U.S. Scott #976, The 1948 Fort Bliss Centennial Issue. Check out the triangular area surrounding the the rocket. Lots of detail.
Vince
On the Baby Zeppelin stamp, would the structure in the bottom right be Lakehurst Hangar No. 1?
The number on the side of the Curtiss Jenny depicted in the 24c airmail stamp (US Scott C3, issued May 13, 1918) is 38262.
According to the American Air Mail Society Catalog (6th edition) that I just received a couple of days ago, that is, indeed the registration number of the plane that made the first official US airmail flight. It was piloted by George L. Boyle, who started from the Potomac Park Polo Grounds south of Washington, D.C. on May 15. Boyle carried one large pouch of mail weighing 140 pounds (about 6,600 covers). The air mail rate for this route was 24c. The plane crashed about 25 miles south of Washington, Boyle having followed by mistake a branch railroad instead of the main line tracks to Baltimore and Philadelphia.
-Paul
Ernie,
Google is your friend, well I use bing and I found this.
"The new stamp had the same dimensions and printing characteristics as the previous three zeppelin stamps issued in 1930. The new 50 Cent stamp depicted the Graf Zeppelin over the ocean, with the Federal Building, in Chicago, on the left, and the airship's hangar, in Friedrichshaven on the right. The inscription reads A CENTURY OF PROGRESS FLIGHT."
Thanks Vince! Reading about the Zeppelin hangar in Friedrichshaven...fascinating story!
"The airship hangar was broken up in early 1943. It was transported to the Zeppelin shipyard on a specifically laid industrial track and reconstructed to meet altered dimensions. In the last months of the war, the hangar was used to assemble a handful of V2 rockets. Of a total of twelve bombing raids on Friedrichshafen, some specifically targeted the airfield and the aviation industry located there. The buildings and grounds sustained heavy damage from the bombing in the last months of the war. The airfield resembled a heavily cratered lunar landscape."
Paul, according to the Friends of Jenny website, that plane is "long gone".
Too many "minute details" to name! I began scanning my "collection" (more of an accumulation actually) several years ago. The purpose was to begin selling the stamps, and I continue to do that today. However, in the process, I have come to appreciate my stamps (mostly pre-1940 colonial Africa and Caribbean) far more than I ever did while I was collecting.
Creating quality scans has been a real eye opener for me. The skills of the engravers is so extraordinary. Every time I scan a new group of stamps, I am amazed by what I hadn't previously noticed. The scans reside on my computer (and backed up on external hard drives). So I also enjoy going back through my scans from time to time and reacquainting myself with these works of art. I do miss having the actual stamps, but I've now got digital copies that in some respects are more interesting than the stamps themselves ever were.
Tom
The eyes of the subjects on US Liberty series are amazing. They add life to image.
Here are two, one very well known, the other perhaps less so.
First, this stamp from April 1941:
...in which the designer, Major Norman Rybot, has cunningly placed an 'A' in each of four corners of the design. This stands, the Major explained later, for Ad Avernam Adolf Atrox, which (as all classically-educated gentlemen will have known) means To Hell, Atrocious Adolf! I'm sure the good Major will have had a less controversial interpretation to hand, should zealous occupying forces have ever noticed.
The next one may also have been Hitler-related, or perhaps not. It is this one:
Above the 'es' of 'Deutsches Reich' you will spot, cleverly disguised as part of the lady's jacket, the letters 'AH'. A tribute to the Fuhrer? Perhaps, more likely, the initials of the designers who went by the joint name of 'Axster-Heudtlass'.
A third stamp detail, rather to my dismay, is not actually there. It is the 6+4pf value of the 1937 Winterhilfswerk set (German ships) depicting the ill-fated MV Wilhelm Gustloff. Alas, I had hoped the name would be engraved in tiny letters on the ship, but it is not, so we have only the catalogue to trust as to the ship's identity. Eight years later (30 January 1945), the Wilhelm Gustloff was sunk while carrying ten thousand refugees across the Baltic. 9000 perished, making it the greatest loss of life in a single ship sinking (six times more than died on the Titanic). Here is the stamp anyway:
Further to Guthrun's post, Col. Rybot didn't stop with his "Ad Avernam Adolf Atrox" subterfuge. In 1942, the 1/2d stamp in the same set was released with the initial's "AABB" in the corners, the A's for "Adolph" and the B's for "Bloody Benito".
Rybot's act of resistance was predated by a month when the Guernsey's 1/2d occupation stamp was issued. From Part 5 of my web page, "The Channel Islands at war — Resistance through postage stamps":
"The designer of the Guernsey occupation stamps, E.W. Vaudin, counting on Teutonic ignorance of British tradition, used the Guernsey Coat of Arms for his basic design — three heraldic English lions (or leopards, according to some sources) on a red shield.
The Guernsey Arms derive from seals granted to the island in the late 13th Century by King Edward I. The German occupation authorities in Guernsey apparently were unaware that the Arms were also the personal arms of England’s King George VI, who reigned throughout the Second World War. They are nearly identical to the Jersey Coat ofArms."
Interesting.
Yes, according to the write-up, tough call on distinguishing the genuine overprint from forged.
Odd that the overprint depicts a Bleriot monoplane. Obviously, a machine capable of evoking national pride in the French, but one that never carried the mails, and had been obsolete for 15 years by 1927...
-Paul
".... depicting the ill-fated MV Wilhelm Gustloff.
Alas, I had hoped the name would be engraved in tiny
letters on the ship, but it is not, so we have only
the catalogue to trust as to the ship's identity. ..."
Having built a small model some, almost sixty-seven,
years ago the stamp image looks close enough for
such a small reproduction. The four rows of portholes
along the length of the hull and the way the lifeboats
are mounted seem right.
From wikipedia:
"Heinz Schön, a German archivist and Gustloff survivor who extensively researched the sinking during the 1980s and 1990s, concluded that Wilhelm Gustloff was carrying a crew of 173 (naval armed forces auxiliaries), 918 officers, NCOs, and men of the 2 Unterseeboot-Lehrdivision, 373 female naval auxiliary helpers, 162 wounded soldiers, and 8,956 civilians, of which an estimated 5,000 were children, for a total of 10,582 passengers and crew. The passengers besides civilians included Gestapo personnel, members of the Organisation Todt, and Nazi officials with their families...As Wilhelm Gustloff had been fitted with anti-aircraft guns, and the Germans, in obedience to the rules of war, did not mark her as a hospital ship, no notification of her operating in a hospital capacity had been given and, as she was transporting military personnel, she did not have any protection as a hospital ship under international accords"
"Captain Alexander Marinesko ordered his crew to launch four torpedoes at Wilhelm Gustloff's port side, about 30 km (16 nmi; 19 mi) offshore, between Großendorf and Leba. The first was nicknamed "for the Motherland," the second "for Leningrad," the third "for the Soviet people", and the fourth, which got jammed in the torpedo tubes and had to be dismantled, "for Stalin." [10] The three torpedoes which were fired successfully all struck Wilhelm Gustloff on her port side."
The only ship image that showed a comparable view is this one, most images seem to be of the port side.
It certainly seems likely the stamp image is of the correct vessel.
Add to that that the THREE flower blossoms on the stamp look kind of like explosions, albeit on her starboard side, eerie indeed.
A number of Croatia issues from the 1940's have the engravers initial hidden in the design, but only on one stamp in a sheet. They're fun to hunt for
The fact that the stamp was issued in 1937
(the year the ship was launched) makes it a
spooky foreshadowing.
And
Add to that that the THREE flower blossoms
on the stamp look kind of like explosions,
In what way is the stamp of a ship issued
seven years before the torpedoing either freaky,
or eerie ?
I am sure I can find over a hundred stamps with
ships on them that did not presage a disaster
beyond some dishes crashing to the deck during
a rough storm.
With all due respect, that is nonsense.
Thinking about it further, I have no doubt that
we also can find a hundred vessels that were
torpedoed that never had a stamp created with
their image.
"... I began scanning my "collection" (more of an accumulation actually) several years ago. ... in the process, I have come to appreciate my stamps (mostly pre-1940 colonial Africa and Caribbean) far more than I ever did while I was collecting ..."
ikeyPikey wrote:
"...print them as color photo enlargements."
.
Excellent results!
This is a really GREAT topic!
I'm enjoying everyone's input...
Tiny details overlooked is very interesting to me.
Now I have to run home and start looking for them on my stamps!
JR
I was looking at nranderson's posts on another thread and took a closer look at the "Baby Zepp" stamp. For the first time I noticed the number on the side of the airship. I don't think I had noticed it before. If I did, I don't remember.
What are some of your favorite "minute details" on stamps that are often overlooked and/or might require magnification to see?
re: Minute Details on Stamps Often Overlooked
U.S. Scott #976, The 1948 Fort Bliss Centennial Issue. Check out the triangular area surrounding the the rocket. Lots of detail.
Vince
re: Minute Details on Stamps Often Overlooked
On the Baby Zeppelin stamp, would the structure in the bottom right be Lakehurst Hangar No. 1?
re: Minute Details on Stamps Often Overlooked
The number on the side of the Curtiss Jenny depicted in the 24c airmail stamp (US Scott C3, issued May 13, 1918) is 38262.
According to the American Air Mail Society Catalog (6th edition) that I just received a couple of days ago, that is, indeed the registration number of the plane that made the first official US airmail flight. It was piloted by George L. Boyle, who started from the Potomac Park Polo Grounds south of Washington, D.C. on May 15. Boyle carried one large pouch of mail weighing 140 pounds (about 6,600 covers). The air mail rate for this route was 24c. The plane crashed about 25 miles south of Washington, Boyle having followed by mistake a branch railroad instead of the main line tracks to Baltimore and Philadelphia.
-Paul
re: Minute Details on Stamps Often Overlooked
Ernie,
Google is your friend, well I use bing and I found this.
"The new stamp had the same dimensions and printing characteristics as the previous three zeppelin stamps issued in 1930. The new 50 Cent stamp depicted the Graf Zeppelin over the ocean, with the Federal Building, in Chicago, on the left, and the airship's hangar, in Friedrichshaven on the right. The inscription reads A CENTURY OF PROGRESS FLIGHT."
re: Minute Details on Stamps Often Overlooked
Thanks Vince! Reading about the Zeppelin hangar in Friedrichshaven...fascinating story!
"The airship hangar was broken up in early 1943. It was transported to the Zeppelin shipyard on a specifically laid industrial track and reconstructed to meet altered dimensions. In the last months of the war, the hangar was used to assemble a handful of V2 rockets. Of a total of twelve bombing raids on Friedrichshafen, some specifically targeted the airfield and the aviation industry located there. The buildings and grounds sustained heavy damage from the bombing in the last months of the war. The airfield resembled a heavily cratered lunar landscape."
re: Minute Details on Stamps Often Overlooked
Paul, according to the Friends of Jenny website, that plane is "long gone".
re: Minute Details on Stamps Often Overlooked
Too many "minute details" to name! I began scanning my "collection" (more of an accumulation actually) several years ago. The purpose was to begin selling the stamps, and I continue to do that today. However, in the process, I have come to appreciate my stamps (mostly pre-1940 colonial Africa and Caribbean) far more than I ever did while I was collecting.
Creating quality scans has been a real eye opener for me. The skills of the engravers is so extraordinary. Every time I scan a new group of stamps, I am amazed by what I hadn't previously noticed. The scans reside on my computer (and backed up on external hard drives). So I also enjoy going back through my scans from time to time and reacquainting myself with these works of art. I do miss having the actual stamps, but I've now got digital copies that in some respects are more interesting than the stamps themselves ever were.
Tom
re: Minute Details on Stamps Often Overlooked
The eyes of the subjects on US Liberty series are amazing. They add life to image.
re: Minute Details on Stamps Often Overlooked
Here are two, one very well known, the other perhaps less so.
First, this stamp from April 1941:
...in which the designer, Major Norman Rybot, has cunningly placed an 'A' in each of four corners of the design. This stands, the Major explained later, for Ad Avernam Adolf Atrox, which (as all classically-educated gentlemen will have known) means To Hell, Atrocious Adolf! I'm sure the good Major will have had a less controversial interpretation to hand, should zealous occupying forces have ever noticed.
The next one may also have been Hitler-related, or perhaps not. It is this one:
Above the 'es' of 'Deutsches Reich' you will spot, cleverly disguised as part of the lady's jacket, the letters 'AH'. A tribute to the Fuhrer? Perhaps, more likely, the initials of the designers who went by the joint name of 'Axster-Heudtlass'.
A third stamp detail, rather to my dismay, is not actually there. It is the 6+4pf value of the 1937 Winterhilfswerk set (German ships) depicting the ill-fated MV Wilhelm Gustloff. Alas, I had hoped the name would be engraved in tiny letters on the ship, but it is not, so we have only the catalogue to trust as to the ship's identity. Eight years later (30 January 1945), the Wilhelm Gustloff was sunk while carrying ten thousand refugees across the Baltic. 9000 perished, making it the greatest loss of life in a single ship sinking (six times more than died on the Titanic). Here is the stamp anyway:
re: Minute Details on Stamps Often Overlooked
Further to Guthrun's post, Col. Rybot didn't stop with his "Ad Avernam Adolf Atrox" subterfuge. In 1942, the 1/2d stamp in the same set was released with the initial's "AABB" in the corners, the A's for "Adolph" and the B's for "Bloody Benito".
Rybot's act of resistance was predated by a month when the Guernsey's 1/2d occupation stamp was issued. From Part 5 of my web page, "The Channel Islands at war — Resistance through postage stamps":
"The designer of the Guernsey occupation stamps, E.W. Vaudin, counting on Teutonic ignorance of British tradition, used the Guernsey Coat of Arms for his basic design — three heraldic English lions (or leopards, according to some sources) on a red shield.
The Guernsey Arms derive from seals granted to the island in the late 13th Century by King Edward I. The German occupation authorities in Guernsey apparently were unaware that the Arms were also the personal arms of England’s King George VI, who reigned throughout the Second World War. They are nearly identical to the Jersey Coat ofArms."
re: Minute Details on Stamps Often Overlooked
Interesting.
Yes, according to the write-up, tough call on distinguishing the genuine overprint from forged.
Odd that the overprint depicts a Bleriot monoplane. Obviously, a machine capable of evoking national pride in the French, but one that never carried the mails, and had been obsolete for 15 years by 1927...
-Paul
re: Minute Details on Stamps Often Overlooked
".... depicting the ill-fated MV Wilhelm Gustloff.
Alas, I had hoped the name would be engraved in tiny
letters on the ship, but it is not, so we have only
the catalogue to trust as to the ship's identity. ..."
Having built a small model some, almost sixty-seven,
years ago the stamp image looks close enough for
such a small reproduction. The four rows of portholes
along the length of the hull and the way the lifeboats
are mounted seem right.
re: Minute Details on Stamps Often Overlooked
From wikipedia:
"Heinz Schön, a German archivist and Gustloff survivor who extensively researched the sinking during the 1980s and 1990s, concluded that Wilhelm Gustloff was carrying a crew of 173 (naval armed forces auxiliaries), 918 officers, NCOs, and men of the 2 Unterseeboot-Lehrdivision, 373 female naval auxiliary helpers, 162 wounded soldiers, and 8,956 civilians, of which an estimated 5,000 were children, for a total of 10,582 passengers and crew. The passengers besides civilians included Gestapo personnel, members of the Organisation Todt, and Nazi officials with their families...As Wilhelm Gustloff had been fitted with anti-aircraft guns, and the Germans, in obedience to the rules of war, did not mark her as a hospital ship, no notification of her operating in a hospital capacity had been given and, as she was transporting military personnel, she did not have any protection as a hospital ship under international accords"
"Captain Alexander Marinesko ordered his crew to launch four torpedoes at Wilhelm Gustloff's port side, about 30 km (16 nmi; 19 mi) offshore, between Großendorf and Leba. The first was nicknamed "for the Motherland," the second "for Leningrad," the third "for the Soviet people", and the fourth, which got jammed in the torpedo tubes and had to be dismantled, "for Stalin." [10] The three torpedoes which were fired successfully all struck Wilhelm Gustloff on her port side."
re: Minute Details on Stamps Often Overlooked
The only ship image that showed a comparable view is this one, most images seem to be of the port side.
It certainly seems likely the stamp image is of the correct vessel.
re: Minute Details on Stamps Often Overlooked
Add to that that the THREE flower blossoms on the stamp look kind of like explosions, albeit on her starboard side, eerie indeed.
re: Minute Details on Stamps Often Overlooked
A number of Croatia issues from the 1940's have the engravers initial hidden in the design, but only on one stamp in a sheet. They're fun to hunt for
re: Minute Details on Stamps Often Overlooked
The fact that the stamp was issued in 1937
(the year the ship was launched) makes it a
spooky foreshadowing.
And
Add to that that the THREE flower blossoms
on the stamp look kind of like explosions,
In what way is the stamp of a ship issued
seven years before the torpedoing either freaky,
or eerie ?
I am sure I can find over a hundred stamps with
ships on them that did not presage a disaster
beyond some dishes crashing to the deck during
a rough storm.
With all due respect, that is nonsense.
Thinking about it further, I have no doubt that
we also can find a hundred vessels that were
torpedoed that never had a stamp created with
their image.
re: Minute Details on Stamps Often Overlooked
"... I began scanning my "collection" (more of an accumulation actually) several years ago. ... in the process, I have come to appreciate my stamps (mostly pre-1940 colonial Africa and Caribbean) far more than I ever did while I was collecting ..."
re: Minute Details on Stamps Often Overlooked
ikeyPikey wrote:
"...print them as color photo enlargements."
re: Minute Details on Stamps Often Overlooked
.
Excellent results!
re: Minute Details on Stamps Often Overlooked
This is a really GREAT topic!
I'm enjoying everyone's input...
Tiny details overlooked is very interesting to me.
Now I have to run home and start looking for them on my stamps!
JR