Stamp Story No. 115 How Many Potatoes For A Stamp?

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30094, 30 March 1963, Page 8

Stamp Story No. 115 How Many Potatoes For A Stamp?

[Specially written for "The Press" by

KENNETH ANTHONY]

"VEWS that the Tristan da Cunha settlers may soon return to the homes which they had to abandon in October, 1961, when their lonely island was rocked by a volcanic eruption, revives memories of Tristan’s first stamps—the only stamps ever to be valued in potatoes! In May, 1946, the islanders sent a petition to the Colonial Office in London asking for the provision of an official post office and distinctive stamps. And as examples of the stamps they wanted, a series of suggested designs was prepared by a meteorologist stationed on the island. In these designs the denominations were given in sterling, but also a “local value” was added, expressed in potatoes—potatoes being not only the islanders’ staple diet but a kind of unofficial barter currency. On the stamps’ reckoning four potatoes were worth a penny. But of course the stamps were entirely unofficial, and never paid postage anywhere. Only one was actually printed in any quantity—2o,ooo copies of the Id. value being produced in South Africa. These were distributed to the inhabitants who used them as publicity labels.

of mail did not justify providing a service. And for a few more years letters from the South Atlantic Island of Tristan were carried unstamped by any ship that happened to call. By 1951, however, the authorities were ready to change their minds. By this time a fish canning plant had been set up, and a cash economy introduced. Early in 1952 the first administrator was appointed, the first post office opened and the first stamps issued, the first set consisting of overprints on stamps of St. Helena. The campaign spotlighted by the curious "potato” stamps had been crowned with success at last.—(Central Press Features, Ltd. All Rights Reserved).

The islanders’ petition was rejected because the amount