This and That: A Blog

 Let's see some Vacation Destinations today for Sunday Stamps. These are people visiting Vacation Destinations, not places I necessarily want to go. I love this one!  Great Britain 1994 "Bather at Blackpool"  Picture Postcards Centenary  Malta 1999 Tourism series  New Zealand 1981  Health series  Semi-postals with 2¢ going to Children's Health Camps that provided care, nutrition, and recreation for children recovering from illnesses, living in difficult situation, etc.  Unfortunately, due to the drop in physical mail numbers the series was discontinued, after 87 years, in 2016.  I picked the New Zealand stamps because my Vacation Destination of choice would be the rocky tidepool beaches, but not in New Zealand.  They'd be northern CA, OR, and WA.  I wouldn't poke things with a stick like the girl in the illustration though!  Nor, pick anything up, just observe. September begins next week with stamps featuring Places of Educa...

 This week for Sunday Stamps we have Aviation.  I think this one pretty much covers the theme with the hot air balloon, spacecraft module, airplane, and zeppelin!  Paraguay 1974  Centennial of the Universal Postal Union  While not mechanical flight, the definition of aviation, the figures in the upper left corner are flying. The image depicts the Universal Postal Monument in Bern, Switzerland.  Five female figures, representing Europe, America, Asia, Oceania, and Africa, are circling the globe, passing letters to one another.  I do have two others. Great Britain 1969  Commemorating the Concorde's first flight Japan 1994  Dream Bridge Rainbow Bridge, Tokyo, with hot air balloons and an airship.  Hot air balloons are considered part of aviation because they are regulated in many countries by national aviation authorities. Next week's stamps will be Mountains.

 The ephemera shoe box at St. Vincent de Paul was refilled! This time I got two 1985 Royal Mail (Great Britain) Presentation Packs.  $2.00 and $2.50   The first is Christmas Pantomime. From left to right the stamps picture Principal Boy (traditionally played by a girl), Genie, Dame, Pantomime Cat, and Fairy. They open to a page on the topic. Coincidentally, a few weeks earlier I got the Genie in a pile of world-wide stamps.  The postmark slogan reads "Be properly addressed," urging care in addressing outgoing mail.  There are other Royal Mail slogans along the same line. The second is commemorating 350 years of mail service to the public.  The stamps, left to right, are urban, rural, town, and village delivery.  In 1982 the USPS put out a series of state birds and flowers. I had few, until I found this, The Fifty State Birds and Flowers Mint Set!  It wasn't a steal at $12; about mid-range for what the asking prices are online.  Complete ...

  H is the letter of the week for Sunday Stamps . H elicopter People's Republic of Cambodia 1987 H elicopter Great Britain 1963 H yena Mauritania 1963 H ibiscus trionum (Venus mallow) New Zealand 1960 What stamps will represent the letter I next week?  Come back next Sunday to find out!