COVER N. 545 - SRI LANKA

Postmark: Headquarters P. O. Colombo Mail 10.09.24

Posted on the 11th December; Received on the 18th December 2024

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 'Tis the Season to be Jolly, and as I said before a propos my friend Fraser's Xmas letter, there are still good will people who skip the email apps to send their wishes for the Season replacing them with the traditional card card on a letter with Xmas stamps.

Ravindra is one such kind case. Bohomȧ  sthoothi, Ravi!

I have to confess I was a bit intrigued. I knew that Christianism in its several forms is not one of the most professed religions in Sri Lanka. In fact, it seems it ranks 4th, after Buddhism (70), Hinduism (13%) and  Islamism (10%), being the cult of approximately 8% of the population.

So in times like the ones we live in, when religions seem so many times to be more a dividing and conflicting factor than a common ground for understanding, it is nice to see a country with a Christian minority, issue a nice set of stamp celebrating Christmas, what can only be seen as a measure of tolerance and religious freedom, something I strongly believe in, even if being an agnostic.

The beautiful souvenir sheet with two stamps (110 and 50 Rupees) illustrated with Nativity scenes was issued by Sri Lanka Post on 30NOV2024.

Quoting direct from a page that is devoted to him "Vincent Subasinghe (1906 - 1985) was a Sri Lankan philanthropist, social worker, social entrepreneur and an active member of Sri Lankan renaissance movement during the British colonial times. He is considered to be the “father of the cooperative movement" in Sri Lanka". 

Honouring his memory, Sri Lanka Post issued on 24AUG2024 a 50 rupee stamp featuring his effigy and the Sri Lanka co-operative movement logo.

Postmark from the P.O. Headquarters, in Colombo, as usual.

COVER N. 544 - MADAGASCAR

Postmark: Antananarivo Antanimena Madagascar 28.10.2024

Posted on the 28th October; Received on the 16th December 2024

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Madagascar, the land of Imense baobabs, outlandish lemurs and intriguing chameleons....How could I not be nothing less than elated to be able to add a cover from this rather uncommon origin to my collection?

Hartelijk dank, Eric, Muito obrigado! Once again, "with a little help from my friends" finds a fitting translation into this humble blog.

Independent since 1960, this former French colony in the Indian ocean, the 4th largest island in the world, separated from the African Continent by the Mozambique Canal is famous for its biodiversity, with 90% of the species therein living being endemic and as such not be  found everywhere else.

Judging from the cover Eric so kindly made sure I would get, stamp diversity is also an attribute of the Island state, and no less than 6 different stamps were used to post the cover to Portugal. 

Strangely enough a CN222 Customs declaration sticker was also affixed tot he envelope, at a given moment of its transit, and it had to be lifted upon arrival, since it was covering the information about the Post Code in my address.

Claude Debussy (1862-1918) .... la mer.... claire de lune... la cathédrale engloutie... some of the most beautiful piano scores of the early 20th century bear the signature of this French  composer considered to be the first of the impressionist composers.

On 29SEP1988, the Postal Services of Madagascar issued a six stamp set dedicated to Musicians, which included the stamp on the cover dedicated to Debussy, illustrated with his effigy and a scene from his sole opera, Pelias et Melisande, in the background.

The other stamps on the set were dedicated to Carl Philippe E. Bach (80 MFr); Franz Schubert (250 MFr); Georges Bizet (170 MFr); George Gershwin (550MFr) and Elvis Presley (1500 MFr)

A one stamp souvenir sheet was also issued (1500MFr), and it featured Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov.

Nothing against good old Elvis, but to see him in the company of the other 5 makes him look sort of "the odd man out" of the group.

A set of 5 definitive stamps dedicated to the cultivation of Rice, was issued in 2001,  all stamps being identical except for the dominant colour (and value, of course) . The blue stamp, originally with a face value of 1120 Ariary (the national currency of Madagascar, introduced in 1960) was again reissued in 2021, with a 1000 Ariary surcharge, as featured on the cover.

As expected from a place with such rich biodiversity, Flora and Fauna are common Madagascar stamp issue themes. The 5000 stamp featuring a  Propithecus candidus,  a critically endangered lemur, was issued on 15JUN2015aas part of a three stamp set which also featured two members of the Plantae kingdom:  a  1500 Ariary stamp with a photo of an Hildegardia ankaranensis and a 1000 Ariary stamp with a photo of a Ouratea obtusifolia, both of these being local endemic plants, I suspect.

The ubiquitous  Goldfish (Carassius auratus) sadly swimming around and around in many a small water pot in many a children's room around the world is the theme of the single stamp souvenir sheet with a face value of 20000 MFr, issued on 27MAY1994. Further to the souvenir sheet, the issue comprised another seven fish tank beauties depicted on 10; 30; 45; 95; 2x 140 and 3,500 MFr.

Zheng He was a Chinese navigator, born in 1371 in what is now Jinnin, in the province of Yunnan.

Among his navigation feats were seven voyages undertaken between 1405 and 1431 in the Pacific and  Indian Oceans  and also the in the Persian Gulf. Some claim he also reached America during his maritime explorations.

On 16OCT1997, the Postal Service of Madagascar, issued a 5700 MFr  one stamp souvenir sheet celebrating the valiant explorer. 2 of the satmps were used on the cover, the one on the right having been glued onto de frame of the souvenir sheet, hiding it from view.

World Post day is celebrated every year on the 9th October and as its is well known it is not uncommon for Postal Services to issue celebratory stamps for the occasion.

The  300 MFr on the cover with a map of Madagascar with a logo on top that I would suspect to be the emblem of the Postal Services at the time was issued on 21OCT1997.

The postmark was applied at the country's capital, Antananarivo.

COVER N. 543 - BRASIL

Postmark: A CC Beiramar Shopping Florianopolis - SC 14.11.2024

Posted on the 14th November; Received on the 11th December 2024

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The second cover from Brazil that I got on the same day, this time from Lucia. Muito obrigado, Lucia.

 

For the main postage on the cover, Lucia used a pair of stamps from the recent issue dedicated to unconventional food plants, in itself an unconventional theme too, albeit a rather interesting one.

Some of these stamps had already been used by Luis on cover #502 so this is an adequate opportunity  for continuing the comments I incuded regarding that particular cover.

As such these two stamps are part of the  6 x "1º Porte de Carta" set issued on 23ABR2024 by the Empresa Brasileira de Correios e Telégrafos, dedicated to unconventional food plants. 

Further to the  stamp illustrated with a  Vinagreira (Hibiscus sabdariffa), that had already been used on cover #502, Lucia used a stamp illustrated with the Xanthosoma taioba, or just Taioba, in Brazil, a member of the Araceae family, whose leaves and corms are edible and very commonly so.

Candido Portinari was an outstanding painter and muralist. during his lifetime he produced a large corpus of works which can now be seen in such important places like the United Nations Headquarters, the Library of Congress or the MOMA  in the US, or the Museu de Arte de S. Paulo, in his native Brazil.

His work is profoundly marked by social themes as  typical of the neo-realist school and I am glad had the chance to see one of his paintings once in the Portuguese Museum of Neo-Realism, in Vila Franca de Xira, in a temporary exhibition.

On 26MAY2004 Correios do Brasil issued a five stamp definitive set  (0.55; 0.80; 0.95; 1.15 and 1.50 Reais) themed on the missing paintings of Candido Portinari. 

In fact, most of the painter's works are "hidden away" in private collections so his son João Candido Portinari founded in 1979 "Projecto Portinari" with which he aims at giving the people the opportunity to get to know the invaluable work of his father.

This stamp set should be seen in the light of this objective too, I presume, and the  1.5 Real stamp  which can be seen on the lower left corner of the cover, depicts a painting called Marcel  Gontrau, created as part of a set of illustrations for an edition of André Maurois' Romans.

 The Postmark indicates that the letter was mailed from a post office installed in a shopping mall - Beira Mar Shopping - in the city of Florianópolis, the Capital city of the State of Santa Catarina in the south of Brazil.

COVER N. 542 - BRASIL

Postmark: A C Central SE/SPM 250.11.2024

Posted on the 25th November; Received on the 11th December 2024

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Muito obrigado Luis, for this cover with stamps evocative of  old times, and also for the stamps inside it.

Valve radios. I will never forget the beautiful Nordmende radio that my father had bought probably before I was born and from which all the music that accompained me during my formative years untill I was about 15 had flowed into the air in our living roor or into the reel to reel tape recorder (also valve based, of course) whith wich I would record what I could not buy, either for lack of resources, or sheer local unavailability. 

Then, one day, for my sister's birthday, dad bought onbe of those combos with a turntable, a radio and even a cassette recorder...... and, most of all, two dettached loudspeakers...what an upgrade...

Valves, the source of wonder, were already being replaced by transistors at the time, but the Phillips reel to reel had one which emmited a green light that I found absolutely mesmerising....

The 4 stamps on the  cover themed on vintage radios and valves (1,25; 1,85; 1,95 and 2,55 reais were issued on 14FEB2018 in as souvenir sheet which also contained a couple of vignettes. When folded by the perforations the lot  could be assembled into a miniature vintage radio cabinet. Quite spiffy.

The definitive stamp with a Manicurist, (1 RS) belongs to the second definitive issue of the Professions series and it began to circulate on 06NOV2006.

As customary with Luis' covers this one was posted in the city of  São Paulo.

POSTCARD N.171 - RUSSIA 

Postcrossing Postcard sent on the 30th June, received on the 3rd December 2024.

Postcard image: A phantasy scene

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Cut and Paste, the miracle technology of the late 20th century....  I did paste, but I did not cut....

And so Post regarding Postcard 171 disssolved into cyber oblivion for ever, and ever, hallelujah, hallelujah.....

I am so sorry, but I will not try to reconstruct the post. Have to move on and time is a scarce comodity.

Here's the card, of which I remeber saying without any ill intention towards Olga who kindly sent it to me in the best of intentions, that post cards with phantasy images were not my preferred type of cards.

Still the stamps were totally to my liking and I also remeber having thanked Olga for her care and attention.

The 40 Ruble stamp was issued on 10MAR2020, celebrating the life of Hero of the Soviet Union - Ivan Nikitovich Kozhedub (1920-1991), fighter pilot and triple Hero of the Soviet Union. the highest scoring WW2 pilot with more than 60 victories to his credit. It shows his portrait with a Lavochkin La-5 the type of aircraft in which he score most of his victories.

The 45 Ruble stamp, issued on 10MAR2023, celebrates a pedagogue on the bicentenary of his birth: Konstantin Ushinsky, (1823 - 1871) considered to be the father of Scientific pedagogy in Russia. 

Again the stamp is illustrated with his effigy with a classroom on the background.

As far as I can tell, the postmark indiocates that the card was mailed from Moscow.

COVER N. 541 - UNITED KINGDOM

Postmark: Portsmouth 20.11.2024

Posted on the 20th November; Received on the 8th December 2024

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Well, it's that time of the year again. 

There was a time when next to the little Nativity Scene at our place we would put all the cards tat friends and family would send us with their kind wishes for the Season and the New Year. 

Then came email....

But, be it as it might, I still get one or two cards every year, and none more beautiful that those that my friend Fraser keeps sending, created by himself with his amazing drawing and humouristic skills.

Thanks again Fraser! I trully enjoy your amazing cards!

Fraser used one of the 5 "British cathedrals" stamps issued by Royal mails as the year's Xmas issue on 05NOV2024.

The 2.8 £ stamp is illustrated with the image of Westminster cathedral, a rather recent religious landmark at the heart of London, since the first stone was only laid in 5 years away from the end of the 19th century, i.e., 1895, the building being completed in 1902.

The mechanical postmark is rather blotched but it is possible to see that the letter was mailed from Portsmouth.

I can't resist showing Fraser's card here, which as usual is full of humour and actuality.

All the best dear friends!

COVER N. 540 - SOVEREIGN MILITARY HOSPITALLER ORDER OF SAINT JOHN OF JERUSALEM, OF RHODES AND MALTA

Postmark: Sovrano Militare Ordine di Malta -  Poste Magistrali . Giorno di emissione - 30º Anniversario Relazoni Diplomatiche con la Republica di Bulgaria 11.11.2024

Posted on the 11th November; Received on the 5th December 2024

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It is amazing how ignorant one can still be in a world where information is constantly colliding with our sensitive cells as if we were but a passive receiver of something I would call "infonemae", elementary particles of information.

I have heard of the Order of Malta before. I have been to Malta. I knew both had to be obviously linked. But I never cared to dig further. And I should have.... 

If I had done it, I would not have made a fool of myself when I thanked Eric for the great cover he so kindly sent me from the palace where the Order has the Seat of its Government - The Magistral Palace - which in conjunction with another historic building - the Magistral Vila - both located in Rome, Italy, and the upper part of  fort St. Angelo,  in Birgu, Malta,  in  practice coincide with its sovereign territory, although the order, in spite of having observer status at the UN,  cannot be considered as a state by itself... 

In truth, when I opened up my letterbox and saw a cover with a beautiful stamp bearing a legend that contained the word "Malta" and  two flags, one which I immediately recognised as the Bulgarian flag and the other I mistook for the Maltese flag, which I knew to be red and white, I thought to myself "Nice. It has been a while since I got mail from Malta and on top of that it's looks like a joint issue, great!"

So I wrote Eric a quick note (well not so quick for the message bounced a couple of times, I know not why), thanking him for my Maltese cover, and telling him how much I was happy to have it.

As usual, Eric answered me promptly and made me look again with due attention and a strongly blushed face to the cover he had so kindly sent me and which I had completely overlooked in detail....

And so I turned to the usual sources of information, and gathered that the origins of the Order of Malta, or in full, the  Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta goes back to the time of the crusades (well, that much I suspected, even before I confirmed it....), more precisely the 1st crusade, when, in 1099, the Knights Hospitaller order was founded, of which it claims to be the rightful successor.

The connection of the Order, which at present mostly acts in the field of international humanitarian assistance, with Malta dates back to 1530, when possession of the Mediterranean Island was granted to the Order by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V.

There it would be headquartered for almost  270 years until, in 1798, Napoleon, on his way to the Egypt campaign, occupied the Island, which would remain in French possession for two years, until 1980.

Expelled by the French occupants, the order members were scattered throughout Europe, although the official recognition of the loss of Malta by the Order  would only come in the Congress of Vienna of 1815, which lay the bases for modern day Europe (well, we all know what ensued next ….).

In 1834 the Seat of the Order was definitively moved from Ferrara where it had been since 1826 to Rome, where it stands to the present day in the already mentioned Magistral Palace.

Within the prerogatives of its rather uncommon international juridical status, the Order of Malta can and does issue currency and stamps, the later being usable for correspondence franking to 58 countries, (Portugal included) under bi-lateral postal agreements, I suppose. The operational side of the services is carried out by Poste Italiane, under agreement.

As a side note, Eric mentioned that France does not have a postal agreement with the Order, and I suspect that Napoleon is to be blamed for that 😀.

As already mentioned, the 3,5€ stamp on the cover, issued on 11NOV2024,  illustrated with the flags of the Order and the Republic of  Bulgaria, over a map of the later,  was issued to celebrate the 30th anniversary of  formal mutual diplomatic relations, which were established on the 11th November 1994, the Order having opened an embassy in Bulgaria in 2005.

Although the stamp concept would lead us to think to be in the presence of a joint emission, I could not find on the list of Bulgarian issues for the year its counterpart, so my theory in this respect was decidely flopped....