This Date in History: Stamps

8th June 1946
Great Britain Celebration for the End of World War II

Once again, I was unable to find a postmark for this date, but today marks the 71st anniversary of the major celebrations in Great Britain to mark the end of World War II. The occasion was marked with the first public parade in London since the war started in Europe in 1939, and the British Commonwealth issued another omnibus set of stamps, similar to what was done in 1935 for King George V's Silver Jubilee (4 stamps per set) and again in 1937 for King George VI's Coronation (3 stamps per set).  This 1946 omnibus issue has 2 stamps per set.

Thanks for your comments, Anping.  Yes, I agree with you that the colours chosen for the Aden set from 1937 are not great, but thanks for posting the FDC anyway.  I had not seen one of these before.

Do you have the FDC from Aden for the 1946 set as well?  If so, I would be very glad to see it!

Vostok 6 was the first human spaceflight to carry a woman, cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, into space. The spacecraft was launched on June 16, 1963.

19th June 1897

On this date 120 years ago, Canada issued its famous 16-stamp set to honour Queen Victoria on the occasion of her 60th Jubilee (Scott #50-65).  As many of you on TSF may already know, it is my favourite stamp set of all time.  I have already posted a photo of the complete unused set here:

thestampforum.boards.net/thread/4388/jubilee-issue

The four used stamps shown below were a part of the TSF Donation Auction material which came from firstfrog2013 earlier this year.  Frog, you will be pleased to know that after getting these nice used copies from you, I have decided to collect a used set, too, similar to what watermark has done, which he also posted in the Jubilee Issue thread.

Below the image of the four stamps, I have also added the image of a souvenir card from the 1977 INPEX Canada Stamp Show, held in Vancouver, BC.  The souvenir card shows a reprinted image of the 50-cent stamp from the Jubilee issue.

20th July 1969

Many thanks to Mark Jochim for his post in the Stamp-A-Day thread reminding me that today is, indeed, moon landing day from 1969.  I can remember watching the whole thing on our black-and-white television, as our whole family gathered to watch Neil Armstrong take his historic first step onto the surface of the moon.

The first U.S. commemorative to honor the moon landing, Scott #C76, was issued on 9th September 1969.



Disclaimer:  I do not own the cover pictured here, and although I probably have a copy of Scott #C76 somewhere, I could not find it to scan for this post.

2nd February - Groundhog Day (U.S. & Canada)

Although I introduced a thread in the Off-Topic/TSF Lounge board today on Groundhog Day, it occurred to me that it will probably pass into obscurity there, and that in the end, there was some philatelic content to the thread, too.  Below is one image of a custom U.S. stamp created to honor this day, and after that is a description of the day and its celebratory purpose.



From Wikipedia: "Groundhog Day, (Pennsylvania German: Grund'sau dåk, Grundsaudaag, Grundsow Dawg, Murmeltiertag; Nova Scotia: Daks Day) is a popular tradition celebrated in the United States and Canada on February 2. It derives from the Pennsylvania Dutch superstition that if a groundhog (Deitsch: Grundsau, Grunddax, Dax) emerging from its burrow on this day sees a shadow due to clear weather, it will retreat to its den and winter will persist for six more weeks, and if he does not, due to cloudiness, spring season will arrive early.

"The weather lore was brought from German-speaking areas where the badger (German: dachs) is the forecasting animal. This appears to be an enhanced version of the lore that clear weather on Candlemas forebodes a prolonged winter. The Groundhog Day ceremony held at Punxsutawney in central Pennsylvania, centering around a semi-mythical groundhog named Punxsutawney Phil, has become the most attended. Grundsow Lodges in Pennsylvania Dutch Country in the southeast part of the state celebrate them as well. Other cities in the United States and Canada have also adopted the event.

"The 1993 movie Groundhog Day helped boost recognition of the custom, and the celebration has spread even further afield. In 2009, Quebec began to mark the day (Canadian French: Jour de la Marmotte) with its own groundhog."

Read more: thestampforum.boards.net/thread/5171/happy-groundhog-day#ixzz561Szk0GA

Beryllium Guy ..........Yes, I am familiar with the series. Tourist labels issued in sheets of 20, at least 10 series' exist, most likely more. Printers Imprint, 'HV' is Helio Vaugirard of Paris. Series VII is for La Provence, an area you may be familiar with !! 
It appears that most series' are printed in 5 different colours, which means that the series a very long one !! (but beautiful)

Londonbus1

LB1, thanks for reminding me about these previous posts from @falshung.  I had forgotten that he had posted many examples of full sheets of these stamps showing locations around France as well as the French Colonies.  Great stuff!

March 19, 1869

The popular 1869 US pictorial issues (Scott #s 112-122) were first released on this day 150 years ago.

March 20th, 1920: Wedding of Princess Charlotte of Monaco. The principality re-issued a set of semi-postal stamps from 1919 for the benefit of war orphans at that occasion. The complete series includes 10 stamps, all quite pricey, and I was able to get 4 of them at an auction a few years back:

April 12th, 1984: 4th National Redemption Day Anniversary in Liberia. I found this stamp today while putting away some of the piles of WW stamps extracted from the Mystery Box.

Holy Thursday: Central African Republic stamp from a block in a series issued in 2013 celebrating painting masterpieces, showing the Last Supper, here as painted by Leonardo da Vinci.

Easter Sunday: Series from Burundi issued in 1971 showcasing paintings about the Resurrection of Christ.