70th Anniversary of Lambretta

 Date of Issue : 3 June 2017

Here is a beautiful stamp issued by Italy Post featuring Lambtretta Scooter. This scooter was also once very popular in India The stamp has been issued to commemorate 70th anniversary of Lambretta Scoter. The stamp features  a poster advertising the Lambretta fifties, created by illustrator and poster designer Italian Franco Mosca, kept at the Lambretta Scooter Museum, Rodano (Milan). 

Lambretta is the brand name of a line of motor scooters initially manufactured in Milan, Italy, by Innocenti. The name is derived from the word Lambrate, the suburb of Milan named after the river which flows through the area, and where the factory was located. Lambretta was the name of a mythical water-sprite associated with the river which runs adjacent to the former production site.

New Pictorial Postmarks

New pictorial postmark on parrot from Germany

On April 27th 2017  a pictorial postmark  will be available in 12057 BERLIN.

The postmark is featuring a Scarlet Macaw(Ara macao).

New pictorial postmark on prehistoric man from Italy

On March 30th 2017 a pictorial postmark   will be available  in I-70121 BARI, ITALY.

The postmark is featuring a prehistoric man .

Postmark on bird on Prey from Korea (South)

On April 20th 2017   a new pictorial postmark in  will be available  Geomundo (Korea).
The postmark is featuring a bird of Prey and Looks like a falcon.

- Wolfgang Beyer, Vice Chairman of the German Philatelic Collector Group ArGe Zoologie

Salvatore Ferragamo - the most exclusive brand of shoes!

 

Date of Issue : 30 November 2015

Here is a beautiful stamp from the women’s world featuring the leather shoes. The shoes featured on the stamp was designed for Marilyn Monroe by the famous Italian  brand of shoes Salvatore Ferragamo. The FDC cancellation of the stamp features the same beautiful design, a wonderful collective item !!

Salvatore Ferragamo is one of the most luxurious Italian brands that are popular around the worlds by exclusive shoes and leather wares. The achievements of this brand one cannot doubt that is why Salvatore Ferragamo was honored in Florence with the issuance of a stamp on the 100th anniversary of its collaboration with Hollywood and in recognition of its work.

The stamp features an image from the brand’s archive of a shoe design realized for Marilyn Monroe in 1958, and a pendulum suspended on the plantar arch in recognition of Salvatore Ferragamo’s studies of the foot’s anatomy, which were fundamental for the construction of his designs.

The brand has tapped Colombian designer Edgardo Osorio, founder and creative director of Aquazzura, for a footwear capsule collection to celebrate the centennial.

Postcard on Langur and Indian Elephant from Germany

 

 

 

PHILATELIC EXHIBITION AT ZOOLOGICAL GARDEN OF HANNOVER

A philatelic exhibitionwas held   from June 24th 2015 (Opening Ceremony) to July 9th 2015 at Zoological Garden of Hannover. The philatelic exhibition honnors the 150th anniversary of the foundation ZOO Hannover. The philatelic exhibition was organized by the German Collector Group ARGE ZOOLOGIE with exhibits about the topic animals in more as 40 frames.During this event a meeting of  the Collector Group was held   for 2015 at Zoological Garden of Hannover.

On June 27th a pictorial postmark was available  featuring  a Grey Langur and a stationery (postcard) was issued in limited edition of 200 pieces. The postcard is featuring two Grey Langurs at Pre-stamp of 45 cents Euro(Inland postage rate for postcards).On the left side is featuring a group of Grey Langurs and in the background an Indian Elephant. Both topics are on Indian themes.

Some Post cards are available with Mr Wolfgang Beyer, Vice Chairman of the German Collector Group ARGE ZOOLOGIE and member of the German Topical Association VPhA and German Philatelic Association BDPh.  He may be contacted at e - mail: Wolfgang.beyer1@aol.de

Stamp on Blood Donor’s Day from Italy

Thank you for saving my life !!

Date of Issue : 14 June 2015

Italy Post has released a special stamp to mark the Blood Donor’s Day. The item aims to raise people’s awareness of the need for safe blood and blood products. The stamp was issued  on the 14^th of June.

Every year on 14 June, countries around the world celebrate World Blood Donor Day (WBDD). The event, established in 2004, serves to raise awareness of the need for safe blood, and to thank blood donors for their voluntary, life-saving gifts of blood. World Blood Donor Day is one of eight official global public health campaigns marked by the World Health Organization.

The theme of this year’s campaign is “Thank you for saving my life”. It focuses on thanking blood donors who save lives every day through their blood donations and strongly encourages more people all over the world to donate blood voluntarily and regularly with the slogan “Give freely, give often. Blood donation matters”.

The campaign aims to highlight stories from people whose lives have been saved through blood donation, as a way of motivating regular blood donors to continue giving blood and people in good health who have never given blood to begin doing so.

2015 - International Year of Light

 

Italian Post issued its special stamp edition celebrating International Year of Light 2015. The issue was released on the 26^th of January. On 20 December 2013, The United Nations (UN) General Assembly 68th Session proclaimed 2015 as the International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies (IYL 2015) .

This International Year has been the initiative of a large consortium of scientific bodies together with UNESCO, and will bring together many different stakeholders including scientific societies and unions, educational institutions, technology platforms, non-profit organizations and private sector partners.

In proclaiming an International Year focusing on the topic of light science and its applications, the United Nations has recognized the importance of raising global awareness about how light-based technologies promote sustainable development and provide solutions to global challenges in energy, education, agriculture and health.

Light plays a vital role in the daily lives and is an imperative cross-cutting discipline of science in the 21st century. It has revolutionized medicine, opened up international communication via the Internet, and continues to be central to linking cultural, economic and political aspects of the global society.

Club News

Stamp Exhibition at Hazaribagh

A  District level Philatelic Exhibition has been organized at “Gurunanak Palace, Near Government Bus Stand, Hazaribagh” from 06^th  February to 07^th  February 2015.

- Anil K Saxena - Gaya, Bihar

 

A request to the Readers

Philatelic Gems of the Maharajas Maharanis

I am currently working on producing a limited edition 500+ page coffee-table book that will feature what one considers the gems of Indian States Philately (both Convention & Feudatory). Items in the form of stamps, covers and postal stationery (excluding fiscals & revenues) will be represented from each State.

I am reaching out to all the members of our Society to request scans of items you feel should be pictured in the book. Provenance will be duly acknowledged unless one prefers to remain anonymous. We have several ISC members who are collaborating on this project.

 
Please send scans of items you feel should be considered for the book along with a brief write-up (if you have one) describing the item. All submissions must be received by no later than October 31st,  2015.

Please send scans by email or mail them on a CD to my address below.

The target launch date for this book is the 'World Stamp Show-NY 2016" on May 28' 2016.

- Sandeep Jaiswal sc APS UPSS GCS= PO Box 8689 Cranston, RI 02920 USA

Phone: +1 401 888 9473 From UK: 020 3002 3626 email :  sj722@aol.com

 

 

Stamps on Lindau messengers

 

Joint issue with Germany, Switzerland and Liechtenstein

Stamp honoring the Fussach ( Lindau )messengers from Austria

 

Date of Issue : 27 September 2014

That Austria Post has joined to other countries in issuing a special commemorative stamp honoring the Fussach messengers. This stamp is to be issued on the 27^th of September. The other countries will introduce their stamps from this series also on this day.

“Fussach messengers” is joint issue with Germany, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. The Fussach messengers conveyed over centuries people, goods and mail from Lindau to Milan and formed the first postal link on this important trade route.

On the 27^th of September the four postal companies from Austria, Germany, Liechtenstein and Switzerland are present along the historic route. In the four places Fußach (east), Lindau (D), Balzers (FL) and Chur (CH) special stamp exhibitions and shows will take place.

Switzerland : Lindau Messenger

Date of Issue : 4 September 2014

The first recorded delivery by the Lindau Messenger took place in the early 16th century, although the messenger had been running since the 14th century. The era of the Lindau Messenger came to an end when a completely new generation of roads were built over the main Alpine passes, allowing stagecoaches to cross them, which made travelling easier and safer and the messenger service superfluous.

Germany : Lindau Messenger

Series "Stamp Day" 2014: Lindau Messenger

Date of Issue : 1 September 2014

 

Once Italy and back ...

which was in the Middle Ages, the arduous task of "Lindauer messenger". Between Lake Constance and Milan in northern Italy this urban postal route frequented regularly for about the first half of the 14th century. A stamp now recognizes this extraordinary pioneering achievement.

The task of the "messenger" was enormous: With wind and weather over Lake Constance, the Via Mala, the Alpine ridge and Lake Como.Given the precarious mountain passes and the climatic conditions, this was often a dangerous undertaking. Reloading onto the packhorse, the ship and the horse and cart. Then everything back again towards Lake Constance - as "Corriere di Lindo". The logistic performance and physical exertion were tough enough. Added to this was the pressure of competition. The imperial Thurn und Taxis Post - equipped with monopoly and claim a certain "market power" - saw the urban competition did not like.

All attempts to make the Lindauern the clientele alienate failed. The "Lindau Messenger" held by almost 500 years. In a time full of conflicts and great upheavals he was a reliable link between northern Italy and the Lake Constance region. His clients included the Augsburg Fugger just like the great poet Goethe. Only in 1826 was the end. Economic reasons forced him to. The "Lindau Messenger" but still lives on. Since the 1980s, tourist carriage rides are offered on the old route through Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Italy occasionally.Also on our letters of "Lindau Messenger" will now go on trips - and tell of a pioneer of the early postal system.

Liechtenstein - Lindau Messenger

 

 Date of Issue : 1 September 2014

The Lindau Messenger was a courier service operated between Lindau at Lake Constance and the Italian city of Milan up to the beginning of the 19th century. The Lindau Messenger transported goods, money and letters, crossing through areas of Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Italy on his way. Each of the first four countries named is currently issuing its own stamp on this topic. The Liechtenstein stamp “Lindauer Bote” (value: CHF 1.40) shows suitable pictorial elements and gives the names of each stop. In addition, the altitude profile of the route, which reached its peak on Splügen Pass at 2113 metres above sea level, is depicted on the small 8-stamp sheet. The exact date when the Lindau Messenger started to operate is not documented. However, it is assumed that he was already travelling along the arduous route on a fairly regular basis towards the end of the 15th century. In good weather, he completed the journey in five-and-a-half days but in snow and ice the trip took quite a bit longer.

At that time, Lindau and Milan were trading centres and re-loading points at crossroads of traffic routes. They thus became the points of departure for transports across the Alps. The messenger brought home luxury goods such as silk, gold thread, textiles of all kinds, exotic fruit and weapons. In return, simpler materials such as linen and fustian as well as wool, leather, fur, saddles along with copper, tin and silver were sent to Italy. There is much to suggest that there was actually nothing that was not transported on the pack animals as long as it was possible to do so in smaller quantities.

Towards the end of the 17th and at the beginning of the 18th century, individual travellers were also allowed to accompany the messenger, the most famous of whom was Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. He used the guidance of the Lindau Messenger across the Alps in May 1788 when returning to Germany from his travels in Italy and paid 122 guilders for it. In 1826 the transport services of the Lindau Messenger were stopped for political and economic reasons.

New pictorial cancellation from Italy

On September 27th 2014 will be available a pictorial cancellation at 12037 SALUZZO (Italy). The cancellation is featuring a Large Alpine Salamander (Salamandra lanzai) and it is the first image of this animal in Philately which is recorded.

Courtesy : Wolfgang Beyer, Vice Chairman of the German Collector Group ARGE ZOOLOGIE.
E-Mail: Wolfgang.beyer1@aol.de   & Wolfgang Hoelzl

Club News

Philatelic Display on Archeology theme at National Seminar on Biodeterioration of Cultural Property & Conservation of Heritage Buildings at Vadodara – 21st September 2014.

National Seminar on Biodeterioration of Cultural Property & Conservation of Heritage Buildings held at Vadodara on 21st and 22nd September, 2014 on the occasion of Silver Jubilee celebrations of ICBCP (The International Council for Biodeterioration of Cultural Property), organised by Department of Environmental Studies and Botany, Maharaja Sayajirao University, Vadodara.

On this occasion, 5 frames Exhibit on Archeology was displayed at the venue of Seminar by Shri Timir Shah, a philatelist of Vadodara.

Courtesy : Indian Philately Digest

Musical Stamp in form of Vinyl Disc

 

Record souvenir sheet from Switzerland

Date of Issue : 4 September 2014

Here is  a unique Souvenir sheet in form of  gramophone record from Switzerland.Swiss Post introduced a new series of original stamps that have form and function of vinyl discs.

A piece of music has been imprinted on the “record” part of the souvenir sheet using a special coating. When you take the circular, ready-for-postage stamp off the souvenir sheet and place it on your record player, it plays a brass band version of the Swiss national anthem.

Even if the stamp, which is suitable for franking, is detached from the souvenir sheet, a specially engraved soundtrack still allows the miniature sheet to be played on a record player which is set to 33 rpm.

 

Stamp on Gazzetta di Mantova – one of World’s oldest newspapers

 

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Date of Issue : 1 September 2014

Italian Post released a commemorative postage stamp to mark the 350th anniversary of the foundation of the Gazzetta di Mantova, the oldest surviving Italian newspaper.Gazzetta di Mantova is a local daily newspaper, published in Mantova, Italy. It was established in 1664 making it one of World’s oldest newspapers still existing.

The 70 cent stamp recording the printing of the Mantua organ’s first issue in 1664, since when it has played a major role in the life of the historic Lombardy city and today belongs to the Espresso-repubblica group of publications.The stamp depicts the oldest copy extant of the newspaper, conserved in the state archive of Modena, and its current masthead.

New Postal stationeries (postcards) from Czech Republic

In the Czech Republic  two new stationeries(postcards) featuring animals will be available soon. One postcard is featuring a butterfly and two kingfishers. The other one is featuring the butterfly Lesser Purple Emperor(Apatura ilia).

Courtesy : Wolfgang Beyer, Vice Chairman of the German Philatelic Collector Group ARGE ZOOLOGIE. E-Mail: Wolfgang.beyer1@aol.de . &  Wolfgang Hoelzl

Club News

BILASAPEX – 2014 – District level   stamp Exhibition

12-14 September 2014

A three days District Level Philatelic exhibition will be held at Bilaspur C. G. from 12th Sept. to 14th. September 2014. Following philatelic items are proposed to  be released during the exhibition.
3 Special Covers

1) Malhar Chattisgarh's Archaeological Gems
2) Kendai Water Fall
3) Bilaspur Railway Station 1989

4 Stamp Booklets

 

1) Chafara (Red Frangipani) Achanakmar
2) Bison -Wild Life of Achanakmar Tiger Reserve
3) Gandhi with Child
4) Mother Teresa

 

Sailing World Championships 2014

 

Santander, World Olympic Sailing venue

Date of Issue : September 1, 2014

Spanish Post will issue a new stamp dedicated to the Santander ISAF Sailing World Championships 2014. The stamp depicts a gorgeous yacht that is flouting in sea.

The Sailing World Championships is the most important event organized by the International Sailing Federation. It takes place every four years, two before the Olympic Games, and is used to allot 75% of the places for countries taking part in the Games.

Santander is hosting the 4th World Sailing Championships over the first two weeks of September, when it will welcome about 1000 yachts and 1400 crew from more than 95 countries.

The eleven Olympic categories will take part in the competition. Countries which qualify can participate in the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games in 2016.

The Royal Spanish Sailing Federation (RFEV) has set up several sites in the capital city of Cantabria, such as the marshland of the Santander Real Club Marítimo to moor the organisation’s and keeled boats, the Star and the Elliots of the Women’s Match Race, and the CEAR Príncipe Felipe (Specialist Centre for High Performance in Sailing), as well as other port areas nearby.

The first World Sailing Championships were held in Spain in 2003 in the Bay of Cadiz. Spanish philately marked this competition by issuing a commemorative stamp.The second Championships were held in Cascais in Portugal in 2007, where 1350 sailors from 76 countries attended.

The stamp recreates the blue waves of Cantabria, around yachts with sails billowing in the wind in front of the Magdalena Palace, an iconic building in Santander.

 

Augustus -  Founder of the Roman Empire

Date of Issue : 19 August 2014

Italy Post has issued a new stamp commemorating a great leader of the Roman Empire – Augustus.

The stamp features the statue of Augustus, found in via Labicana and preserved at the National Museum of Rome – Palazzo Massimo alle Terme.

Augustus was the founder of the Roman Empire and its first Emperor, ruling from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD. He was Rome’s first and arguably greatest emperor, a fine soldier and wise administrator who boasted that he found Rome built of bricks and left it cloaked in marble.

The adopted son of Julius Caesar, who defeated Mark Antony and Cleopatra and built roads to span his new empire, Augustus was honoured by being commemorated with a new stamp.

Nutella–the famous chocolate spread on stamp

 

Date of Issue : 14 May 2014

Here is new stamp from Italy on world famous chocolate spread Nutella. This is a wonderful stamp for food , cuisine and gastronomy theme

Nutella, the world’s favorite chocolate-hazelnut spread, turns 50 this year. To celebrate this milestone, Ferrero, the company that makes Nutella, has asked fans to share their most memorable moments that involve the beloved hazelnut spread.

On NutellaStories.com, fans of the brand are invited to submit all kind of content: photos, videos or text reminiscing funniest or most touching anecdotes spent with Nutella.

Nutella was established on April 20, 1964 by Italian company Ferrero. The creator of the spread was Michele Ferrero, son of Pietro, the company’s founder, who developed the secret recipe and came up with the catchy name by joining the English word for hazelnut and abbreviating it as “nut” with the Latin suffix “ella.”

To mark the occasion, the Italian Postal Service  issued a special stamp to celebrate 50 years of  Nutella.

New stamps on Birds…

 

 

Date of Issue : 4 December 2013

Italian Post issued a set of five commemorative stamps featuring birds of the Alps in their natural environment: the Rock Ptarmigan (Lagopusmuta), the Grey-headed Woodpecker (Picuscanus), the Bearded Vulture (Gypaetus barbatus), the Boreal Owl (Aegoliusfunereus) and the Western Capercaillie (Tetraourogallus). Six pictorial cancellations have been issued for this special issue. It is a wonderful item for bird lovers.

 The Rock Ptarmigan (Lagopusmuta) is a medium-sized game bird in the grouse family.

The Rock Ptarmigan is 34–36 centimeters long (tail 8 cm) with a wing-span of 54–60 centimeters.The male’s “song” is a loud croaking. The Rock Ptarmigan is season ally camouflaged; it sfeathersmoult from white in winter to brown in spring or summer. The breeding male has greyish upper parts with white wings and under parts. In winter, its plumage becomes completely white except for the black tail.

 

 The Grey-headed Woodpecker (Picuscanus) is a Eurasian member of the woodpecker family Piciformes. It is 25–28 cm long and weighs 130-180 grams. It has green upperparts, pale grey underparts and a yellow rump. It has a grey head with black moustache, and the male has a red crown.

 The Bearded Vulture (Gypaetus barbatus) is abird of prey, and the only member of the genus Gypaetus. It eats mainly carrion and lives and breeds on crags in high mountains in southern Europe, the Caucasus, Africa, the Indian Subcontinent, and Tibet, laying one or two eggs in mid-winter that hatch at the beginning of spring. Populations are resident.

 

The Boreal Owl (Aegoliusfunereus) is a small owl. This species is a part of the larger grouping of owls known as typical owls. The Boreal Owl is 22–27 cm long with a 50–62 cm wingspan. It is brown above, with white flecking on the shoulders. Below it is whitish streaked rust color. The head is large, with yellow eyes and a white facial disc, and a “surprised” appearance. The beak is light yellow colored.The flight is strong and direct. Young birds are chocolate brown.

The Western Capercaillie (Tetraourogallus) is the largest member of the grouse family.

Found across Europe and Asia, it is renowned for its mating display. Male and female Western Capercaillie—the cocks and the hens—can easily be differentiated by their size and colouration. The male bird (or cock) is much bigger than the female (or hen).

Cocks typically range from 74 to 85 cm in length with wingspan of 90 to 125 cm and an average weight of 4.1 kg. The body feathers are coloured dark grey to dark brown, while the breast feathers are dark metallic green. The belly and undertail coverts vary from black to white depending on race.

New stamps from Italy..

 

 

The Holy Christmas 2013

 

  

Date of Issue : 20 October 2013

Here are some new stamps from Italy. This new  stamp of the value of € 0.85 depicts a typical Christmas greeting card, with its envelope, on which Christmas decorations and a ballpoint pen are highlighted. The words "MERRY CHRISTMAS" appear on the envelope. The cancellation for this issue is very special and beautiful.

  

Date of Issue : 20 October 2013

This Christmas  stamp of the value of € 0.70 reproduces the painting titled "S.Joseph with the Child ", made by Guido Reni around 1635 and preserved in the Diocesan Museum of Milan.

 

Date of Issue : 19 October 2013

Italian Post issued a stamp to celebrate the Archimedean Year. The stamp reproduces a table of numbers “pi Greek” with the first decimal digits, a geometric construction from the book “On the sphere and cylinder”, a drawing taken from the “Book of Lemmas” and the letter “pi” (“π”) of the Greek alphabet, also called Archimedes number that represents the ratio between a circle’s circumference to its diameter. The cancellation featuring symbols is beautifully designed.

Sacred Hermitage of Camaldoli

 

The new issue by Italian post represents a regular stamp in the “Il patrimonio artistico e culturale italiano” (Italian Artistic and Cultural Heritage) series dedicated to the Sacred Hermitage of Camaldoli.

The stamp depicts an aerial view of the Sacred Hermitage and Monastery of Camaldoli, nestling in the delightful forests of the Apennines between Tuscany and Romagna.

 

The Holy Hermitage and Monastery of Camaldoli is situated in an ancient forest in the Tuscan Apennines. It was founded about 1012 by Saint Romuald, a Benedictine monk, with the permission of Tedald, Bishop of Arezzo. In the monastery of Camaldoli there is a welcoming room, a great hall, and an old style pharmacy. The pharmacy was originally a laboratory where monks studied and worked with medicinal herbs. The precious walnut decor dates back to 1543. The church, meanwhile, was constructed in the Baroque style and contains works by Giorgio Vasari. It was established to deal with the ever-growing number of pilgrims – drawn by good reports of the monks, and for reflection in the middle of the forest.

A few kilometers farther up the mountain is the “Sacred Hermitage”, or Sacro Eremo which is the more ancient part of the foundation. It was personally established by St. Romuald and has served as the heart of both the community and the order, which bears the location’s name.

Club News

Stamp Exhibition in Germany on  “ Nature and Culture ”

From September 13th to September 15th 2013  a philatelic exhibition will be held in the community  Oepfershausen,Germany. Oepfershausen is situated in the rural region of the Nature Reserve Rhön.

The title of the exhibition is "Nature and Culture "  honoring the 20th anniversary  of the Culture Station at Oepfershausen. The exhibition will be held in cooperation between the Philatelic Collector Group Meaning(BSV),

The Staff of  the Nature Reserve Rhön and the community of Oepfershausen with participation of the German  Philatelic Collector Group ARGE ZOOLOGIE. 24 exhibitors from Germany and Italy will be shown 26 exhibits in 45 frames. Two groups of philatelic friends of the Philatelic Collector Group Meiningen from Italy and Poland will be visiting exhibition as guests of the BSV Meiningen.

List of exhibits :

Matthias Reichel/Günter Wölfing(BSV Meiningen) " Viewcards of Oepfershausen" -3 frames, Kurt Gronwald(ARGE ZOOLOGIE) -" Sea cows-the friendly unknown animals"- 1 frame,Wolfgang Beyer(ARGE ZOOLOGIE)- A trip in the land of the birds of paradise"- 1 frame, Ekkehardt Peter(ARGE ZOOLOGIE)-" European Butterflies on European Stamps"- 3 frames,Lothar Brehme(ARGE ZOOLOGIE)-"Rare animals of the Nature Reserve Spreewald"-1 frame, Axel Brockmann(ARGE ZOOLOGIE)-" Pelican-the bird with the big mouth"-1 frame, Jürgen Holzhausen(BSV Meiningen)-"Sandpipers in the Nature Reserve Rhön"-3 frames, G.Schalling(BSV Suhl) " A trip through  the forests and fields" - 3 frames. Heinrich Simmerle(Italy)-" The vine grape and the wine"-1 frame,Maria Egger(Italy)-"The queen of flowers"-1 frame, Dieter Schellenberger(BSV Suhl)-" Orchids of the Nature Reserve Rhön"-1 frame, Anne Brandt(BSV Meiningen-Youth) -" A excerpt of the world of plants in the Nature Reserve Rhön"-3 frames.
Three special pictorial cancellation will be available with Common Snipe, Lady Orchid and 20 years of Culture Station.

Special covers with a cachet of a Ghoat will be delivered during the exhibition from the Culture Station to the post office at the exhibition by a Ghoat. The exhibition will be  interesting and attractive event and congratulations to the Philatelic Collector Group BSV Meiningen for this exhibition.

Copyright and Courtesy : Wolfgang Beyer,Vice Chairman of the German Philatelic Collector Group ARGE ZOOLOGIE, Mail: Wolfgang.beyer1@aol.de

 

Chasing the telegraph

Parth Shastri, TNN | Jul 21, 2013, 03.53 AM IST

AHMEDABAD: HG Wells famously said in the19th century that the cardinal fact in the history of the past fifty centuries has been the scope, pace and precision of inter-communication; everything else is subordinate. Nothing can be truer for the history of the telegraph in India. Started in 1851, the service breathed its last in the country one week ago.

While the SMS generation may be oblivious to how telegraphs shaped the world, right from India's sepoy mutiny in 1857 to World War II which ended in 1945, two philatelists from the city - DhananjayDesai and Ilyas Patel - were intrigued by the service's history. They compiled an encyclopaedic work 'Indian Telegraphs', meticulously tracing individual anecdotes and putting them together in a masterful book.

Desai is a retired businessman and Patel a retired government engineer. Their common passion for stamps and postal paraphernalia led them to telegraph. The book traces the journey of the service from 1851 to 1914 documenting its development into an individual service. The service later merged with the postal department.
"Diving into any hobby opens up many related subjects. The telegraph is hardwired in the history of the country. The British saw the opportunity this 'new' technology offered as an instrument to control a vast country with fewer officers. During the revolt of 1857, the telegraph helped the British mobilize and concentrate troops at crucial times at cantonments in Delhi, Agra, Kanpur and Lucknow, ultimately suppressing the revolt. On later realizing that the first wired network had done them in, the rebels destroyed 913 miles of telegraph lines, but the damage was done," says Desai.

India's first experiment with an electric telegram took place in 1839 (see box) after which the service developed in leaps and bounds. Lord Dalhousie paved the way for the Imperial Telegraph Department in 1850. A year later, British India's first telegraph line and office was opened in October 1851, between Calcutta and Diamond Harbour along the busy shipping route on the Hooghly. By March 1854, there were 800 miles of telegraph lines between Calcutta and Agra and this was further connected to Bombay and Madras. Overseas telegraph communication was made possible in 1865 by running cables along the seabed.

Patel says it is difficult to imagine how instrumental these short messages were in shaping the commercial and military history of India. "We searched through 'The Bombay Times and Journal of Commerce' and its successor 'The Times of India' for references and found plenty. The service romanced India for more than 160 years and set a number of landmarks in terms of the network, volume and services. It was heartening to see that the service did not die silently thanks to overwhelming public interest," he says.

From Our Readers…

Vipan Kumar Thakur of Chandigarh shares here Picture Postcard depicting a copy of Telegram Sent by Mahatma Gandhi to Tagore on his 80th Birthday.

: Vipan Kumat Thankur – Chandigarh -email : philavpnthakur@rediffmail.com