cat and a cradle

 the extra 10¢ above the .85¢ domestic rate from these whimsical cats goes to support the Canada Post Community Foundation which supports community projects for children.

although none of these children slept in an 18th century cradle like this one, maybe their great, great, grandparents did.

the cats were issued in 2017 

and the cradle is from 1983 as part of the historical artifacts series

sharing with Sunday Stamps for the letter C - cats, cradle, community, children

Linc

This  'A'  stamp was all ready for last week, but it seems Olympic fever took hold and it wasn't until late that I realized I never actually posted it.
But, no worries, for Mr Alexander is being honoured by Canada Post for Black History Month.

"I'm proud of being black, but my role in Canada is to serve all the people. I'm a Canadian. Period."

Lincoln Alexander, who died in 2012 at age 90, was a big man (6'3"), full of humour with a booming voice who seemed to be friends with everyone across all social groups and political parties.

Among his many accomplishments were some notable firsts: the first black Member of Parliament, the first black federal cabinet minister, and first black Lieutenant Governor. He was arguably the most popular and beloved Lieutenant Governor of Ontario - he was even voted as the greatest Hamiltonian of all time by a poll in the city he spent most of his life.  He had buildings, schools and even a highway named after him which he found particularly amusing as he never had a driver's license. The Lincoln Alexander Expressway is always called the Linc, just as he always wanted everyone to call him.

For Sunday Stamps, a combo A & B

issued February 2018

zamboni

There are seven Canadian teams in the National Hockey League and in 2014 stamps were issued with each team's logo on the Zamboni and centre ice.

The Zamboni is an ice resurfacer that was first manufactured in 1949 by a guy named Frank Zamboni. (Zamboni is the trademarked name for the ice resurfacer, but I'm sure, no matter what brand or make is used it is known as a 'Zamboni' - rather like facial tissues are always called Kleenex.)

The NHL requires two machines to resurface the ice between periods. The ice is resurfaced before the game, after warm-ups, between periods, during playoffs, and when the game is over. With two resurfacing machines, it takes three minutes to complete the rink, each making four full passes up the ice. With one, it takes between six and seven minutes with eight full passes up the length of the ice. Before the machine was invented, it used to take over an hour with several men using scrapers, towels, hoses, and squeegees.

sharing the letter Z with Sunday Stamps 

river on hilly lands

Although this stamp is  from China, the horses made me think of Mongolia. And sure enough, it turns out this river is in Inner Mongolia. 

Outer Mongolia is what we now know as simply Mongolia. Inner Mongolia is an autonomous region of northern China. 

This is how to spell the full name in Mongol script 

 I was all set to use this stamp for R, but when I looked into finding the name, it turned out that this winding river is called Xilinguole, in the Xilinguole Grassland National Nature Reserve which covers an area of 10,786 square kilometers. The name Xilinguole means river on hilly lands in Mongolian. (though it looks pretty flat in this view)

find more X at Sunday Stamps

vines of wine

Weinanbau (or Weinbrau) is how you say viticulture in German. 
Viticulture is from the latin for 'vine'.
And here we have a stamp of a grape vine, 
in celebration of German wine making. 
In the shape of Germany!

This wine business has been going on for over two millennia as celebrated in this stamp of a woodcut from the 1309 textbook Rucelia commoda by Petrus de Crescentiis showing the steps in winemaking - planting, harvesting and aging.

for the letters V and W

UN

A Postcrosser in New York sent me a card with these United Nations stamps.

The only dated one is the one from Expo 67 which I will assume was issued in 1967. 

The flag series was from the 1980s. The air mail is possibly from the 1960s, judging by the price, and the Human Rights one is from 1989. Why it is written in German, I do not know. In English, it is about the 'right to effective judiciary' - Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law.

United Nations stamps have been issued since 1951 and have different themes than the regular stamps. You need to go to the UN building in New York, or Geneva or Vienna, to buy them and they must be mailed from  their own post office. This could be partly why they are not considered very collectable.

see more united stamps at Sunday Stamps

Christmas animals

Another Hélène L'Heureux  designed stamp, 

this year with illustrations by Christine Beauregard. 

For the domestic stamp we have a polar bear donning a bright, colourful scarf

a cardinal with sprigs of holly for the US bound cards

and a caribou whose antlers are festooned with Christmas lights takes your mail overseas.

sending warm wishes for a Merry Christmas

It has been a fun and enlightening year with Sunday Stamps.

In February, we will begin the alphabet all over again.

Tall Ships

a se-tenant stamp issued in 2000

in celebration of the new millennium where 150 Tall Ships from 22 countries sailed into Halifax Harbour - the only Canadian port - for the Race of the Century.

A late contribution for the letter S - se-tenant and ships, but then, these are not just any ships, they are Tall Ships, so also a post for the letter T. And what a tremendous spectacle this must have been.

The ships sailed from Southampton to Cadiz, Genoa, then back to Cadiz before crossing the Atlantic to Bermuda, Boston, and Halifax, then on to the final destination of Amsterdam.

three Rs

Officially known as the Republic of Rwanda, this small country in the Great Lakes region of East Africa regained independence in 1962.


The best place to see zebras in Rwanda is in the only savannah park in the country - Akagera National Park 




It is one of only two countries – the other being Uganda – where mountain gorillas can be visited safely.

From 1922-1962 it was known as Ruanda Urundi. With independence came the return of Rwanda and Burundi.

This last stamp shows a colobus monkey which is the only monkey to be without an opposable thumb

Quebec

This 2008 stamp was a joint issue between Canada and France to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Samuel de Champlain's founding of Québec City. Here we see Champlain's ship being greeting by - perhaps - the Algonquins, or some other natives with the original Habitation in the background.

I only have the Canadian one, but found the French version online, which is exactly the same but includes an explanation and year of issue.

The stamp was engraved by Jorge Peral - a rarity in the 21st century - which rook five months to complete.

From the Haunted Canada series (2016) we have Montmorency Falls, at Île d'Orléans just outside Québec. 

Legend has it that the tortured spirit of Mathilde Robin can still be seen and heard where she plunged to her death in 1759 after her true love was killed in battle (it was in the middle of the Seven Years War). Their marriage never came to pass, and she put on her wedding dress and flung herself over the falls, where she and her betrothed had spent many happy nights watching the sunset. If you should see her spirit in the water, it is said that you should keep your distance as no-one save her beloved Louis should touch her gown and 'unimaginable harm should befall anyone else who comes near it'.

for other quirks on the letter Q, visit Sunday Stamps

pets

Individually, each stamp shows an animal at home, two of them cuddling up with the children. But put the stamps together in a pane of four and they become panes of glass, forming a window through which we view the complete scene, all the children and pets in one room.

This set was issued in October 2004 for Stamp Collecting Month

Designer Isabelle Toussaint prepared a set that served as a common background for each of the four stamp scenes, and photographer Marc Montplaisir shot each scene separately. The four best photographs were then pieced together to make a seamless composite image.

"Everything was very well planned, so the day of the shoot went extremely well," says Montplaisir. For each scene he shot multiple photos, while the camera remained stationary on a tripod. "The fish was easy - as it swam around the bowl, I just waited for a good pass," he says. "I was worried about the cats, because they sometimes have minds of their own, but they just lay there, watching. The rabbit was a bit nervous and tried to skitter away, but the floor was too slippery for him. The dog was a bit more difficult, because he was excited - he kept wiggling and lifting his head off the floor." (from the Canada Post Website - you can read the full story of the making of these stamps here. it's actually quite an interesting read!)

for Sunday Stamps letter P - pets

observing outer space

The Palomar Mountain Observatory, with its art deco designed Hale Dome can be found near San Diego. Inside the dome is a 200" telescope that was first used by Edwin Hubble.

This 2003 stamp from Lithuania celebrates the 250th anniversary of the Poczobut Observatory of Vilnius.

It was the fourth observatory in Europe when it was built in 1753 on top of one of the Vilnius university buildings. By the 1960s there was too much light pollution and a new observatory was built about 70 kms north of Vilnius. The original building still does scientific research.

for Sunday Stamps for 'O'

mother and child

This mother and child happen to be Princess Elizabeth and her firstborn, Charles, based on a Royal portrait by Marcus Adams.

 The stamp was issued in October 1950 and on sale until January 1951. 

All proceeds from these health stamps were donated to the Children's Health Camps movement. These were first established as localized, seasonal camps for children to get "large meals, fresh air and gentle exercise" in 1919, and within 20 years had evolved into a national network of permanent camps.  Today, there are still seven health camps on both islands, though their focused has shifted from fitness, malnutrition and tuberculosis, to include emotional well-being, behavioural problems, child abuse, and family dysfunction.

Marcus Adams, who died in 1959, was known for his portraits of children, and photographed Queen Elizabeth with her daughters, the Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret, and later Princess Elizabeth with her children, Prince Charles and Princess Anne.

for Sunday Stamps, the letters M and N

lace

In 2011, Russia produced a set of four stamps for  

lace making as part of an ongoing series for 
Decorative and Applied Arts of Russia.

 Each sheet had four stamps in the shape of a triangle

Because the delicate lace is so beautifully detailed, here are the full views of each sheet, courtesy of wikimedia with the region the lace comes from. 
You can click on each image for a larger view.
The designer was O. Shushlebina

Belyov          Vologda

Vyatka               Yelets

Bobbin lace is a method of making lace by braiding or weaving threads held on bobbins around carefully placed pins on top of a pattern to form holes.

There are two basic movements: the cross and the twist. Different combinations of these two stitches and the placement of the pins create different delicate designs in the lace.

find more L delicacies at Sunday Stamps II

four kings

He ascended the throne to become George VI after the abdication of his elder brother, Edward. Named after his grandfather - Queen Victoria's husband - Prince Albert, Albert Frederick Arthur George was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 1936 to 1952.  He was the last Emperor of India and the first Head of the Commonwealth.



His full title was His Majesty Farouk I, by the grace of God, King of Egypt and the Sudan, Sovereign of Nubia, of Kordofan and of Darfur. He was overthrown in the 1952 military coup d'état and forced to abdicate in favour of his infant son Ahmed Fuad, who succeeded him as Fuad II. He died in exile in Italy in 1965.

Fayṣal al-Awwal ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn ‘Alī al-Hāshimī was King of the Arab Kingdom of Syria for a few months in 1920 until the monarchy was abolished, and was appointed King of Iraq from 1921 to 1933 by the British government partly on the recommendation of Lawrence of Arabia whom he met during WWI and partly because of his conciliatory attitude towards  encouraging a pan-Arab nationalism.

King Bhumibol the Great was the ninth monarch of Thailand from the Chakri dynasty as Rama IX. Reigning since 1946 he was, at the time of his death in October 2016, the world's longest-serving head of state, the longest-reigning monarch in Thai history and the longest-serving monarch having reigned only as an adult, serving for 70 years, 126 days. A one year period of mourning was announced with a royal cremation ceremony to be held later this month.

Four Kings for the letter K for Sunday Stamps II

Diwali

Diwali - the Festival of Light - will be held from October 19 - 23. Its main theme is triumph of light over darkness. The main festival night coincides with the Hindu new year during the dark night of the new moon in the month of Karttika (October-November) Traditionally there are fireworks, and small clay oil lamps are lit (in India) and candles are lit (in Canada). This can be seen in the stamps with the Indian issue on the left and the Canadian one on the right.


The festival is also celebrated by Sikhs, Buddhists and Jains.
The only times that fireworks are allowed on residential property is Victoria Day, Canada Day, New Year's Eve and Diwali. Three years ago, on Diwali night, there was a massive fire that destroyed two homes and caused extensive damage to neighbouring homes in a community near me and the cause was determined to be improper use of fireworks. 

Canada Post is hailing this as an historic first ever joint issue with India and both countries are issuing each version. 

H - Hindu
I - India
J - joint issue

Join us for more stamps at Sunday Stamps

French Guiana

French Guiana, or Guyane Francaise, is one of several colonial Guianas of South America. British Guiana is now known as Guyana, Dutch Guiana is now Suriname and the Spanish and Portuguese Guianas are now part of Venezuela and Brazil respectively.

A percevoir stamps are postage due, but also any French colonial territory that didn't have their own stamps were issued with these special a percevoir stamps. I'm not exactly sure what chiffre taxe means.

Here we have a 20 centime green border and rose Royal Palms engraved by Abel Mignon. His first stamp was issued in 1925 when he was already 63 years old. He engraved stamps for France and several of her colonies from 1925 to 1933. He died in 1936. This stamp is from 1929.

for F and G stamps
for more great stamps, head over to Sunday Stamps II

Europa

EUROPA stamps have been issued since 1956

  According to the website, these stamps represent cooperation amongst postal operators and promote philately. They exist to build awareness of the common roots, culture, and history of Europe and its common goals. 

the original six countries of Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belgium, Germany, France and Italy

with the first EUROPA stamps. Each stamp has a tower of the EUROPA letters surrounded by scaffolding, the theme being 'building Europe'.

designed by Daniel Gonzague from France.

By 1964, there were 22 members, which are represented by the 22 petals of this flower

designed by another Frenchman, this time George Betemps

A common design was used for the stamps until 1974, when a common theme was introduced. In 2017, the theme is castles. In 2018 it is bridges, and in 2019 there will be my favourite theme - birds.

see  more common, or not so common, stamps on the theme of the letter E  at Sunday Stamps II

dino eyes

Last week, it was an eye of a camera lens

this week it's an eye of a dinosaur - a reflection of one of it's own species, or the reflection in an eye of a predator

Troodon inequalis who roamed the Alberta Badlands 75 million years ago (mya)
Comox Valley elasmosaur was a marine reptile from the coast of Vancouver Island 83 mya
Acrotholus audetii was also from the Alberta Badlands around 84 mya
Cypretherium coarctatum was actually a mammal from Saskatchewan 35 mya
Dimetrodon borealis lived in  Prince Edward Island 370 mya

There is a good website here with lots more information

(click on those stamp images for a finely detailed view that I just could not get with my camera)

draw your own eyes over to See it on a Postcard for more D themed stamps

cinematography

I chose this stamp set for C for camera. But with a little research, I find that it is so much more than a camera.

The eye in the lens of the left stamp is a little freakish, but I hadn't even noticed the Man with a Camera on top of the movie camera on the right stamp. The date is 1929, and Dziga Vertov, with help from his wife, Elizaveta Svilova, and his brother Mikhail Kaufman, produced an experimental documentary silent film with no actors. It is a montage of urban life in and around a Russian city by following an avid camera man. Sort of an early version of A Day in the Life using a wide array of camera angles and editing techniques. There are numerous reviews and analyses on line if you care to check them out. Wikipedia, bless its soul, even has a convenient link to the film. If you are interested in cinematography, then this avant-garde film may be just your thing. It has been considered by some to be the greatest documentary film of all time.

for more silent stamps of the C variety, look here