and research by botanists and mycologists since 1788 has been spasmodic and intermittent. Indeed some states currently lack mycologists in their respective herbaria.

Australia is estimated to have about 250,000 fungal species, including about 5000 mushrooms, of which roughly 5% have been described. Knowledge of distribution, substrates and habitats is poor for most species, with the exception of common plant pathogens. The names of the fungi on the stamps on the FDC are as follows :-

Red Fungi 24c
Grey Fungi 35c
Yellow Fungi 55c
Green Fungi 60c

Volunteerism

2011-11-30T00:14:00.000-08:00

As 2011 marks the 10th anniversary of the International Year of Volunteers, Hongkong Post recognises that volunteers are making a notable difference in diverse fields, showing the world the true meaning of love and care. Hongkong Post announced that a set of special stamps on the theme of "Volunteerism" will be released for sale with associated philatelic products on March 29.

Volunteerism is an important social service that promotes not only a sense of sharing and affinity, but also cultivates civic-mindedness and personal development. In recognition of the meaningful role played by volunteer workers towards enhancing social harmony and inclusiveness, Hongkong Post is proud to take part in celebrating the 10th anniversary of the International Year of Volunteers.

The four stamps depict the rewarding experiences gained and positive contributions made by different age groups engaged in delivering essential community services. Particularly noteworthy is the innovative design concept adopted for the sheetlet that mimics a diary page, which captures some memorable moments and features a heart-shaped stamp as a centrepiece symbolising the noble spirit of volunteerism.

Vintage cars

2011-11-29T01:34:00.000-08:00

Aland Postal Service issued four new stamps that each have a postage value of 1st Class named "Vintage Cars in Aland" on the 4th of March 2005. The four stamps depict four different vintage cars found in Aland. Each of these wonderful cars is described below.

Oakland Sport Convertible - Was the first car out on the road in 1928 and is now owned by Gustaf Sauren who lives on the island of Sottunga in the Aland archipelago. It was first registered in Turku and had the same owner for 40 years. The car has been completely restored and is being used by its owner to drive around the island.
Ford V8 - on the road in 1939 this shining black Ford was purchased by Anders Hedenberg and his father in Turku in 1943. In 1952, the car was sold to Bjarne Jannson who sold it to another owner. Then in 1984 Anders Hedenberg and Bjarne Jansson repurchased the car and restored it to its original condition.
Buick Super 4D HT - is a classic red-and-white American car owned by Sune Mattsson in Aland. It was imported from Sweden from the USA in 1978, and has won first prize in a show in Mariehamn.
Volkswagen 1200 - everyone has heard or seen a Volkswagen Beetle at one time or another. It is still a very popular model and is seen in almost every country. This beige Beetle was brought to Aland brand-new in 1964. It is now owned by a car company named Tor-Rolf Karlsson.

This wonderful cover was given to me by Pia.

Children's playgroups (preschool

2011-11-28T01:26:00.000-08:00

Early childhood education and care (ECEC) in Finland has two main goals. One is to fulfil the day care needs of children under school age and the other is to provide early childhood education. And the FDC given to me by Merja was issued on 10.10.1988 to commemorate this very important feature of Finnish Life.

Since 1973, the Act on Children’s Day Care has provided a framework for the implementation of day care. The Act clearly defines the physical setting for the provision of day care and the educational objectives. According to the act the objectives of day care promote the balanced development of children together with their parents. For its part, day care shall provide children with safe and warm relationships; activities supporting children's development in a versatile manner, as well as a favourable growth environment based on individual children's circumstances.

Day care in its different forms is the most important area of public ECEC activities. The Finnish ECEC-system consists of municipal and private services. Municipalities must offer day care in the official languages of Finland: Finnish, Swedish and Sàmi. Day care should also support the language and culture of speakers of Romany and children of immigrant background. Municipal day care is provided at day care centres and in family day care. Several local authorities also organise supervised play activities open to everyone in playgrounds and at open day care centres. The day care fees are based on family size and income level. Families with low incomes are charged no fee. Client fees cover about 15 percent of the total day care costs.

As of 1996, the parents of all children under school age have enjoyed the right to a place in day care for their child provided by their local authority. Since August 1997, it has also been possible for families to receive a private childcare allowance in order to provide their children with private care.

Pre-school education signifies the systematic education and instruction provided in the year preceding the commencement of compulsory education, which usually commences in August of the calendar year of a child’s 7th birthday. Voluntary pre-school education that is free of charge is provided in every municipality since August 2001 at an amount of no less than 700 hours per year.

Since the 1960’s the possibility for parents to stay at home to care for their newborn and small children has gradually improved. For this purpose, first maternity allowance and leave is granted and since 1989 maternity, paternity and parental leaves and allowances are available. The right to keep one's job during care leave is protected by law. In addition, since 1985 parents have been able to arrange the care of their children by means of the child home care allowance. The child home care allowance can be granted immediately after the parental allowance period ends and can be paid until the youngest child in the family is three years old or enters municipal day care.

After the parental leave period, families are therefore provided with three different options until the child begins compulsory school:

1. Caring for the child at home on care leave and receiving child home care allowance (until the youngest child turns three years)

2. Having the child cared for in private day care with the private child care allowance

3. Having the child cared for in municipal day care.

Well-educated and multi-disciplinary staff is one of the strengths of the Finnish day care system. The staffs in day care centres is required to have at least a secondary-level degree in the field of social welfare and health care. One in three of the staff must have a post-secondary level degree (Bachelor of Education, Master of Education or Bachelor of Social Sciences). The adult-child ratio in day care centres is one to seven for 3-6-year-olds and one to four for children under the age of three in full-time day care. When arranging part-time day care the ratio for 3-6-year-olds is one to thirteen and for children under three the ratio is the same as in full-time care.

Family care minders must have appropriate training. The adult-child ratio in family day care is one to four, including the child minder's own children. In addition, part-time care may be provided for one pre-school or school-aged child.

ECEC is realised in co-operation between various actors forming a wide network that provides services for children and families. These actors include social welfare, health care and education authorities, various organisations and communities that work in favour of children and families and parishes with their ECEC services.

50th Anniversary of Surealism

2011-11-27T04:23:00.000-08:00

Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members. Surrealist works feature the element of surprise, unexpected juxtapositions and non sequitur; however, many Surrealist artists and writers regard their work as an expression of the philosophical movement first and foremost, with the works being an artifact. Leader André Breton was explicit in his assertion that Surrealism was above all a revolutionary movement.

Surrealism developed out of the Dada activities during World War I and the most important center of the movement was Paris. From the 1920s onward, the movement spread around the globe, eventually affecting the visual arts, literature, film and music of many countries and languages, as well as political thought and practice, philosophy and social theory.

The stamps on this 1999 set were issued while celebrating 50 Years of Surrealism in Portugal. Paintings by 5 artists combined in one big sheetlet, they are all all Portuguese artists:

- António Domingues (stamp in first post)
- António Pedro (bottom left)
- Vespeira (middle)
- Fernando de Azevedo (top right)
- Moniz Pereira (bottom right)

Milk Producers of Norway

2011-11-26T00:57:00.000-08:00

This lovely cover and the pretty cow and goat stamps were issued by Norway on 24.3.1981 to commemorate the Centenary of Norwegian Milk Producers National Association, Thank you Merja for this lovely cover.

Icebreakers of Finland

2011-11-25T00:49:00.000-08:00

An icebreaker is a special-purpose ship or boat designed to move and navigate through ice-covered waters. For a ship to be considered an icebreaker, it requires three traits most normal ships lack: a strengthened hull, an ice-clearing shape, and the power to push through ice-covered waters. Finland depends heavily on her icebreakers to keep the sea lines of communications open. It is well known that seas around the Finnish coast are frozen even in normal winters at that latitude. No wonder they are so good at winter sports.

On 7 September 2005 The Icebreakers stamp booklet featuring Finnish icebreakers Urho, Otso, Fennica and Botnica was issued. The ships represent the last three generations of Finnish icebreakers. Each stamp shows the name and building year of the icebreaker, and also the name and building year of the sister ship. The four stamps of the booklet illustrate the 24-hour operation of the Icebreakers - the top stamp on the left depicts morning, the one below it depicts daytime ops, the picture on the top right indicates evening and the one below it nighttime ops. The oldest of the vessels in the stamp booklet, 30 years this year, is the icebreaker Urho. Otso was built in 1986. The ship is more modern in terms of technology and in particular more cost effective than Urho. Fennica, built in 1993, is the first multipurpose icebreaker in Finland. In the winter the multipurpose icebreakers sail in domestic icebreaking duties. In the summer they have offshore duties in the service of international oil and gas industry. The newest of the ships depicted on the stamps is Botnica. It was built in 1998 with advanced multipurpose icebreaker technology.

Graphic designers Ari Lakaniemi and Susanna Rumpu designed the Icebreakers stamp booklet. The stamps are based on photographs by Matti Lehto (scale models), jarmo Vehkakoski and jouni Klinga (background pictures). The price of the Icebreakers booklet is 2.60 euro. The stamp booklet contains 1st class non-denominated gummed stamps. Sointu sent me this booklet of four stamps on this pretty FDC.

Aland's autonomy - 70 years

2011-11-24T03:15:00.000-08:00

The stamp on the FDC shows the League of Nations meeting, where the quarrel between Sweden and Finland concerning Åland was discussed in June 24th, 1921. League of Nations concluded that Åland belongs to Finland, but that the province should be granted autonomy. This nice cover was given to me by Pia.

Equatorial Guinea Stamps of Old Aircraft

2011-11-23T02:25:00.000-08:00

This sheet let of 16 stamps issued by Equatorial Guinea in 1975, of aircraft around the world from 1896 to 1940 are individually portrayed on these stamps. From the plane built by the Wright Brothers to the “Spirit of Saint Louis” and many others. This sheet is almost a history of aircraft evolution. It was given to me by Maria.

Equatorial Guinea, officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, is a country located in Middle Africa. It comprises two parts: a Continental Region (Río Muni), including several small offshore islands like Corisco, Elobey Grande and Elobey Chico; and an insular region containing Annobón island and Bioko island (formerly Fernando Po) where the capital Malabo is situated.

Equatorial Guinea has one of the worst human rights records in the world, consistently ranking among the "worst of the worst" in Freedom House's annual survey of political and civil rights and Reporters Without Borders ranks President Obiang among its "predators" of press freedom.Out of 44 sub-Saharan countries, Equatorial Guinea ranks 9th highest in the Human Development Index (HDI) and 115th overall, which is among the medium HDI countries.

Norwegian Engineering

2011-11-22T01:57:00.000-08:00

These Norwegian stamps issued on 5.10.1979 commemorated the Norwegian advancement un Bridge-building, Dam construction rigs at sea and the science and technology advance ment per se. This interesting FDC was given to me by Merja.

Akseli Gallen-Kallela: posters

2011-11-21T01:08:00.000-08:00

Three 2nd class self-adhesive coil stamps. Picture motifs: ”Bil Bol” (1907), ”Erottaja 2” (1906), ”Concert Finnois” (1900).

Coil stamps with Akseli Gallen-Kallela motif were issued on 1.3.2006. This nice cover was gien to me by Pia.

The 2nd class non-denominated coil stamps represent the graphic art of Gallen-Kallela. They show the posters Bil-Bol (1907), Erottaja 2 (1906) and Concert Finnois (1900). The works belong to the collections of Gallen-Kallela Museum. The stamps are designed by Tapani Aartomaa.

Bil-Bol (1907) is a classic of Finnish poster art. Yrjö Weilin, the owner of the Bilaktiebolaget car dealer, commissioned the advertising poster from Gallen-Kallela for the Stockholm car exhibition.

Gallen-Kallela created Erottaja 2 for the symbolist Hugo Simberg's (1873–1917) Helsinki art exhibition poster in 1907. The poster was named after the address of the Gallery showing Simberg's etchings. Gallen-Kallela was Simberg's supportive private teacher in the 1890's.

The international breakthrough of Finnish art and Gallen-Kallela occurred in the Paris World's Fair in 1900. Gallen-Kallela led the work for building the Finnish pavilion, designed the furniture and textiles of the Iris room, and painted the frescos with Kalevala motifs on the centre cupola. A series of concerts presenting Finnish music was organised in connection with the World's Fair. Gallen-Kallela designed the Concert Finnois poster as an advertisement of the concerts.

Akseli Gallen-Kallela expressed his unique creativity displaying curiosity and with immense versatility. He was a painter, a forerunner of Finnish graphics and applied arts, but also e.g. a textile artist, sculptor and illustrator. His huge output includes paintings, graphics, and frescos, and also medals, flags, uniforms, and architecture.

The Tortoise and The Hare

2011-11-20T00:59:00.000-08:00

This is a story believed to be One of Aesop’s Fables most popular and often quoted.

There once was a speedy hare who bragged about how fast he could run. Tired of hearing him boast, Slow and Steady, the tortoise, challenged him to a race. All the animals in the forest gathered to watch.

Hare ran down the road for a while and then and paused to rest. He looked back at Slow and Steady and cried out, "How do you expect to win this race when you are walking along at your slow, slow pace?" Hare stretched himself out alongside the road and fell asleep, thinking, "There is plenty of time to relax." Slow and Steady walked and walked. He never, ever stopped until he came to the finish line.

The animals who were watching cheered so loudly for Tortoise, they woke up Hare. Hare stretched and yawned and began to run again, but it was too late. Tortoise was over the line. After that, Hare always reminded himself, "Don't brag about your lightning pace, for Slow and Steady won the race!". And from that day on, the watch-word of the truly successful became “Slow and Steady Wins the Race”.

Cyprus Post took this very story and issued these five lovely stamps in a miniature sheet.

Hameenlinna

2011-11-19T02:40:00.000-08:00

This very interesting cover was given to me by Merja. Hämeenlinna is a city and a municipality of about 67,000 inhabitants in the heart of the historical province of Häme in the south of Finland and is the birthplace of composer Jean Sibelius. Today, it belongs to the region of Tavastia Proper, and until 2010 it was the residence city for the Governor of the province of Southern Finland. Nearby cities include the capital Helsinki (98 km/61 mi), Tampere (73 km/45 mi) and Lahti (72 km/45 mi). The medieval Häme Castle (Hämeen linna) is located in the city. The municipalities of Hauho, Kalvola, Lammi, Renko and Tuulos were consolidated with Hämeenlinna on 1 January 2009.

There has been a settlement called Vanaja by the lake Vanajavesi in where the city now stands since the Viking Age. The castle was built in the late 13th century to secure the Swedish power in central Finland. A village was born near to the Häme Castle to provide services and goods to inhabitants. The village was granted city rights in 1639 and soon after that the King of Sweden moved it one kilometre south on the hill where it now stands. The city is known for its schools and academies where many famous Finns have studied. Schools, government and the military have characterized Hämeenlinna's life all through history. Finland's first railway line opened between Hämeenlinna and Helsinki in 1862. The current Hämeenlinna railway station was built in 1921.

750th anniversary of the City of Turku

2011-11-18T01:01:00.000-08:00

Pia sent me this nice FDC, which commemorated the 750^th anniversary of the City of Turku. It was issued on 31.3.1979. The stamp features the Turku Cathedral and Castle, Brinkkala house, and the Brahe statue. The Brinkala Mansion is best known for the traditional proclamation of Christmas peace, which has been given from the Brinkkala Mansion balcony each Christmas Eve at 12:00 since 1886. Count Per Brahe the Younger (February 18, 1602 – September 2, 1680) was a Swedish soldier and statesman. He was a Privy Councilor from 1630 and Lord High Steward from 1640. He was a stickler for punctuality and efficiency. "Kreivin aikaan", or "at Count's Time" in the Finnish language means "at the correct/good time". The base of his statue in Turku bears the inscription "I was well pleased with the land and the land with me".

The City of Turku came into existence at Koroinen, a few kilometres from the Turku market square. Trading took place on this historic site as early as in the 1150's, and in 1229, the bishopric was transferred there as well. The year 1229 is also regarded as the year in which the City of Turku was founded. In the 1200's, much was happening in Turku. The Dominican monastery of St. Olof was being built on Samppalinna Hill, and the Castle of Turku was founded as well as the cathedral. The bishopric was transferred to Turku in the 1290's, and from that point on, the city held an important position in the Swedish-Finnish state for the next 300 years.

Finland's first university was founded in Turku in 1640, even though the number of inhabitants in the city was not very large at that time. The staple town charter (the right to conduct foreign trade) guaranteed, however, that trading was brisk. In 1827, a large section of Turku was dramatically destroyed in a fire. The burnt city needed an altogether new town plan, which was drawn up by C. L. Engel the following year. Because of its long history it has been the site of many important historical events and has extensively influenced Finnish history. For the year 2011, Turku has been designated to be the European Capital of Culture together with Tallinn, the capital city of Estonia. In 1996 it was declared the official Christmas City of Finland.

Due to its location, Turku is a notable commercial and passenger seaport city with over three million passengers traveling through Port of Turku each year to Stockholm and Mariehamn. As of 31 January 2011, Turku’s population was 177,430, which makes it the fifth largest city in Finland by population. As of 31 August 2008 there were 303,492 inhabitants living in the Turku sub-region, which makes it the third largest urban area in Finland after the Greater Helsinki area and Tampere sub-region.

The Kruzenshtern

2011-11-17T00:33:00.000-08:00

Further to my post dated 2^nd June, 2010 under the ‘Tall Ships” group in this blog, Nataliya sent me this lovely FDC dated 29.6.2006. The Kruzenshtern or Krusenstern is a four masted barque and tall ship that was built in 1926 at Geestemünde in Bremerhaven, Germany as the Padua (named after the Italian city). She was surrendered to the USSR in 1946 as war reparation and renamed after the early 19th century Baltic German explorer in Russian service, Adam Johann Krusenstern (1770–1846). She is now a Russian Navy sail training ship.

Of the four remaining Flying P-Liners, the former Padua is the only one still in use, mainly for training purposes, with her home ports in Kaliningrad (formerly Königsberg) and Murmansk. After the Sedov, another former German ship, she is the largest traditional sailing vessel still in operation.

Spanish Lighthouses

2011-11-16T01:17:00.000-08:00

This Lighthouses issue released by Spain is devoted to the following six Lighthouses: Calella (Barcelona), Chipiona (Cádiz), La Entallada (Fuerteventura); Cap de Sant Sebastiá (Girona), Castell de Ferro (Granada) and Faro Valencia. These stamps were issued on 11^th April 2011, valued @ 0,65 €.

The lighthouse of Calella is located on a hill 50 m above sea level. It was inaugurated in December 1859. It first worked with oil and later with petroleum. It was electrified in 1927. It is currently in service and has a light range covering 35 nautical miles. The lighthouse of Chipiona became operational in 1867. It has a height of 62 m above the basement and consists of a conical tower. It initially worked with oil and then with petroleum. It was electrified in 1942. Its has a light range of about 80 miles. The lighthouse of Punta La Entallada in Fuerteventura is a square tower 12 m high, on a one storey stone building. It came into service in December 1954. Its light is white and its range is of 21 miles. The lighthouse of Cap Sant Sebastià is located on the mountain of San Sebastià de la Guardia 167 m above sea level. It was built in 1875 and is one of the main lighthouses of the Gulf of León. Its tower is 12 m from the base, the light is white and the range is of 32 miles. The Castell de Ferro lighthouse is built on a promontory 225 m. above sea level. It has a tapered shape and stands 9.40 m over the basement. It receives electricity through photovoltaic panels and has a light range of 14 miles. It was built from an old XI Arab watchtower. The lighthouse of Valencia dates from 1930 and King Alfonso XIII laid its foundation stone. Its tower is octagonal and masonry. It has a focal plane height of 30 m. The light is white and the range is of 25 miles.

Juho Pietari "Hannes" Kolehmainen

2011-11-15T00:47:00.000-08:00

Juho Pietari "Hannes" Kolehmainen (9 December 1889 – 11 January 1966) was a Finnish long-distance runner. He is considered to be the first of a generation of great Finnish long distance runners, often named the "Flying Finns". Kolehmainen competed for a number of years in the United States, wearing the Winged Fist of the Irish American Athletic Club. He also enlisted in the 14th Regiment of the National Guard of New York, and became a U.S. citizen in 1921. Kolehmainen, a devoted vegetarian and bricklayer by trade, was from a sportive family from Kuopio (his brothers Willy and Tatu, also an Olympian, were also strong long distance runners). He was one of the stars of the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, winning three gold medals. His most memorable was the one in the 5000 m. In that event, he ran a heroic duel with Frenchman Jean Bouin. After leading the field together for most of the race, Bouin was only defeated by Kolehmainen in the final metres – in World Record time. In addition, Kolehmainen won the 10000 m and the now discontinued cross country event. With the Finnish team, he also obtained a silver place in the cross country team event. At the time, Finland was still a part of Russia, and although there was a separate Finnish team at the Olympics, the Russian flag was raised for Kolehmainen's victories, making him say that he "almost wished he hadn't won".

Kolehmainen's sportive career was interrupted by the First World War, but he remained an athlete to be reckoned with, although his specialty had now shifted to the longer distances, especially the marathon. At the first post-war Olympics in Antwerp, he won the gold medal in this event. He would also enter the Olympic marathon in 1924, but Kolehmainen did not complete that race. By then, Kolehmainen had found a worthy successor in Paavo Nurmi. Together with Nurmi, he lit the Olympic Flame at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki. He died in that same city, fourteen years later. This FDC was given to me by Merja.

Turku Cathedral

2011-11-14T02:33:00.000-08:00

The Capitulum Ecclesiae Aboensis was founded in 1276. It was the first administrative office in Finland. The stamp, featuring the Seal of the Cathedral Chapter of Turku (Abo), was issued in 1976 to celebrate the 700th anniversary of the foundation of the Chapter. Seen on the cover is the Seal of the cathedral chapter of Turku from 1442. Chapter (Latin capitulum) designates certain corporate ecclesiastical bodies in the Roman Catholic, Anglican and Nordic Lutheran churches. The word is said to be derived from the chapter of the rule book: it is a custom under the Rule of Saint Benedict that monks gather daily for a meeting to discuss monastery business, hear a sermon or lecture, or receive instructions from the abbot, and as the meeting begins with a reading of a chapter from the Rule, the meeting itself acquired the name "chapter," and the place where it is held, "chapter house" or "chapter room."

Turku Cathedral is the Mother Church of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, and the country's national shrine. It is the central church of the Archdiocese of Turku and the seat of the Archbishop of Finland, Kari Mäkinen. It is also regarded as one of the major records of Finnish architectural history. Considered to be the most important religious building in Finland, the cathedral has borne witness to many important events in the nation's history and has become one of the city's most recognizable symbols. The cathedral is situated in the heart of Turku next to the Old Great Square, by the river Aura. Its presence extends beyond the local precinct by having the sound of its bells chiming at noon broadcast on national radio. It is also central to Finland's annual Christmas celebrations. The cathedral was originally built out of wood in the late 13th century, and was dedicated as the main cathedral of Finland in 1300, the seat of the bishop of Turku. It was considerably expanded in the 14th and 15th centuries, mainly using stone as the construction material. The cathedral was badly damaged during the Great Fire of Turku in 1827, and was rebuilt to a great extent afterwards. This historical cover was given to me by Pia.

Tokyo Olympic Games 1964

2011-11-13T00:36:00.000-08:00

The 1964 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVIII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Tokyo, Japan in 1964. Tokyo had been awarded with the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this honour was subsequently passed to Helsinki because of Japan's invasion of China, before ultimately being cancelled because of World War II. The 1964 Summer Games were the first Olympics held in Asia, and the first time South Africa was barred from taking part due to its apartheid system in sports(South Africa was, however, allowed to compete at the 1964 Summer Paralympics, also held in Tokyo, where it made its Paralympic Games début) These games were also the first to be telecast internationally. The games were telecast to the United States using Syncom 3, the first geostationary communication satellite, and from there to Europe using Relay 1. The stamps featured in this sheetlet were issued by the Republic of Gabon.

FIFA World Cup 2010

2011-11-12T01:03:00.000-08:00

The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th World Cup, the world championship for men’s national association football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. The bidding process for hosting the tournament finals was open only to African nations; in 2004, the international football federation, FIFA, selected South Africa over Egypt and Moroccoto become the first African nation to host the finals.

The matches were played in ten stadiums in nine host cities around the country, with the final played at the Soccer Citystadium in South Africa's largest city, Johannesburg. Thirty-two teams were selected for participation via a worldwide qualification tournament that began in August 2007. In the first round of the tournament finals, the teams competed in round-robin groups of four teams for points, with the top two teams in each group proceeding. These sixteen teams advanced to theknockout stage, where three rounds of play decided which teams would participate in the final.

In the final, Spain, the European champions, defeated third-time finalists the Netherlands 1–0 after extra time, with Andrés Iniesta's goal in the 116th minute giving Spain their first world title, the first time that a European nation has won the tournament outside its home continent. Host nation South Africa, 2006 world champions Italy and 2006 runners-up France were all eliminated in the first round of the tournament. It was the first time that the hosts were eliminated in the first round. This fine cover was given to me by Merja.

The III Games of the Small States of Europe

2011-11-11T01:02:00.000-08:00

The Games of the Small States of Europe (GSSE) are a biennial, multi-sport event, launched by the Republic of San Marino and organized by, and featuring the National Olympic Committees of eight European small states since 1985. The Games are currently held at the beginning of June, and feature competition in nine Summer Olympic sports. The 14th edition of the Games took place in June 2011 in Liechtenstein.

The FDC and stamps displayed commemorate The 3rd Games of the Small States of Europe were held in 1989 by the Republic of Cyprus. The majority of events including the opening and closing ceremonies took place at the Makario Stadium the whilst the indoor events were held at the Lefkotheo indoor hall. The very attractive stamps issued portray various track and field events. Merja gave me this lovely FDC.

Folk Costumes

2011-11-10T00:43:00.000-08:00

Every three years the Nordic postal services issue Nordic stamps with a common theme. In 1989 Nordic stamps eighth in succession and the theme was “Folk Costumes”. The Norwegian stamps on this First Day Cover issued on 20.4.1989 feature a woman’s and a man’s costume. The woman’s costume is from Setesdal. This is an embroidered, richly adorned with silver costume. The costume has two skirts – ablack one worn over a white one. The headgear is a black woolen kerchief with a printed pattern of roses.

The man is wearing a Kautokeino costume. The cap belonging to this costume has a star shaped crown. Both the cap and the smock-type jacket are decorated with brightly coloured ribbons. The skirt of the jacket is pleated and the jacket is worn with a colourful leather belt.
The postmark represents the tongue of a shoe belonging to a folk costume from Hardanger, while the illustration on the cover depicts a brooch made by Frisenberg of Lillehammer in traditional Gudbrandsdal style. Merja gave me this pretty FDC.

TT Races CAPEX’87 Miniature Sheet

2011-11-09T00:57:00.000-08:00

Turtles

2011-11-08T01:04:00.000-08:00

Noumea is the largest city in and capital of New Caledonia, lying on the main island of Grande Terre. One of the most westernised capitals in the Pacific Islands, it features beautiful beaches and colonial mansions and is not yet a heavily tourist destination. Where metropolitan French will hear a bad French accent, wince and say that they speak English, the Francophones of New Caledonia are either less willing or less able to accommodate Anglophones. It is probably a matter of capability, since they are marvellously willing to persevere in determining what it is that a foreigner needs. Without tourist-level French, you may find yourself lost--but it's a lovely place to be lost! The French spoken by Kanaks is much harder to understand than the French of people in Paris: on a par with Breton French (or think of the challenge offered by broad Scots or Yorkshire for a naive English-speaker). Noumea is the capital and vacation centre of the Islands of New Caledonia in the South Pacific. Noumea is a "French" city, but the 91,000 inhabitants are a very mixed cultural group with French, Melanesian, Polynesian, Indonesian, Vietnamese, and lots of mixtures of these. Over 60% of the population of New Caledonia lives in Noumea. Noumea is a peninsula on the southwestern end of Grande Terre and the central business district (Centre Ville) is next to one of the best natural harbours in the South Pacific. The lagoon side of the peninsula has two picturesque bays with white sand beaches and is called Anse Vata and Baie des Citrons. These twin bays are the international tourism capital of New Caledonia with hotels, restaurants and bars on the landward side of "La Promenade". First settled by the French in 1854, Noumea retains close political ties with France. It has excellent schools and public facilities - parks, recreation areas, exercise paths, schools and medical facilities. Today it is the fastest growing city in the South Pacific. There are 23 hotels in Noumea ranging from one to five stars and over 100 Restaurants.

The stamps (issued in January 2002) in this very attractive miniature sheet portray a part of the wondrous marine life in the Caledonian seas. These turtles can also be seen in the Noumea Aquarium.

12th International Salvage Conference

2011-11-05T05:27:00.000-07:00

Pia sent this very informative FDC. When property is lost at sea and rescued by another, the rescuer is entitled to claim a salvage award on the salved property. There is no "life salvage". All mariners have a duty to save the lives of others in peril without expectation of reward. Consequently salvage law applies only to the saving of property. There are two types of salvage: contract salvage and pure salvage, which is sometimes referred to as "merit salvage". In contract salvage the owner of the property and salvor enter into a salvage contract prior to the commencement of salvage operations and the amount that the salvor is paid is determined by the contract. The most common salvage contract is called a "Lloyd's Open Form Salvage Contract".

12th international salvage conference, Finland, stressing importance of coordinating sea, air and communications resources in salvage operations.

Date of issue (dmy): 2.6.1975
Designer: Paavo Huovinen. The stamp was issued on the opening day of the XIIth International Life-Boat Conference in Helsinki, June 2-5, 1975. The stamp depicts the rescue vessel "Niilo Saarinen" on duty.

Europa 2010 'Children's books'

2011-11-04T02:02:00.000-07:00

Merja sent me this FDC Commemorating the International Children's Day The Cyprus Post issued a set of postage stamps in the EUROPA 2010 series on 05 May 2010 ; the theme is "Children's books". The stamps with values of ˆ0,51 were designed by Christina Vasiliadou, Limassol.

"Children Day", as an event, is celebrated on various days in many places around the world, in particular to honour children. Major global variants include a Universal Children's Day on November 20, by United Nations recommendation. Children's Day is often celebrated on other days as well. Children's Day in India is celebrated on November 14, the birthday of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru who was the first Prime Minister of India after independence.

Brown bears of Finland

2011-11-03T02:42:00.000-07:00

The Brown Bear is the national symbol of Finland. Some 1,000 bears are estimated to live in Finland. There are excellent opportunities to see bears in Finland. In Finland there are currently about 800 to 900 brown bears and they distributed allover the country. Despite this, population density varies and is still rather low in western and southern Finland. Core area of the Finnish population is in the southeast of the country. At the beginning of the 20th century the brown bear nearly disappeared from northern Europe and the Finnish population reached its minimum around 1920. Afterwards the population started to grow again, first slowly, then with acceleration since the 1970s. The immigration of brown bears from Russia has been scientifically revealed for the first time then and dispersion to the southern and western parts of the country has been observed since then.

The Finnish population is estimated at around 1000 individuals, but despite this low figure it is still-hunted. Without reinforcements from behind the Russian border, Finnish bears would long since have been hunted to extinction. Most bruins live in the large wilderness areas on the Russian side of the Finnish border. When the hunting season starts, many move back to the quieter Russian backcountry only to return in spring after hibernation. Watching and photographing bears in Finland is possible. A good time is from the middle of April to the beginning of June when the bears have just awoken from their winter sleep. After this comes the rut, when eating is not the animals’ main concern. The best viewing time lasts from the beginning of July to the middle of August, when feeding points again have plenty of bears to watch and photograph.

The stamp designed by Pirkko Vahtero was awarded the second price in the International Philatelic Exhibition in Vienna WIPA for the best stamp of the year 1989. Since 1981 the organising committee of WIPA, the Vienna International Philatelic Exhibition, has awarded the annual Grand Prix de l’Exposition WIPA for the best postage stamp issued during any one year. The stamp is the highest denomination (FIM 50) Finnish stamp. The stamp and the cover were issued on 30.8.1989. Thank you Pia for this nice First Day Cover.

Bam Earthquake

2011-11-02T02:26:00.000-07:00

The 2003 Bam earthquake was a major earthquake that struck Bam and the surrounding Kerman province of southeastern Iran at 1:56 AM UTC (5:26 AM Iran Standard Time) on Friday, December 26, 2003. The most widely accepted estimate for the magnitude of the earthquake is a moment magnitude (M_w) of 6.6; estimated by the United States Geological Survey. The earthquake was particularly destructive, with the death toll amounting to 26,271 people and injuring an additional 30,000. The effects of the earthquake were exacerbated by the use of mud brick as the standard construction medium; many of the area's structures did not comply with earthquake regulations set in 1989.

Due to the earthquake, relations between Iran and the United States thawed. The U.S. generally treated Iran as part of the "axis of evil", as its President George W. Bush referred to those states regarded to sponsor terrorism. However, following the earthquake the U.S. offered direct humanitarian assistance to Iran and in return the state promised to comply with an agreement with theInternational Atomic Energy Agency which supports greater monitoring of its nuclear interests. In total a reported 44 countries sent in personnel to assist in relief operations and 60 countries offered assistance.

Following the earthquake, the Iranian government seriously considered moving the capital of Tehran in fear of an earthquake occurring there. Psychologically the earthquake had an impact on many of the victims for years afterwards. A new institutional framework in Iran was established to address problems of urban planning and to reconstruct the city of Bam in compliance with strict seismic regulations. This process marked a turning point, as government ministers and international organizations collaborated under this framework with local engineers and local people to organize the systematic rebuilding of the city.

International Tourism Year 1967

2011-11-01T01:49:00.000-07:00

The resolution of the United Nations Conference on International Travel and Tourism entitled "importance of tourism", which stated, inter alia, that tourism is a basic and most desirable human activity deserving the praise and encouragement of all peoples and all Governments. Bearing in mind the need for international co-operation in promoting tourism in view of its useful role in the educational, cultural, economic and social fields. Recognizing the importance of international tourism, and particularly of the designation of an International Tourist Year, in fostering better understanding among peoples everywhere, in leading to a greater awareness of the rich heritage of various civilizations and in bringing about a better appreciation of the inherent values of difierent cultures, thereby contributing to the strengthening of peace in the world.

Considering that the designation of an International Tourist Year will encourage the intensification of national and international co-operative efforts, by both Governments and interested organizations, for the promotion of tourism, in particular to developing countries, the United Nations decided the following :-

Designates 1967 as International Tourist Year;
Invites the States Members of the United Nations or members of the specialized agencies or of the International Atomic Energy Agency, and the international, inter-govemmental and non-governmental organizations concerned, to exert all possible efforts for the success of the International Tourist Year, with special em- phasis on promoting tourism to developing countries;
Further invites those States and organizations to take into account, as appropriate, in their plans and programmes for the International Tourist Year, the proposals contained in the above-mentioned report of the International Union of Official Travel Organizations;
Requests the Secretary-General to provide, within the limits of existing resources and available funds, the necessary assistance for the successful organization of the International Tourist Year, including the wide-spread dissemination of information on its objectives;
Further requests the Secretary-General to prepare, in co-operation with the International Union of Official Travel Organizations, and to submit to the Economic and Social Council, if possible in 1968, a report embodying:

A description of the programmes and activities undertaken by Governments and interested organizations during the International Tourist Year, with specific mention of exceptional temporary measures taken by individual Governments;
An assessment of the results achieved in realizing the aims and objectives set for the International Tourist Year, particularly in encouraging tourism to developing countries.

In view of the above Cyprus issued a first Day Cover and four stamps, commemorating this important event on 16.10.1967. The stamps featured, Ancient Monuments, the Famagusta Beach, Nicosia Airport, and finally the Youth Hostel at Troodos. This nice card was given to me by Merja.

St. Etienne Cathedral & the Protestant Temple Neuf in Metz

2011-10-31T05:26:00.000-07:00

The First Day Cover displayed was issued to commemorate the 84th FFAP Congress at Metz in France. On Sunday June 12th, the 84th congress of the French Federation of Philatelic Associations brought together representatives of 623 philatelic associations comprising the F.F.A.P. About 250 collections, grouped in 16 different exhibition classes, competed in the Championnat de France de philatélie. The SAMOLUX'11 was also held in Metz on these days. This is the ninth event of the interregional stamp exhibition bringing together collectors from Saarland (Germany), Moselle (France) and Luxembourg. The Metz stamp design is by Claude Andréotto. Since the Nancy congress in 2005, the stamps issued on the occasion of the F.F.A.P. congresses have included an attached commemorative label or vignette with no postal value. In this case, the group shows 3 of the main monuments of the city, the Cathedral of Saint-Etienne, the Temple Neuf and, in the vignette, the Porte des Allemands, a vestige of the old medieval walls. This same building also appears in the first day postmark, also designed by Claude Andréotto. For those interested in more details about he pictures on the stamps, a short brief on them would not be out of place. This stamp and its coupon on the FDC are featuring some emblematic monuments of the city of Metz, the Prefecture of the department of Moselle (Region of Lorraine).

We can indeed see the St. Etienne Cathedral, built from 1220 to 1522, nicknamed the "Lantern of God" because of its impressive stained-glass surface (6,500 m², a record in France !). Saint Étienne de Metz (French for Saint Stephen of Metz), also known as Metz Cathedral) is a Gothic, Catholic cathedral in the city of Metz, capital of Lorraine, France. It is the cathedral of the Catholic Diocese of Metz and the seat of the Bishop of Metz.

To the right on the same stamp and attached to it is a coupon, which depicts the Rhine architecture's Protestant Temple Neuf, inaugurated in 1904 by German Emperor Wilhelm II.
The cathedral is sometime nicknamed the Good Lord's lantern as it possesses the largest expanses of stained glass windows in the world with 6,500 m² (70,000 sq ft). The stained glass windows include works of Hermann von Münster (14th C); Théobald of Lixheim and Valentin Bousch (16th C); Laurent-Charles Maréchal (19th C); Roger Bissière, Jacques Villon and Marc Chagall (20th C). Its nave, 41.41 meters high, is one of the highest in France only overtopped by Beauvais Cathedral and Amiens Cathedral, and is the 10th highest nave in the world. Protestant Temple Neuf was built in 1903, under the reign of the Germans in this town. Like many of the border territories in this area of France, the control of political power has swung between Berlin and Paris for many centuries, making it a place with a multi-cultural feel. This church is a perfect example of that, designed in an obvious Rhenish style; the neo-Romanesque finish is typical of Protestant churches that were built across Germany in the early 20th Century.

This wonderful First Day Cover was given to me by my dear friend Maria.

Pioneers of Aviation

2011-10-29T23:38:00.000-07:00

Major invention of the twentieth century, aviation is also a great human adventure. The French Post has issued a series of stamps dedicated to the six aviation pioneers (Farman, Delagrange, the Wright brothers, Latham, Vedrines, Deroche).

Maurice Alain Farman was a French Grand Prix motor racing champion, an aviator, and an aircraft manufacturer and designer.

Leon Delagrange was a French aviator who established a record flight in an airplane in 1908 and made a sensational flight in a storm in England in 1909.

The Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur, were two Americans who were credited with inventing and building the world's first successful airplane and making the first controlled, powered and sustained heavier-than-air human flight, on December 17, 1903.

Arthur Charles Hubert Latham was a French aviation pioneer. He was the first person to attempt to cross the English Channel in an airplane. Due to engine failure during his first of two attempts to cross the Channel, he became the first person to land an airplane on a body of water.

The first airplane to visit the Holy Land was a Bleriot XI, flown by the French aviator Jules Vedrines, who participated in a competition to fly from Paris to Cairo. He landed near Jaffa, on the Mediterranean coast, on December 27th, 1913.

Elise Raymonde Deroche was the first qualified woman pilot in France and in the world.

40th Anniversary of Finland’s independence - Coat of arms of Finland

2011-10-29T01:35:00.000-07:00

The coat of arms of Finland is a crowned lion on a red field, the right forepaw replaced with an armoured hand brandishing a sword, trampling on a saber with the hindpaws. The coat of arms was originally created around the year 1580. This cover and stamp were issued on 6.12.1957.

The grand-ducal coat of arms is thought to have resulted out of a combination of the Göta lion (originating from the Folkunga lion) and the arms of Karelia. The result was that the lion brandishes one weapon and treads on another.

The coat of arms appears on the Finnish state flag. The Finnish lion is also used in a wide variety of emblems of different state authorities, often modified to depict the duties of the unit or the authority. This important cover was given to me by my dear friend Pia.

Bicycles – From the Origin to the Present

2011-10-28T04:36:00.000-07:00

Vehicles for human transport that have two wheels and require balancing by the rider date back to the early 19th century. The first means of transport making use of two wheels, and thus the archetype of the bicycle, was the German draisine dating back to 1817. The term bicycle was coined in France in the 1860s. A bicycle, also known as a bike, pushbike or cycle, is a human-powered, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A person who rides a bicycle is called a cyclist, or bicyclist.

Bicycles were introduced in the 19th century and now number about one billion worldwide, twice as many as automobiles. They are the principal means of transportation in many regions. They also provide a popular form of recreation, and have been adapted for such uses as children's toys, adult fitness, military and police applications, courier services and bicycle racing. The basic shape and configuration of a typical upright bicycle has changed little since the first chain-driven model was developed around 1885. However, many details have been improved, especially since the advent of modern materials and computer-aided design. These have allowed for a proliferation of specialized designs for particular types of cycling. The invention of the bicycle has had an enormous impact on society, both in terms of culture and of advancing modern industrial methods. Several components that eventually played a key role in the development of the automobile were originally invented for the bicycle, including ball bearings, pneumatic tires, chain-driven sprockets, and spoke-tensioned wheels. This wonderful set of six stamps and covers were issued by France on 17.6.2011 commemoration this great invention. And, thank you my dear Maria for sending them to me.

Ferrari F1

2011-10-26T02:18:00.000-07:00

These stamps are most timely, as this week the first Formula 1 (F1) motor car races will be held in India, in Delhi. And, naturally Ferrari will be an important part of it. Ferrari symbolizes passion, style, and technology to many. It is the oldest surviving, the most well known, and arguably the most loved team in Grand Prix motor racing history. Ferrari’s founder, Enzo Ferrari, was born in 1898 in Modena, Italy. He claimed that when competing in Ravenna in 1923 Countess Paolina Baracca, the mother of Italy's World War I flying ace Francesco Baracca, asked him to put his son's prancing horse emblem on his car for luck. Thus the legend was born. The ‘Prancing Horse’, or ‘Cavallino Rampante’ is one of the most well known and instantly recognisable symbols in global motorsport, a symbol of style and speed to many.

This highly collectable issue, a ‘Ferrari official licensed product’, depicts the evolving design of the Ferrari Formula 1 car that has been driven to victory in Formaula One Grand Prix circuits around the world. The issue comprises a Miniature Sheet containing 6 stamps and 6 individual Sheetlets each dynamically depicting the year’s car design from 1999 through to 2004. It is interesting to see through the stamps, how the car has developed taking on board advancements in technology and aerodynamics whilst adhering to FIA (Federation Internationale de l' Automobile) rules and regulations. The 2004 rules state cars must be no wider than 180cm. The length and height of the car are effectively governed by other specific parameters. For example, bodywork ahead of the rear wheel centre line must be a maximum of 140cm wide. Bodywork behind it must be no more than 100cm wide. Front and rear overhangs are limited to 120cm and 60cm respectively from the wheel centre lines. Thus, the Ferrari F2004 measures 454.5cm by 179.6cm by 95.9cm.

Scuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing. The team was founded by Enzo Ferrari, initially to race cars produced by Alfa Romeo, though by 1947 Ferrari had begun building their own cars. It is the oldest surviving team in Grand Prix racing, having competed since 1932, and statistically the most successful Formula One team in history with a record of 15 drivers' championships. As a constructor, Ferrari has 16 constructors' championships.

Alberto Ascari, Juan Manuel Fangio, Mike Hawthorn, Phil Hill, John Surtees, Niki Lauda, Jody Scheckter, Michael Schumacher and Kimi Räikkönen have all won drivers world championships driving for the team. The team's current drivers are Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa, and its test drivers are Jules Bianchi, Marc Gené and Giancarlo Fisichella.

“ARANDA” AND “THE NORTH-EAST PASSAGE” STAMPS CELEBRATE THE ANNIVERSARIES OF FINNISH MARINE RESEARCH

2011-10-25T03:49:00.000-07:00

Finnish marine research was commemorated on May 7^th, 1998 with two special stamps. One has a face value of 2,80 and depicts the research vessel of the Finnish Marine Research Institute, “Aranda”; the other one has a face value of 3,20 and has as its subject the famous Northeast Passage explored by the great Finnish scientist A.E. Nordenskiöld (1832-1901). The other stamp features the whaler Vega used by the expedition. In the background is depicted a part of the route. Both stamps are designed by Juha Flinkman, who is a marine biologist and a research diver by profession. Please also read my post Finland - The Discovery of the North East Passage dated 30.1.2010.

The stamps were issued as part of the “Pohjola-Norden” series, a joint project of Nordic Posts. This year, the theme of the series was navigation.

Finnish marine research celebrated its 100th and the Finnish Marine Research Institute its 80th anniversary this year. The “Aranda” vessel depicted on the stamp was assigned to the Finnish Marine Research Institute in 1989. As early as in the winter of 1989/90 (and again in 1995/96) the vessel set sail towards the seas of the Antarctic. “Aranda” continues its round-the-year expeditions on the Baltic and other seas of the world. In 1878-80, the expedition led by A.E. Nordenskiöld sailed around the Old World starting from the Northern coast of Siberia and continuing through the Bering Strait. The vessel Vega was a three-mast barque and it had an auxiliary steam engine. Nordenskiöld, who was a senior lecturer in mineralogy in Helsinki University, moved to Sweden in 1857 and was nominated professor in 1858. He became the director of the Swedish Academy in 1893.

S/S Aranda was a steam-powered Finnish ship that was one of the first ships able to operate between Stockholm and Finland even in icy conditions, later it was used in the archipelago sea as a passenger ship in difficult conditions. This ship was a part of reparations paid to Soviet Union after World War II. The second and third Finnish ships called Aranda have been marine research vessels. The third one, R/V mta Aranda is ice-enforced. Though not very suitable for high seas studies, the low draught of c. 5 meters allows the ship in many difficult places and it has visited both Antarctic waters and Arctic Ocean, including its normal operations on the Baltic Sea. It is registered in Helsinki. The ship can host 25 to 30 researchers. Maximum duration of operations is 60 days. This lovely cover was given to me by my dear friend Pia.

450th Anniversary of the Recognition Of the Sovereignty Of Monaco

2011-10-24T01:51:00.000-07:00

This FDC and the three commemorative stamps on it were issued to celebrate the 450^th Anniversary of the Recognition Of the Sovereignty Of Monaco by Louis XII. This outstanding cover was given to me by my dear friend Maria. The first stamp on the left, pictures the same people as on the FDC i.e. Louis XII King of France at this time and Lucien Grimault (or Grimaldi) the ruler of Monaco at this time. The stamp in the middle, pictures the treaty between both the rulers, and the last stamp

pictures the seals of King Louis XII and Lucien Grimaldi.

The postmark pictures the prince palace of Monaco where all the rulers of Monaco have lived. I believe that the actual prince of Monaco is also from the Grimaldi family!

Lucien (1487 – 22 August 1523) became Lord of Monaco on 11 October 1505, having murdered his predecessor and brother, Jean II, and held that sovereignty until his death. He was the third son of Lambert Grimaldi (1420–1494) and Claudine Grimaldi (1451–1515). His elder brother Louis was disinherited due to insanity. On 25 September 1514 he married Jeanne de Pontevès-Cabanes. The couple had at least five children. A year after Lucien's reign began, Genoa broke free of France, and many of its people fled to Monaco for refuge. In December 1506, 14,000 Genoese troops besieged Monaco and its castle. The blockade lasted for five months, until Lucien was able to route the Genoese in March 1507. Monaco, and by extension Lucien, was now in a tight spot, being subjects of France but caught in a diplomatic tight spot between France and Spain, trying to preserve its fragile independence. In 1515, Lucien bought the feudal rights over the city of Mentone, retained by the family of Anne de Lascaris, Countess of Villars, thus bringing the city, as a whole, under Monaco's sovereignty until the French Revolution.On 22 August 1523, Lucien was assassinated by his nephew, Bartholomew Doria of Dolceaqua, son of Lucien's sister Francoise Doria, at the Prince's Palace of Monaco. His body was dragged down the steps of the palace by Doria's men, to be shown to the disbelieving masses, thus inciting a riot wherein the people of Monaco chased Doria and his men out of the country. Andrea Doria, the famous admiral and a cousin to Bartholomew, is believed have had prior knowledge of the assassination. The full extent of his compliance in this event is speculation, stemming from his being in the Port of Hercules with his squadron of ships on the day of the assassination and his having received a message from Bartholomew that was sent out of the palace just moments before Bartholomew carried out the assassination. The message was believed to have been a ruse to get rid of Lucien's major domo and twelve or fourteen of Lucien's armed men, leaving Lucien alone in the company of his nephew, but for one slave.

Bi-Centenary of the Paris Fire Brigade

2011-10-23T01:40:00.000-07:00

Exactly 200 years ago, Napoléon the First created The Paris Fire Brigade just after the accidental burning of the Austrian Embassy. Before that, there was no organisation to fight against the fires and to help the victims of accidents. It is one of the best things Napoleon created in Paris as well as numbering the streets in a very logical manner with even numbers on one side and odd numbers on the other side. There are nearly 9000 firemen in Paris and the surrounding region of Ile de France. All belong to the French army and are under the command of the Ministry of Defence. They do 4 hours of exercise everyday; no wonder why they have fabulous bodies and generate passion and admiration for both Parisians and tourists alike! Only two other cities have a similar situation: Marseille and Monaco. In France’s other cities, firemen are volunteers and sometimes have another job. The Paris Fire Brigade (Brigade des Sapeurs-Pompiers de Paris, BSPP) is a unit, which serves as the fire service for Paris and certain sites of national strategic importance.

The brigade is a unit of the French Army's Engineering Arm (Génie) and the fire fighters are therefore sappers (sapeurs, thus sapeurs-pompiers). With 8,550 firemen, it is the largest fire brigade in Europe and the third largest urban fire service in the world after the Tokyo Fire Department and New York City Fire Department. The Brigade is placed at the disposal of the Paris Prefecture of Police in an arrangement similar to that of the French Gendarmerie. Its motto is "Save or Perish". This Bi-centenial commemorative souvenir sheet set of ten commemorative stamps issued on 19 September 2011 was given to me by my dear friend Maria.

Postboxes of Malaysia

2011-10-22T01:24:00.000-07:00

To commemorate World Post Day on October 9, 2010 and for the Annual Malaysia Stamp Week, stamps of postboxes of Bukit Bendera or Penang Hill, Faser Hill, Melaka, Seremban and Kuala Lumpur are featured in RM1 sheet and in 60 sen adhesive stamp booklet. Pos Malaysia released new stamp sets on October 10, 2011. The stamp sets contain five stamps (denomination RM1 each) from sheetlet and five stamps (denomination 60 sen) from booklet. This First Day Cover was sent to me by Budin.

Rudolf Koivu, Finnish Artist and Painter

2011-10-21T01:55:00.000-07:00

Rudolf Koivu (1890 - 1946) was a Finnish graphic illustrator and painter, was one of Finland’s most famous illustrators. Koivu is best known for his illustrations of fairy tales and other children’s publications. which are enduringly and timelessly popular. The stamp sheet on the First Day Cover commemorating Rudolf Koivu was issued on 29.8.1970.

The stamps (from left to right and top to bottom) depict illustrations of

1. Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (from the collection ”One Thousand and One Nights”.

2. Story of the Great Musician.

3. Story of the Giants, the Witches and the Daughter of the Sun.

4. The Golden Bird, Brothers Grimm fairy tales.

5. Lamb’s Brother, written by Rudolf Koivu.

6. The Snow Queen, written by Hans Christian Andersen.

My friend Pia gave me this card..

200th anniv. of Finnish Military Academy

2011-10-20T01:35:00.000-07:00

This Cover and the stamp on it were issued on 20.3.1979 to commemorate the 200th anniv. of Finnish Military Academy. The stamp depicts the old school building at Hamina and the Academy flag. The founder of the Academy was Georg Magnus Sprengtporten. Haapaniemi Military Academy was the first army military academy in the entire Kingdom of Sweden. It was founded in May 1781 and destroyed in a fire on March 26, 1818. The history of the Haapaniemi Military Academy includes three distinctive men. Georg Magnus Sprengtporten was the founder of the Academy, but he never became its commandant. He had been one of those to support Gustav III's coup d'état in 1772, but after disagreements with the King he was sent to the backlands of Savo to command the Savo Jaeger Regiment in 1775. By the time Gustav III gave his concession to found the Acadamy in 1779, Sprengtporten had already moved abroad and finally entered into the service of the Russian Empire at the invitation of Empress Catherine II.

Finland Cadet school was the common name for the Fredrikshamn cadet school during the period 1819–1901. The Cadet School was originally founded in 1780 by Georg Magnus Sprengtporten at Kuopio and transferred in 1781 to Rantasalmi where it was called Haapaniemi Cadet School. In 1819, after the School was transferred to Hamina (Swedish: Fredrikshamn) the name was changed accordingly, in common usage. After Finnish independence in 1917 the Cadet school was moved to Santahamina in Helsinki and in 1920 the premises were occupied by the Reserve Officer School of the newly formed Finnish defence forces. Today the main building of the Cadet school hosts the headquarters of the Reserve Officer School of the Finnish Army. Hamina Cadet School was abolished in 1903 with the abolition of the separate Army of the Grand duchy of Finland as part of the Russification policy. The conscription of Finnish soldiers directly to various units of the Russian Empire was seen as illegal and unconstitutional in Finland. Finnish officers protested first in through mass resignations and later through a strategy of disobedience, in what is now known as the Conscription strikes. Finally it was settled that the Grand Duchy of Finland would fulfil its obligation to the common defence with a monetary compensation to the Russian Empire instead through the provision of conscripts.

As an aside it would interest the reader to know that Field Marshal Mannerheim was a cadet at Hamina cadet school. Due to a disciplinary breach he was expelled in his final year in 1886, which caused him to continue his military career in the Imperial Russian Army. It is indeed ironical that Mannerheim after this initial setback in his military carreer was to play such an important and dominant part in Finland’s 20^th Century history. My friend Pia sent me this card.

Everyday Life in a Viking Age

2011-10-19T02:23:00.000-07:00

Landscape paintings are universally appreciated by all, in part because all humans have a connection to the physical world our ancestors have walked for millennia. Of course, this connection to the environment in which we live in is felt stronger by some, especially by outdoor landscape painters and photographers, and by people who live more dependently off the land. The Faroese people, for example, have this deeper connection to the natural world; it is inescapable and unforgettable wherever one goes among the Faroe Islands. There are no big cities to get mentally lost in and forget about what lies beyond – only picturesque villages in idyllic settings nestled along the ocean and backed by mountains, as depicted in this three stamp miniature sheet. These stamps on the mini sheet displayed were issued on 7^th February 2005. According to me Faroe Islands issue the most natural and exceptional stamps portraying their world in its very glorious best. The Faroe Islands are among the most visually and spiritually alluring islands in the world, and part of what makes them special is the feeling of closeness to the land that they generate, being small windswept islands in the middle of the vast and cold North Atlantic Ocean.

Scenery stamp series completed with Kökar and Jomala stamps

2011-10-18T02:00:00.000-07:00

The time has come to complete the Åland scenery series. The final two municipalities to be featured are the archipelago municipality of Kökar and Åland’s largest municipality, Jomala. All 16 Åland municipalities will then have been presented and a beautiful pack holding the 16 scenery stamps will also be available.

Kökar is an island situated in the outskirts of the Åland archipelago and the southern-most Åland municipality. Kökar is a popular place for tourists to visit. Many come here to visit the Otterböte Bronze Age site, an ancient settlement for seal hunters. Best known among the sights in Kökar is the island of Källskär. Despite its broken landscape and exposed position, the island has been creatively developed with a harbour, several buildings and a lovely garden. Tove Jansson’s painting, featured on a 2007 stamp, was previously on display on Källskär. This is also where the Pitcher of Källskär can be admired, a nature phenomenon formed by the rotation of large boulders in the whirls of glacier waters running under the ice.

Jomala is located in the middle of main Åland and offers a variety of nature experiences. Kjell Söderlund shot the stamp photo at Hammarudda on the border of the Åland Sea. In Jomala, however, we also find open fields, deciduous woodland meadows and Ice Age formations. It is not known from where the name Jomala originates but theories suggest that “jom” comes from the name of the Viking god Jom and that “ala” means “place”. Therefore, Jomala would mean “the place where Jom is worshipped”. Prehistoric sites have been found in Jomala, just like in Kökar. Jettböle, a Stone-Age settlement dated to approx. 2500–2000 B.C., is one of the most renowned ancient sites in Finland, where most findings have been discovered. My dear friend Ella sent me these two FDCs and the two stamp sheets.

The Jomala stamp is also this year’s Åland SEPAC stamp. Every other year, the members of the Small European Postal Administrations’ Cooperation, SEPAC, issue a joint folder, Beautiful Corners of Europe. The folder was first issued in 2007. This year’s folder holds the stamps from 12 small, European postal administrations.

1994 Ammassalik Centenary

2011-10-17T01:40:00.000-07:00

Further to my post on 6.10.2011, here is another FDC issued by the Greenland Post Office on 24.3.1994 to commemorate the Centenary of the Ammassalik Region in Eastern Greenland. This cover showing the traditional Inuit Eskimo musician and the very special postmark showing a traditional sketch was given to me by my dear friend Merja.

Rugby World Cup 2011

2011-10-16T01:19:00.000-07:00

France has issued a set of stamps to celebrate the 2011 Rugby World Cup to be held in November in New Zealand. Two stamps in the upper half of the mini sheet picture scenes from a rugby game; a player extracting the ball from a scrum and a player making a pass. The two other stamps picture scenes from New Zealand. However, it would have been helpful if the printers had atleast named the scenes. A search on the internet was necessary to find out that the stamp on the left was of Auckland . The stamp on the right features a view from Arthur's Pass National Park. This is a national park located on the south island which was founded in 1929. The border of the sheet pictures the logo of the Rugby World Cup 2011. In fact this is the same logo for each world cups, only the year changes. One can also see the flags of the twenty countries participating to the final part of the competition: South Africa, England, Argentina, Australia, Canada, Scotland, USA, Fiji, France, Wales, Georgia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Namibia, New Zealand, Romania, Russia, Samoa and Tonga. Russia has qualified for this last stage of the competition for the first time.

50th Anniversary of Scouting Movement

2011-10-15T01:23:00.000-07:00

The founder of Scouting Lord Baden–Powell of Gilwell, (BP) was born in 1857 in England. He lived a busy and adventurous life, and as a boy spent much of his spare time in open–air pursuits hunting in the woods, joining his brothers in expeditions by land and in their boats. Thus he developed his powers of observation and resourcefulness and was helped to acquire many useful skills. He won a scholarship which gave him entry into the Army, where he was sent to India and served for many years. He tried out his ideas of training soldiers in "Scouting" and taught them how to develop experience in stalking and fending for themselves, and to be observant of all signs that would give them an advantage as soldiers. He set down his ideas in the book "Aids to Scouting", which was used as a textbook for many years.

BP was encouraged to set down his views on how he would apply Scouting to the training of boys, so he first conducted an experimental camp in 1907 on Brownsea Island off the Dorset coast. Here, with some 20 boys from all walks of life and suitable adult leaders, Baden–Powell taught the boys what he meant by Scouting. They lived in tents and cooked their own food and learned many valuable skills through games.The camp was a great success and proved Baden-Powell's ideas, so he tackled the task of writing down his experience in a book. "Scouting for Boys" was first published in fortnightly parts, beginning January 15, 1908. Every issue sold out as soon as it hit the news stands, despite the cover price of 4d which was expensive at the time. In fact, "Scouting for Boys ranks third in the world's best sellers after the Bible and Shakespeare.

Although the year 1908 marks the official beginning of the Scouting Movement, Scouting really commenced with the Brownsea Island Camp in August 1907.

Meanwhile Scouting spread to Australia, New Zealand, and India in 1908 and other countries followed shortly after. Chile, in 1909 was the first country outside the Empire to start, followed closely by France, the Scandinavian countries and the United States in 1910. In 1937, 2,500,000 Scouts from nearly 50 countries were affiliated with the International Bureau, which was set up to safeguard Scouting and to prevent control drifting into the hands of the purely religious, political or military bodies. Wood Badge Training of Leaders commenced in 1919 at Gilwell Park, England and has over the years become established as the method of Leader Training throughout the Scouting World.

Today, Scouting is the world's largest youth organisation. From its English origins Scouting struck an enthusiastic chord among boys in so many countries that we now have a World Scout Committee. The World Scout Committee provides unity amongst the National Associations with a World Bureau operating from Geneva, and independent National organisations in 216 countries and territories with a Scout membership of over 25 million. My dear friend Pia gave me this FDC. This First Day Cover and the impressive stamp on it were issued by Finland to commemorate the 50^th Anniversary of the Scouting Movement on 22.2.1957.

Landscapes from Åland

2011-10-14T01:13:00.000-07:00

Lemland is the southernmost municipality of the island, and is completely surrounded by sea. In the west Lemström channel separates Lemland from Jomala municipality and in the east Lumparsund from Lumparland municipality. With its 1700 inhabitants Lemland is the province's fastest growing municipality, thanks to nearness to Mariehamn. The stamp has a view of Söderby in Lemland, at dawn. A calm peaceful morning in November. The municipality is unilingually Swedish. During the Finnish War in 1808 the Swedish king Gustav IV Adolf had his headquarters in the Lemland parsonage. This pretty FDC was given to me by my dear friend Pia.

Animals from Aland

2011-10-13T01:38:00.000-07:00

This pretty First Day Cover was given to me by Pia. The stamps and the cover were issued on 1.3.1991. Brief descriptions of the animals pictured on the stamps are given below. The description as I said is brief, notwithstanding the fact that normally volumes could be written on each of these animals, but this blog is constrained to keep it short.

The European Hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus), Common hedgehog or just Hedgehog in the Anglophone parts of Europe, is a hedgehog species found in northern and Western Europe. It is about 20 to 30 cm in length. Adult mass typically ranges from 600 (after hibernation) to up to 1,200 g (prior to hibernation); occasionally, it may reach as much as 1,600 g. Males tend to be slightly longer and heavier than females.

The red squirrel or Eurasian red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris) is a species of tree squirrel in the genus Sciurus common throughout Eurasia. The red squirrel is an arboreal, omnivorous rodent. In Great Britain and Ireland, numbers have decreased drastically in recent years, in part because of the introduction of the eastern grey squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) from North America.

The European Roe Deer (Capreolus capreolus), also known as the Western Roe Deer or chevreuil, is a Eurasian species of deer. It is relatively small, reddish and grey-brown, and well adapted to cold environments. Roe Deer are widespread in Western Europe, from the Mediterranean to Scandinavia, and from the British Isles to the Caucasus. It is distinct from the somewhat larger Siberian Roe Deer.

Princess Diana, Princess of Wales

2011-10-12T01:15:00.000-07:00

This lovely sheet of stamps portraying Diana, Princess of Wales, was issued by the small African State of Burkina Faso on 20.1.1998. Diana, Princess of Wales (Diana Frances; née Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997) was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, whom she married on 29 July 1981, and an international charity and fundraising figure, as well as a pre-eminent celebrity of the late 20th century. Her wedding to Prince Charles, held at St. Paul's Cathedral, was televised and watched by a global audience of over 750 million people. After this marriage she received the courtesy titles Princess of Wales, Duchess of Cornwall, Duchess of Rothesay and Countess of Chester. The marriage produced two sons: Princes William and Harry, currently second and third in line to the thrones of the 16 Commonwealth realms, respectively.

A public figure from the announcement of her engagement to Prince Charles, Diana was born into an aristocratic English family with royal ancestry, and she remained the focus of worldwide media scrutiny during and after her marriage, which ended in divorce on 28 August 1996, including following her death in a car crash in Paris on 31 August 1997 and the subsequent display of public mourning a week later. Diana also received recognition for her charity work and for her support of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines. From 1989, she was the president of Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, in addition to dozens of other charities.

Jean Sibilius

2011-10-11T01:59:00.000-07:00

Jean Sibelius (8 December 1865 – 20 September 1957) was a Finnish composer of the later Romantic period whose music played an important role in the formation of the Finnish national identity. His mastery of the orchestra has been described as "prodigious."

The core of Sibelius's oeuvre is his set of seven symphonies. Like Beethoven, Sibelius used each successive work to further develop his own personal compositional style. His works continue to be performed frequently in the concert hall and are often recorded.

In addition to the symphonies, Sibelius's best-known compositions include Finlandia, the Karelia Suite, Valse triste, the Violin Concerto in D minor and The Swan of Tuonela (one of the four movements of the Lemminkäinen Suite). Other works include pieces inspired by the Finnish national epic, the Kalevala; over 100 songs for voice and piano; incidental music for 13 plays; the opera Jungfrun i tornet (The Maiden in the Tower); chamber music; piano music; Masonic ritual music; and 21 separate publications of choral music.

Sibelius composed prolifically until the mid-1920s. However, after completing his Seventh Symphony (1924), the incidental music to The Tempest (1926), and the tone poem Tapiola (1926), he produced no large-scale works for the remaining thirty years of his life. Although he is reputed to have stopped composing, he in fact attempted to continue writing, including abortive efforts to compose an eighth symphony. He wrote some Masonic music and re-edited some earlier works during this last period of his life, and retained an active interest in new developments in music, although he did not always view modern music favourably. The Finnish 100 mark bill featured his image until it was taken out of circulation in 2002. My dear friend Pia sent me these two covers. Jean Sibelius's 70th birthday was celebrated as a national holiday all over Finland in 1935. A commemorative stamp was issued on Sibelius’s 80th birthday (12-8-1945), and the other FDC was issued to commemorate him after he passed away in 1957.

Christmas 2007 - Santa Comes from Åland!

2011-10-10T05:21:00.000-07:00

Åland issued this cover with a very jolly Santa Claus as the theme on its Christmas stamp. These were issued on 9.10.2007 The cover was sent to me by my dear friend Pia.

The year's Christmas stamp is something out of the ordinary. The Post presents the real Santa Claus – created by an Ålander! Haddon Sundblom was born in 1899 in Michigan and grew up in Chicago. His father Karl Wilhelm emigrated to the USA in 1882 from Föglö in Åland. Haddon's mother Karin came from Sweden. Haddon first planned to follow in his father's footsteps within the building trade but soon decided to pursue art. In the 1920's, he started an advertising agency in Chicago and was in great demand for various commercial assignments. In 1931, Haddon was asked to design an unbeatable Christmas commercial for Coca-Cola. He chose to change the so far rather uninteresting, greyish looking Santa, creating a merry and cheerful man with red cheeks and a large white beard. In doing so, he not only created a lasting symbol associated with a particular trade mark but also changed the general perception of Santa Claus. Every Christmas, Haddon created a new version of Santa Claus. He drew his last Santa Claus for Coca-Cola in 1966, but the Coca-Cola Santa tradition lives on. The illustrations are still used every year in Coca-Cola commercials.

2007’s Åland Christmas stamp shows a Haddon Sundblom Santa, mind you, without a Coca-Cola bottle. The denomination Julpost 07 implies that the stamp could be used for sending Christmas greetings to Åland, Finland and Sweden for €0.50 during a limited period from November to December.

Nature

2011-10-09T02:48:00.000-07:00

This pretty miniature sheet of nature stamps was issued by Belarus on 15.4.2005, and the stamps shown depict a bird, animals and a moth species native to Belarus. I suggest you click the picture for a better view.

Greater spotted eagle (Aquila clanga). A medium-sized eagle, the greater spotted eagle only has white spots as a juvenile, when they extend in bands across the upperwing. By adulthood, the spots have faded leaving dark brown feathers across the head, body and wings, with slightly paler flight feathers on the upper side. In gliding flight, the greater spotted eagle holds the feathers at the tips of the wings downward. Although mainly a quiet bird, this eagle has a barking ‘kyak’ call during the breeding season. Aquila clanga occupies a fragmented range, breeding in Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland, Belarus, Moldova, Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, mainland China and Mongolia. Passage or wintering birds occur in small numbers over a vast area, including central and eastern Europe, north and east Africa, the Middle East, the Arabian peninsula, the Indian subcontinent and south and South-East Asia. Wintering birds have also been reported in Hong Kong (China). The population probably numbers fewer than 10,000 mature individuals with Russia holding 2,800-3,000 pairs. The European population is probably no more than 900 pairs (with c.170 pairs in Belarus). Numbers appear to have declined in the western half of its range and in some parts of its Asian range.

The Dark Crimson Underwing (Catocala sponsa) is a species of moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found in Europe, North Africa and from Anatolia up to the Caucasus. The wingspan is 60–70 millimetres (2.4–2.8 in). The moth flies from July to September depending on the location. The larvae feed on oak.

The beaver (genus Castor) is a primarily nocturnal, large, semi-aquatic rodent. Castor includes two extant species, North American Beaver (Castor canadensis) (native to North America) and Eurasian Beaver (Castor fiber) (Eurasia). Beavers are known for building dams, canals, and lodges (homes). They are the second-largest rodent in the world (after the capybara). Their colonies create one or more dams to provide still, deep water to protect against predators, and to float food and building material. The North American beaver population was once more than 60 million, but as of 1988 was 6–12 million. This population decline is due to extensive hunting for fur, for glands used as medicine and perfume, and because their harvesting of trees and flooding of waterways may interfere with other land uses.

The European Badger (Meles meles) is a species of badger of the genus Meles, native to almost all of Europe. It is classed as Least Concern for extinction by the IUCN, due to its wide distribution and large population. The European badger is a social burrowing animal which lives on a wide variety of plant and animal food. It is very fussy over the cleanliness of its burrow, and defecates in latrines. Cases are known of European badgers burying their dead family members. Although ferocious when provoked, a trait which was once exploited for the blood sport of badger-baiting, the European badger is generally a peaceful animal, having been known to share its burrows with other species such as rabbits, red foxes and raccoon dogs. Although it does not usually prey on domestic stock, the species is nonetheless alleged to damage livestock through spreading bovine tuberculosis.

Europa CEPT 1990 – Post Office Buildings

2011-10-08T02:41:00.000-07:00

In accordance with the Europa CEPT theme for 1990, Finland issued two stamps on 26.3.1990 showing two of her Post Office Buildings. The stamp on the left on the displayed FDC depicts the Post office in Lapland namely, the Nuvvus post office. The Nuvvus post office building was originally built as a shore house in the year 1840, and it was located by the Tana river (Finnish: Teno or Tenojoki). The building was moved to its current location in the year 1964, and since then it has served as a post office. Nuvvus is a village in Utsjoki, which is a municipality in Finland. It is located in Lapland and borders Norway as well as the municipality of Inari.

The stamp on the right shows the Turku post center which was built in 1989. Both its architecture and mechanics represents one of the best in this sector in Europe. The terminal deals in processing and transportation of mail in the sorting area. The terminal also includes special post offices for major customers, an exchange office for international mail and postal duties. This excellent FDC was given to me by my dear friend Pia.

Europa CEPT 1979 - Post & Telecommunications

2011-10-07T04:25:00.000-07:00

The stamp on the right on the FDC is a letter of Queen Christina to Per Brahe in 1638 about establishing a postal servive. The stamp on the left depicts an Optical Telegraph 1796, Map of Grisslehamn-Signilskär-Eckerö telegraph line. These were issued on 2.5.1979

In 1638, Queen Christina of Sweden issued an order starting regular mail service from Stockholm via Åland to Turku. This route was called the Mail Route, and it traversed both sea and land. From Turku, the route continued east as the King's Road all the way to St. Petersburg. The Mail Route is still a living, historic route that tours nine municipalities in Åland and has many exquisite experiences waiting for the traveller. Diverse natural landscapes, beautiful scenery and historical monuments can be found along the road, many parts of which still follow the original 15th century mail route.

Edelcrantz's Shutter Telegraph Systems

Along with the usual ways of communication a special, telegraphic system existed in Sweden from 1794 - the optical telegraph. It was invented by the Swedish poet and scientist Abraham Niclas Edelcrantz, a Royal Counsellor, and consisted of ten shutters, arranged in a pattern that could be easily read off at a distance. The arrangement of the shutters formed what today is called a binary system with 10 signal elements - a predecessor of moden data signal systems. The optical telegraph envisaged a network of linking stations. A signal was successively repeated from one station to the next until the office of destination was reached.

Soon telegraph circuits linking castles and fortresses in the neighbourhood of Stockholm were set up and the system was extended to Grisslehamn and Åland. Subsequently telegraph circuits were introduced between Gothenburg and Marstrand, at Helsingborg and between Karlskrona and its fortresses. Sweden was the second country in the world, after France, to introduce an optical telegraph network.

This nice FDC was given to me by my dear friend Pia.

Greenland Expeditions 5th series - Paul-Émile Victor

2011-10-06T01:45:00.000-07:00

This FDC is all about exploration and transportation (Ships & Navigation with Sailing ships). And tells the story of Paul-Émile Victor (June 28, 1907 - March 7, 1995) who was a Artist, adventurer, writer, ethnologist and Science explorer. Victor was born in Geneva, Switzerland. He graduated from École Centrale de Lyon in 1928. In 1934, he participated in an expedition traversing Greenland. During the World War II, he engaged himself in the US Air Forces. After the War, he initiated the Expéditions polaires françaises to organize French polar expeditions. He died in 1995 on Bora Bora in the Pacific, to which he had retired in 1977. Mount Victor, in the Belgica Mountains of Antarctica, is named for him.

In 1934 following an encounter with the famous and high-profile commander and French polar explorer Jean-Baptiste Charcot, he had his first polar expedition with the Museum of Ethnography of the Trocadéro in Paris and the director of this museum, with whom Paul Rivet he embarked on the Pourquoi Pas? the famous commander. It is landed with three companions, the anthropologist Robert Gessain, Michel Perez geologist and director Fred Matter on the east coast of Greenland for his first polar expedition in the Inuit Eskimos of the city Ammassalik for one year. In 1936 he went back to Greenland, where he performed the rare feat of crossing with sled dogs from west to east, with his companions Robert Gessain, Michel Perez and Dane Eigil Knuth. Upon his return to France, after major new scientific and media success thanks to his many conferences and news articles and reviews of his ethnographic study, extensive notes and drawings on traditional culture entirely organized around the Greenland seal. One could go on enumerating the his successes in the field of science and exploration. These two nice FDCs were given to me by my dear friend Merja.

Isle of Man 1988 High Value Definitive Stamps on Railways & Tramways

2011-10-05T02:00:00.000-07:00

Europa 1992 - 500 Years of the discovery of America

2011-10-04T02:09:00.000-07:00

The theme chosen by the European Postal and Telecommunications Organisation (CEPT) for Europa 92 was "500 years since the discovery of America". Complete details of this theme are given in my post dated 14.9.2011, where I had described in fair amount of detail about 500 years since the discovery of America on Europa stamps issued by Cyprus.

Here, the FDC shown has stamps issued by Finland on the same theme on 8.5.1992. The stamps are both priced 2.10. The one on the left shows the Flag Ship Santa Maria with a map of the American end of the journey in the back ground. The stamp on the right shows a map with the European part of the voyage and a sketch of Columbus.

Christopher Columbus was an Italian who sailed under the Spanish Flag. He persevered in his quest to obtain backing for an expedition to sail a small fleet of ships to search for a sea route to the Indies. In 1492 King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain finally give Christopher Columbus the money and ships for his expedition. The names of the 1497 Christopher Columbus Ships were the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria. The brave men of the 1400's and 1500's, like Christopher Columbus, who sailed in uncharted waters to unknown lands were courageous adventurers who were motivated by fame, glory and the wealth. The living conditions on board the small ships were basic and the voyages were dangerous. My dear friend Pia gave me this FDC.

Norwegian Monuments

2011-10-03T02:36:00.000-07:00

The Europa theme for 1978 was ‘Monuments’. Accordingly Norway issued these two stamps shown on the First Day Cover on 2.5.1978 to commemorate their monuments. Shown are the two well preserved Stave Churches in Norway. The largest stave church in Norway is Heddal (1.25). It is not only a medieval architectural masterpiece, but also a living church for today's congregation in Notodden in Telemark. On the wall in the exterior passage, you can see runes inscribed, telling that the church was dedicated to the holy Virgin Mary. Inside the church you can see a beautifully carved wooden chair from around 1200. The wall-painting that you see today is dated 1668. Underneath, on the west wall, there are remains of the original painting from about 1300.

However, the most visited and most photographed stave church in Norway is Borgund (1.80) in Lærdal beside the Sognefjord. It is also one of the best preserved stave churches. Several runic inscriptions have been found on the church walls.

Borgund. Built around 1180 and is dedicated to the Apostle Andrew. The church is exceptionally well preserved and is one of the most distinctive stave churches in Norway. Some of the finest features are the lavishly carved portals and the roof carvings of dragons's heads. The stave churches are Norway's most important contribution to world architecture and Norway's oldest preserved. This FDC was sent to me by my dear friend Merja.

Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Stamps

2011-10-02T03:10:00.000-07:00

Today is the 142^nd Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, The Father of the Nation. There is very little that I can add to the vast knowledge people already have about this Great Man. So, I will only talk a little bit about the Gandhi Memorial stamps, which My Father bought for me. I remember (I was just seven years old then) going with him to the Post Office that day, stand in line for what seemed hours to me and getting this wonderful folder and the four stamps mounted on them. And it is these stamps that marked the beginning of my stamp collecting career, and the start of the finest hobby anyone can indulge in.

The 15th August 1948, the 1st Anniversary of India's Independence was commemorated by issuing postage stamps on "Mahatma Gandhi" in 4 denominations viz., 1? as. 3? as., 12as. and 10 Rupees. The first 3 lower values are in Sepia-brown (Brown), Purple- blue (Violet), Dark-green (Grey -green) respectively. The high value 10 Rupees stamp is in Grey with a Reddish-brown background (Purple-brown and lake). All these stamps were printed in sheets of 50 in 5 rows of 10 stamps each with all around and perforated 11? mm. The top margin has a long inscription extending on 8 stamps, from 2nd to 9th reading "IMRESSION COURVOISER S.A., LA CHAUX - DE - FONDS (SUISSE)". In the bottom margin under the 5th stamp is running number of the sheet and underneath the last stamp is the control number.

The story of making of Gandhi stamps is written by Mr. T. N. Mehta of Indian Postal Administration, is also very interesting as it sketches the true picture of bureaucracy in India. Immediately after Independence, the idea of issue Gandhi Stamp was mooted. On 21st January 1948, the Director General of P & T Dept. requested Security Press, Nasik, to produce Specimen designs for Gandhi Stamps, within a week. The master of India Security Press, suggested issuing a set of 4 Stamps in denominations of lY2annas, 3Y2annas, 8annas and rupee. He proposed that the first 3 Stamps be printed in a single colour in existing 'anna' size and rupee value of Stamp to be printed in two colours in 'rupee' size. Trial copies based on the Em portrait of Gandhiji available with Nashik, was submitted. Alternatively, photographs approved by Mahatma Gandhiji himself could be adopted.

While these preparations were going on tragedy struck the Nation, on 30th January 1948. The picture changed drastically and Security Press was asked on 6th February 1948 to prepare Mourning Stamps. On 17th February 1948, the Security Press submitted 2 designs in denomination of 2? annas for Inland Airmail and 12 annas for Airmail to United Kingdom, based on approval sketch drawn by Mr. C. Biswas. The then Prime Minister Sri Jawaharlal Nehru suggested that the word 'Bapu' be included in the proposed stamp designs both in Hindi and Urdu, a symbolic gesture of Communal Harmony, for which Gandhiji laid his life. The irony of the bureaucracy is plainly visible, in that

Gandhi! Who fought for Swadeshi throughout his life, his memorial stamps were printed by a Vedishi (foreign) Press.
Gandhiji always used the cheapest mode of communication, that is a 'Postcard', but his stamp was issued in 10 Rupees denomination (very high value of stamp in those days).

Bureaucracy could not have done a greater disservice to Gandhiji. Philatelically also, this 10 Rupees stamp deprived collectors of possessing the full set because 10rupees was a very big amount and unaffordable in those days.

Lastly, the clothing of Gandhiji in stamps, in no way approximated to the Indian grab or the way Gandhiji used to wear clothes. Actually the original photographs showed the Mahatma unclothed above the waist. However, the anglicised bureaucrats thought that it would be derogatory to portray of the 'Father of the Nation' in such a manner. So they asked the Swiss Printers to adequately cover the naked portion of Gandhiji's body, but they couldn't reproduce it in the Indian Way.

Before concluding, I must admit that as Gandhiji used to glitter and eclipsed all other politicians during his lifetime. His 10 Rupee stamp is glittering in Indian stamps and have eclipsed all other Indian stamps.

Cheese, Made in Italy

2011-10-01T01:40:00.000-07:00

This List of PDO Italian cheeses includes all the Italian cheeses which have Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) status under European Union regulations. These scrumptious FDCs were given to me by my dear friend Maria. Prior to 1996 when the PDO system came into operation, many Italian cheeses were regulated under a Denominazione di Origine (DO) system, which arose out of the 1951 Stresa Conference and was established under the Italian law 125/54. These appellations of origin were recognized in a number of European countries with which Italy had bilateral agreements. (The international framework of recognition was further developed—and extended from cheese to include other agricultural products—by the Lisbon Convention of 1958, and the modifications made to it at Stockholm in 1967, and by the TRIPS accord of 1994.) All of the existing “DO” cheeses were registered by the EU as “PDO” cheeses during the course of 1996. The four different types of cheese shown on the stamps atop the covers are :-

Gorgonzola (right top) is a veined Italian blue cheese, made from unskimmed cow's and/or goat's milk. It can be buttery or firm, crumbly and quite salty, with a "bite" from its blue veining.

Parmigiano-Reggiano (left top) is a hard granular cheese, cooked but not pressed, named after the producing areas near Parma, Reggio Emilia, Modena and Bologna (all in Emilia-Romagna), and Mantova (in Lombardia), Italy. Under Italian law only cheese produced in these provinces may be labelled "Parmigiano-Reggiano", while European law classifies the name as a protected designation of origin. It is informally known as the "king of cheese."

Buffalo mozzarella (left lower) (Italian: mozzarella di bufala) is a mozzarella made from the milk of the domestic water buffalo.

Ragusano (right lower). One of the most favorite Italian cheeses produced in Sicily. The cheese usually has a shape of a brick and it is made from unpasteurized cow's milk. The curd is heated and stretched until it is rubbery. Then it is pressed into rectangular moulds and the cheese is left to dry. Salted and rubbed, the cheese is ready for affinage that takes six months. During this period of time it is regularly rubbed with a mixture of oil and vinegar. After this period of time the cheese hardens and the taste becomes stronger and more savory.

Midsummer in Åland

2011-09-30T01:42:00.000-07:00

You can see them scattered here and there on the Åland islands; the stately and beautifully embellished Midsummer poles – a symbol for both Åland and the summer. is a beloved tradition. You are welcome to participate in the old rituals around the Åland Midsummer pole and help with all from decorating with leaves to pole rising. Midsummer is a festival that the people of Åland celebrate joyfully, preferably outdoors, with friends and family. The girls make wreaths of meadow flowers to wear on their heads. Joint dinners and the raising of the village’s Midsummer pole are also part of the Midsummer celebrations. The celebrations are also noticed in the grocery stores and shops which all close early at Midsummer Eve. Some are also closed on Midsummer Day, so shop your groceries in time! Traditional foods for midsummer are for example pickled fish and early potatoes in combination with well-chilled schnapps, smoked and pickled salmon, crisp bread or black bread – and a tasty strawberry cake for dessert. Midsummer Eve is always celebrated on the Friday that is included in the time period 19-25 of June.

In 1998 besides all the normal fervour Midsummer Festival was celebrated by Aland, by also issuing this commemorative stamp 4.20 and First Day Cover on 27.4.1998. Pia gave me this pretty FDC.