Why do we collect?

I often pose this question to my inquiring self.  Depending of the phase I’m going through, I either try to rationalise it or let my innermost whims take over, that is to say I try to find an explanation I’m comfortable with, or just stamp the matter “closed” and carry on with my usual earthly business of living, in itself question enough to raise doubts and cares, without having to dwell into the metaphysics of human behaviour.

Curiosity?

Yes, but this would not explain why we’d want to keep things, once looked upon and analysed.

A sense of  possession?

Yes, this would explain the second part of the phrase above, but then again would also negate the question it tries to answer, since one can hoard, just for the pleasure of it…

Investment?

Some might do it with this purpose in mind. But I’m sure most collectors (the more so, since most of them won’t have the financial resources it takes to have a  collection of anything that might be looked upon as an investment) search for more immediate rewarding for their act of amassing  things than to see the value of their possessions raise in the course of decades of their lives.

A challenge?

To enjoy the sensation of overcoming the hurdles of trying to put together a series of things, some harder to find than others (and then to just file them on the cabinet, never caring to look at them again, unless someone sparks the opportunity to brag about it in a casual conversation…)

A pastime?

“Time passes slowly / up here on the mountains… “ stated the old Dylan song and yes, finding a way to fill up that time can be a daunting task for some people who retire from a active life and suddenly find themselves with too much time on their hands, not having developed in the course of those well worked years  other time demanding interests that would ensure them the continuation of a life free from constant checks at the wristwatch…

Educational  interest?

If one is into collecting for just more than possessing, this might be an important driver. I feel  it is so amongst many of the collectors that share blogs on the web about philately related themes (there are some pretty good examples on my links section of this blog, but many others exist).

A combination of several of these?

Probably, yes. Like the recipe for a well known delicacy, the contents of each of the ingredients varies according to the cook, but with more of a) and less of b), in the end it all boils down to the same time honoured dish.

The fact is that collecting, like any other activity strictly related to one individual in particular, is transitional….you can’t beat cell ageing….

But as  long as we find pleasure in having our little museum for ourselves, no matter what motivation lies behind it, provided we look upon it as an occupational  and motivational boost to our daily existence  and do not overburden others with it (be it financially, space or socially wise), I see no dangers in it, other than devoting time to think about it or write stream of thought conjectures such as  I’m doing right now.

Any opinions? The comments box is always open…

POSTCARD N.25 - Portugal

Postcard posted on the 5th August; received on the 11h August
Postcard image: River Douro and the city of Porto
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The travelled distance might not be as large as that associated with most of the postcards on this blog, but the pleasure of receiving and reading is just the same, because my world begings just outside the window in this room where I'm typing this right now. Thanks a lot, Pedro, I really enjoyed it.

Porto. The city that gave the name to the wine that was carried in the casks that can bee seen in the Rabelo boats on the photo, from the high Douro valley, where the vinyards and winneries are located, to the warehouses of Vila Nova de Gaia, just across the bridge from the Ribeira, the area intensly illuminated on the right centre of the card. 

The historic Centre of Porto, as well as the D. Luis Bridge an all metal double deck bridge designed by Théophile Seyrig a disciple of Gustave Eiffel, one of the 6 connecting both margins of the Douro, and the Monastery of Serra do Pilar, were awarded World Heritage Site status by the UNESCO in 1996, the United Nations agency stating that Porto "...with its urban fabric and its many historic buildings bears remarkable testimony to the development over the past thousand years of a European city that looks outward to the sea for its cultural and commercial links".

Today's Porto is a vibrant and cosmopolitan city that will surely fit the special interest bill of any traveller that elects to spend a day, a month or a year getting to know its people, culture and heritage.

Part of that charm can also find its roots on the huge renovation that the city underwent when it was declared European Capital of Culture in 2001, a title it shared with the city of Rotterdam in the Netherlands.

One of the emblems of that renovation was the Casa da Música, a magnificent concert hall designed by  the Dutch Architect Rem Koolhaas, that prooved to be so complex to build that was only concluded in 2005, long after the city had ceased its Capital of Culture status.

But good things take time, and after having had the opportunity to attend a baroque music concert in the main concert hall, all I can say is that I want more....

All this talk about casa da música stems from the fact that one of the 3 stamps Pedro used to post the Postcard  has a photo of it. With a face value of 0,50€ it was issued on 20SEP2017 as part of a 4 stamp set dedicated to the city of Porto, as a continuation of the series started in 2016 with a set dedicated to Lisbon, denominated "As nossas Cidades" (Our cities). The other 3 stamps on this set show the D. Luís Bridge (0,70€); a Barco Rabelo and a local jumping off the D. Luis bridge to the river (0,80€) and a general panoramic view of the city (0,85€).

The other 2 0,02€ stamps Pedro used to complete the 0,54€ - domestic up to 20g - tariff were issued on 17APR2015, as part of a the second emission of definitive stamps dedicated to radical sports (the first having taken place on the previous year).

The postmark that was only applied to the lesser value stamps reads CPL Norte (Centro de Produção e Logística - Norte) which lead me to think the postcard was posted in the city of Maia, which is part of the Porto Metropolitan Area. 

POSTCARD N.24 - Russia

Postcrossing postcard posted on the 29th July; received on the 11h August
Postcard image: Staritsa, Tiver Region
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Russia, the largest country in Europe, so large it spreads over two continents and yet, come to think of it, able to be condensed in a Postcard, such as the very nice one I thank Yulia for having sent me.

Cities crossed by rivers always seem to have a special allure for the inquiring visitor and this seems to also be case with Staritsa in the Tver Oblast region, located on the westernmost side of the country, a mere 650 km as the crow flies from the capital of Lithuania, the country where postcard 23 came from.

Besides the old churches, like the ones in the postcard, and monasteries, it seems that Staritsa is very famous amongst speleologists, due to an abundance of caves in the informal quarries that were exploited by locals in the 18th and 19th centuries.

I, not being particularly fond of going under the ground, would nonetheless love to make the rounds of the area, since it looks really interesting, as Yulia also thinks it is.

Stamps used:

The top stamp is as fresh as the blueberries on it, since it was issued on 15APR2021 as part of a very nice 4 even priced (50 rubles) auto-adhesive stamp set issued in block form, dedicated to berries (the other illustrated berries being the sea buckthorn; blackberries and gooseberries).

The other two stamps used are self-adhesive 1 ruble stamps of the 7th definitive Issue of the Russian Federation, started in 2019. They exhibit the State Postal Administration Emblem on them and were issued on 07AUG2019.

In the large machine applied cancellation I can only read the phrase почта россии (Russian Post) and the date of expedition 290721.

COVER N.31 - Israel

Postmark:  - 29JUN2021, Tel Aviv - Yafo
Posted on the  the  29th June; received on the 12th August.
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Being a member of the London Cover Circuit Club made it possible to inscribe another nation in my growing philatelic atlas, with the addition of a cover sent from Israel. Thanks you so much Yair.

Counting the days between the posting date and my receiving it, I compute 45, and I guess that this is still the pernicious effect of the disruption in postal services brought about by the pandemic showing its teeth. Anyway, what really maters is that a cover kindly and carefully posted on the far east corner of the mediterranean has found its way home to the westernmost country of Europe.

With my postal items collection being still in its infancy, every new cover that I get, especially if  hailing from a country previously  unknown to my letterbox,  fills me up with a joy that I admit to be a bit puerile, as if I was finally  taking revenge from those primary school days when I'd  envy the trading card albums of colleagues that I so much wanted also to have but could not, because choices had to be made (what little coins I managed to amass would end up traded at the barber's shop by a second hand comics book).

Back then trading cards were also quite different from nowadays. Agência Portuguesa de Revistas - a Portuguese publisher who had the rights for Portugal for really significant stuff like the comic strips from King features Syndicate, for instance - also published trading card collections and yes, there were soccer players collections, but there were also far nicer collections on various other general knowledge themes like the history of Portugal, with cards that were themselves a genial exercise of comics book design style,  or the wonders of the natural world...

Anyway my cards are now different, but the pleasure I get from them is the same I used to get from that saturday morning trip to the barber's shop to trade the 25 tostões coin (two and a half escudos, the then official Portuguese monetary unit) by  the latest adventure of Cisco Kid or The Phantom, the ghost who walks... 

but, I digress again... and all this because of a cover I got from Israel...

Stamps, left to right:

10 new agora auto-adhesive stamp issued on 28AUG2014, with the same design and face value  of a normal gummed stamp issued earlier in february of the same year. The flower illustrated in the stamp is the gerbera.

The 2,5 new shekel stamp is part of a 3 stamp set complemented by a souvenir sheet on "Meetings of Peace".  These stamps, issued on 15DEC2020, illustrated with biblical episodes, bear witness to the need for understanding and covivence between different cultures that is central to the Israely history of yore and today.

The Israel post website was the source for the biblical citation this stamp refers to:

“At that time Abimelech and Phicol, chief of his troops, said to Abraham… swear to me here by God… deal with me… loyally as I have dealt with you… and Abraham said I swear it… and they concluded the pact at Beer-sheba” (Genesis 21:22-32).

The other 2,5 new shekel stamp was issued on 09APR2018,  on the occasion of the year's celebrations of the Israel Memorial Day, a remembrance day for the fallen soldiers of the wars of Israel and the victims of actions of terrorism.

My complete ignorance of the Hebrew alphabet only allows me to read the part of the postmark with the name of the place where the cover was mailed: Tel Aviv - Yafo

POSTCARD N.23 - Lithuania

Postcrossing postcard posted on the 21st June; received on the 9th August
Postcard image: Juodkrantè - Witches' hill sculpture (1979-1981)
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A very nice wood sculpture takes centre stage on this beautiful postcard I received from Lithuania, sent by Vidas, whom I thank a lot for it.

A bit of research on the internet allowed me to understand that the Hill of the Witches is a very popular destination near the also highly popular seaside village of Juodkrantè, located  in the Lithuanian part of the Curonian Spit, one of those accidents of geography that on first acquaintance, as it was the case,  immediately stirs one's curiosity, due to its uncommonness. The Spit is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site, shared by Russia and Lithuania.

In its essence, the Hill of the Witches is a folk themed wooden sculpture park in the forest, that was created with a first nucleus of 25 wooden sculptures installed in 1979 to celebrate the international year of the child. Since then the number of exhibits has largely increased and some sculptures have already been replaced by new ones, since over time, being made of organic material,  they are prey to the elements.

4 stamps were used to make sure the postcard reached my letterbox in Portugal:

left to right; top to bottom:

the 0,03€ stamp is part of a 3 stamp definitive auto-adhesive set, issued on 04JAN2019 dedicated to Historic National Flags.

It depicts the Lithuanian Presidential flag. Quoting from the Site of the Lithuanian Presidency, the Presidential flag is thus composed:  "A purpure cloth centre front and back is charged with the coat of arms of the State of Lithuania with supporters: on a pedestal a griffin rampant in dexter and a unicorn rampant in sinister, all argent, armed and membered or, langued gules. The cloth edged on three sides in cord or. Ratio - 5:6. The staff of natural wood has a finial imprinted with the coat of arms of the State of Lithuania."

The other stamps and flags on this set are the Historical State Flag (0,10€) and the National Flag (0,49€)

The 0,29€ stamp was issued on 02JAN2015 as part of a 6 stamp auto-adhesive definitive issue with face values of 0,01€; 0,03€; 0,10€; 0,29€; 0,39€; 0,62€, commemorative of the introduction of the Euro, themed on old Lithuanian coins adorned with the  Vytis, the Symbol of the Emblem of the Lithuanian State.

The 0,42€ stamp is part of a 2 identical face value auto-adhesive stamp set dedicated to the rodents of the red book of conservation in Lithuania, issued on 08APR2017. it depicts the Northern Birch Mouse (Sicista betulina), a small rodent about 5 to 8 cm long (without the tail), weighing 5 to 13 g, with a vast distribution ranging from  Scandinavia, Central and Eastern Europe to Northern Asia.

The Vytis is again the showpiece in the  0,01€ stamp. Issued on o2JAN2016, this self-adhesive stamp integrates a 6 stamp definitive set, with images of the Vytis used in flags, with face values of 0,01€; 0,03€; 0,10€; 0,29€; 0,39€; 0,62€.

The green potsmark lets us know that the postcard was mailed from the city of Rokiškis, in the north of Lithuania. 

 

COVER N.30 - Poland
Postmark:  - 24JUL2021, Warszawa
Posted on the  21stJuly; received on the 9th August.
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When I went to check my letterbox  today, I could swear propeller noise was  rising from the depths of it….I eagerly opened it to find this beautiful cover sent from Poland. Thank you so much, Roman.

Knowing my interest in all things air, Roman went through the trouble of securing me a cover with a special cancellation commemorative of the 90th anniversary of the Polish Police Aviation branch, which must have been established in 1931, although I could not find any detailed information of this particular air service on the web.

To ensure a suitable landing spot for the large  commemorative postmark, Roman used the two stamps of a set issued on 22AUG2015 both as individual stamps and in se-tenant form commemorative of the 2015 Radom Air Show. 

The Radom air show is the most important air show in Poland and also one of the major airshows in Europe. It takes place every two years at the Radom-Sadkow air base. 

The two stamps have an identical face value of 2.35 Zloty, and both show products of the Polish aviation industry in the form of a  PZL-Świdnik SW-4 light single-engine multipurpose helicopter, which entered service in 2002 with the Polish Air Force, and a single engine, two seat,  turbo-prop trainer aircraft, the  PZL-130 Orlik, manufactured by PZL Warszawa-Okecie , which entered service with the Polish air force in 1994.

A third stamp with a face value of   3.30 ZL was used by Roman on this cover, this having been the first Polish stamp issued in 2020, on 17JAN2020, as part of a definitive series started in 2018, dedicated to the cities of Poland. The other stamp of this series for the year was a 10ZŁ stamp representing the city of  the Żywiec.

The Large circular commemorative postmark shows a Black Hawk Helicopter of which the special operation branch of the Polish Army operates 5 units partially locally built by the PZL Mielec  factory, now a subsidiary of Lockheed Martin, encircled by the phrase "90 Lat Lotnictwa Policjinego" (90 Years of Police Aviation) and the date and place of apposition: 24-07-2021 WARSZAWA”.

COVER N.29 - Australia
Postmark:  - 23JUN2021, DLC CFCP 453
Posted on the  23rd June; received on the 28th July.
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Melissa sent me Postcard 22 in an envelope, a gesture I do appreciate. Thanks Melissa.

The stamp used on it is part of a 4 stamp set issued on 22FEB21 (0,20; 2,70; 3.40; 3.50 AUD), celebrating 4 of the 66 RAMSAR sites of Australia. The Riverland Wetland in the State of South Australia is the site featured on the 3,50 AUD stamp.

Ramsar is the name of a city in Iran, where in 1971, an international convention for the protection of wetlands and of their resources was signed. Having entered into force in 1975, it has already adopted by almost 90% of the UN states.

The machine applied cancelation tells us that the cover was processed in Dandenong Letter Centre. Victoria. Machine No 453, on the 23rd June at 22h10. Sadly the cancelation is skewed, so the very nice vignette cannot be fully appreciated, but it shows an indigenous art drawing with the slogan ".... indigenous communities" any help regarding the exact wording of this slogan would be greatly appreciated, so if you happen to know how it fully reads,  drop a line in the comments box. Thanks.

POSTCARD N.22 - Australia
Postcrossing postcard posted on the 23rd June; received on the 4th August
Postcard image: Aerial View of Melbourne, Australia, at Dawn
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Thank you Melissa for the very nice postcard, and also for having gone through the trouble of mailling it in an envelope.

Melbourne, the capital of the Sate of Victoria, on the southeast coast of the Island continent. Australia, the land where once I thought I would go after finishing high school to star a living; the land where I had a pen friend when that actually meant handwriting and waiting a couple of months for the letter to arrive (even though it seems that nowadays things aren't much better judging by the 43 days Melissa's postcard took to reach my mailbox...).

Australia the land of all that exotic and dangerous fauna and of men who know the stars and the elements like no one else does, of the great barrier reef and the great red desert... it has always exerted an intense fascination on me and it still does... almost half way round the world... maybe one day... who knows...

Although sent in an envelope, Melissa's card  was also stamped with a 1.10AUD stamp which wasn't of course cancelled. It features a nice painting of a Laughing Kookaburra (Dacelo novaeguineae), the state bird of New South Wales. It is part of a 6 equally priced set (1.10AUD) of stamps issued both in self-adhesive and normal versions on 21 APR2021,  dedicated to the state birds of Australia. out of curiosity, the other state birds are as follows: 

Queensland - Brolga (Grus rubicunda)

Western Australia - Black Swan (Cygnus atratus)

Australian Capital Territory - Gang-Gang Cockatoo (Callocephalon fimbriatum)

Victoria - Helmeted Honeyeater - (Lichenostomus melanops cassidix)

Northern Territory - Wedge-Tailed Eagle (Aquila audax)

POSTCARD N.20 - USA
Postcrossing postcard posted on the 20th July; received on the 30th July
Postcard image: Somewhere in the State of Maine
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Peter tells me he likes to hike and photograph and this nice shot of an heart shaped lake, somewhere in the state of Maine, in the extreme Northeast of the USA, in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains was taken by him. Thanks a lot Peter. Nice card and Nice shot.

To mail me his card, Peter used a "Forever"  Global rate  self-adhesive Stamp, issued as a single stamp on 24APR2020.

The machine applied cancelation was applied at the Southern Maine Processing and Distribution Centre (P&DC)

POSTCARD N.19 - China
Postcrossing postcard posted on the 22nd July; received on the 29th July
Potscard image: Neumünster sights. the bottom 2 images show Vicelinkirsche (left) and the Town Hall (right)
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Another Postcard from a far off country landed on my mailbox. Yue, whom I thank for it, explained that this was an official postcard issued in connection with the 2018 Olympic Games held in Beijing.

Yue also draws my attention to the fact that a special laser printing process was used on it, and this is apparent in the little printed transparent sunbursts that seem to animate when you move the card against a light source. Nice

the images on the card are those of the official Games mascots, and we have left to right: Beibei, Jingjing, Huanhuan, Yingying, Nini.

Consulting the official International Olympic Committee site, I learn that joining the names together we get the phrase "Bei Jing Huan Ying Nin", which translates as Welcome to Beijing". An interesting short summary of the simbology of the mascots can be found here.

Two additional stamps to the pre-printed stamp on the card were used to mail it to Portugal:

A 1.20 yuan stamp issued on 19MAY2016, part of a 6 even priced stamp set, themed on China’s ancient towns. The beautiful image on the stamp depicts  an old Arch in the ancient Town of Qinyan, in the Guizhou Province. another stamp of this set was used on postcard #5.

A 1.50 yuan stamp issued on 10SEP2016 as part of a 6 stamp set (2 x1,5 Yuan + 4 x1,20 Yuan) dedicated to the Maritime Silk Road. The stamps on this set were also issued enclosed in a minisheet.

the 80 fen stamp dedicated to the Benjing 2008 Olympics is pre-printed on the card.

Sadly I cannot read the postmark.

POSTCARD N.18 - Germany
Postcrossing postcard posted on the 22nd July; received on the 29th July
Potscard image: Neumünster sights. the bottom 2 images show Vicelinkirsche (left) and the Town Hall (right)
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Sarah, a german Postcrosser, sent me this nice card from her hometown of Neumünster, a city in the Schleswig-Holstein State. 

The 0,95€ stamp Sara used is part of the 2 stamp set (0,95€ and 2,70€) issued on 01MAR2021, of the series U-Bahn-Stationen (U-Bahn Stations). It depicts the Übserseequartier Station of the Hamburg U-Bahn.

The machine applied cancellation indicates that the card was posted in Briefzentrum 24, corresponding to the city of Kiel. The cancellation includes the "Gemeinsam Gegen Corona sich selbst und andere Scützen..." (Together against Corona, protect yourself and the others...) vignette that officialy began to be applied on the 1st June, 2021.

Credit: Deutsche Post