UNIQUE DISPLAY

Evening Post, Volume CXXXIX, Issue 49, 27 February 1945, Page 6

UNIQUE DISPLAY

STAMPS TELL A STORY Wartime stamps of various coun-' tries are at present being exhibited in Wellington, and the display, arranged by the National War Savings Department, is made doubly .interesting", by" the artistry used in presenting the fine array.,/ The stamps are set on decorative panels, on some Of which there are scenes depicting the trials of the peoples of the occupied countries and on others there are representations symbolic of the nations. With the exhibits there are also wartime photographs of particular interest. .

The exhibition is in the lounge of James Smith,. Ltd., and was opened yesterday afternoon. .As part of the National War Savings effort, it. is being staged in the interests of war amputees, the proceeds being placed to the credit of the New Zealand War Amputees' Association. P. and T. Department officers havd attended to many of the details connected with' the exhibition, and one of them—Mr/ Frank Kees—is responsible for/ the artistic decorative work on the panels;;

At the opening ceremony, Mr. R. H. Nimmo, deputy chairman of the Wellington National Savings Committee, in welcoming the Mayor and consular representatives, mentioned that the stamps were made available by the P. and T. Department, to which the committee was extremely grateful. He felt that all would agree, after having examined the stamps, that the display was,unique and of amazing interest, especially if* the inscriptions were studied closely. Speaking of the committee's campaign, when officially opening the exhibition, the Mayor (Mr. W. Appleton) stressed the fact that people were not .being asked to give their surplus savings, but only to lend them until the conclusion of the war. Apart from other considerations, the value for the money would "then be better than under present conditions. He stressed also the worthiness of the cause to which the proceeds of the exhibition were being devoted, and .hoped that the project would be warmly supported by ■ the public. Stamp collecting, which had kd-. ,vanc.ed tremendously, had its values, not the least of which- was educational. Amongst the great collections was that of the present King, which had been built up by his father. The present exhibition. in Wellington was of a type to make an interesting study for the layman. In dealing with special features, he pointed to a stamp on the French panel commemorating the centenary.of a composer's death— the. composer of the French < national anthem:; .jln the same set the luxury line# N6r.mahdie..was depicted, and it brought;;- to—mjnd - two events—the tragedy, wKic&v3efell that magnificent ship and the^pjc^lajiding by Allied troops on the shores of Normandy, in the various panels! much else was depicted. The partisans in enemy-occu-pied countries were portrayed in sabotage and propaganda work; there was something striking about the Soviet Union's.issues, as there was about the stamps of the Balkan States, and the many other countries, and the presentation as a whole indicated that deep thought had been exercised in the preparation of a display which was well worth while studying.