guyana1230
Member
Posts: 373
What I collect: GUYANA, Surinam, British Commonwealth, Aland, Denmark Finland, Iceland, Japan, Norway, Sweden, USA, Scout Posts, Cinderellas
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Post by guyana1230 on May 16, 2020 19:47:39 GMT
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guyana1230
Member
Posts: 373
What I collect: GUYANA, Surinam, British Commonwealth, Aland, Denmark Finland, Iceland, Japan, Norway, Sweden, USA, Scout Posts, Cinderellas
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Post by guyana1230 on May 16, 2020 19:48:16 GMT
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guyana1230
Member
Posts: 373
What I collect: GUYANA, Surinam, British Commonwealth, Aland, Denmark Finland, Iceland, Japan, Norway, Sweden, USA, Scout Posts, Cinderellas
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Post by guyana1230 on May 16, 2020 19:48:59 GMT
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guyana1230
Member
Posts: 373
What I collect: GUYANA, Surinam, British Commonwealth, Aland, Denmark Finland, Iceland, Japan, Norway, Sweden, USA, Scout Posts, Cinderellas
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Post by guyana1230 on May 16, 2020 19:49:40 GMT
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guyana1230
Member
Posts: 373
What I collect: GUYANA, Surinam, British Commonwealth, Aland, Denmark Finland, Iceland, Japan, Norway, Sweden, USA, Scout Posts, Cinderellas
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Post by guyana1230 on May 16, 2020 19:50:48 GMT
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guyana1230
Member
Posts: 373
What I collect: GUYANA, Surinam, British Commonwealth, Aland, Denmark Finland, Iceland, Japan, Norway, Sweden, USA, Scout Posts, Cinderellas
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Post by guyana1230 on May 16, 2020 19:52:13 GMT
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guyana1230
Member
Posts: 373
What I collect: GUYANA, Surinam, British Commonwealth, Aland, Denmark Finland, Iceland, Japan, Norway, Sweden, USA, Scout Posts, Cinderellas
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Post by guyana1230 on May 16, 2020 19:53:00 GMT
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guyana1230
Member
Posts: 373
What I collect: GUYANA, Surinam, British Commonwealth, Aland, Denmark Finland, Iceland, Japan, Norway, Sweden, USA, Scout Posts, Cinderellas
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Post by guyana1230 on May 16, 2020 19:53:58 GMT
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guyana1230
Member
Posts: 373
What I collect: GUYANA, Surinam, British Commonwealth, Aland, Denmark Finland, Iceland, Japan, Norway, Sweden, USA, Scout Posts, Cinderellas
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Post by guyana1230 on May 16, 2020 19:55:01 GMT
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guyana1230
Member
Posts: 373
What I collect: GUYANA, Surinam, British Commonwealth, Aland, Denmark Finland, Iceland, Japan, Norway, Sweden, USA, Scout Posts, Cinderellas
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Post by guyana1230 on May 16, 2020 19:56:12 GMT
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guyana1230
Member
Posts: 373
What I collect: GUYANA, Surinam, British Commonwealth, Aland, Denmark Finland, Iceland, Japan, Norway, Sweden, USA, Scout Posts, Cinderellas
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Post by guyana1230 on May 16, 2020 19:56:49 GMT
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brightonpete
Departed
Rest in Peace
On a hike at Goodrich-Loomis
Posts: 5,110
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Post by brightonpete on May 16, 2020 19:57:22 GMT
Islay is the name of a friend's border collie. He had to teach me the proper pronunciation: Eye-lah. One of his favourite whisky's is produced there. That's a great display of their stamps, guyana1230!
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guyana1230
Member
Posts: 373
What I collect: GUYANA, Surinam, British Commonwealth, Aland, Denmark Finland, Iceland, Japan, Norway, Sweden, USA, Scout Posts, Cinderellas
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Post by guyana1230 on May 16, 2020 19:57:28 GMT
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guyana1230
Member
Posts: 373
What I collect: GUYANA, Surinam, British Commonwealth, Aland, Denmark Finland, Iceland, Japan, Norway, Sweden, USA, Scout Posts, Cinderellas
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Post by guyana1230 on May 16, 2020 20:17:30 GMT
Islay is the name of a friend's border collie. He had to teach me the proper pronunciation: Eye-lah. One of his favourite whisky's is produced there. hat's a great display of their stamps, guyana1230 ! Been collecting these ones from the very start, lovely local cinderellas. They were supposed to be bringing out a set covering the various distillery's on Islay but that seems to have been put to one side at present.
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vikingeck
Member
Posts: 3,264
What I collect: Samoa, Tobacco theme, Mail in Wartime, anything odd and unusual!
Member is Online
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Post by vikingeck on May 16, 2020 21:00:04 GMT
I am intrigued by these . I have never seen nor heard of them and I live not a couple of hundred miles away. A huge quantity of issues of recent vintage. In fact almost a deluge since 2017 .
Attractive labels but hefty prices at £2 face values for Cinderella’s with no postal validity. The sheetlet of ferries has a face value of £24.50. Who is releasing these? Have we a successor to mr Feigenbaum of the 1970s? ( I see a name Graham Land associated with marketing these ) In my book Islay is more noted for its waters.........”.uisge “ in Gaelic .... the water of life , pronounced whisky in English and about the same price as the stamp sheetlet,
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guyana1230
Member
Posts: 373
What I collect: GUYANA, Surinam, British Commonwealth, Aland, Denmark Finland, Iceland, Japan, Norway, Sweden, USA, Scout Posts, Cinderellas
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Post by guyana1230 on May 16, 2020 21:20:41 GMT
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andy
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Posts: 16
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Post by andy on Oct 11, 2020 0:01:51 GMT
Hello,
I’ve just seen this a few days ago, so felt the need to respond. Maybe it's as well, because I've had to join the forum to do it...and it looks great!
Firstly – nice pages, Guyana 1230
Secondly – yes, brightonpete, that’s exactly how Islay is pronounced.
Thirdly – I’d like to address vikingeck’s questions and points. Excuse the length of the post but I'm sure you'll understand my reasons.
“I am intrigued by these” – I’m pleased to hear it.
“I have never seen nor heard of them and I live not a couple of hundred miles away.” I don't see any reason why you necessarily should have.
“Who is releasing these?” I am (with help from my wife). My name is Andy and I spent a lot of my life on Islay, including my childhood years. Even now, it is still “home” and I visit as often as I can (not so much this year, for obvious reasons). I have friends and family both on Islay and living away from the island but who retain close connections with it.
“I see a name Graham Land associated with marketing these.” You should have dug a little further. Graham Land is a Cinderella stamp shop run by Graham Soult. In the early days I sent him some sheets (for free) because I thought he or his customers may be interested. He’s bought a few sheets from me since, at a reduced rate. He seems to be a nice guy with a genuine interest in the island, but there’s no official connection.
Here’s what we’re about: in 2017 I put together what I thought would be a one-off series of cinderellas to mark the 250th anniversary of my family’s church (and where some of my family members were buried). This was done as a bit of fun, and aimed at people I knew as well as to raise some money for the Church of Scotland. I didn’t create many – 30 covers. I sold most to some people I knew, and put the rest on ebay in case anyone should be interested. And the interest was greater than I imagined – we had to print off a lot more to satisfy demand.
I didn’t realise there was such interest in Cinderella stamps that were sold explicitly as nothing more than localised decorative labels, but I soon discovered people who really like this kind of thing. I happen to enjoy taking photographs of the island I call home, so when it as suggested I create another issue I went around taking some pictures of local landscapes which formed the basis for the second (monochrome) set. This is the point at which it really took off. Without intending to, I found a new hobby.
My motivations from this point were not about making money – in fact, I don’t really make anything from this. The small profits (a few hundred pounds per annum) that are generated go to charities, most of them local to Islay. What I felt inspired to do from this interest was to use my photographic and design skills (you seem to agree these labels are “attractive”) to showcase the island and celebrate Islay life. Our website, which isn’t really difficult to find, explains this.
“In my book Islay is more noted for its waters.........”.uisge “ in Gaelic .... the water of life.” The Gaelic word you are looking for is uisge-beatha, but I think you’ve inadvertently answered the question about why I do this. Islay is about so much more than whisky, and it’s quite depressing that so often people miss what else is so great about the island. Oh, I love the whisky – but there’s a great deal more to the island I was fortunate to call home, and I hope in some small way I can capture and share it. I don’t simply create the Cinderella stamps; I put together newsletters explaining the relevance of the issue and the photographs. I write about Islay’s history, or talk about the significance of buildings, people or events.
You ask “have we a successor to Mr Feigenbaum of the 1970s?” That’s actually quite offensive because we represent something very different to Feigenbaum. Please let me explain why:
1. Clive Feigenbaum was profit-motivated – I’m not.
2. Feigenbaum’s issues, especially the hundreds of thematics he created for Easdale (which he owned) in the 90s, really irked local residents (some of whom I personally knew). We want to be different. Ileachs (Islay people) have generally been positive about these – several buy them, others follow us on twitter and the Islay blog (a respected source of opinion in Islay!) carried a piece on us, as did a Hebridean magazine. I’m sure some think it’s a bit of an odd hobby, but others appreciate it. They understand what I’m trying to do. I made an embarrassing mistake once and some Ileachs had a few words with me about it (!) but generally such feedback as we’ve had from locals has been constructive and positive. Our Christmas issues have been designed by children either from Islay or with connections to it.
3. Feigenbaum’s issues never had anything to do with island life or culture – ALL of our issues do. I want all the Islay cinderellas to reflect local identity and capture something of the island’s stunning landscape, fascinating history or diverse wildlife. I’m not going to go down the route of popular thematics. Every issue has to be directly related to the island.
4. We aim to produce to the highest quality – something that can’t really be said for most of the Easdale or Staffa issues which were, to put it mildly, generally quite amateurish.
5. He was involved in some very shady initiatives to put it mildly. Everything we do is transparent and honest. Please don’t make the comparison.
You note “a huge quantity of issues of recent vintage. In fact almost a deluge since 2017”. One issue in 2017... four issues a year, plus Christmas, in 2018 and 2019...and only two this year. I might review the regularity of issues. Certainly in the first couple of years I pre-planned certain issues and then realised I’d missed a key anniversaries (such as the centenary of the 1918 maritime twin disaster – something I actually worked with a descendant of one of the survivors to create, and from which all proceeds went to the RNLI). This meant I ended up with an extra issue than planned. I don’t think it really mattered – the audience for that issue was quite different to the usual buyers.
“£2 face values for Cinderellas with no postal validity.” You will note that there was only ever one stamp issued with that face value. It was actually based on a private joke with a friend in Largs about a Cal Mac ferry that costs “£2 for 2 minutes” – my quip was “I hope this lasts a bit longer!” In any case, if you take a look at some that are issued in the names of other Hebridean islands, often by people who may not even have been there, the face value of my labels is relatively cheap. However. as Guyana 1230 explains, I sell sheets at well under face value. As a sheet costs me exactly the same to produce irrespective of the number of stamps within it, I always sell them for the fixed price of £7.50, as you’d know if you looked at our website.
You’re right, these have no postal validity and are not intended to have. I don’t make any claim to be a postal administration (in fact, I make it clear I'm not), although these are used on mail from the island as additional labels by some people (including some personal friends, who I give them to – I love the idea of them being used on local mail even if they lack official status). Technically, these are “fantasy issues” rather than an authentic local post. Mainly they’re a means of me selling photographs of a place I love – and telling the story of the island I spent so many years on - to people who appreciate Cinderella stamps. Because of this new hobby I discovered by accident almost three years ago, I’ve had conversations with people from all over the world about Islay, which just wouldn’t have happened otherwise. I encouraged a Canadian to learn Gaelic. Someone has visited Islay through finding these stamps. I’ve met a man who only collects stamps of Canada Geese (he must have a small collection). Another person wanted to know if I knew some of their own friends from “back home”. A man in New Zealand wanted to know if one of his ancestors was mentioned on one of the war memorials in our 2019 Remembrance issue – it turned out he was. I once had a fascinating discussion with someone about the history of the Lords of the Isles as a result of them finding the stamps. I personally think that’s marvellous.
Sure, they’re not everyone’s thing. They might not be yours. Much as I enjoy creating these and the conversations I have as a result, I have to admit I’m not really a Cinderella collector (I’m more interested in older European issues). But I’d hope you would recognise that what I’m doing is very different from the cynical actions and attitudes of Clive Feigenbaum.
Anyway, thanks for your post because it's brought me on here. I'm certainly not on here to sell anything but hope very much to take part in some interesting conversations.
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brightonpete
Departed
Rest in Peace
On a hike at Goodrich-Loomis
Posts: 5,110
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Post by brightonpete on Oct 11, 2020 2:37:57 GMT
andy ... will you be doing a scratch and sniff for the various waters of the island?
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andy
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Post by andy on Oct 11, 2020 7:19:35 GMT
Haha! If only my skills extended that far! Although I have had planned for over a year an issue for all the distilleries, which had been put on hold as there was speculation another was to open imminently. However, it seems not (at least for the forseeable future) so these may finally make an appearance in 2021.
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cursus
Member
Posts: 1,770
What I collect: Catalan Cinderellas. Used Switzerland, UK, Scandinavia, Germany & Austria. Postal History of Barcelona & Estonia. Catalonia pictorial postmarks.
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Post by cursus on Oct 11, 2020 7:27:50 GMT
Congratulations, Andy, for a very fine job and for letting us know about the reasons behind the issue of these nice cinderellas. As a cinderella collector, although focusing on my own country (Catalonia) ones, I fully appreciate the quality of yours. Again, congratulations. I've been just twice to Scotland, and never to the Islands; but I've learnt to appreciate its people. Scotts, have a lot be proud of. I'm sorry, Gaelic seems too difficult for us, Latin languages-speaking people, to understand. But, I can appreciate the work that people like you do on preserving the life and the memòries of an important part of European culture.
From Catalonia: Gràcies i moltes felicitats, amics d'Islay! (Thank you and congratulations, Islay friends!)
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andy
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Post by andy on Oct 11, 2020 7:48:15 GMT
Thanks Cursus!
How interesting - I'm not overly knowledgeable about Spanish and Catalonia cincerellas, although the 1936-39 Civil War issues fascinate me.
I was fortunate to have been able to learn Gaelic at primary school and, later, high school. I'm not a native speaker but I absorbed a lot from people who were. It's a tremendous language and probably no more difficult than any other, but it is very different from the Latin languages.
On a completely different note, in a pre-internet age collecting stamps as a child living on a remote island meant the very occasional visit to the Glasgow stamp shop (over 100 miles away), buying mail order (which took a while to save up for, as we didn't get a huge amount of pocket money), swapping with other children or (most commonly) simply collecting stamps from envelopes. I had penfriends all over the world and loved what stamps could tell us about history, customs and culture. In a small way, I'm trying to do the same. Your good wishes are appreciated!
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cursus
Member
Posts: 1,770
What I collect: Catalan Cinderellas. Used Switzerland, UK, Scandinavia, Germany & Austria. Postal History of Barcelona & Estonia. Catalonia pictorial postmarks.
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Post by cursus on Oct 11, 2020 8:38:11 GMT
You can see a lot of Catalan cincerellas on the cincerellas threads. There's much more (and better) than just the 1936-39 war. A short and tragic period of our history, to be forgotten.
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andy
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Post by andy on Oct 11, 2020 11:11:50 GMT
You're right, the Civil War era is in many respects best forgotten - or, at least, not focused on too much. A sad time, but all the same interesting in its own way.
Curiously what interest I have in this also comes from my life on Islay. George Orwell, a famous British socialist and author, lived on the neighbouring island of Jura and wrote his famous work 1984 there. He also took part in the Spanish Civil War and wrote Homage to Catalonia. I was very interested in Orwell, mainly because there aren't too many famous people from Islay or Jura! So I learned about the Spanish Civil War and I was able to make some sense of the stamp issues of the time.
But I'm digressing! I'm still working my away around the forum but I'll definitely check out the threads on Spanish cinderellas. I'm sure I'll learn a lot.
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cursus
Member
Posts: 1,770
What I collect: Catalan Cinderellas. Used Switzerland, UK, Scandinavia, Germany & Austria. Postal History of Barcelona & Estonia. Catalonia pictorial postmarks.
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Post by cursus on Oct 11, 2020 11:21:15 GMT
George Orwell, stayed on my city, Barcelona during the war. His book "Homage to Catalonia" depicts the war in our streets.
As for our cinderellas, you better look at the Catalonia's cinderellas thread. We're as much Spanish as you might be English (which, I know, you aren't).
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andy
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Post by andy on Oct 11, 2020 11:24:26 GMT
Sorry, I wasn't meaning to imply Catalonia is Spanish (I have, after all, read Orwell's book!)
Yes, I found your Catalonia thread. Very informative. The quality of some of the cinderella issues is highly impressive.
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vikingeck
Member
Posts: 3,264
What I collect: Samoa, Tobacco theme, Mail in Wartime, anything odd and unusual!
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Post by vikingeck on Oct 11, 2020 12:18:15 GMT
Hi andy , I tried to post a message here about 3 hours ago ,but for some reason it vanished into the ether , so I start again! Just to thank you for the explanation of your Islay poster stamps, My apologies for misunderstanding the provenance and motive behind these and linking them with the dreaded Feigenbaum! Guyana1230 simply listed them here with no explanation, as " LOCAL POSTS AND CARRIER LABELS" , the same general area as Davaar, Einhallow, Staffa, etc which were Feigenbaum productions. Not all collectors, even collectors of Cinderellas, understand that his issues from uninhabited islets had no Local Post or Carrier function and I'm afraid I expressed my disapproval, not of the collector nor of the choice to collect these,but of the man and his fraudulent practices, especially since as a sassanach he exploited our Scottish placenames which irked me. duilich, agus mo leisgeulPS I may however be responsible for directing a colleague who has a sizeable collection of Geese on stamps to Islay Stamps a few months ago ! Slainte ! Alex
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andy
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Post by andy on Oct 11, 2020 12:40:04 GMT
Thanks vikingeck (Alex)! Yes, I realised guyana1230 provided no context whatsover, hence why I felt the need for an explanation. There's no reason why you should have known anything, so I don't hold that against you - just thought it best to provide some insight. Gaelic apology accepted and appreciated. Suspicion is natural given the history, but I'm sure you understand me now. Like you, I dislike the "philatelic" legacy of Feigenbaum. Firstly, for the obvious reasons that require no explanation, but specifically for the disgusting way he sought to capitalise commercially by shamelessly producing Princess Diana commems in the days immediately after her death, despite the fact Diana's mother was an Easdale resident. There's no excusing that kind of behaviour. He cared little for island communities, let alone Scotland. He was, at best, a joke character among Eisdealachs and to others, like Mrs Shand Kidd, something far worse. And of course he made all kinds of fraudulent claims about "local posts" for uninhabited rocks - it was all a bit ridiculous. All in all, we don't want to be anything like him. I totally agree with you about his exploitations of Scottish placenames (and his appropriation of a culture he never, ever took the time to understand). I don't necessarily like to be listed as a "local post" because whatever we are we're not that - but the stamps we issue are more authentically "local" than a lot of others listed in this section. So it's a tricky one as far as easy categories are concerned. What I hope I do is make it clear to people who buy them that there is no official postal function - I don't think they're any less interesting for that. My mum uses them on all her mail, anyway - and gets some interesting (and usually positive) comments. So you are the reason the Goose stamp collector found me! Many thanks! If it's the same person I'm thinking of we had a very interesting chat about Islay's geese! It's things like this that make it all worthwhile and why I've continued with it.
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brightonpete
Departed
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On a hike at Goodrich-Loomis
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Post by brightonpete on May 1, 2021 19:29:44 GMT
Just bought the Distillery series sheet and FDC's, it should arrive soon. I bought it for a Scottish friend who buys some of the more expensive whisky's around. One of his favourites is from Islay. I should have doubled the order so I'd have a set too! Just one (of many) things you think of after the fact! I'm great at come backs, of course the next day though!
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renden
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What I collect: World W collector with ++ interests in BNA (Canada etc) and USA
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Post by renden on May 1, 2021 19:44:12 GMT
brightonpeteI agree on the Scotch but their stamps are CTOs ? just asking (Islay) René
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brightonpete
Departed
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On a hike at Goodrich-Loomis
Posts: 5,110
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Post by brightonpete on May 1, 2021 20:51:56 GMT
Mint! (renden )
Well, covers are technically CTO, but on the FDI!
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