COMMERCE STAMPS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXX, 26 September 1936, Page 6

COMMERCE STAMPS

- POST OFFICE CELEBRATION NOTABLE EMPIRE TRADE CONFERENCE * For the first time in its history the New Zealand Post Office is commemorating the holding of a conference by the issue of live distinctive stamps. These will mark the Department’s recognition of the importance of the Empire Conference of the Federation of Chambers of Commerce of the British Empire, which opens in Wellington on 2nd October. Business men from all parts of the Empire are making a visit to New Zealand and among the many welcoming features will be the demonstration of the Post Office that the occasion is notable. A Conference post office is to be. established in the Town Hall, Wellington, with its special date-stamp, and this will be open for business on Ist October, when the new Commerce series of stamps will oc on sale at all post offices throughout New Zealand, temporarily replacing the corresponding denominations of the pictorial issue. The five stamps in the Commerce series are twice the size of the current penny, thus providing space for typical representations of New Zealand’s principal activities. The designs were prepared by Mr L. C. Mitchell, Wellington, and a very fine result has been achieved by the Stamp Printer to the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Melbourne, in the preparation of the intaglio line-engrav-ings and the printing of the series. Each stamp carries an inscription in a side panel “Chamber of Commerce Empire Conference, Wellington, October, 1936,” and in the upper part of each panel is a design typical of the industry depicted on the denomination. The id (green) design is based on the great wool-growing industry of {he Dominion. A shearer is shown at work and the main portion of the picture effectively depicts the rapid transport of the bales of wool by road from country to town. In the Id (red' the interior of a dairy factory is the subject. Modern cutter churns are shown at work with the packing for export going on in the foreground. The 2Jd denomination, in dark blue, presents another aspect of pastoral activities in its representation of a large flock of lambs. There is a pretty scenic setting which includes a fine tree fern.

The 4d denomination, printed in purple, is devoted to the fruit-grow-ing industry. A young lady surrounded by a well-laden branch from an apple tree represents the outdoor, and the export phase of the industry is effectively suggested by a busy packing shed interior where the mechanical grader is at work and the packing for export is also shown. A picturesque argosy of commerce “British Industries” figures in the side panel of the 6d denomination, printed in a distinctive red-brown. Its main subject is the importation of manufactures from British countries. Heavy goods are being discharged from, a large steamer at a wharf suggesting the typical modern port equipment to be found in the Dominion. The Commerce stamps will be on sale at all post offices in New Zealand from Ist October to the close of business on 31st October, unless supplies are exhausted before the latter date. The Conference post office will be open from Ist October to 7th October, inclusive, and, in addition to its special hand date-stamp, it will issue its own labels for registered correspondence.