60th Anniversary of RAF

Pia from Finland gave me this really wonderful First Day Cover dated 28.2.1978 commemorating the Diamond Jubilee of the Royal Air Force.
The Isle of Man First Day Cover shown here with a set of 4 special 60th Anniversary of RAF stamps showing RAF Short type 184 seaplane flying over HMS Ben-My Chree in 1915. Then we have the Bristol Scott(1915) and HMS Vindex. The Boulton Paul Defiant over the Douglas Bay in 1941. And the 13p stamp with the Sepecat Jaguar of the RAF over Ramsey in 1977.

Anniversaries and events Issue of stamps 7.2.1973

This 1973 Commemorative Stamp Issue marked the anniversaries and events listed below. Thank you Maria for this impressive Anniversaries FDC.

The 3c design was completed by Vivian Jepsen, with the remaining five designs completed by B Langford.

Centennial of Thames Borough - 3c
The design shows old Pollen Street with the hills behind highlighted in symbolic gold.  Thames is a town with 7000 people, at the foot of the Coromandel Peninsula. Gold was first discovered nearby the town in the early 1850s, but it wasn't until an arrangement had been reached with the local Maori to allow prospecting of the area that a major strike was found in 1867. By 1870 the town of Shortland, as it was then called, had been established  with a population of around 20 000, greater than that of Auckland at that time.

Centennial of Westport Borough - 4c
Coal mining and pastoral development, major factors in Westport's economy, are shown in symbolic form.  Westport is a town with 4600 people, near the mouth of the Buller River, 105 km north-east of Greymouth. It is the commercial and administrative town and also the port for the Buller region, where the main industries are coal, saw-milling and farming. A Nelson surveyor, John Rochfort, discovered coal and gold in the region in 1859 and, within two years, a settlement was established.

Centennial of the University of Canterbury - 5c
A cloister, one of the features of the old University buildings, was included within the stamp design.  Canterbury University was established as Canterbury College in 1873 by the Provincial Council. Initially it had a staff of three professors and 87 students.

50th Anniversary of the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society - 6c
This design incorporates the features important to this Society - forest and bird against a lake setting.

Olympic Rowers - 8c
The success of New Zealand rowers at the 1972 Olympics was the highlight of years of dedicated training and devotion to the sport.  Rowing, as a competitive sport, is believed to have begun in NZ on Lyttelton Harbour on New Year's Day in 1862. A number of clubs had formed throughout the country by the time the New Zealand Amateur Rowing Association was formed at a meeting of the representatives of nine clubs in 1887.  New Zealand's greatest rowing triumph came at the Olympic Games at Munich in 1972, when the eight won the gold medal (Hurt, Veldman, Joyce, Hunter, Wilson, Earle, Coker, Robertson, and Dickie, the cox), and the four (Tonks, Storey, Collinge and Mills) won the silver in their event.

25th Anniversary of the Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East (ECAFE) - 10c
Depicted in symbolic form is the aim of the Commission - "progress through co-operation".

Chinese Folklore - Liu Sanjie

On August 23,2012,China National Philatelic Corporation issued a set of four special stamps titled "Chinese Folklore - Liu Sanjie" with a total face value of 4.80 yuan.

According to the local tale, Liu San Jie was born in a village along the Liujiang River of Guangxi in the Tang Dynasty (618-907). She was not only beautiful but also good at singing folk songs. At the age of 17, Liu San Jie fell in love with a handsome young man who was also a good folk singer. The two swore never separate in their lives. The peaceful happiness was, however, broken by a hooligan in the village who had been for a long time attracted by Liu’s beauty. This evil man decided to take Liu San Jie by force. He got his chance on a moonlight night when Liu and her lover were sitting on a big rock by the river side to enjoy the beauty of the moon. Suddenly, a gang of hooligans surrounded them. Liu San Jie and her lover had no way to escape, with no hesitation, the couple jumped into the roaring Liujiang River, hand in hand.

Nowadays, local people gather annually along the riverside of the Liujiang River, organizing a folk-song competition to mourn Liu San Jie.

The four stamps depict The Immortal Singer at the Zhuang Village, The Battle of Wits Through Antiphonal Singing, The Silk Ball Witnessing the Love between Liu Sanjie and Her Beloved A'niu, and Rising to Heaven on a Carp.

The story of Liu Sanjie who sang for freedom and fought for dignity reflects the Zhuang people’s pursuit of truth, goodness and beauty in their long song-loving tradition.　

1990 Philately Day in Israel

"Philately day" was celebrated in Europe in the 1930's an since then the idea has spread and taken root and today it is celebrated in some 50 countries around the globe. Israel also celebrates Philately Day, in collaboration with the Israel Philatelic Federation, and in this context is issuing a special stamp, the income from which is dedicated to promoting Israeli philately both in Israel and abroad.

The Israeli Philately Day stamp in 1990 shows the Post Office Building in Yafo (based on a photograph taken in the 50's). Post Office Buildings art was the subject chosen that year by European countries as the common philatelic theme. The stamp was issued on 12.12.1990.

Israel has been accepted as a member of FEPA (the European Federation of Philatelic Associations) and Israeli philatelists have been honoured by having been asked to host the Exhibition of European stamps in 1993, after Germany in 1991 and Hungary in 1992.

The Post Office Building in Yafo, designed by the British architect Austin Harrison, was dedicated in 1935. The building is situated at the beginning of Jerusalem Boulevard in Yafo, which was then the old main road to Jerusalem. From photographs from the first decades of the century, it can be seen that the place was a focal point for road transport, a sort of "Central Carriage Station". Until recently, the building housed engineering installations of the Bezek (Telephone Communications) Company, and today it houses the offices of the Philatelic Service and a branch of the post office.

Thank you dear Merja for this nice FDC.

Rabbi Moshe Avigdor Amiel

Moshe Avigdor Amiel was a Rabbi, religious thinker, and author. He studied under his father at Telz Yeshivah. In 1920 he was elected rabbi of Antwerp. He appeared at the Mizrachi convention and established himself as one of the chief idealogists of religious Zionism.

 In 1936 he was elected chief rabbi of Tel-Aviv, where he also established a modern high school yeshivah. Amiel published many books and was a regular contributor to the religious press. 

Thank you Merja for this FDC commemorating Rabbi Amiel.

Famous Gates of Jerusalem

Jerusalem’s old city walls built in the early 16th century by the Turkish Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, have eight gates. All but one (the Gate of Mercy) still serve Jerusalemites and visitors streaming to its markets, and sacred and historic sites. The Gates are, The Zion Gate, The Dung Gate, Gate of Mercy, Lion’s Gate, Herod’s Gate, Damascus Gate, The New Gate and The Jaffa Gate.

This FDC dated 17.4.1972, given to me by my dear friend Merja, has two of the set of stamps The Golden Gate and the Lion’s Gate issued to commemorate the Gates of Jerusalem.

The Golden Gate, as it is called in Christian literature, is the oldest of the current gates in Jerusalem's Old City Walls.According to Jewish tradition, the Shekhinah (Divine Presence) used to appear through this gate, and will appear again when the Messiah comes (Ezekiel 44:1–3) and a new gate replaces the present one; that is why Jews used to pray for mercy at the former gate at this location. Hence the name Sha'ar Harachamim, the Gate of Mercy. In Christian apocryphal texts, the gate was the scene of a meeting between the parents of Mary, so that Joachim and Anne Meeting at the Golden Gate became a standard subject in cycles depicting the Life of the Virgin. It is also said that Jesus passed through this gate on Palm Sunday. In Arabic, it is known as the Gate of Eternal Life. In ancient times, the gate was known as the Beautiful Gate. Remains of a much older gate dating to the times of the Second Jewish Temple were found. The present one was probably built in the 520s AD, as part of Justinian I's building program in Jerusalem, on top of the ruins of the earlier gate in the wall. An alternate theory holds that it was built in the later part of the 7th century by Byzantine artisans employed by the Umayyad khalifs. The gate is located in the middle of the eastern side of the Temple Mount. The portal in this position was believed to have been used for ritual purposes in biblical times.

The Lions' Gate (St. Stephen's Gate or Sheep Gate) is located in the Old City Walls of Jerusalem and is one of seven open Gates in Jerusalem's Old City Walls. Located in the east wall, the entrance marks the beginning of the traditional Christian observance of the last walk of Jesus from prison to crucifixion, the Via Dolorosa. Near the gate’s crest are four figures of panthers, often mistaken for lions, two on the left and two on the right. They were placed there by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent to celebrate the Ottoman defeat of the Mamluks in 1517. Legend has it that Suleiman's predecessor Selim I dreamed of lions that were going to eat him because of his plans to level the city. He was spared only after promising to protect the city by building a wall around it. This led to the lion becoming the heraldic symbol of Jerusalem. However, Jerusalem already had been, from Biblical times, the capital of the Kingdom of Judah, whose emblem was a lion (Genesis 49:9).

SINGAPORE 2015 WORLD STAMP EXHIBITION

Singapore last hosted the World Stamp Exhibition in 1995 and the inaugural World Stamp Championship in 2004. Gathering the experiences of both exhibitions, theAssociation of Singapore Philatelists (ASP), with effort to commemorate Singapore's Golden Jubilee in 2015, managed to successfully bid for the hosting rights of another World Stamp Exhibition in 2015, with support of the Fédération Internationale de Philatélie (FIP). Singapore 2015 WSE Stamp Issue, Series 1. These staqmps and the wonderful cover were issued on 31 Aug 2012.

With the theme "Stamp for all Ages", 4 sets of past issues, with designs from the "1955 Queen Elizabeth II Definitives", "1962-66 Fishes, Orchids and Birds Definitives", "1960 National Day" and "1970 Osaka Expo" are selected to revive the memories of collectors, as well as to showcase the developments that Singapore had achieved through the years.

The ASP presented to the FIP Congress Singapore's plan to hold a World Stamp Exhibition in 2015, also the 50th year of independence of Singapore. The planned venue is at the Marina Bay Sands Convention Center, Singapore.

To commemorate Singapore’s golden jubilee in 2015, the Association of Singapore Philatelists has won the bid to host the World Stamp Exhibition here. Four sets of stamps featuring designs from previous years will be issued each year leading up to 2015. They include Queen Elizabeth II Definitives (1955), Fishes, Orchids and Birds Definitives (1962-1966), National Day (1960) and Osaka Expo (1970). These stamps have been selected to revive the memories of collectors and to showcase Singapore’s progress and developments over the years.

The first series released on 31 August 2012 feature two designs from the Fishes, Orchids and Birds Definitives (1962-1966). TheYellow-breasted Sunbird (Leptocoma jugularis) is commonly seen near Singapore’s shorelines. When taking off, this sunbird produces a chipping sound made by knocking two pebbles. Attracted to red flowers in particular, it is depicted in front a firecracker plant (Russelia juncea) on the stamp. The White-bellied Sea Eagle is also often spotted around the coastal areas and on offshore islands. It can also be seen hovering the skies in circles at Labrador Park. To feed on crabs, these eagles drop the crabs from a height onto rocks in order to break their hard shells.

 Thank you Shashi.