You can find some real nuggets of fun from stamps. Sheila at a Postcard a Day posted a stamp of a steam engine called Ivor, from a much loved children's cartoon. I'd never heard of this so looked it up and found several of the short episodes. There went the rest of my Sunday afternoon!
If you wish, make yourself a cup of tea and see for yourself.
Ivor is from the "top left hand corner of Wales." I love hearing the narrator trip so smoothly over those complicated Welsh names. The stories are enchantingly slow-paced and the animation very simple. Perhaps too simple in the original 1950s series.
The original series was written, animated and narrated by Oliver Postgate in 1958. In the 1970s colour episodes were made with each episode forming part of the longer story which meant that each week the poor viewer was left with an almost excruciating cliffhanger. Above is the first of the colour episodes and below is the original B&W version.
Ivor wants to join a choir and the rest of the six episodes tell how this comes about.
