(Page 10) Summer 2009 Newsletter
THE NATIONAL BASILICA OF KOEKELBERG, BRUSSELS, BELGIUM
Bryan and Minou Button
We have travelled to and fro from England to Belgium for just over fifty years. On many occasions we have considered visiting the Basilica, which is set on a hill at the western most part of Brussels, in the suburb of Koekelberg, and is visible from most parts of the city. On realising recently it had featured in one way or another on Belgian stamps and mini-sheets between 1938 and 2001, we thought it was time for a visit.
It was Leopold II who decided to erect the Basilica after he had visited the Basilique du Sacré-Coeur in Paris. He wanted to demonstrate that Belgium was on an equal footing to other countries in Europe during the time he was King of the Belgians (1865 to 1909).
In 1938 for the “Building (Completion) Fund” seven stamps were issued; three show the front view, three show a side view and one shows the interior of the Basilica. Later in the year, the first three stamps in the set for the “Koekelberg Basilica Completion Fund” were issued with a surcharge. A mini-sheet was also issued, both perforate and imperforate, showing the interior of the Basilica.
Although he laid the first stone for the Basilica in 1905, during the celebrations of the 75th anniversary of the Belgian independence, it was not finished until 1971. Its construction was halted by the two World Wars. In addition, the building of the church depended solely on donations made by believers and they were not always sufficient. The income from stamps and mini-sheets also contributed to the building work.
Minou recalls many appeals for donations during her time in school. In fact many citizens of Brussels doubted that it would ever be completed. But it has turned out to be one of the world’s largest churches and the biggest Art Deco building in existence, being 89 metres high and 164 metres long. The building.combines reinforced concrete with terracotta layering, bricks, and dimension stone. Inside the Art Deco style is constructed of marble.
In 1952, three stamps were issued. One shows Cardinal Jozef-Ernest van Roey consecrating the unfinished Basilica in 1935; it also celebrated the 25th Anniversary of him becoming a Cardinal. The other two stamps show the interior and exterior of the Basilica. All three stamps, imperforate and perforate, were issued as a mini-sheet.
The “Peace Bell” was installed in the Basilica in 1963. Two stamps were issued to commemorate this event, both showing the same bell with different backgrounds. A minisheet was also issued showing a block of four bells with the blue background. All issues were both perforate and imperforate.
Under “Places of Worship” in 2001 stamps showing an exterior view of the Basilica and of the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca were issued.
DEN GAMLE
Sandra Poole
We recently visited ‘Den Gamle By’ in Aarhus, This is Denmark’s National Open Air Museum of Urban History where, over the last hundred years, old buildings have been moved from all over Denmark and rebuilt in this area. It comprises 75 historical houses, shops and businesses, including a post office housed in a 17th/ 18th century house where, during the holiday season, you can buy stamps and have your letters stamped with the Old Town’s hand-stamp. On the walls inside, you can see large pictures of Einar Holboell’s Christmas Seals.
Outside stands a telephone and newspaper kiosk, originally built not far from the Cathedral in Sct Clemens Square and rebuilt in the Old Town in 1973. There were old posters on it advertising the Magasin du Nord, a large department store in Kjobenhavn. Founded in 1868, it still exists. The top half of the kiosk, at least, looks remarkably like the one pictured on the ‘Aarhus Kiosk Selskab’ stamp of 1900, when this company was established. Could it be? I wonder!
AO LABELS
Peter Ibbotson (Communicated by Derrick Avery)
When Allen Wood showed his Ethiopia recently, he included a full sheet of AO labels and I thought members would be interested in the origin of same. The following article appeared in Stamp Collecting Weekly, !8 December 1977 which is acknowledged.
he Postal Union Congress in London, 1929, created the class of air mail designated as 'autres objets' (other objects, i.e. not letters and postcards) which could be carried by air according to a lower tariff. Some postal administrations designated such postal matter by the hand-stamp ‘AO’. Today, aerophilatelists and some postal historians seek such hand stamped mail. In France, however, the hand-stamp is no longer used; instead a small dark yellowish label inscribed ‘A.O’ in black in a diamond is affixed to items such as small packets and oversize letters which are sent by air. Envelopes thus denoted will be among tomorrow’s postal history; so will covers bearing Customs ‘green labels’.
STAMP ART
Sandra Poole
I had passed it several times, this picture of Barack Obama, but it was not until I read a notice in the Evening Post, that I realised it was made out of stamps. So.seeing an article in the making, I hot-footed it down to the Friar Lane Art Gallery where it was on view. (This is just a few yards down from where we meet at The Society of Artists.) Whilst waiting for it to open, I examined ‘Barack Obama’ and counted 45 x 47 rows of stamps- mainly Machins, but with a few ‘Stars and Stripes’ thrown in The artist, Peter Mason, is from Birmingham and calls himself ‘The Post Pop Art Man’ He himself was not there but the lady who was was quite happy to answer questions on his behalf for our newsletter and to let me take notes whilst viewing the exhibits. Apparently, he had paid £300 for 3 dustbin liners full of stamps and was already up to 100,000, without even emptying the first! He sorts them out, putting them in jars by colour. Most of the pictures on view were celebrity portraits and, in every case, the likeness to the subject was remarkable. They varied in size from 3’x 4’ to 7’x 8’. The portrait of Princess Diana was 7 x 8 foot and used 20,000 stamps- all Machins apart from a few of the commemoratives issued in her honour! The 3 x 4 foot pictures were made up of around 3,000 stamps and the portrait of Churchill (7 x 7’6) used 18,000 stamps. As well as celebrity portraits, there were works done in the style of comics as a tribute to the original artists- eg ‘homage to Lichtenstein (‘whaam’ and ‘Bratatat’) and Tamara de Lempicka (‘Autogirl’) The artist has had several exhibitions and this one had received a lot of attention. I noticed that one ‘small’ picture was for sale at £2,495 and that another had sold for the same amount, but I don’t know the price of the larger pictures. I could have afforded a postcard, but unfortunately they were all sold out!
The artist’s website (www.thepostpopartman.co.uk) was recommended to me and, in fact, you can view his pictures there but, although they will give you a flavour of his art, they do not do justice to the majesty, splendour or artistry of the originals. The exhibition closed on 29 June.
MISCELLANY
POSTAL WORKERS' PROTEST
It so happened, that on the same day that I viewed the stamp art exhibition, there was to be a postal workers’ protest in Nottingham. This was staged to show disapproval of the government plans to part-privatise Royal Mail, believing it would lead to further job losses and a reduction in postal services. What attracted me to go along, was the announcement that there was to be a twenty foot post box. in the Market Square. Would there be a ladder to enable us to post our letters, I wondered? Of course, it was just an inflatable, but I took a photo anyway. Postman Pat was there, as well as lots of freebies!
50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE CINDERELLA STAMP CLUB: Sandra Poole
On Sat 6 June, the Cinderella Stamp Club celebrated its 50th Anniversary with an all day meeting at the Royal Philatelic Society, followed in the evening by a dinner held at the nearby Rotary Club. Chris & Maddie Tennant and I went down to attend. The meeting followed the usual pattern of bourse and displays, but on this occasion, these were invited displays and presentations with ‘Research in Cinderella Philately’ as their underlying theme. There were 12 in all and, as might be expected, they were of an excellent quality. The Nottingham contingent of three were pleased that an early start for the dinner had been arranged and booked their coach accordingly. Unfortunately, soon after we arrived, we found that the programme had changed, and the time of the meal put back by more than a little! However, things worked out in the end- we saw the signing of the ‘Maurice Williams Roll of Notable Cinderella Philatelists’ by 4 members of the Society; heard speeches, citations and a presentation; and- most important of all- just had time to enjoy dinner. We did, however, miss the toasts and a couple of speeches. It was a great day and we didn’t have to hitch -hike home after all!
WANTED-UNIVERSAL MAIL UK POSTCARD AND LETTER STAMPS: Sandra Poole
Universal Mail United Kingdom Ltd was established through deregulation of the UK postal business in 2006. In October 2008, the company issued a series of souvenir postage stamps, which could be used on postcards and letters sent through the usual channels to any destination worldwide. The first edition postcard stamps, printed to a high quality by Enschede, are self-adhesive. They depict London scenes, alongside a half Union Jack. There are 25 designs in total and the stamps, which have no value indicated, are sold on display cards in sets of 5. The letter stamps are of just one design and feature the Union Jack. Stamps are available from the usual tourist outlets- hotels, general retailers, souvenir shops and information centres- but not in Nottingham, I fear. If anyone has seen them for sale, could they please let me (the editor) know where. Likewise, I could give any used copies a good home! Information for this article was found on the Universal Mail United Kingdom website and permission to use it was kindly given by their Business Development Manager, David Butler. For further information including technical details, and to view the complete range of stamps and their backing cards, visit www.universalmail.co.uk. If you wish to view the Universal Mail New Zealand range of stamps, visit their website- they have 60 pages of them! The mind boggles!
AN UNTIMELY DELIVERY
The Rev. Frank Vipona of Chester, Ontario corresponded for about seven years with his aged grandmother, Mrs Rawley, c/o Dr. Perkins, Manchester. One morning, the postman stood aside to allow her coffin to be carried out before handing over the Rev. Vipona’s last letter and the only one to be stamped Too Late.
(Originally from ‘The World Wide Magazine’, but later in the London & Provincial Stamp Club’s Bulletin, 2004. Submitted by Eric Croft.).
MEETING REPORT: THE ISLE OF SKYE & THE SMALL ISLES: David Brown, 5 June 2009
I was introduced to the Isle of Skye by a friend of mine on a walking and scrambling holiday in the early 1960s and we continued doing this for nearly 40 years. On going to the different areas of the island, we would call at each post office, chat to the postmaster or postmistress and post mail to get decent cancels. That was the start! The first post office on Skye was at Dunvegan, which used a small S/L hand-stamp. The date of opening is not known, but I have traced a cover dated 27 Sept 1739. The display started with a letter written by Lady Margaret Macdonald on 15 June 1740 to Edinburgh, with the S/L ‘Dunvegan’ mark and charged 4d. She wrote about ‘Getting a boate’. Other 1740 covers followed, then a gap to 1786. The mark was known up to 1803- a life of approximately 64 years. The second office opened in 1769 at Sconser. This was shown from 1786. One cover of 1796 not only showed the S/L Sconser, but also a hand-stamp ‘6’ charge mark, the only known example. An incoming cover from Forres in 1799 was addressed to Alex McAllister of Strathlaird, who used to get his brother John to fire cannonballs over the local church when the preacher began his sermon. The cannon is pictured. Portree Post Office opened in 1809 and Broadford in 1820. Portree had a Penny Post which started in 1829 and two covers showed the additional ‘1/2’ hand stamp for the wheel tax. ‘Refused Mail’ of 1885 during the Crofters War was shown when crofters refused mail asking for rents. The contents threatened dire consequences. Parcel post labels and telegrams completed the first round. The second half started with rubber date stamps of various sub-offices… The islands around Skye were shown, with examples of Soay, the locals of Pabay and a section on Raasay…The final three covers showed the use of the ‘Uist to Dunvegan’ packet service hand stamp in 1836, 1840 and 1842. The whole display was illustrated with picture postcards showing the places, activities, mountains and views seen around the island.
NEW ZEALAND PARTNERSHIP: ABOUT THE WAIKATO PHILATELIC SOCIETY: John Waller (President)
The Waikato Philatelic Society was founded on the evening of Wednesday 18th October 1930 with Mr. C.R. Cooke in the chair. In 1949, the first Ambury Shield Interclub Competition was hosted by the Waikato Philatelic Society in Hamilton. This event was originally a two-day show and included a garden party, a range of talks and (of course) the competition. Nowadays, it is a one-day affair with the exhibits judged well in advance of the day. Exhibits are much smaller than for national level, and the event is largely viewed as a way to get new exhibitors competing at a level higher than in their own club- but experienced exhibitors also compete to help make up their club’s required number of entries. The day itself includes a talk, dealers, an auction, and the Philatelic Youth Council of NZ displays the entries in its own National Inter-club Competition. The Hamilton Stamp Club merged with the Waikato Philatelic Society in 1989, making the Waikato Philatelic Society the only club in Hamilton. As part of the merger, the Waikato Philatelic Society changed from one meeting per month to two. The club meets on the first and third Wednesdays of the month, with the committee meeting on the fourth Wednesday of the month. There are no meetings in January and only the first meeting in December.Meetings are informal (i.e. no minutes etc) except for the Annual General Meeting and all committee meetings. Meetings generally include a talk on some area of philately, but the club also has competition nights, ‘fun’ nights, workshops and visits to (and from) other Societies. Meetings also include discussions on relevant philatelic topics and members are encouraged to display items of philatelic interest. The Society also runs a sales circuit through which members may buy and/ or sell philatelic material. For the really keen, some of us belong to the Morrinsville Stamp Club as well. They meet in Morrinsville (a small town about half an hour’s drive outside Hamilton) on the second Wednesday of the month and virtually all their members are Waikato members.
DISCLAIMER: While every care is taken during the production of this newsletter, neither the editor nor the Society Officers can accept any liability for views, opinions or unintentional publication errors which may occur.