STAMP NOTES

Manawatu Standard, Volume LV, Issue 256, 26 September 1935, Page 2

STAMP NOTES

(By “Philatelist.”) By courtesy of the Director-General of Posts, we are able to give the numbers of the Island Jubilee stamps printed:—Samoa, Id, 129,120; 2)d, 65,040; 6d, 60,480. Niue: Id, 120,000; 2-id, 80,000; 6d, 68,240. Cook Islands: Id, 144,000; 2id, 88,000; 6d, 88,000. Particulars of the quantities actually sold before these sets were withdrawn are not yet available. From these figures it will be seen that all values are considerably scarcer than even the New Zealand 6d Jubilee, of which 320,000 were sold ; and fine used specimens must be rather rare. A further point of interest is that only the Samoan issue carried plate numbers, which were as follows : —ld, plate No. 44; 2Jd, No. 47; 6d, No. 51. As recorded in our news columns the 1935 Health stamp Is to be issued on Monday next, and first-day covers will be available. The new stamp has been designed by Mr S. Hall, of Wellington, and is twice the size of the ordinary penny stamp. The design, in a vertical panel, with a keypattern border, emphasises that the key to health is sunshine. Within the key-hole shaped central pane] appears the figure of Joan, a daughter of Mr S. I. McKenzie, of this city, in bathing costume, playing at Paraparaumu beach. Unlike the previous health stamps, which are somewhat scarce, and quite good property, the new stamp is unlikely to repay -'investment owing to the tremendous publicity which it is getting. With 1000 committees throughout the country to boost the sale, it will probably he quite a common stamp. Collectors should use these Health stamps on their own correspondence, and wherever possible should bring them to the notice of non-collectors and try to induce them also to assist a worthy cause. Not only are you helping to make possible a health-giving holiday to children who need it—but, by the latest arrangements of the postal authorities, the funds raised at your local Post Office are directly available for the benefit- of kiddies in your own district.

One wonders what sort of a reception the new stamp will get. Devastating criticisms are more prevalent than words of praise. The 1931 stamps, depicting “Boy Scout, with typical New Zealand scenery in the background,” were likened “to a jam-tin label,” one paper saying that “any boy appearing with the waved locks shown on the stamp would very soon be made more than uncomfortable by his mates,” and “the so-called Scout appears to have been mixed up in a brawl and to have emerged with two glorious black eyes.” And one Australian paper comments that New Zealand now has no competitor for the position of the country issuing the world’s worst stamp! The 1932 stamp depicts Hygeia, Goddess of Health, and called for this caustic comment, “The naked goddess has apparently been indulging in a night-long orgy and is shown . . . saluting, with upraised goblet, the rising sun” —and —“the inscription on the stamp is not, but should be. ‘Here’s liow!’” Then the next stamp, 1933, depicting the Road to Health, brought forth this —“The Broad and Easy Path leads, of course, to its Ultimate Destination (we are not permitted to use the usual word of four letters), which is graphically represented iu the background. It is, naturally, printed in a fi.ery red. We thus have the completion of the allegory commenced last year (“Here’s how”), and observe the inevitable result of dissipation, such as was then depicted. We need not stress the moral, which we are sure all will appreciate.” The lot of the stamp designer is not a happy one. There arc few bouquets, and the design must l>e so perfect and well-balanced that it looks perfect and impressive even when reduced to about a square inch in area ! This week some notes on printing methods should have been given, but owing to tho dissertation on health stamps, they must be held over. Here’s something else in lighter vein, which was recalled to mind by the idea of linking the “Goddess” and “Broad and Easy Path” stamps. It is taken from the “New Zealand Stamp Col lector” of March, 1920, the sth issue (volume 1, No. 5), of this New Zeirland paper which has developed into such an' informative quarterly philatelic journal to-day, with vol. XVI., No. 3, due to appear at the end of the month. Refer to your New Zealand Victory and Peace stamps—the pi, Id, 3d anil Gd values. This is entitled a “Tragedy in Four Acts,” as depicted on these four stamps.

Act 1 (id)—Woman Comes Into Her Own. The lion of Britain’s admitting That woman’s true sphere is not

knitting, She can plough, sho can reap, And accounts she can keep; On the lion how proudly she’s sitting. Act 2 (Id) —Britain Acquiesces. They went out for walks in the park; At first it seemed rather a lark; But the lady got proud, And the lion soon vowed, That he’d creep home alone in the dark. Act 3 (3d) —And Then? The lion is now feeling fine; And the sun’s setting rays brightly

shine; But where is the maid? I am sadly afraid That the lion has been out to dine. Act 4 (6d Peace) —Good-byee. Alas, ’tis sad news this act brings, For the lady with angels now sings; And plainly we see, Leo did have tea. Can’t you see the fine pair of wings? Epilogue. So ladies, your chiefest concern, Should be things domestic to learn; And to manage the home, For it’s clear if'you roam, That your fingers you’ll probably burn,

(The name of the perpetrator is not disclosed—-possibly for his own personal safety.) I wonder has any unorthodox collector ever assembled a humorous collection of stamps with the caustic comments of critics. In conclusion, another example. One critic, disappointed with the Canberra stamp of Australia, sketched in a beer-barrel, and a factory chimney to show the fineness between the artist’s impression of Parliament House, and a modern brewery! ♦[These notes are published with the co-operation of the Manawatu Philatelic Society. Queries and items of interest for publication, should be addressed to the Stamp Editor, care “Standard” Office.l