Movember is here

Good evening everybody.  Movember, the month previously known as November is here and I am participating to raise awareness and funds for Prostate Cancer and male health and mental health issues.

The Mo in MOvember is for men sprouting or growing moustaches to draw awareness and attention to these and other important mens health issues.

Please consider donating to this important cause.  My Movember space is located at: http://ca.movember.com/mospace/5088045 and if you are able please donate at: https://www.movember.com/ca/donate/payment/member_id/5088045/

C/O CJOB - Radio Mail

Many of us have heard a radio announcer say "Send your name and address to ..."  The below covers were sent to Winnipeg radio station CJOB in 1962 after hearing the announcer say something very similar.

Blog Updates

Good morning,

I have been tweaking a few of my pages on the blog and have updated my Album Pages, Page:

I now have 16 album pages listed.  The complete list is below:

7 New Wonders of the World from Cuba
Children Playing from Belgium
Fijian Passion Fruit
HIstory of Russian Painting
HMCS Bonaventure
India's Aero India 2003
Kenya's Kenyan Moumtains
Norwegian Soccer Centennial
Paintings by Perov
Paraguay's Stations of the Cross
Phasmids on Fijian Stamps
Poland celebrates Stamp Day
Polish Navy During WW II
Russia celebrates the UPU Centennial
Russian Gems
Sink the Bismarck

I also added a page on my Canadian Pictorial Cancel Collection

The Grey Cup - The Game

Following my post last week on the Grey Cup Trophy, today I will detail some of the history on the Game.

The first Grey Cup Game was played on December 4, 1909 between the University of Toronto Blues and the Parkdale Canoe Club,  the Varsity Blues won the game 26 - 6.  Since then 99 Games have been held with the 100th being played November 24, 2012.

The Grey Cup - The Trophy

In 1909 Earl Grey, the Governor General of Canada, donated the Grey Cup for Canada's National Football Championship.

2012 sees the 100th Grey Cup game (no games were held between 1916-1919) and this is being commemorated by Canada Post in their 2012 stamp program. 

Trying to Get Kids Interested

Much is said in the philatelic media about our hobby dying and the lack of youth involvement in stamp collecting.  As collectors/philatelists it is our job to try to entice people into the hobby.  Now, we will continue to fight an up hill battle with the likes of X Box, PS3, Wii's, et al.  we can atleast try to involve them some how.

At my house I try to involve my children as much as possible.  One such way is developing small mounted frames with stamps of a particular frame to show them the collecting possibilities that exist. 

Classic Aircraft on US Airmails

One of my favourite stamp sets is the American Airmail stamps issued in the summer of 1947.  The 3 value set features prominent aircraft and landmarks of the time.   The stamps were printed by rotary press and are perforated 11 x 10½.  

The 10¢ value features the Martin 2-0-2 and the Pan American Union Building in Washington DC.  The Martin 2-0-2 first flew in November of 1946 and was built as an intended replacement for the venerable DC-3.  With a production run of only 47 aircraft, these aircraft were in operation until the mid-1970s.  The major operators of the 2-0-2 were Northwest Orient Airlines, LAN Chile and Trans World Airlines.

Ras Al Khaima celebrates Napoleon Bonaparte

A set of 4 stamps issued by Ras Al Khaima in 1969 features Napoleon Bonaparte as presented on 4 different portraits. 

The Titanic - Canada's Commemoratives

Issued on April 5th. 2012, the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic are among some of the best stamp designs Canada Post has used in years.

Sheet of 16 Domestic Rate Stamps

Russian Fishing Ships

.

Issued on February 28, 1967 was a set of 5 stamps depicting various ships from the Soviet fishing fleet along with various type of sea life.  All are demoninated 6 ruble and are perforated 12 x 11½.  They stamps were printed by lithography.

This is one of my favourite sets of stamps.  I like the image of the various fishing vessels with a depiction of the fish that they fish for.

The top stamp depicts a trawler/factory ship.  On these ships the catch is processed on board.  The second stamp depicts a refrigeration ship.  Where the catch would be stored but processed to the extent that a factory ship is capable.  The thrird stamp in the set shows us a crab canning ship.  This type of ship is similar to the factory ship but is specific to processing and canning a crab catch.  The fourth ship is a trawler.  On these ships the catch is preserved but processed at either a factory on shore or transfered to a factory ship.  The last stamp in the set depicts a Black Sea seiner.  A seiner is a ship that uses a seine (a net with weights on one end floats an the other).

As of 2002 the Russian fishing fleet was composed of 2,500 fishing vessels, 366 transport and 46 factory ships with a length overall greater than 24 metres (78' 9").  As of 2005 there were an additional 2,491 fishing vessels smaller than this.  The fleet is quite old and not equipped to modern standards in terms of fishing and safety.  

Sources:
Scott 2009 Catalogue
Wikipedia

Tok Islands on North Korea

My previous blarticle on a set of North Korean stamps, raised an issue of finding genuinely used stamps from North Korea.  It got me thinking that I have a ton of CTO stuff but haven't seen much that has gone through the mail.  Then I came across the following sheet of 3 stamps with label.

Updated Album Pages, Page

I have updated my album pages, page with three new album pages.

Cuba's 7 New Wonders of the World issue
Belgium's Children Playing Set
Norway's Soccer Centenary Sheet of 6

Togo Goes Hunting

On May 25, 1975 the Republic of Togo issued a set of 4 stamps (2 regular, 2 airmail) depicting hunting scenesand are inscriped "CHASSE AU TOGO" (Hunting in Togo).

This set appeals to me, not because I am a hunter (I tried it once and that was enough), but the simplicity in design and what I feel is the clean look of the designs.   The only awkward design element is the lack of scale when you compare the animal sizes to the hunters.

The stamps were printed  by lithography and are perforated 13 x 13½.

The Battle of Trafalgar 200th Anniversary

One of the most defining naval actions in history, the Battle of Trafalgar asserted the Royal Navy's and Great Britain's dominance of the seas.  Fought on the 21st of October 1805, off Cape Trafalgar between the combined French and Spanish Fleets against Britain's Royal Navy.


Battle of Trafalgar Bicentennary Stamps Issued by Great Britain October 18. 2005



International Quiet Sun Year

The International Quiet Sun Year (IQSY) was a cooperative international effort to study the effects of the sun during the quiet period of the 11 year solar activity cycle (Dec.  1964 – Dec.  1965).   The IQSY was organized by the International Council of Scientific Unions to study solar events that are easier to observe during periods of lower solar activity.  Observations were made using terrestrial observatories and various spacecraft. 



Set of 6 stamps issued by Togo for the IQSY



Online Philatelic Research Sources

In the internet age, researching your collection, or just performing basic research is made much easier.  With the click of a button you can have access to many resources on the country or topic/theme you collect.  The intent of this blog is not to provide lists of reference sites to clubs and societies (although many offer archived versions of their journals), but to provide you a short list (two sites) where your can expand your knowledge and find some extraordinary philatelic writing from the past.  The advantages are that you can do the research from your house and the resources are free.

Page from Postage Stamps of Canada. Poole, Bertram William Henry retrieved from Archive.org
http://www.archive.org/details/postagestampsofc00poolrich

Custom Album Pages

Here are a couple of customized album pages I designed using Scribus.  If you would like a copy in either .pdf or the scribus source file send me an email at alynstampcollector@gmail.com and let me know.

My Album Pages, Page

I have added a page to show some of my custom made album pages. As time permits I will add more of the pages I designed. They range from the extremely rudimentary to some that are quite nice. I currently use Scribus, an open source freeware Desk Top Publisher to design my pages. Other programs that I have used are MS Word, Open Office/Libre Office Writer, MS Publisher and AlbumEasy.

I will provide blank templates in either the programs native format or as a .pdf if you ask.

So here are links to the pages I have scanned and provided so far:

Sink the Bismark
Paraguay's Stations of the Cross
Poland's Navy During WWII
HMCS Bonaventure