STAMP STORY

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30745, 8 May 1965, Page 12

STAMP STORY

Provided Socks For Soldiers

(Specially written for "The Prelt” by KENNETH ANTHONY! QWEDEN was one of the few countries of Europe to escape both world wars; in fact, the Swedes have enjoyed the benefits of peace ever since Napoleon’s time. But the national defences have never been neglected. It was often said during the last war that it was only the strong Swedish fleet that deterred Hitler from trying to add Sweden to his conquests. In the First World War, too. Sweden was determined to defend her neutrality. Here is a stamp that takes us back to those days, and to a rare occasion when stamps were used to raise funds for defence purposes. In 1916, it was decided to issue special stamps, with a surcharge above their postal value, to support an appeal by Crown Princess Margaret for a fund to provide woollen comforts for Swedish reservists called up for guard duty on account of the war then raging in Europe. The method of preparing these stamps was unusual, if not unique. The Post Office’s problem was to make them of quite distinct appearance from the normal issue, but at the same time to save the time and cost involved in producing a new design. They therefore looked back into history and revived a simple numeral design which had been introduced as far back as 1877, and replaced in

Known as the Landstorm fund, the scheme proved a great success. The stamps were in use, on inland mail only, until 1920 and millions of kronor were raised The stamps not only raised money to provide Swedish troops with woollen garments to keep out the cold of the Baltic winter, but also stamp collectors with a curious example of an old design unexpectedly brought back into use.

The illustration shows a pair of these stamps used in the Swedish capital of Stockholm in 1917. The large figure at the top of the overprint indicates the postal value of 5 ore; the words at the foot “Landstormen fem ore,” signify the surcharge in aid of the fund. Each stamp was therefore sold by the post office for 10 ore.