Tchad Trades

1970: Trades and Handicrafts

I like the muted colours of this set unfortunately I could find no information on the designer but here we have a dyer which happily for Sunday Stamps Letter T is Teinturier in French.  The other aspect of the stamps is the placing of the word 'Postes' so it almost looks like it could

be a post office although perhaps it would have to be at some distance from a tanning operation.

1961-1962: Definitives - Animals and Landscape

Chad commemorated its independence in 1960 with a stamp celebrating its admission to the United Nations and the following year issued its first definitives as an independent country.  This stamp shows the province of Batha which is right in the middle of Chad and presumably in the 1960s had many lions.  Deforestation and livestock farming means that in the present time numbers have been decimated.

1962 Postage Due Stamps: Rock Paintings (Design - Pierre Béquet; Engraver - Pierre Munier)

Travelling way back in time 6000 years then millions of animals roamed the area and the postage due stamps featured rock paintings from the Tibesti mountains in Sahara region in the north of Chad. The stamp description says - Tibestiox, which I presume is an ox

1962 Postage Due Stamp: Rock Paintings (Design and Engraver - Pierre Munier)

and this is Tibestiram which I first thought was a bird but I guess it could be a ram's horn. Your guess is as good as mine.

Place de la Nation, Chad

Sunday Stamps II prompt of the Letter T for Tchad, Trades, Tree, Teinturier, Tanneur and Tibesti - travel for more at See It On A Postcard

Insects

1972: Insects (Design - Pierrette Lambert)

 This little dragonfly can be seen all over sub-Saharan Africa in swampy habitats, its common name is piedspot. The artist is the multi award winning Pierrette Lambert (b1928) who designed bank notes and stamps for countries in Europe and Francophone Africa.  She produced an amazing number of stamps (1300), her last commission being in 1997 after which she retired to concentrate on painting.

1994-1998 Definitives Flora and Fauna (Design - Wendy Bramall)

One of our most common damselfly's Latin name happily starts with the letter I - Ischnura elegans (Blue tailed damselfly) and despite its name can be found around inelegant surrounds such as brackish ditch water as the artist shows with the plants that also inhabit these places of shallow still water.  For insects with less ethereal wings I turn to the sturdy moth

1994: Moths (Design - I Loe)

Left to right there is the Tiger Moth whose hairy 'woolly bear' caterpillar was always a favourite of mine as a child. In the middle is the Elephant Hawkmoth and on the right, the Emperor ruling the air.

Although this moth is found in Europe it is not present in the British Isles apart from one place in County Clare, Ireland.  This is the Burren Green named after the area in County Clare where it was first found in 1949. The Burren National Park is a special place for both flora and fauna.

2012: Roald Dahl PHQ Card

Lastly some giant talking insects who James Trotter discovers in an enchanted giant peach and in whose company after many adventures around the world ends up in a mansion in Central Park, New York. James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl  as shown was illustrated by Quentin Blake.

The Sunday Stamps II prompt of the Letter I - for Ireland and Insects - See It On A Postcard

Guitar

1969: British Post Office Technology (Design - David Gentleman)

This week Sunday Stamps II has reached the letter G so how could I resist this stamp featuring the Post Office National Giro Bank and their G logo, not only that but for a double G this letter was sent from Glasgow. The cancel "Dial Carefully All figure Telephone Numbers Dial Correctly" refers to the roll out from 1966-1970 of all figure telephone numbers from the previous combination of letters and numbers (the letters signifying the local telephone exchange).  Dialing the wrong number might make one

2016: Mr Men and Little Misses

grumpy.  A celebration of Roger Hargreaves many characters and Mr Grumpy is the grouchiest person in the whole world.  Mr Happy sends Mr Tickle to tickle him if he is mean to someone but perhaps he just needs some music to cheer him up

2018: Popular Culture - The 1960s

maybe a bit of psychedelia or he could learn to play the guitar. Each of the stamps in this Jersey set were designed by different illustrators and the 63p is by Malcolm English (b1946), award winning illustrator and designer  who is famous for his illustrations in the Carnaby Street book.

1965: Musical Instruments

Maybe Mr Grumpy can learn to play this Chadian guitar

2013: Extreme Sports (Design - Bruno Maximus)

or just enjoy playing air guitar.

1983: Music in Sweden (Photo Anders Hanser; Engraver - Czeslaw Slania)

or sing along with ABBA.  I think I will take this option - take it away on your guitar Björn.

Sunday Stamps II prompt of the Letter G - for Great Britain, Giro, Guitar and Grumpy - See It On A Postcard
 

Flags and Maps

Åland's first stamps were issued on 1st March 1984 although they were actually produced by the Finnish Post Office in cooperation with Åland's provincial government.  At this time of change both Finland and  Åland stamps could be used on post and the cover above takes full advantage.  A few years later in 1993 under the Autonomy Act matters including postal were run on the islands and Finland's stamps were no longer valid.
Lets look at the stamps starting at the top left which shows Åland located amongst the Nordic Countries; the cover repeats this sentiment in its map outline on top of an aerial photograph.  Travelling anticlockwise next are two of their first fishing boat definitive stamps. Three other stamps were issued in March 1984 of which two are on the cover, the harbour of Marienhamn and the sails of the barque Pommern (a museum ship which is a popular tourist attraction) and in the background, modern car ferries. The Åland flag flies in the corner and the stamps are completed by Midsummer celebrations (one of Finland's Europa stamps from 1981 on the theme of Folklore).

This made me wonder what stamps I might have that combined both flag and map and discovered two from conflict torn countries

This one commemorating Congo Independence also shows Joseph Mobutu who came to power in a military coup

c1966 Official Stamp

and this one also contains an outline of Lake Chad and its source rivers in Chad. 

For a sporting view of the world go back to 1962 when the Football World Cup was held in Chile. The flags are of Columbia and Uruguay who both went out in the group stages

The countries that made it to the quarter finals but no further were the stamp issuers, Hungary, the USSR with their instantly recognisable flag, England and West Germany. The other flag is Yugoslavia who would progress to the semi finals where they lost to Czechoslovakia.  This was the year that Brazil became World Champions. 

British entry into th European Community was celebrated in a set of three stamps two Se-tenant 5p value and

one 3p value. I don't know if the colour has any significance but this is certainly a topical stamp today as we run up to the 'EU In or Out' Referendum some time in 2017.  If we stay in the stamp theme could be reissued with a few more jigsaw pieces and a slightly different shape.  If out, the Union Flag would have to float out into the sea edging out of the stamp.

An entry to Sunday Stamps II theme - Maps or Flags - navigate your way here to see more      

Musical Instruments

2014: Europa - National Musical Instruments

I can never make up my mind which is my favourite stamp in the Europa stamps issued each year so never vote on the Post Europ site.  I think this year might be the exception as this set of Cyprus stamps designed by Ioanna Kalli  for the National Musical Instrument theme are so beautiful.

They show the pithkiavlin (Cyprus flute) which are made from reeds, each one has its own sound depending on the diameter and length.  It is the most ancient of Cypriot wind instruments and they have been found in archaelogical excavations such as at the Sanctuary of Aphrodite in Paphos, linking it in ancient times with celebrations and feasts in honour of Aphrodite and Apollo. The other stamp shows the laouton (lute) the principal musical instrument of Cyprus which is often accompanied by the violin in Cypriot dance melodies.

1966: Krishna Anniversary 

Next is the most famous flute player, the Hindu god Lord Krishna who is often portrayed as an infant or young boy playing the flute.  The stamp description in catalogues is "flute player and dancer" but perhaps it is Krishna and his consort Radha.  The stamp is for his birth anniversary which is one of the most important festivals for Hindus of the year.

1968: Polish Paintings

Marching around the corner is this 'Children's Band', a painting by Tadeusz Makowski (1882-1932) which hangs in the National Museum, Warsaw. Makowski was a painter, illustrator, graphic artist and friend of Pablo Picasso.  He originally travelled to Paris intending to spend a year there but never returned home to Poland.  This painting of 1922 was made  in Brittany when he started to visit the French countryside and would lead to a series of painting with musical subjects in the late 1920s. Although he painted French landscapes there was always a feel of Polish villages.  (I apologise for the quality of the pictures but after a fight with my scanner I have had to take photos with my ipad which I need more practice at lining up).  From the fifes and drums to

1965: Musical Instruments

  the beat of Africa.  Here you can take your preference sit down and play the drum (left) or  put the strap on your shoulder (right) and beat out a rhythm.

Chad has an amazing variety of musical instruments and Northern Chad is known for its drums and stringed instruments.  As can be seen from the stamps these instruments portrayed are from the Chad National History Museum which was established in 1962 and has/had a notable collection of musical instruments. Unfortunately due to the instability of the country many of its artefacts have been lost or looted.  Despite this it has moved to new premises recently and someone on Trip Advisor has written  "If you have nothing to do in N'Djamena and want to take some pictures in a city where outdoor photography is forbidden, this museum is the place to go".

An entry to Viridian Postcard's Sunday Stamps theme of  - Music and Musical Instruments here

Mapping the World

Hermes the winged messenger, patron of boundaries and travellers flies across the globe on this Australian stamp of 1948.  Flying from an island to Africa

and the landlocked boundaries of Chad over its flag on the stamp of 1966. With the Sahara Desert in the north it is not surprising that they have accentuated the major rivers in the south flowing into Lake Chad, the source of water for the four countries surrounding it (Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Nigeria).

A stamp of 1957 rather grandly called "Harnessing of the Yellow River", the various ways on the stamp are hydro electric power, irrigation, dams and levies to prevent flooding and ship transport. The river has been called the cradle of Chinese Civilisation but devastating floods throughout history means it also has the nickname China's Sorrow.  It carries huge amounts of silt which means the continual elevation of the river bed and silting up of flood barriers.  Harnessing the Yellow River is a continual project.  I would imagine the ships

plying its waters must have up to date maps.  Much easier to follow the rail tracks and signals in this stamp of

1956 celebrating the electrification of the Brussels to Luxembourg Railway link with a Type 122 electric train and a railway bridge on an elevated map.  Travelling to a sports event?  Here are two Albanian stamps

from 1966 for the World Cup Championship to be held in England celebrating the winning countries from the past.  The distinctive shape of Italy in the background with an Italian player heading the ball from 1934 and the first ever Football World Cup in 1930 held in Uruguay (and won by them), shows the back to the goal bicycle kick.  Always spectacular when it comes off.

An entry to Viridian Postcard's Sunday Stamps theme of Maps