Pioneers of American Industrial Design, USA

well, it is time to get back this blog to life as well...you know, once you get it going, it is ok...but when you get into the hibernating mood...it is much more difficult to get out of it and start doing things...but enough of winter sleep, no?

and here is one FANTASTIC cover dear Bryon sent me last year...containing a full set of the Pioneers of American Industrial Design set which the USPS issued last year.

the whole set contains not more not less but 12 lovely stamps and Bryon as kind as he is, included them all! Thanks to him to the heaven and back for that...and for all the other amazing stuff he had sent me!
This set of stamps honours 12 of the nation's most important and influential industrial designers, where each stamp features the name of a designer and a photograph of an object created by the designer, as well as a description of the object and the year or years when the object was created.

what made me post this cover today is actually the desk-telephone stamp..the other day some friends and I were discussing about the dependence of this world on electricity and how nowadays not even landlines are functioning when electricity goes off, since those telephones need electricity in order to be operational...compared to the past when we had this kind of rotary dial telephones..and the later a bit modern version of these. As much as these new portable telephones can be handy, since you can move freely around the house while you speak, i do feel sort of nostalgic for these old times....and as much as new technology can be useful, it is not perfect and has its faults too...

ok, lets go step by step with the stamps, from left to right, top row first....

- The Eliot Noyes stamp features a photograph of the “Selectric” typewriter, which was introduced by IBM in 1961 (I still keep one at home...and I LOVED using it when I was little....I didnt usually type something particular....just random thoughts that came to my mind, but i enjoyed typing :)

- The Gilbert Rohde stamp features a photograph of a clock created for the Herman Miller Clock Company in 1933. The clock is part of the John C. Waddell Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, New York

- here is the guilty stamp :) featuring a photograph of the Model 302 Bell telephone introduced in 1937, designed by Henry Dreyfuss.

- The Dave Chapman stamp features a photograph of two sewing machines from the Special Collections Research Center at Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York

- The Frederick Hurten Rhead stamp features a photograph of two pitchers from the Fiesta dinnerware line designed for The Homer Laughlin China Company in 1936

- The Donald Deskey stamp features a photograph of a table lamp that Deskey designed around 1927–29

bottom row:

- The Greta von Nessen stamp features a photograph of the “Anywhere” lamp, designed in 1951 for Nessen Studio, Inc.

- The Russel Wright stamp features a photograph of a fork, knife, and spoon from the “Highlight/Pinch” line of flatware designed by Wright in 1950

- The Walter Dorwin Teague stamp features a photograph of the “Baby Brownie” camera, introduced by Eastman Kodak Company in 1934

- The Norman Bel Geddes stamp features a photograph of the “Patriot” radio, designed for Emerson Radio and Phonograph Corporation in 1940. The radio is part of the John C. Waddell Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, New York.

- The Peter Müller-Munk stamp features a photograph of the “Normandie” pitcher, introduced by the Revere Copper and Brass Company in 1935. The photograph is from The Liliane and David M. Stewart Collection at the Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal.

- The Raymond Loewy stamp features a photograph of a pencil sharpener prototype created in 1933

If youd like to read a bit more in-depth about each of these designers, click on the link here. It will take you some extra time, but it is worth it.

Just to mention, that these stamps belong to the Forever series.

Christmas, Dominica

Here is my participation for Viridian's Sunday Stamps today on the theme Christmas

Believe it or not the Macedonian post office is DUE to issue this next week...just egregious! I really dont know what they've been thinking..but in case you are getting a Christmas card from me this year, it's gonna be with oldish Christmas stamps...which according to me, are nothing special so don't expect some 'wows' - hoping that they won't get lost in the Christmas chaos in the first place :)
Also, our postal service issues just one single stamp each year (and it is never enough for postage), unlike many other countries ive seen which issue at least two....and often a whole set of 4 or 5 stamps.

Ok, back to the stamps above, for today I picked these issued by Dominica in 1981. The entire set consists of nine stamps actually so if anyone has the three Im missing, PLEASE contact me for an exchange. Actually, with all these rare countries issuing Disney-related stamps, I am always missing a few stamps in each set coz they never seem to be sold as a whole...I don't know why, but it is sort of frustrating :) There is also a s/s coming with this set, so I would need that one too :)

Anyways, these stamps are actually like an excerpt from the Santa's Workshop cartoon. Probably you have watched it time ago...if you haven't well, click on the link below....if you have, you can still click on the link and invoke memories :)

isn't this how most of the children actually imagine what Santa's doing? This even makes you WANT to believe in Santa! Esp. the part of the letters' reading...more or less this is what I thought had happened to the letters I sent to Santa when I was little. Maybe Santa's laughing is a bit bizarre and might give some children a scare, but on the overall, this is every child's dream land ;)
And on the side note, I really prefer these older cartoons compared to those modern ones nowadays.....yeah, call me old-fashioned :)

for some more Christmassy spirit, visit Viridian's blog

Blue Whale, Canada

Few days ago I received this fantastic cover from Glenn...and it came in very handy for this Sunday's theme of Viridian's blog, featuring Stamps of the Great White North...so apart from Canada being eligible for this category, the stamp itself feels very northy, so I simply had to choose it for today....and believe it or not, this cover took EXACTLY two months to reach me...from Canada!! I'll never understand the postal service, but im definitely more than happy it had arrived coz it is such a beautiful stamp and such a nice and clear cancellation! It would have been more than a pity if this had gotten lost somewhere..

On October 4, 2010 Canada Post issued a $10 definitive stamp depicting the world's largest creature, the Blue Whale (Balænoptera musculus). The stamp is the largest in size and highest denomination Canada Post has ever produced.
10 $ of face value certainly is A LOT and makes this stamp mainly interesting for collectors only coz I highly doubt it will be used for regular mail often.

The stamp was produced using a combination of intaglio (for the whale in the foreground) and offset lithography (for the colours in the background). The intaglio process (which was used to produce Canada’s first postage stamp) was recently reinvented using a new, state-of-the-art laser engraving technology.
A special printing technique called microtype was used to write the Latin name for blue whale - a feature that is normally impossible to reproduce by any other means than intaglio.
Additionally, a large cluster of krill (the whale’s food of choice), along with a diver, were introduced using tagging inks. These can only be seen under an ultraviolet lamp.

 here is an image of the stamp under UV:

pretty cool, no? :)

This mammal weighs between 80 and 180 metric tonnes and reaches lengths of more than 30 metres. It can travel at speeds of 33 km/hr, accelerating to 48 km/hr when chased, making it among the fastest of whale species. This fascinating giant of the deep is also unmatched in the projection of its voice, emitting low-frequency sounds that can travel hundreds of miles (and possibly entire oceans) under water. Yet despite its outstanding stature and might, sightings of the elusive blue whale are very rare—another reason why it has fascinated us since the dawn of time. In Canada, the blue whale roams the waters along the north shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence near eastern Nova Scotia, the south coast of Newfoundland, and in the Davis Strait between Baffin Island and Greenland. In the west it habits the coast of British Columbia.

Maybe not so appealing as dolphins coz whales are a bit scary, but I love them too....and im appalled each time when I read how in some part of the world there are mass killings of these animals...the latest I read was regarding the dolphins' killing in the Faroe Islands/Denmark...disgusted is the least i could say I've been...man's nature is just so twisted...

well, a few more technical details about the stamp:

Date of Issue  4 October 2010
Width            128.0 mm
Height            49.0 mm
Denomination 10.00 CAD
Perforations    13 by 13

For more north-related stamps, please visit Viridian's blog:

Have a great Sunday!

400 years since Rembrandt's birth, joint issue between Netherlands and Germany

here comes a small piece of art for today's Sunday stamps

I picked this cover with the sheet issued in 2006, to commemorate the 400 years since the birth of this great dutch painter and etcher. He was born on 15 July 1606 and died on 4 October 1669.

Im pretty sure you know quite a lot about him, so I wont be holding on to his general life, but will try to explain what's on the stamps here.

the set consists of 5 stamps plus a vignette, containing the information.
all stamps have a face value of 0,39 euros, and this is actually a joint issue between Netherlands and Germany, which has arisen some controversies, esp regarding a 70c stamp of Saskia in the prestige booklet, which the German's found invalid, since he printing - made in the Netherlands - was different from the prinitng made in Germany for the German sheetlets. The Dutch one actually contained the text in German and in some catalogue listings was said to be good for postage only in the Netherlands, which on the overall is rather confusing as to what's what, so i wont go into depth about it here.


Anyways, as for the stamps here, they all show Rembrandt's works. The top left stamp shows us Saskia van Uylenburgh in a pompous dress (Rembrandt's wife). The portrait was done sometime around 1642 and can be found at the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen in Kassel.

The stamp next to it shows a portrait of Titus reading, c.1657-1658 (Rembrant's son) at The Kunsthistorisches Museum (or the Museum of Fine Arts) in Vienna.

The third stamp in that row shows us the painting called "Woman in a doorway", c. 1656-1657, and can be found at the Gemäldegalerie (or the Art Museum) in Berlin.

As for the bottom stamps, the both show etchings, where the one on the left shows us the "Bearded man, in a furred oriental cap and robe", from 1631, which some consider to be a portrait of Rembrand's father. This can be found at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, while the other one shows us the artist's mother seated at a table, c.1629 - 1633, which can again be found at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.

for some more artistic inputs, click on the big button below

Czech Film Posters, Czech Republic

Some days ago I received this great cover from Radim.
Even though in the end I was prevented from participating in the 11.11.11 group, Radim had still decided to surprise me and sent me this great cover....with such a neat cancellation coz not only he sent the covers on 11th November but also sent them after 11 am, meaning the cancellations obtained another 11 in the postmark! Awesome, no??

and apart from the great cancellation, Radim used a great set of stamps, issued just this October, portraying Czech Film Posters.

The left stamp shows the poster for the film Markéta Lazarová (1966, Czechoslovakia) directed by František Vláčil.
The poster was designed by Zdeněk Ziegler, born on October 27th, 1932 in Prague. He is the author of three hundred film, exhibition and theatre posters, and had designed a number of sleeves for gramophone records and logos and also the author of a number of postage stamps and member of the Czech Post's Stamp Graphic Design Board
The movie is a 1967 Czechoslovak historical film and is an adaptation of a novel of the same name by Vladislav Vančura. The movie takes place in the Middle Ages, and tells the story of a daughter of a feudal lord who is kidnapped by neighbouring robber knights and becomes a mistress of one of them. Marketa Lazarová was voted the all-time best Czech movie in a prestigious 1998 poll of Czech film critics and publicists.

The other stamp portrays the film "Une femme douce" (1970, France) directed by Robert Bresson, while the author of the poster is Olga Poláčková-Vyleťalová, born on August 8th, 1944 in Hradec Králové and an author of overall seventy-six film posters which have won a number of prestigious international awards. The one portrayed on the stamp won the Cannes International Film Festival 1973 - Grand Prix for the Best Poster.
The movie is a 1969 French drama film and is Bresson's first film in color, and was adapted from Fyodor Dostoevsky's short story "A Gentle Creature (Кроткая)".

technical details:


Date of issue       5. 10. 2011
Face value          10 CZK
Size                    40 x 50 mm
Printing method   multicoloured offset

thanks a lot again Radim!

Volleyball + Football, Argentina

Today's theme at Viridian's is sports and everything related to it....having quite a lot of sports' stamps, it was a but difficult to pick...and after changing my mind several times, i ended up with two sets of stamps Argentina issued in 2002

the first set consists of two stamps, each with a face value of 75c, issued on 27 April 2002 called 20th Century World Cup Football Champions, bearing the flags of championship winners (from 1930-2002). So on the left stamp you can see the flags of France, Germany, England, Argentina (of course), Brazil, Uruguay and Italy. So far, France have won in 1998, Germany in 1954, 1974 and 1990 (this last one, in the summer of 1990, i followed with great attention), England was a winner in 1966, Argentina has two titles, 1978 and 1986, Brazil is the record-holder with 5 titles - 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002, Uruguay was the best in 1930 and 1950 while Italy has won in 1934, 1938 and 1982. Following the 2002, two other championships were held, in 2006, with Italy winning and 2010, with Spain winning the trophy. The right stamp portrays Argentina in particular, and as I had already said, indicating the years it had won the championship, in 1978 and 1986.

the size of both stamps is 43.5 mm, in length and width, while the left one is also perforated on the inside in a round shape.

the second set for today shows the Men's World Volleyball Championship, 2002

there are four stamps in the set, each with a face value of 75c. issued in 28 September.

Width 33.5 mm
Height 43.5 mm
Perforations 13.6 by 13.5

The FIVB World Championship is an international men's and women's indoor volleyball competition. It is the oldest and most important of all the international events organized by the FIVB.
It is again held every four years, and Argentina was the host in 2002, where Brazil had won, beating Russia in the finals with 3-2. So far Argentina doesnt have any trophies, neither in men's nor women's competition.

Most trophies so far were lifted by the Soviet Union, 6 in total. Brazil and Italy follow with three each, Czechoslovakia has two, and Poland, US and East Germany have one. Funny to see three no more existing countries...


to get more of your sports' dose today, take a peek at Viridian's blog

Send a Hello, USA

what a better way to greet you at the start of the new week, if not with these adorable stamps issued by USPS....so, Im sending a hello to all of you around the world and hope you have a fantastic and fruitful week ahead!

I fell for this issue, the moment I received a postcard with the "UP" stamp....I absolutely love that cartoon and i was so excited to have received it on a stamp...when it arrived on a cover, along with the rest of the stamps in the set, i was über-excited!!! And believe it or not, I have this fantastic set on 3 covers, where the one above and the one below, arrived on the very same day :D For the cover above, and the third one (which arrived a bit later), Bryon is to blame! For the cover in the middle, Patrick is to blame

the funny thing is, all covers have the stamps in the same order! I guess thats how they are sold :)

a few words about the stamps included here (how USPS described their issuing)

- Since 1986, the films of Pixar Animation Studios have stretched the boundaries of our imagination with stories about unlikely heroes who explore the bonds of friendship and family. Now some of those heroes are the subjects of colorful new Send a Hello (Forever®) stamps that encourage people to connect with loved ones through the mail. These new stamps capture the delight of finding a letter, greeting card, or package waiting in your mailbox. It puts a shine on the rest of the day-even before you've opened it. Despite all the ways we communicate with friends and family today, there's still nothing as personal as knowing someone took time to choose a card … write a letter … wrap a package … and even choose a special stamp simply to "Send a Hello"

-(dont you just recognize yourself as a postcrosser in the description above? I certainly do, coz one of my favourite moments of the day is when I find something in my mailbox, and see that someone has taken his/her time to choose a nice card for me, to choose the stamps, to write me a a nice message, to find something he/she knows I would like and send it to me to surprise me....the moments of the day when I go around the stores, finding nice cards and then coming home and see what to send to whom...finding a matching stamp or stamp(s) i know the recipient would love....the moments of going to the PO or to the philately and buy bunch of stamps, making sure there something in that pile for everyone's taste and preferences, finding that perfect card for someone and just jump around of excitement, wondering what the expression on their faces would be when they find that card as a total surprise in the mail.....)

Yup, those are definitely some of my favourite times of the day/week/month!

the following characters have been featured on the stamps (from left to right)

* Lightning McQueen and Mater from Cars (2006)
* Remy the rat and Linguini from Ratatouille (2007)
* Buzz Lightyear and two of the green, three-eyed aliens from Toy Story (1995)
* Carl Fredricksen and Dug from Up (2009)
* the robot WALL•E from WALL•E (2008)

 technical details:

 Date of issue: 19 August 2011
Denomination: First-Class Forever
Type of Issue: Commemorative Stamp
Format: Pane
Manufacturing Process: Gravure
Paper Type: Nonphosphored, Type III,
Block Adhesive Type: Pressure-sensitive
Stamp Size: 31.12 x 31.12 mm


thanks so much to Bryon and Patrick for these!!! I LOVE them!! And thanks to ALL of YOU who had ever sent me a card or a letter or anything and made my day happier and brighter! This post is dedicated to you all!!!