stamps

Stamped by Time and Place: Geography and Postmarks

Last year I wrote about my stamp collecting hobby in a piece that explored maps and geography on stamps. Since it was well received, I thought I’d do a follow-up about geography and postmarks on stamps. I also thought it would be a good time to feature some “lighter” content.

Many collectors search for lightly canceled stamps to add to their collections, where the postmark isn’t damaging, heavy, or intrusive to the point that it obscures what’s depicted on the stamp, while others will only collect mint stamps. But the postmark can be interesting, as it reveals the time and place where the stamp did its job, and may also convey additional, distinct messages that tie it to the location where it began its journey.

Consider the examples below. Someone was up late mailing letters, at 10:30pm in Edinburgh, Scotland on Jan 12, 1898, and just after midnight at the Franco-British Exhibition in London on Aug 31, 1908. A pyramid looms and the sphinx peers behind a stamp postmarked in Luxor at some point at the end of the 19th century (based on when that stamp was in circulation). While Queen Victoria has been blotted out and the sphinx is obscured, these marks turn the stamps into unique objects which situate them in history.

I add stamps like these to a special album I’ve created for postmarks. I’ll share samples from my collection here; they won’t be illustrative of all postmarks from around the world, but reflect whatever I happen to have. I’ll also link to pages that provide information about particular series that were widely published and popular for collecting. Check out this introduction on stamp collecting from the National Postal Museum at the Smithsonian if you’d like a primer. They are also an excellent reference for US stamps.

Time and Place in Cancellation Marks

In the late 20th century, the time and place on standard North American postmarks appeared in a circular mark that contained the date and city where the letter was processed, followed by empty space and then wavy lines, bars, or a public service message that cancelled the stamp, as we can see in the early 1980s examples below (the “Please Mail Early for Christmas” cancellation appears atop a stamp from the popular US Transportation Coil series of the 1980s and 90s). This postmark convention continues today in the early 21st century, with time and place on the left and cancellation on the right; the mark in the last example celebrates the 250th anniversary of the beginning of the American Revolution.

Given the placement of the marks, the date and place often don’t appear on these US and Canadian stamps; you would need a piece of the envelope to see the provenance. But sometimes you get lucky. This low denomination stamp was probably one of two or three stamps on its letter; given it’s position on the envelope the mark landed squarely on the prime minister. Hope is a virtue, and also a place in British Columbia where a letter was mailed on Dec 8, 1977 (December being the 12th month, XII in Roman numerals which Canada used on its postmarks)

If we go further back in time to periods before mail was processed mechanically, or to places that didn’t have this equipment, we begin to see more stamps that were cancelled by hand, and we’re more likely to see the origin and date marked on the stamp. Queen Elizabeth II appears with her father King George VI on a letter from Crawford Bay, BC on March 28, 1962. QE II is probably the most widely depicted person on postage stamps; this series is known as Canada’s Wildings, their main definitive stamp from the 1950s to early 60s. The photo was taken by Dorothy Wilding, whose photos were also used for the UK’s 1950s definitive stamps of the queen (which are known by collectors as The Wildings). I should add, “definitives” are the small, basic, and most widely printed stamps that countries issue. Think of stamps of the flag in the US, or the queen (or now, the king) in the UK and Canada (Canadians also employ their flag and the maple leaf quite a bit).

Postmarks vary over time and place with many countries having distinct cancellation styles, and where the markings may appear on the stamp itself. The examples below depict marks that “hit the spot”, on afternoons in 1954 in Kingston, Jamaica and 1982 in Pinetown, South Africa (ten miles from Durban). The marks on the Danish and Italian stamps are a bit larger than the stamps themselves, but we can still make out Kobenhavn (Copenhagen) in Denmark. The year is 1951; the 1945 at top is actually 19:45 hours as they use the 24-hour clock (7:45pm). Since the Coin of Syracuse (the definitive Italian stamp from the 1950s through the 70s – this one cancelled in 1972) is still on the envelope, we can see it originated in Montese, a town in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy.

German stamps had a couple of distinctive marks in the mid 20th century, which often landed directly on the stamp. If you acquire enough of these you can assemble a collection that represents cities across the country. The 1930s examples below depict Paul Von Hindenburg, a WWI general and later president of the Weimar Republic. After WWII, Germany and the city of Berlin were divided into occupation zones; we can see examples from the Northwest and Southwest Berlin zones canceled in the 1950s.

The postmarks in these Latin American stamps incorporate their country of origin.

Back in North America, in the first half of the 20th century post offices issued pre-cancelled stamps that bore the mark of the city where they were distributed. Pre-cancelling was an early solution for saving time and money in processing large volumes of mail. In the US, you’ll see these on definitive stamps from the 1920s to the 1970s, particularly on the 4th Bureau Issues (1922-1930) (example of 4c Taft and 5c Teddy Roosevelt on the left), and the Presidential Series of 1938, known as the ‘Prexies”. This series was proposed by Franklin Roosevelt, who was an avid stamp collector, and it depicted every president from Washington to Coolidge. Given the wide range of stamps and denominations, they remained in circulation into the 1950s.

If you’re lucky, you can discover some interesting connections between the postmark and the subject depicted on the stamp, like this 4th Bureau, 1920s stamp of the Statue of Liberty, prominently pre-cancelled in New York.

Mail was often transported by train, and train stations were key points where passengers would mail letters before and after traveling, and in some cases even on the train if there was a postal car. “Gare” is the French term for “station”, and we see examples from 1910 Belgium and 1985 France below. An example from Germany is marked Bahnpost (“station” or “train” mail) on board a Zug (“train”) that left Chemnitz early in the 20th century. Since I still had a portion of the envelope, we know the Prexie stamp of Martin Van Buren traveled through Grand Central Station in NYC, at some point in the mid 20th century.

Parts of the Address

Beyond the cancellation mark that provides time and origin of place, geography also appears in postmarks as exhortations from post offices to encourage letter writers to address mail correctly, so that it ends up at the right destination. The development of addressing systems was, in part, prompted by the need to get mail to locations quickly and accurately. This mid-20th century mark on a pair of John Adams Prexies reminds folks to include both the street and house number in the address.

Postal codes were developed in the mid 20th century as unique identifiers to improve sorting and delivery, as the volume of mail kept increasing. The 1980s stamps below include an example from the US, where the ZIP Code or “Zone Improvement Plan” is the name of US postal code system (introduced in 1963). The USPS always wants you to use it. The other stamp comes from the UK, where the Royal Mail encourages you to “Be Properly Addressed” by adding your post code.

If you’ve ever lived in an apartment building, you’ve probably experienced the annoyance of not receiving letters and packages because the sender (or some computer system) failed to include the apartment number. This is particularly problematic in big cities like New York, so the post office regularly reminded folks with this special mark.

Celebrating Places in Postmarks

The most interesting examples of geography in postmarks are special, commemorative markings celebrating specific places and events tied to particular locales. Some of the marks have utilitarian designs like the ones below, commemorating the World’s Fair in New York in 1964 – 65, celebrating Delaware’s 200th anniversary of being the first state to ratify the Constitution, and promoting the burgeoning Research Triangle in North Carolina in the 1980s.

Others marks are fancier, depicting maps or places in the markings themselves. The examples below include a promotion for Hampton Roads in Virginia, and a stylized version of Long Island embedded in wavy cancellation lines. Most of the items I have are from the US, but you’ll find examples from around the world. The postal service in France has long created special markings to celebrate local and regional culture and history. This mark from the early 1960s celebrates an exhibition or trade fair in Neufchateau in northeastern France. For special markings like these, collectors will often save the entire envelope (in my case it was damaged, so I opted to clip out the marking and stamp). The stamp features Marianne, a legendary personification of the French republic who has appeared on definitive stamps there since the 1940s.

If you’ve acquired a bag of stamps you’ll get a mix that are on paper (clipped or torn from the envelope), or off paper (removed from the envelope by soaking in warm water, before the days of self adhesives). You often lose the message and provenance in these mixed bags, but are left with tantalizing clues, and funny quirks. The message on this 1970s Spanish stamp featuring long-time leader (aka dictator) Francisco Franco is unclear. He is shouting something about “districts” and “letters” in reference to the cities of Barcelona and Bilbao.

Did you know there were dinosaurs in Yosemite National Park? This brontosaurus was part of a larger marking that advertised the adventures of stamp collecting, which these US Korean War soldiers encourage you to do.

In Conclusion

I hope you enjoyed this nerdy journey through the world of postmarks on stamps and their relation to geography. I’ll leave you with one final, strange fact that you may be unaware of. The lead image at the top of this post depicts a stamp of Vancouver’s skyline, that happened to be postmarked in Vancouver, Canada in March 1980. It’s always neat when you find these examples where the postmark and the stamp are linked. But did you know Vancouver glows in the dark? Countries began tagging stamps with fluorescence or phosphorescence in the mid 20th century, so machines could optically process mail. You can see them glow using special UV lamps – just be sure to wear protective eye wear (the bright yellow lines along the edges of the stamp are the tags).

Maps in Miniature: Geography on Postage Stamps

I carted several boxes of old stuff from my mom’s basement to mine about a year ago, since I finally had a basement of my own for storing boxes of old stuff. This stuff included a bin with my old stamp collection, one of many childhood hobbies. Leafing through it for the first time in decades, my interest was rekindled and I thought this would make for a relaxing, non-screen-based hobby that I could work on for an hour or so in the evenings. I’ve been transferring and re-organizing this collection over the past year.

Similar to other leisurely pursuits that I’ve written about (usually around this time each year), such as video games and hunting for USGS survey markers while hiking, this hobby has a strong connection to geography. Stamps express the geography, culture, and history of the world’s countries in miniature, and collecting them familiarizes you with different places, languages, and currencies. Postage stamps were introduced in the mid 19th century, so any collection will recount modern history, documenting the: aggregation of states into nations and empires, collapse of empires and states into smaller countries, emergence of colonies as independent states, shifting boundaries as countries fought and occupied one another, and coalescence of nations into larger alliances and supra-national bodies.

This natural connection between stamps and geography becomes even more literal when countries depict themselves on stamps through maps, landscapes, and places. In this post I’ll share examples from my collection that illustrate these themes. I recently finished teaching and consulting for S4’s two week GIS Institute; my favorite lecture is the one I give on cartography, a topic that I generally don’t get to cover in classes where I guest lecture. For that talk, I use a gallery of maps to illustrate different aspects of cartographic design, good and bad. I’ll take a similar approach here. While I’ve endeavored to select stamps from a cross-section of the world’s nations, my selection is a bit skewed by luck of the draw, in terms of stamps I happen to have that fit the theme, and as my collection is largely frozen in time. I stopped around 1992, right when the world’s map changed quite a bit at the abrupt end of the cold war.

Maps on Stamps

Reference maps are the most basic of maps, designed to show you where places are located. Many countries have issued stamps depicting their location, such as this 1980s stamp from New Zealand. In this case, latitude and longitude coordinates are used to help you identify precisely where the Kiwis are; a southerly spot at 42 degrees south latitude and 174 degrees east longitude.

A broader frame of reference can be used for putting a place in context, in order to locate it. This 1930s stamp of Argentina depicts its location in the southern cone of South America, with the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean labeled. We can clearly see that Argentina is the focus of the map based on the shading and title, and figure ground relationship (the distinction between a foreground and background on a flat surface) is established between the country, continent, and ocean so that Argentina is in the foreground (although the bold frame gives us the impression of looking at a painting). There is something else going on though…

Which is more apparent in this subsequent map from the 1950s. The Falklands Islands (a territory of the UK) are claimed by Argentina and shaded as part of the country in both maps, and in this later stamp so is a big chunk of Antarctica. Nations use maps, and stamps, to assert their authority and control over space, in a message that is affixed to envelopes and sent around the world. A counterpoint to this example is the stamp displayed in the header of this post, a 1971 US stamp commemorating the Antarctic Treaty (which essentially states that no nation can claim or own Antarctica).

This detailed reference map of Angola was issued as part of a series of stamps in the 1950s, when Angola was a Portuguese colony. The issuance of stamps and depiction of territories was one method for empires to assert authority over their colonies. Visually this is a busy map, as they squeezed in as many cities, roads, railroads, and rivers as they could (emphasizing the development of the colony). The white on grey contrast with a blue halo brings the country to the foreground, and if you look closely you’ll see latitude and longitude coordinates around the edges. Ultimately, too much material squeezed into this little map makes it hard to read.

As colonies gained independence throughout the post World War II period, the depiction of nations switched from being one of colonial authority and control to independence and national pride. It was common for many western states at this time to issue series of stamps that depicted a head of state, using the same design but with bold primary colors for different denominations. India put a unique spin on this practice by depicting their country instead, on a large series issued in the late 1950s (Gandhi had received a multicolored depiction in 1948, one year after independence). The map shows the physical geography of India, framed with a motif that evokes Indian design and culture.

Rwanda also celebrated their independence in a series of multicolored stamps in different denominations. Beyond national pride, these stamps also assert the authority of the new government in the new state (the new president stands in the foreground). Rwanda’s location in Africa is clearly illuminated, emphasized by a halo of white around a dark fill. The geometric frame evokes a distinct African aesthetic.

You can emphasize specific locations by modifying the extent and scale of a map. This 1960s stamp from Hungary emphasizes the location of its capital city Budapest as being in the center of Europe. The railroad traffic light and prominent label draw your eye right to the location, while simultaneously blotting out surrounding areas (of lesser importance). Clearly there is no better place for hosting the… Esperanto Congress.

This 1960s Chilean stamp celebrates the Alliance for Progress, a ten year plan launched by US President Kennedy to strengthen economic ties between the US and Latin America and to promote democracy (which meant, stop communism). The choice of a globe rather than a flat map better emphasizes the scope and reach of an initiative than spans vast distances and ties nations together. Not very well as it turned out – the initiative was considered a big failure.

Reference maps show us where things are, while thematic maps show us what’s going on there. As the name suggests, they illustrate a specific theme. This fun 1960s stamp from Poland illustrates the mix of architecture, settlements, and industry across the nation, for tourists (Mapa Turystyczna). Figure ground relationship is clearly established with a white foreground for the state and a red background (solid on land and hashed on water).

It’s one thing to make map stamps of your own country, but the implications are quite different when your neighbor is making map stamps of you. This map of Poland was part of a series of stamps the USSR issued of its Warsaw Pact neighbors, featuring their friendly and productive comrades, and all the wonderful resources their nations have to share… Also a way of broadcasting to the rest of the world the alliances between nations.

Maps are a visual means of communicating messages about places, sometimes through data, sometimes with symbols or images. These messages can be pretty overt, as in this 1980s stamp from Iran that expresses solidarity with the Afghan resistance to Soviet occupation. Angry, red clenched fists and bayonets – no friendly comrades here. The bayonets come from the direction in which the invaders came, and their downward thrust draws your eyes to the raised fists.

Messages can be more subtle, as in this East German stamp that proclaims the Baltic as the “Friendly Sea” (a better translation is the “Sea of Peace”). The muted blues evoke a nautical theme, and are also subdued and non-threatening, while the halo effect along the coast and variation in tone distinguishes land from water. The DDR began constructing the Berlin Wall one year before this stamp was issued, and it was not a Friendly Wall.

Maps for navigation are a distinct type of reference map, designed to help us get from point A to point B. This 1970s East German stamp was part of a series that depicted lighthouses over nautical charts, which display varying levels of ocean depth (by using shading and labeling depths at spot locations) and a selection of prominent features on land that can be spotted from ships. Useful for navigating the Friendly Sea no doubt.

This 1960s map from the US depicts the Mississippi River as the “River Road”. The broad white buffer around the river plants it within the foreground, while the orange arrow imparts a dynamic sense of north / south movement. The tributaries feed into this central trunk, giving us a sense of the breadth of the network. The extent of the map omits the east and west coasts, so we don’t see the overall context for where the river is situated. But it’s a good trade-off, as it focuses our attention squarely on the river system, leaving out the empty spaces that the network doesn’t reach. Still, it would have made sense to indicate that this is the Mississippi River somewhere on the stamp.

This map of Columbia depicts the Ferrocarril del Atlántico, a railroad line that connects the Atlantic coast to the capital of Bogota and whose construction was quite an achievement. The line is in red, and presumably the brown lines are connecting railroads. The overlapping labels (there are too many of them) make it difficult to read, and the thickness of the lines for railroads, rivers, and country boundaries are the same, making them hard to distinguish. There is no visual hierarchy for the labels to distinguish importance, as the font sizes are all the same, and the labels for the oceans and neighboring countries use the same color, a cartographic no-no. But there is a nice compass rose.

Air travel was often celebrated on mid 20th century stamps, sometimes in relation to air mail services. This compact map of Bolivia from 1945 depicts the seemingly comprehensive system of the national airline within the country, with a vector graph of points and lines, and with labels for the major nodes. The labels and LAB logo fill in and hide areas that don’t have much service, particularly the eastern part of the country. The traditional Mesoamerican motif in the frame is an interesting contrast to the modern subject matter of the map.

Landscapes and Places

Beyond maps, geography is also communicated on stamps through the depiction of landscapes. The gallery below includes a sample of stamps that illustrate both natural and built environments. The depictions of landscape can be literal, such as the photograph of Wakanoura Bay on the Japanese stamp, or artistic representations like the painting of Rural America and drawing of a Pakistani river valley, or more abstract views such as the stylized image of Swiss (Helvetia) farmland. Stamps can depict specific places, such as the Himalayas in India or the skyline of Singapore, or can be general representations of a landscape, such as an idyllic lakeside in Finland.

A birds-eye view offers a different perspective. The gliders are the focus of the Luxembourg stamp below, but we get to share the pilot’s view of the villages and countryside. Canada issued a series of stamps in the 1970s that depicted its diverse terrain, including this oblique aerial photo of farmland on the Canadian prairie. The US issued a series entitled Earthscapes in 2012, that celebrated both its landscapes and the technology used for capturing them as orthophotos and satellite images.

Luxembourg Stamof Gliders and Countryside

The depiction of places and administrative subdivisions on stamps is a common theme, particularly in nations that are federated states. Canada issued a series of stamps in 1981 that illustrate the evolution of the nation from individual settlements and colonies into provinces and territories that formed the Canadian Confederation. Each stamp represents a specific point in time.

The constituent states and territories of the United States are popular subjects on American stamps. These can be singular, commemorative stamps that celebrate the founding or statehood of a particular state, such as this 1991 stamp marking Vermont’s 200th anniversary of statehood. Or, they can be large series issued as sets that include one stamp for each state. State maps, landscapes, flags, and even official state birds and flowers have served as subjects over the years.

The French postal service published a large series that showcased its historic provinces, releasing stamps individually and in small sets from the 1940s to the 1960s. These stamps depicted the coat of arms for each place, connecting heraldry from the medieval past to the modern French Republic.

Wrap-up

I hope you enjoyed this little, and by no means exhaustive, tour of cartography and geography on postage stamps! There are countless other avenues we could have strolled down in our travels, such as the depiction of explorers and exploration, climate and weather, environmentalism, how map projections are employed, and views from space. My parting example is a reminder that maps are 2D representations of our spherical 3D world. And that “E ” is for “Earth”.

(In the 1980s and 90s the US Postal Service issued non-denominational stamps for domestic 1st class mail during transition periods when postal rates increased. They featured letters instead of currency values, and you could use them before and after a rate changed. A through D featured a stylized eagle from the postal service logo, but by the time they got to E they followed Sesame Street’s lead and depicted objects that began with each letter. The USPS dropped the letter convention in the 2000s, and in 2011 dropped denominations altogether in favor of Forever stamps.)

At These Coordinates

Dispatches from the Geospatial Data World