Sunday 26 October 2014

Workers of the World

2013: Europa - Postman's Van
For the 'Professions and Trades" theme this week of course my first thought was of  the person we look forward to each day, Postie, and here we see three of them on their rounds.  The one featuring a postman on his bike and the one pushing a trolley looks to be by the side of the River Liffey in Dublin. An Post operate one of Ireland's largest fleets of motor vehicles and the green van is a familiar sight in town and country. The stamp design is by Steve Simpson working with the photographer Harry Weir.

Of course I always want to see stamps on my post so lets pay a visit to the printer
although in this case they are printing books.  This is from a series of definitive stamps issued by Yugoslavia in the 1950s featuring numerous workers at their trade.
In 1969 Belgium celebrated the 50th Anniversary of the International Labour Organisation with a stamp featuring a 1950 painting by Fernand Léger "Les Constructeurs".  The ILO was founded in 1919 as part of the Treaty of Versailles in the  wake of World War 1 its objective was, and is, to "pursue a vision based on the premise that universal, lasting peace can be established only if it is based in social justice".
So here is a bit of equal opportunities and perhaps could be working below the builders on the construction site, there certainly seems to be a ladder behind them, which may be made of wood
Lumbering
The building will have to be wired up so here comes the electrician
From all the hustle and bustle of the building site perhaps its time to retire to the hubble bubble of a chemistry laboratory
for in the 1950s Czechoslovakia also produced engraved definitive stamps on occupations, although I don't have many of this particular set, unlike the Yugoslavian ones which I think were issued for a longer time and in various printings, colours and denominations which may be the reason I seem to have rather a lot in my childhood album. 
Time to take a walk into the countryside and watch the fields of sunflowers being picked.

And then pay a visit to see other Professions and Trades at  Viridian Postcard's Sunday stamps meme here.

7 comments:

Postcardy said...

A nice selection. My favorite is the painting by Fernand Léger.

Heleen said...

Such a great collection! My favourite are of course the stamps showing postmen, but also the other stamps I think beautiful.

viridian said...

I like the engraved style of the Yugoslav and Czech stamps. And the stern lady holding the pile of books. thank you for joining in this week!

Bob Scotney said...

I've shown the Belgian construction stamp before so recognised it immediately.
Great Irish stamps.

Lisa B said...

Looking at all of your selections I think I prefer the older designs to the modern photo of the Irish stamps, not that I don't like those, but the others seem more like works of art in themselves (not just the stamp of the painting).

Sheila @ A Postcard a Day said...

I agree with Lisa in preferring the older stamps. It seems terribly disloyal to the land of my birth, but I really don't much care for the Irish stamps.

Mail Adventures said...

Ireland is also soooo green...!

The stamp with the printer also surprised me. Very fine design.