COVER N.180 - ITALY

Postmark: Pratovecchio AR C 52015 11.11.2022  
Posted on the 11th November, received on the 21st November 2022
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An oddly postmarked cover can add a touch of unexpectedness to the collection, I guess. Grazie Mille Roberto!

The theme for the 2004 EUROPA emission was "Holidays" and Poste Italiane chose to illustrate it on the two stamps (0,45 and 0,65 Euros) it issued on 07MAY2004 with the most iconic graphic representation of holidays that I can think of: a vintage traveller's suitcase, from the time when you could tell that a person was a well travelled  tourist from the number of hotel stickers one had on the suitcase.

The stamps both feature the same  suitcase, which on the 0,45€ stamp is closed and travelling on what is supposed to be some sort of path, a road, for instance, drawn on the background of the stamp which to my eye looks like wallpaper from an hotel room maybe, while on the 0,62€ stamp lays open upon a table, bed, maybe, at the hotel room, exhibiting the usual paraphernalia associated with holidays: hats, reading glasses, books, photo camera, travel guide, etc.

Both stamps are taken from the lower corners of the stamp sheet and on the edges they exhibit the logo of  Vastophil 2004, which I presume was a philatelic exhibition.

The postmark is the usual postmark on Roberto’s letters, from Pratovecchio.  

Given that the current international tariff is higher than the value of both stamps, a 0,18€ mechanical stamp was also applied to the letter, but it is imprinted on the lower left corner and not on the right upper corner as usual, so as not to mess up with the handwritten address, which is occupying this rather unusual position. Given the way the envelope had to be fed to the stamping machine  in order for the stamp to be applied at this position, it resulted in an upside down stamp...odd!

 

COVER N.179 - FRANCE

Postmark: 58 - Corbigny - Nievre - 10.11.2022  
Posted on the 10th November, received on the 15th November 2022
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Another cover from France with quite a recent stamp on it. Thank you so much, Jean-Pierre, for the cover and the contents.

Ada Lovelace (1815-1852), is considered to be the first computer programmer, given her association with Charles Babbage's project, the Analytical engine, and her main claim to fame comes from the fact that she developed and wrote the first algorithm to be executed  by such a machine. No mean feat, considering that it all happened in the 30s...of the 19th century when the role of women in society was, generally speaking, not geared towards such remarkable scientific endeavours.

Augusta Ada Byron, countess of Lovelace, was also the only legitimate daughter of a famous father: Gordon George Byron, the 6th Baron Byron, who would go down in history as Lord Byron, the illustrious Romantic Poet, also famous for his rather colorful life.

Byron left Ada's mother when her newborn daughter was but one month old, never to return to England or meet his daughter again and it is said that Ada's mother fostered her daughter's interest in mathematics as a way to make sure that she would not follow her father's devious steps, even though Ada would always highly regard her father, to the point of asking to be buried next to his grave.

In 2009, Suw Charman-Anderson, an activist of digital rights and freedoms, once considered by the daily Telegraph to be one of the fifty most influential Britons in technology,   established "Ada Lovelace Day" as an "international celebration of the achievements of women in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM)" as can be read on ALD's site. The day is now celebrated  on the second Tuesday of October.

In 2022, the day was thus celebrated on the 12OCT, the date chosen by La Poste to issue the 1,65€ commemorative stamp dedicated to Ada Lovelace that can be seen on the cover.

The stamp is illustrated with the reproduction of Ada's figure from a painting by   Margaret Sarah Carpenter (1836) over a turquoise background upon which  vertical running legends inform the viewer as to who is the  person in the stamp and her claim to fame as informatics pioneer, highlighted by also including the citation of  purely logical and mathematical concepts (as I, the mathematical very challenged, think is the intention...).

Unfortunately again, the post office chose to double postmark the cover, adding a mechanical postmark over the nice original manual one...

COVER N.178 - SAN MARINO

Postmark: Poste Rep. San Marino San Marino - 04.11.2022  
Posted on the 4th November, received on the 11th November 2022
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Nothing less that seven stamps on an envelope... I don't have words to express my gratitude to Eric, who again helps me tick another box in the countries list, with this amazing cover from one of Europe's micro-states, albeit its oldest one (and also the world's, for that matter, having been established in 301 AD). San Marino! Thank you so much Eric!

Stamps left to right, top to Bottom

- The 7th Winter Olympic Games took place at Cortina de Ampezzo, a well known Italian winter sports and general tourism location, right at the base of the imposing Dolomites. Calling on the attention of philatelist for the then upcoming games, Poste San Mario issued  a ten stamp set on   15DEC1955. Given that the disciplines of the competition were but seven (although there were also combined events)  three of the stamps use the same drawing, albeit in a different set of coulours.

further to the 2 Lire stamp on my cover dedicated to cross-country skying (the subject also of the 25 L stamp), the set comprised stamps dedicated to speed skating (1 l); Bobsleigh (3 and 50 L); alpine skiing (4 L); Ice Hockey (5 and 100 L), figure skating (10L) and sky jumping (200 l).

- Europa stamps have been issued since 1956, first by the member countries of the then European Communities, until 1959, then between 1960 and 1992  by the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations CEPT and from 1992 on by PostEurope, a trade association representing Europe's postal operators.

The common design chosen for the 1973 issue represented a postman's horn, brought to life through the union of three arrows representing  the  traditional vectors of communication  managed by the postal administrations:  Post, Telegraph & Telephone.

Poste San Marino issued two stamps for the 1973 set: the one on the cover with a face value of 180 L and  a 20 L one. As it was the norm by then, both stamps featured the same design although in different colour combinations.

Zodiac signs have always been a popular theme for stamp issues, so it comes as no surprise that Poste San Marino has also issued a set dedicated to the theme on 18FEB1970 (although the stamps carry a little 1969 legend next to the printers designation)

As to be expected, the issue is composed of 12 stamps (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 15, 20, 70, 90, 100, 180 L) one for each sign and constellation. As a curious side note, I have to say that Eric was right on the money, since I am a native of Pisces (although I couldn't care less about it, since I'm not a believer...)

- The theme for the 1980 Europa common issue was "Famous People". San Marino  chose to honour two of its nationals, both renaissance men who have achieved notoriety in their quite different trades, one being a  military architect, Giovanbattista Belluzzi (1506-54), and the other, Antonio Orafo (1460-1552), a jeweler and a goldsmith, 

The stamps with face values of 170 and 220 Lire (the one on my cover) were issued on 08MAY1980.

- 1977 was designated as the World Rheumatism Year by the World Health Organisation. Several postal administrations issued stamps evocative of the fact, and San Marino was one such case. The 200 L stamp being illustrated with the image of a feminine figure being trapped by an octopus. I confess I don't quite know what the allegory stands for and a search on the internet has not given me any concrete clues to it, although I found a mention to octopus feet, what I suspect is a deformation of the fingers caused by rheumatism, so this may be the missing link...

The stamp was issued on 19OCT1977

- "Transportation and Communications" was 1988's EUROPA stamps theme, with San Marino being one of the 35 countries participating in the common emission with two stamps - 600 and 700 L - issued on 17MAR1988.

The 600 L stamp, which can be seen on my cover, is illustrated with the image of a monorail train on a journey from San Marino to ....another planet, since the rail path comes out of  our little blue planet and goes on to a point somewhere where we cannot see :-) ... this is a bit strange since I do not believe there is any train station at San Marino, but maybe there's something in this image history that is escaping me, I don't know... The companion stamp follows the same pattern of a path leading out of San Marino to somewhere in space, but this time with a communications cable, maybe fiber optics, judging from the little sparkles at the end of the cable....

The Council of Europe is an international European  institution that aims to promote democracy, the rule of law and human rights within the European continent, its more famous body being the European Court  of Human Rights.

A member state since 1988, San Marino held the Presidency of the Council  from November 2006 till May 2007, and this fact was honoured by Poste San Marino with a 0,65 stamp issued on 23JAN2007, featuring an image of the country's flag alongside the logo of the Council of Europe.

The stamps are cancelled by a nice pictorial postmark, which unfortunately is not very clearly imprinted, illustrated with a  view of the Guaita tower, one of the three towers that were built on the peaks of Monte Titano, the hill that dominates the State capital.

On a short visit to the country in 2017, I took a photo of the tower that closely resembles the image in the postmark

COVER N.177 - PORTUGAL

Postmark:  First day Postmark: Solidários Com o Povo Ucraniano CTT LISBOA 2022.09.27 
Posted on the  27 September 2022.
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Yesterday was the day of the Armistice... of the War to end All wars... and yet, since that day the poppies have continued to grow in so many fields that it seems that Flanders is, just like the universe, expanding...  oh how I wish we could celebrate a different armistice, but while that doesn't happen it's good to see a yellow and blue flag being hoisted where it really belongs!

I don't usually post here FDCs that I now and them mail to myself, whenever CTT issues a series that tickles my fancy, but this one, for obvious reasons, is symbollicaly much more than just another stamp issue and what better day to post it than now that the yellow and blue flag is again flying at Kherson ...

Joining the circle of Postal Administrations that have so far issued stamps in support of Ukraine against the  unjustified and unjustifiable Russian aggression, CTT, Correios de Portugal the Portuguese Post has issued on 27SEP22 a single 0,95€ stamp illustrated by a yellow sun on a blue sky shinning on a yellow horizon over what could be a blue sea, in itself a metaphor for Portugal, or blue mountains, maybe the Carpathian... another metaphor for Ukraine. On the top centre of the stamp the legend "Solidários com o Povo Ucraniano - Солідарні з українським народом (In Solidarity with the Ukranian People)", clearly stating what the stamp stands for.

The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, issued a statement in support of the stamp issue which can be read on the presentation notice of the stamp, downloadable by hitting the link "Download da  pagela" under the issue thumbnail, on the page dedicated to  2022 stamp programme. 

 

As can be also read on the presentation notice "CTT will donate all net proceeds from these stamps to actions that contribute towards alleviating the plight of the Ukrainian people. These actions will be defined in detail in close collaboration with the Embassy of Ukraine in Portugal".

I find the commemorative postmark truly remarkable in that it transubstantiates a symbol of might and  resilience, virtues that, all facts notwithstanding, have a semiotic aura connoted to war and the military,   into a symbol of peace, hope and future, the virtues we all associate with bread, in its most essential form: an ear of wheat

COVER N.176 - FRANCE

Postmark: Philatelie - 39 DOLE - 04.11.2022  
Posted on the 4th November, received on the 8th November 2022
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Nothing better than a surprise to start the day, so Many Thanks Eric for the unexpected cover that landed today in my letterbox!

Stamps, Left to right:

- If a dog is said to be man's best friend, guide dogs have to be even more than this. I cannot fail to be truly impressed to see the way users of guide dogs trust their animal's judgment for such common day activities  as crossing streets full of traffic or getting onto a bus,  that I really don't know how I would do if nature hadn't been so kind to me, allowing me to go about my own business without any sensorial challenge.

Labrador retrievers are said to be the best dogs for the task, even though a plethora of other races can do it, provided they receive the necessary training. I, not being a dog expert (not being an expert in anything, for that matter...) am going to believe that the dog seen guiding someone in the illustration that graces the Lettre Verte (up to 20g domestic)  stamp issued on 26SEP2022 dedicated to these unsung heroes is one such puppy. 

Besides the image of the guide and the guided, there is also an imprint of the dog's footprint, which I believe is a logo for a funding campaign, since I found it also in the pages of the "Fédération Française des Associations de Chiens guides d'aveugles FFAC" next ot the legend "Ils nous soutiennent" - They support us.

- Manga... I have to confess my ignorance about a genre that is really not my cup of tea. a quick check of La Poste website, so as to enlighten myself  regarding the character highlighted on  this quite recent Letre Verte stamp issued  on 10OCT2022, didn't provide much, but I at least learned that Naruto, the character, is an aspiring Ninja and the stamp issue aims at celebrating  20 years of the manga series in France, (episodes 1 to 220) with over 20 million copies sold since 2002....

Of note is the fact that La Poste organised some sort of game or raffle running on facebook and twitter with pretty good cash prizes, associated with this stamp.

The stamps are cancelled with the postmark of the Bureau Philatelique de Dole, the birthpalce of Louis Pasteur, Éric tells me. It is quite uncommon and truly special because it comprises the portrait of Pasteur and the coat of arms of the city... nice!

Unfortunately, the cover suffers from over cancellation, and on top of  the lovely manual postmark, it also shows a  rather unnecessary machine cancellation.

COVER N.175 - CANADA

Postmark: Canada Post - Postes Canada - Barry's Bay On  Zurakowsky Park - Home of the Avro Arrow - 27.10.2022  
Posted on the 27th October; received on the 7th November 2022
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It has been a while since my last addition to the blog. A slight perturbation in mail distribution due to a couple of days of industrial action at  CTT, the Portuguese Post, but things are now back to normal, as the "clonk" of the letterbox lid  closing that I again heard today so clearly illustrated.

The moment I heard it, I ran to the door, of course, and rightly so, because amidst other letters of a far less pleasant nature - taxes and utilities accounts - there was this beautiful cover from Jeff in Canada, laden with three very recent stamps dedicated to my theme of choice: aviation. Thanks a lot, Jeff, for a fabulous cover, indeed!

The stamps Jeff used on this cover are part of the second set of the "Canadians in Flight" series, started in 2019, three stamps of  which he  had already kindly sent me on a previous sending.

The 2022 set, equally comprising five P (Permanent) tariff stamps as that of 2019, was issued on 17OCT2022. 

- Ask any aircraft fan to name a bush plane and I'm certain that a unanimous "Beaver" will be the first answer. The DHC-2.. a true Jack of all trades, rugged and capable of operating in all types of conditions from all types of strips, with STOL capabilities, be it land or sea....

Designed in the aftermath of WW2, the Beaver first flew on the 16 August 1947 and throughout its production life, that was to come to an halt in 1967, more than 1,600 aircraft were built, many of which are still flying. Although being decidedly linked with the vast and wild spaces of the American North, many Beavers were used by the military in a large number of countries.

It is fitting that such a landmark in the history of Canadian aviation would be included in a series dedicated to the theme, and this is not the first time that it happens since the Beaver also featured in the 1982 issue of the lovely Canadian aircaft series, which ran from 1979 to 1982.

The current Beaver stamp though is marked by controversy. It so happens that the designers of the stamp chose a photograph that features a DHC - 2 Beaver, indeed, but ... bearing an American registration on the fuselage, not a Canadian.  and this was not that well taken by many a Beaver and Stamp fan..... well, this is not really perceivable upon looking at the stamp with the naked eye or even with a loupe, but the artwork has been shown in much larger supports, I would thing, and that's probably where it all became apparent...

Anyway, registered in the USA or in Canada, the Beaver is as Canadian as the Mounties and fittingly it is shown on the stamp flying over land and sea, juxtaposed to 3-view drawings of it and the  a De Havilland Canada Logo substituting the Beaver for the usual Mosquito, which was issued, I read somewhere, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the former.

- Wallace Rupert Turnbull (1870-1954)... I confess my ignorance as to the relevance of Mr. Turnbull's work in the aviation field., but Canada Post informs me that he was famous for developing the variable pitch propeller, that is, the ability to change the angle of the propeller blades while the prop is rotating , an important step towards maximisation of the thrust generated by the propeller during the various phases of a flight. 

The stamp dedicated to Rupert Turnbull is illustrated by his picture in front of an airplane equipped with his invention, which is also the subject of the line drawing on the left side of the stamp.

- Flight simulators more than learning tools were life-savers. Aviation is not an activity devoid of danger for the initiated and going through what is to be  (un)expected high above the surface, knowing that no matter what you'll be always able to walk back home through the stairs down to the ground and out through the door is ... reassuring, to say the least.

Aviation simulation technology was first brought to Canada in 1947 by Kenneth Patrick (1915-2002) who founded CAE Canadian Aviation Electronics, a concern that would develop simulators for the Canadian Air Force and later for Canadian Pacific Airlines ...(writing this suddenly brought to my mind vivid images of the beautiful DC-8 aircraft in the orange livery of Canadian Pacific that I saw so many times being refuelled at Santa Maria Airport in the Azores, when I was a lad. 

The stamp dedicated to the CAE Flight Simulator is illustrated with a photo of a simulator, and it also features a side view line drawing of one such machine.

- The remaining two stamps on this set, which was issued in souvenir sheet format, are dedicated to Violet Milstead (1919-2014), one of the first female bush pilots, and a member of Britain’s Air Transport Auxiliary, during WW2. and Dr. Wilbur Rounding Franks (1901-86) the inventor of the first G-suit,  

Jeff had the Cover fittingly Postmarked at Barry's Bay, for Canada Post issued a special cancellation for that city that features an image of another of Canada's most famous aircraft, the Avro Arrow, a scale replica of which is now gate guarding Zurakowski Park, named after the chief test pilot of the Arrow, Janusz Zurakowski.

 

COVER N.174 - POLAND

Postmark: Gdansk 50 - ZA 17.10.2022  
Posted on the 17th October; received on the 27th October 2022
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Joint issues are a good idea insofar as they illustrate a common ground  relation between two or more countries,  bearing witness to a shared  goal, feature, tradition, heritage, whatever... Moreover, they are an indicator that the relation, in principle - for one cannot ever be 100% sure about what the future is holding in store - is sound, sustained and sustainable.

Of course they also bear witness to geopolitical considerations. There are some issues that would be as bewildering as well received   if ever they were to see the light of day and  just out of my head I can think of many a pair of countries that I would love to see giving a step forward and issuing a joint issue celebrating their common heritage, goal, tradition, or, even better, their commitment to a peaceful and enduring, sustained and sustainable relation...

we all can, can't we....?

Thank you so much for your nice Cover Roman. A grain of salt can only add flavour to anyone's collection  😀

Salt, sodium chloride, is an essential product, both as a preservative and a nutrient mineral, luckily plentiful in nature ...in some places, that is, since even today it is still used as money in remote areas of Ethiopia, I read somewhere.

Extracting it is an activity that has been carried out for thousands of years, ever since man first discovered that adding salt to food could be a means of preserving it for future usage, making life a little easier for our ancestors.

in general terms, salt is either extracted from the water through evaporation and precipitation  and this can be either sea water or phreatic water that runs through salt deposits such as we have good examples in my own country, or by mining rock salt - in itself a deposit from ancient salty waterways that have long dried up - directly from the earth, as with any mineral..

A salt mine can be a thing of wonder, and I well remember my visit to Salina Turda, in Romania

Salina Turda, Romania

Poland also has some such mines and two of them are so relevant that they were declared  World Heritage Sites by the  UNESCO.

These are the mines of Wieliczka and Bochnia, The latter, according to Wikipedia, has the distinction of being the oldest commercial company in Poland, and the largest salt mine in Poland, having been established in 1248. Salt extraction at the mine ceased in 1990, but it was far from abandoned because the micro-climate in its chambers  characterised by  constant temperature and humidity, and a pure, unpolluted air saturated with sodium chloride, was judged beneficial to certain ailments what led to the creation of a sanatorium, which can accommodate 300 beds. The mine, with a  maximum depth of 468 m,  also has several churches  carved in the salt rock  and its galleries and chambers are not only a tourist attraction but also a site for the  organisation of corporate and indoor sports events.

In Croatia you don't have to go that deep inside the earth's crust to extract salt. In fact it has been  extracted from the Mediterranean water in the Ston region since at least the times when the territory fell under Roman rule, in 147 B,C and the salt pans  of Solana Ston (saltworks Ston) are claimed to be the oldest in Europe, and the oldest active salt pans in the world.

The complex  occupying an area of 429.840 m2 has 58 salt pans divided in 5 sections and 9  crystallisation pans, producing approximately 2,000 tons of salt each year, which with the exception of one named Mundo (World. as a curious note the same word with the same meaning is used in my own mother-tongue)  all are designated by names of saints: Francis, Nicholas, Balthazar, Anthony, Joseph, John, Peter and Paul.

These two salty landmarks were chosen by the postal administrations of Poland and Croatia as the subject for a joint issue dedicated to the "Treasures of the Earth" that began to circulate on 02DEC2021.

The 2 stamps on the Polish issue are denominated both at 4 Zloty and just like their Croat counterparts are illustrated with photographs of the Stan Salt pans - Croatia -  and Bochnia salt mine - Poland.

The Postmark on the stamps informs us that the cover was mailed from the city of Gdansk.